A Look Into the Future Millennial Kingdom

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM Spring Valley Mennonite; August 21, 2022: Isaiah 11 What does the future hold? How much time do you spend thinking about the future? Admittedly, the Christian should think differently on the subject than does the world, although we live in the present and wisely must plan with our limited knowledge for our near future. It is a real discipline to not worry about the "what ifs" of the future. If only we could know the particulars about our future, planning for it would be much easier! But those particulars remain unknown, as the recent pandemic proved to us. We could be driven by fear by this uncertainty, or we could relax in the knowledge that God is in control. In Isaiah 11 we are given a glimpse into our future, and as Billy Graham once said, "I've read the last page of the Bible; it's all going to turn out all right." We can sympathize with prophets like Isaiah, as their glimpse into the future was filled with a yearning and desire to understand. As our Lord encouraged us in Matthew 13:16-17, "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." We have a more complete understanding of God's eternal plan as we have the complete Bible. The New Testament explains much of what these prophets foretold. We now can see into the future, a future which is glorious and very encouraging. A big part of the "so what?" of this passage is that God keeps His word. What God predicted through the prophets such as Isaiah is 100% accurate. We believe and take hope as God has given us a glimpse into the future. Turn to Isaiah 11 as we consider some details about the Kingdom Jesus will establish after His return to earth. Look with me at verse 1 (read) We see described: I. A SHOOT OUT OF THE ROOT OF JESSE I recently had to cut down a rotting redbud tree in my backyard. But every few weeks I find sprouts growing out of the stump. There is still life in the roots. In the years following God's judgment on both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, the independent nation of Israel including the monarchy of King David gradually faded out, like a tree that is cut down. The lineage of David continued, but power and leadership was always under the thumb of the Gentile nations. Herod, the king installed by the Romans, who ruled when Jesus was born, had no ties to the lineage of King David. From the time of the captivity in Babylon forward, the Jews were longing for the promised Messiah King Who would deliver them from this Gentile oppression. In the fulness of time, from those roots of Israel and particularly from the stem of Jesse (King David's father), Jesus Christ, the descendant of King David was born that winter night in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah was born. Sadly, as John reported, "He came unto His own people and His own people did not receive Him." Because the Jewish nation rejected Jesus, there are some Jews who still wait for the Messiah. Scripture does tell us that during the seven- year Tribulation Period which immediately precedes the return of Christ, a great number of Jewish people will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah, and at the beginning of the Millennium, all Jews will be regathered in the land promised to them. When Jesus came the first time, His purpose was not to rule as an exalted King over an earthly kingdom, but rather to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Plainly speaking, Jesus was born a man so He could die the death of a man. His death on the cross provided the sacrifice of the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Jesus willingly shed His atoning blood which covers our sin. His prophesied earthly kingdom awaits His second coming and will come to fruition during the 1000 year Millennium described in Revelation chapter 19. During the Millennium all the Old Testament promises to Israel will be fulfilled. The last 2000 years has been about the church. The Millennium will center around Israel with Messiah Jesus reigning. Isaiah continues to describe the Messiah in verse 2 (Read). II. THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT IN THE MESSIAH (V. 2) Verse 2 tells us that the Messiah will possess the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus was no less God before the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism. When the voice of God spoke on that occasion saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased" it served as a confirmation at the beginning of His ministry. Jesus' baptism and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove was a fulfillment of this prophesy, as well as a sign to John the Baptist that Jesus was the Messiah. The seven-fold descriptive words of verse 2 speak of the completeness of this gift. These seven characteristics of the Spirit describe the Messiah as having the full measure of the Holy Spirit. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 when He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor..." This prophesy was true of Jesus in His first Advent and will be strikingly evident during His second Advent. Isaiah moves on describing characteristics of the earthly Millennial kingdom of Christ. Read vv. 3-5. III. THE RULE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE We saw in chapter 9 that Jesus would be the Prince of Peace. In those verses we saw Christ as the conquering warrior who would intervene at the great battle of Armageddon, the great concluding event of the Great Tribulation. It instructive that in dealing with evil, spiritual conflict is inevitable. Evil must be resisted in God's power. Peace in the Millennial Kingdom will be enforced by the iron rod of Messiah. No one will be able to stand against the Messiah. Isaiah emphasizes righteousness and justice characterizing Jesus' Kingdom. In this present earthly kingdom ruled by Satan, there is very little concern for righteousness and fairness. Rather, "Might determines right." Whoever has the power makes the rules. This is our present situation in America. Evil has increased as Christian influence and the fear of God has diminished. This is exactly why we are observing the present wave of violence. Our culture has declared that there are no absolute standards of morality, demonstrated by the redefinition of marriage, gender confusion, and the sacrifice of the unborn on the altar of convenience. When all absolute standards are discarded, nothing stands in the way of chaos, rebellion and disorder. By contrast in Messiah's future earthly kingdom, the weak will have an Advocate as Jesus rules over all the earth-The Government will be upon His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7). The wicked will be swiftly dealt with. There will no slick lawyers and unjust judges who allow the guilty to go free. The word of Messiah will be law, fair and impartial. Justice will prevail. Righteousness will be the standard in government. You might be asking, "Why will there be a need for judging? Won't everyone be a believer in this kingdom?" Understand that all those who initially populate the earth entering the Millennium will be believers, righteous Jews and Gentiles who have accepted Christ during the previous seven-year Tribulation Period. These are the ones who somehow survive the severe persecution during the rule of Antichrist. All non-believers present when Christ triumphantly returns at Armageddon will either be killed in battle, or if not soldiers, will be judged and consigned to eternal punishment. Only the righteous ones alive at that time will supply the initial population of the Kingdom. Because of the devastating judgments in the previous 7 years, and persecution by Antichrist, the population of believers alive will be reduced. These make up the initial population at the beginning of the Millennium. In the following 1000 years of peace and blessing many children will be born, lifespans will be greatly increased, along with childbearing years. And because those born will still have their inborn sin nature, even though Satan will bound and out of the picture, and the culture will have a strong Christian flavor, sin will still be present. Each of these who are born will have the choice to choose to follow Messiah, or not. Even though it will be so much easier to live righteously with many temptations absent from society, those born will need to be saved. The law of the Lord will hold sway all over the world. All disputes will be settled in accordance to God's absolute standards. The weak and the poor will enjoy perfect justice. Retribution for wrongdoing will be swift, unerring, and inescapable. But because of the sin nature of man, there will be the need for judging and punishment. One interesting note is that there will be those who are poor, even in a perfect, prosperous and just society. Why? One aspect of the sin nature is the tendency toward laziness and sloth, the desire to "get something without working for it." We see this clearly in our modern culture of entitlement. There is also the sinful tendency to take advantage of someone weaker. Verse 4 speaks of the "afflicted of the earth." Thus, there will be the need for Christ to judge in complete righteousness. J. Dwight Pentecost, in his book Things to Come, makes this observation, "The Millennial Age is designed by God to be the final test of fallen humanity under the most ideal circumstances. Surrounded by every enablement to obey the rule of the King, from whom the outward sources of temptation have been removed, so that man may be found a proved to be a failure in even this last testing of fallen humanity."1 The rule of Christ will be initiated soon after the defeat of the wicked forces in the great battle referred to in the latter chapters of Revelation, as well as other places. It is interesting that Christ will, as Isaiah 11:4b says, "Strike the world with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked." This is the same picture we get in reading Revelation 19:15: "And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. " From the very beginning in Genesis, God speaks and His will is accomplished. Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword." There is the absolute need for God's Words to surgically remove evil. Doesn't this picture of the Lord Jesus Christ eliminating all the might and power of the armies of the world simply by the force and power of His words tell us something? What a demonstration of the awesome and magnificent power of our Lord! What a demonstration of what God thinks of wickedness and rebellion toward Him. Are we today presuming upon His mercy, thinking we can get away with our anemic, weak and half-hearted obedience? Verse 5 (read): righteousness and faithfulness to His promises will be an essential element of the Kingdom. What a joy that will be! Truly the knowledge of the Lord and of His ways will be throughout the earth. IV. A RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN FOR THE NATURAL WORLD (Read vv. 6-9) What a delightful scene is presented of peace among the animals. Many would say, "This is contrary to nature; this can't be taken literally." In reply I would ask, "Why not?" If God can do the supernatural, why couldn't He change how animals relate to one another? When sin entered into the world, nature was severely affected. We have never seen nature operating as God intended. Romans 8:22: "For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." The change will begin with the animal kingdom: the wolf will be friends with the lamb; both will be changed and there will be no instinctive fear among animals for each other. What will carnivorous animals eat, if not animals? Verse 7: the lion will eat straw like the ox. They will become vegetarians! That is a change! Apparently, this is the way it was intended to be in the beginning. There will be other changes in the productivity of the land, and it will return to its pre-sin fruitfulness. Amos 9:13 tells us, "Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved." Isaiah 35 tells of how even the deserts will become productive and become lush like a garden. All the earth will rejoice and respond to the rule of Jesus Christ. V. CHRIST WILL RULE OVER THE WHOLE EARTH (Read v. 10.) The nations will "resort" to the root of Jesse. This sense of the word is when we say, "I turned to him as a last resort." To "resort" means to flee to for refuge. All the nations will recognize Jesus as the ultimate authority and the final word on every dispute. Listen to a few of the verses Isaiah mentions the nations during the Millennium: Chapter 2:2-4: Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.' For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation ,and never again will they learn war." Chapter 49:22-23: Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I will life up My hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. And kings will be your guardians, and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet; and you will know that I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame." What a contrast to the hate and opposition present toward Israel in the world today. Isaiah 61 speaks of how the wealth of all the nations will be flowing into Jerusalem resulting in what is described in 11:10 "His resting place will be glorious!" When the Lord Jesus is ruling from Jerusalem, where will we believers be? While it is not completely clear, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:2, "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" Jesus told His disciples in 19:28, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." We will have our resurrected, immortal bodies, and details of our relations to the mortals of the Millennium largely remain a mystery. Finally, in verses 11-16, we find that all Israel will be regathered. Realize that when Isaiah penned these words, the dispersion of the Jews had not yet taken place. Judgment for the sin of both the northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah, had been predicted, but the Assyrians had not yet conquered the northern kingdom. About 100 years after Assyria conquered Israel, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. The northern kingdom Jews never returned to the land, and only about 1 in 10 Jews returned from Babylon. Presently, the world population of Jews stands at around 15 million. Seven million live in Israel. 7.3 million Jews live here in the U.S. The rest are scattered around the world, with large populations in France and Canada. This predicted regathering of Jews is complete, and these Jews will return in belief, in contrast to the present population of Israel. I do believe the present State of Israel is tremendously important, for the Tribulation Period begins with a peace treaty between Israel and its enemies brokered by the Antichrist. Obviously, there must be a nation of Israel in existence for such a treaty to be made. Before 1948 the nation of Israel did not exist. Such prophesies as these words in Isaiah give us great encouragement and hope for the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Rapture of the Church will occur before the beginning of the Tribulation and could occur at any time. Please remember that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are two separate events, with at least seven years between the two. We can also take great hope in the fact that as all Isaiah's prophesies about the first Advent were literally fulfilled, these predictions of the Millennial Kingdom and of Israel's future blessings will also be literally fulfilled. Even so, COME LORD JESUS!! 1 J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 538. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2