THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

As a child in Sunday School and as an adult in church, I heard a lot about Hell, there were precious few times I was told about what it is going to be like in Heaven.  I heard things like the streets will be paved with gold, the gates will be made of pearls and there will be a mansion for each of us when get there.  Our activities will be spent in singing hymns and praises to God all day every day.  I pictured sprouting wings and flying around through the clouds playing a harp.  In my weak carnal human mind, I was asking myself, “That’s it?  Is that Heaven?  Where is the paradise?”  I wanted to shout these questions out to my teacher, but I did not want any one to think I was just being a childish spoiled brat and was only thinking what I could get out of this deal.  I was, but I still did not want any one else to know.

I began to study about this and what Heaven would be like according to what I could get from the Bible.  The more I studied, the more answers I got and one day, it dawned on me.  We are not going to Heaven.  At least, not right away.  In Revelation Chapter 20 we learn that there will be a 1000-year reign of Yeshua on earth. Satan will be bound and locked in the Abyss until the thousand-year reign of Yeshua has ended.

Rev 20:1  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

Rev 20:3  and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

Rev 20:4  Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Rev 20:5  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Rev 20:7  When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,

Rev 20:8  and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

Rev 20:9  And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

Rev 20:10  And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Rev 20:11  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

Rev 20:14  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Rev 20:15  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The Sabbath is commanded by God to be kept by the forth Commandant and is rehearsing the whole seven millennium outline of the world history, past to future.  God created everything in six days and then He rested.  Now, I am sure that God did not need to rest, but He did so as an example for us.  In this way He sanctified the day and made it holy.  No man can duplicate this kind of action and God did not sanctify or make Holy any other day as a day of rest.  He made the Sabbath for man and we are expected to observe the Sabbath. 

Exo 31:13,17 – ‘’But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, `You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. `It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.’’

The Sabbath week is a picture and type of God’s creation.  Since a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, thus, we are in the very first moments of that seventh day, we are in the Sabbath Millennium.

This notion is becoming more appealing among Christians now days, in that it parallels the many signs of the end of the age rapidly approaching, signs that are so obvious to the believing student of the scriptures.

There is another picture and type of Sabbath Millennium and that is the sabbatical for the land.

Lev 25:3 - "Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard."

We need to take a good hard look at what the Sabbath Millennium is and how it is going to come about.  Zechariah tells us where Yeshua will return and what He will do upon His arrival.

Zec 14:1  Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.

Zec 14:2  For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

Zec 14:3  Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.

Zec 14:4  In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Zec 14:5  You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

We can see by the below verses that we will be in Jerusalem for the Feasts, God’s anointed times.  Also make note there will be no Canaanite in the land any longer.  As a matter of fact there will only be God’s chosen people in the land, the seed of Abraham, His Bondservants.

Zec 14:17  And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.

Zec 14:18  If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

Zec 14:19  This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

Zec 14:20  In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE LORD." And the cooking pots in the LORD'S house will be like the bowls before the altar.

Zec 14:21  Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.

We read in Revelation 20 where the great Satan was bound with chains and put into the Abyss.  Yeshua’s throne is set up on the Temple Mount and judgment is given to all believers, those who have died and those who are still alive and changed.  Rewards and crowns will be given as each deserves by their works.  A government will be established and there will be Kings and Priests.  The holiest of Priests will minister to Yeshua and others will minister to their fellow men.  There will be Captains of thousands, Captains of a thousand, Captains of hundred and Captains of ten.  All of them assigned according to their skill and works while alive.  There will be 24 seats for His Governors on His right side and on His left.  I foresee these being His Apostles and Prophets.  All His Bondservants who believed Him and kept His commandments will live and serve in the Promised Land.  The closer to the Temple Mount that they will live will depend on how well they lived as Bondservants before His return.

There will be Nations outside of the Promised Land.  This will be the great multitude that believed but either through ignorance or rebellion did not keep His Torah.  There will be much gnashing of teeth and weeping when they realize they did not have eyes to see or ears to hear.

Mat 7:21  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Mat 7:22  “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

Mat 7:23  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

They will weep because they will realize that they practiced LAWLESSNESS.  They did not keep His Torah.  There will be different degrees of rewards and different degrees of punishment.

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

So it will be the unlawful that will surely have to live in Egypt or the Nations.  Zechariah is speaking about the Millennial Sabbath when he writes about keeping Tabernacles or Feast of Booths

We will all speak one language.  Just as God confused the language for the people at Babel, He will reverse that when we enter the Kingdom.  We will all speak original Hebrew again.  Does this mean that we should start learning Hebrew now?  That would be helpful, not for when we get in the land, but for studying the scriptures in the language that they were written, so that you do not misunderstand their meaning.

Zep 3:8  Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

Zep 3:9  For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

Zep 3:10  From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.

Zep 3:11  In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.

Zep 3:12  I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.

Zep 3:13  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

From the beginning of Yeshua’s millennial reign the faithful Bondservants of God-including all those who suffered severe persecution and martyrdom-will be the teachers and administrators of that blessed kingdom. The Bondservants assist Yeshua in teaching the ways of brotherly love and righteousness to all people. This was promised by Yeshua in the below verse:

Rev 3:21  'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

It is also foretold in the following verse by Daniel.

Dan 7:27  'Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'

Jeremiah writes about this same event and remarks how the Nations outside the Promised Land will see how His faithful are blessed.

Jer 33:6  'Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.

Jer 33:7  'I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first.

Jer 33:8  'I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.

Jer 33:9  'It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.'

One other point I must make here is that when we reach the Promised Land and Yeshua has taken care of the enemy, we will all be gathered for a marriage ceremony.  That marriage will be Yeshua and His bride.  His bride will be clean, not corrupted with pagan worship rituals of the harlot church.  This is what the Feast of Tabernacles is about.  We are given a small glimpse of that wedding in Revelations Seven.

Rev 7:9  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

Rev 7:10  and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Rev 7:11  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

Rev 7:12  saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Rev 7:13  Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?"

Rev 7:14  I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev 7:15  "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

Rev 7:16  "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;

Rev 7:17  for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

It is going to be a glorious time during the Millennial Sabbath.  We will work and play.  We will all have jobs that we love.  However, there will be no doctor, dentist, lawyers, policeman, jailers, Army, Navy, Air Force or dogcatchers.  There will be no need for any of these jobs, but there will be teachers, carpenters, ironworkers and all manner of craftsmen and administrators.  We will continually be learning all types of knowledge but most of all Torah.  We will continue to grow in the LORD and become closer and closer to Him.  Those outside of the Promised Land will eventually move closer.  Like the children of Israel wondering in the wilderness for forty years before they were God centered enough to go into the land, we will by the end of the 1000 years, be cleaned up enough to enter Heaven.  But, Heaven will not be somewhere up above our galaxy or the universe.  There will be a New Earth and a New Jerusalem.  Read Revelations 21 and 22.  There is not much description of Heaven in the Bible, but using the Millennial Sabbath as a picture and type of Heaven, it will surly be something to look forward to.