Every human government has a beastly nature. In America, you cannot depend on the Republicans or the Democrats, the conservatives or the liberals, to govern righteously. If our understanding of Bible prophecy is correct, the beast - an oppressive, evil government - will soon speak. And his laws and decrees will not be good for the body of Christ
Only the return of Jesus can bring a truly just and righteous government to the nations of this world. Oh, that He would come back soon! But, dear children of God, there is a better world coming. And when it comes, “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Isaiah 9:6.
2000 years ago, the Lord came to earth alone, to die. When He comes back, He comes to reign. But He won’t come back alone. Revelation 19:14: “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”
Zechariah14:1 says, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh.” That will be a millennial day; a 1000-year day. We believe we are nearing the one-thousand year reign of Christ. That 1000 years is mentioned six times in seven verses in Revelation 20. We refer to it as “the Millennium.”
Those who are faithful in the body of Christ are going to live through that 1000 years, so we ought to know what it is all about. Mankind has had 6000 years, but the next 1000 belong to the Lord and His redeemed.
In some prophecy, 1000 years is considered one day. See II Peter 3:8. There are many prophecies that speak of that millennial year reign of Christ as “the day of the Lord.” Some of those are Isaiah 13:6,9; 34:8; Joel 2:1,31; Malachi 4:5.
So, the 1000 year reign of Christ is a prophetic day. That day of the Lord is the 7th day. Man has had six 1000-year days, and made a mess of things. But the seventh day is the Lord’s, and He will restore paradise in it.
So, how will it be in the Lord’s day? What will the millennium be like? We may not know in detail, but we know a lot about our future home and work. There’s benefit in talking about the millennial kingdom. It’s encouraging to glimpse future glory. The prize is worth the race. So, what is the millennium going to be like?
When the millennial reign of Christ starts, much of the world will be burned over and devastated by the effects of the great tribulation and Armageddon. But Israel will be like the Garden of Eden. The miraculous transformation of the Holy Land will be awesome. It will seem like a dream.
Psalms 126:1-3 “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”
Only the return of Jesus can bring a truly just and righteous government
Isaiah 35 tells us the desert will blossom like a rose and those with deformities will be healed. This is reiterated in Isaiah 41:18: “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
Israel will be very different from the rest of the world. It will be glorious; everywhere else will be devastated. Delegations will approach Jerusalem, sent from distant lands that were ravished by warfare and by the great tribulation. “Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.” Zechariah 8:22.
Isaiah 2:3: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
to the nations of this world.
The seven last plagues will have destroyed the nations’ economies, their agriculture, their manufacturing capacity; leaving their land desolate. But as these delegations approach Jerusalem, they will see that the desert has blossomed as a rose. They will see the healing of those who were sick and injured. They will desire to have Kingdom order in their lands. They will ask the Lord to make their deserts blossom as a rose, to heal their sick, to feed their hungry.
They will be amazed at the “times of restitution of all things.” Acts 3:21. They have come to Jerusalem from cities that were devastated and turned into violent arenas of fear, robbery, pillage, and death. Isaiah 24:10-12: “The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.”
Jeremiah 4:28-29: “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.”
Jesus will grant the nations’ requests for assistance. He will send members of His bride to impose His government on those who have asked for it. Those in the bride will then be given their rewards. “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17.
Possibly delegations of the redeemed and the resurrected will be sent with those bride members to rebuild from the devastation. It will be work, but also joyous pleasure.
At the beginning of the Millennium, gloom is over much of the earth, but in Israel there is light. Isaiah 60:1-5: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.”
In fact, the blessings of God will be so manifest upon Israel, that some nations will send delegations to secure the blessings, without pledging the obedience. That is, they will try to hold to their old ways, while receiving the benefits of the Kingdom.
This will not work. Psalms 66:3: “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.” The center column reference says that a more accurate translation would say that the enemies will “yield feigned obedience.”
But those who do not truly worship the King in Jerusalem will not be blessed. Zechariah 14:16-17: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.” Isaiah 60:12: “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted.”
As this Kingdom increases, however, the earth will more and more begin to look once again like the Garden of Eden. Physical labor will combine with supernatural power to transform devastation into paradise.
Isaiah 51:3: “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”
Perhaps the 84th Psalm foretells how the redeemed, clothed with God’s power, will transform the cursed ground into an Edenic paradise. “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca (baw-kaw - weeping) make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” Psalms 84:4-7.
This tremendous change is seen in Isaiah, chapters sixty through sixty-six. It will be a glorious time! “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” Psalms 102:16. Christ will be sitting “upon the throne of his glory.” Matthew 25:31.
All will be peace where the Lord exercises His dominion. Micah 4:4-7: “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.”
Incrementally, the dominion of the Lord and the blessings of His reign will reach out from nation to nation. Egypt and Assyria (Iraq) will be the first nations to accept Him. Isaiah 19:23-25: “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”
This glorious redemption means that God will lift the curse that was pronounced upon all creation at the fall of man. See Genesis 3:16-19. There is a wondrous promise in Revelation 22:3: “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.”
All of creation will be delivered from this bondage of the curse. “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Romans 8:21.
Warfare will also be a thing of the past. Their swords will finally be beaten into plowshares. “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:4.
The hymn says, “There is coming a day, when no heartaches shall come. No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye. All is peace forevermore, on that happy, golden shore. What a day, glorious day that will be.”