THE EARTH’S

GREAT

JUBILEE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By

ELD. G. E. JONES

Morrilton, Arkansas

 

 

Price $1.25

 

INDEX SHEET

Chapter One—

What Is Taught About the Reign of Christ….…………………………Page 1

 

Chapter Two—

The Saint's Share in the Reign…………………………………….         Page 14

 

Chapter Three—

The Thousand Years—The Earth's Great Jubilee……………..…. Page 35

 

Chapter Four—

The Subjects of the Reign………………………………………………       Page 41

 

Chapter Five—

         The Nature of the Reign…………………………………………………….    Page 42

 

Chapter Six—

Israel's Conversion and Permanent Restoration…………………. Page 51

 

Chapter Seven—

The Times of Restitution……………………………………………….        Page 70

 

Chapter Eight—

Prophetic Symbols and Visions Have Literal Fulfillment……    Page 75

 

Chapter Nine—

   Two Separate Manifestations in Christ's Second Advent…… Page 79

 

Chapter Ten—

  Numerical Testimony………………………………………………………    Page 81

 

Chapter Eleven—

Objections Considered………………………………………………….         Page 90

 

Chapter Twelve—

 The Faith of the Early Churches…………………………………..        Page 105

 

Addenda……………………………………………………………………..          Page 112

INTRODUCTION

 

The Bible truth concerning the reign of Christ and His saints, like other great Bible truths, has been obscured by a fog of human theories and ideas which are contrary to the word of God. This book is written with the hope that it will help to clear away that fog and let men see what the Bible really teaches on this great subject.

 

It is written for the additional purpose of setting forth the glory which the reign of Christ and His saints will bring to this earth, in which time the earth shall have her great jubilee. The soul of this writer has been made to thrill with joy as the scriptural teachings on this subject have opened
to him more and more. The inexpressable joy that glorious event will bring to the earth, and especially the suffering children of God, will be rapturous. The very thought of that glorious age is enough to stir the deepest and richest emotions of our hearts. The ravages, suffering and heartaches which wars have brought will be over and peace will envelope this globe. The curse that has rested on creation since the fall of Adam will be lifted. The superstition and spiritual darkness that have blighted the minds of men will give way to the knowledge of the Lord that shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

 

This writer is distinctly a Premillennialist. He is that because it is the only system of teaching on prophecy that does not leave numerous passages in God's word unplaced.  He has in his possession a letter from a preacher which says there is no time or place for a thousand years reign. The Bible plainly says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." In his system of Bible interpretation he has no place for this prophetic event. The Bible says it SHALL BE but that preacher says it will not be and cannot be. Because of his lack of understanding and his inability to rightly divide the word of truth he must throw out this portion of God's word and thus leave the scriptures broken. Jesus said, "The scripture cannot be broken." John 10:35. This writer cannot accept any position that has the scripture broken and leaves a mutilated Bible.

 

Many books have been read by the writer, written by Postmillennialists, Nonmillennialists, and Amillennialists who seek to evade the plain positive statements in the word of God concerning the reign of Christ and His saints. None of them leave a place for the fulfillment of many prophetic passages. They have to twist and turn to seemingly make out a case for their theories. They have to give their own private interpretation on many prophecies, a thing the Bible forbids (2 Pet. 1:20), and do away with the plain simple meaning of these passages.

 

Many of their arguments savor of unbelief and remind one of the tactics of infidels and atheists. The Bible states in Joel 3:11 and 12 that the nations will be gathered to the valley of Jehoshaphat where the Lord will sit to judge them. An Amillennialist writer said there would not be room in that valley for such a judgment. He also tried to prove there would not be room enough on the mountains of Israel to bury the army of Gog, as stated in Ezek. 39:11-16. This is like the infidels who try to prove there would not have been room enough in Noah's ark for two of each of all the animals of the earth.

 

If men will only come to the Bible with an open mind, willing to lay down all human traditions, they can learn the truth on this line, the same as on any other truth. The world needs a plain message today. It is the duty of the messengers of the Lord to bring it to them.

 

What this book contains is the result of over 45 years of hard study on this subject. The writer has spared no pains to do his best to get to the bottom of the subject. It his been studied both from the standpoint of English trans­lations and from the original language. Where an English word occurs which may have more than one meaning he has gone to the original language to discover the meaning in the original. For instance the English word "Then" occurs in 1 Cor. 15:24. This English word may mean "At that time" or "The next thing in order." The original language shows definitely that the last is the meaning of the Greek word translated "Then" in this place. The writer has assumed nothing. His conclusions have not been based on inferences, but on plain positive scriptural statements. The reader is asked to weigh carefully the scriptural proof presented in this work. There are quotations from about 50 of the books in the Bible. May the reader be blessed in reading this work as has the writer in writing it.

1957 (Handwritten after the book was printed – Leon King)

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

WHAT IS TAUGHT ABOUT THE REIGN OF CHRIST

 

1.  He is to Govern the Nations on the Earth.

 

"O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and GOVERN THE NA­TIONS UPON EARTH," Ps. 67:4.

 

2.  He is to Be Given the Uttermost Parts of the Earth for His Possession.

 

"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine heritance and the uttermost parts of the EARTH for thy I possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel," Ps. 2:8-9. This is the promise of the Father to the Son, and the Son makes a like promise to those who overcome. "And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them a rod of iron; as vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: EVEN AS I HAVE RECEIVED OF MY FATHER," Rev. 2:26-27.

Notice it is the nations over which Christ is to rule, and the overcomers are to rule, and it is the uttermost parts of the earth over which Christ is to have possession. Some stumble over the expression that Christ will break the nations into pieces as a potter's vessel. But remember that when a vessel is marred in the potter's hand he refashions it into a better vessel. Read Jer. 18:4.

 

3. He is to Have Dominion from Sea to Sea.

 

"In his days shall the righteous flourish; and the abundance of peace as long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the EARTH," Ps. 72:7-8.

 

Notice, this dominion is on this EARTH. His dominion is to be from sea to sea. There will be no sea on the new I see Rev. 21:1. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was NO MORE SEA." Since this reign is to be from sea to sea it is not the Lord's reign on the new earth that is under consideration.  Neither is heaven under consideration because it is said the dominion is to be to the ends of the EARTH.

 

This reign is to be one of peace that shall last as long the moon endureth. There will be no moon when the new earth comes.  “The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it.”  It will be a reign of peace while the moon endureth.  The moon was made to give light on this earth.  “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; - - - and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light UPON THE EARTH,” Gen. 1:14-15.  This reign is to be on this earth while the moon endures to give its light.  It is to end when the moon ceases to endure.  This is one phase of the everlasting reign of Christ, and can be none other than the thousand years reign, which shall come to an end.

 

4.  Christ Must Reign Until He Has Put All Enemies Under His Feet.

 

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Cor 15:24-26.

 

The word THEN in this place does not mean AT THAT TIME as Nonmillennialists would have people to believe.  It means AFTERWARDS.  The dictionary gives AFTERWARDS or AT ANOTHER TIME as one of the meanings of the word THEN.  We are not to take which one suits our purpose, but the meaning that the context and the original language support.  The Greek word translated THEN in this place is “Eita.”  Both Thayer’s Lexicon and Young’s Analytical Concordance render this word AFTERWARDS, NEXT, and AFTER THAT.  See Thayer’s Lexicon, page 188, and Young’s Concordance, page 972.

 

Paul showed an order or sequence of events when he said, “In Christ shall all be made alive, But every man in his own ORDER: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.  Then (After that) cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he SHALL HAVE PUT DOWN all rule and all authority and power FOR he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet,” 1 Cor. 15:23-24.  Here is a series of events with intervals of time between.  The first event is the resurrection of Christ, himself.  The next is the resurrection of the saints which will take place after the interval of time between the Lord’s resurrection and His second coming.  Last in order is the end when He SHALL HAVE DELIVERED the kingdom back to the Father.  This comes when he shall have put all enemies under his feet.  Between the raising of the Lord’s people at His coming and the END there will be another interval of time, during which the reign under consideration will be taking place. The statement in verse 24 is explained by the next verse, "For (or because) he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." The reign occupies the last interval of time, the one which intervenes between the resurrection of the saved and the END, which comes AFTERWARDS.

 

The reign under consideration here is not an everlasting reign, but one that lasts till Christ shall have put all enemies under His feet. There is to come a time when the reign spoken of here is to end, and Christ is to turn the kingdom back to the Father. No such thing is said about the reign in Revelation 22:5.

 

5. Christ is to Rule in the Midst of His Enemies.

 

"The Lord shall send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies," Ps. 110:2.

If the Lord rules in the midst of His enemies His rule will be on earth. 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, "He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." One and the same reign is under consideration in both these places.

 

The ZION mentioned can be no other than earthly Zion, the seat of David's kingdom. In Psalms 2:6 God says, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill in Zion." He goes on to say, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Here the KING is connected with ZION where the earth is to be his possession.

 

6. The Zion of This Earth is the City of the Great King.

 

"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole EARTH, is Mount Zion, in the sides of the north, the CITY OF THE GREAT KING," Ps. 48:2.

 

This was the city of David. "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, - - that he might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of THE CITY OF DAVID, WHICH IS ZION," 1 Kings. 8:1. From this place David ruled. And from this place Christ will rule. He is the GREAT KING of Psalms 48:2. The Zion here is the joy of the whole EARTH.

 

7. Christ is to Reign in Mount Zion and Jerusalem.

 

"Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall REIGN IN MOUNT ZION and JERUSALEM, and before his ancients gloriously," Isa. 24:23. David reigned in MOUNT ZION and Jerusalem. Christ was promised the throne of David. So he will reign in Zion and Jerusalem, as did David.

 

8. He is to Be Given the Throne of David, and Jerusalem where David's Throne Was WILL BE HIS THRONE.

The angel who appeared to Mary said to her about Jesus who should be born, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David," Luke 1:32.

 

"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers." Jer. 3:17-18.

 

Some who wish to evade the truth revealed here say the Jerusalem in this place is the new Jerusalem, or Heav­enly Jerusalem. Neither the word "New" or "Heavenly" is found connected with Jerusalem in this place. If God had meant the new Jerusalem he would certainly have had the word NEW put in this place, and not have left an unfinished statement for men to fill out for him.

 

The context itself shows it to be Jerusalem on this earth. In connection with the statement that Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, the prophet tells that Judah, which was the southern kingdom, and Israel which was the northern kingdom, shall come together out of the north to the land which God gave to their fathers for an inheritance. That was the land between the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates. "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates," Gen. 15:18. This land, which God gave to their fathers for an inheritance, is on this earth. It is to this land that both Judah and Israel, all the tribes, will be gathered in the days when Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord. See Jer. 3:17-18.

 

God has never cancelled or disannuled the covenant He made with Abraham concerning the land He gave to him and his seed. Here is proof. "An angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I WILL NEVER break my covenant with you," Judges 2:1. Also see Gal. 3:15-17. "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be out a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man DIS-ANNULLETH or ADDETH thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannual, that it should make the promise of none effect."

 

The covenant God made with Abraham concerning the land of promise in Genesis 15:18, and which He swore He would never break (Judges 2:1), was confirmed with God's oath, and can never be disannulled. The law covenant, a conditional covenant, which was made 430 years after the Abrahamic covenant, did not disannul the promise to Abraham, neither can it.

 

This covenant was confirmed in Christ and will be fulfilled in Christ. That is why Christ must be on His throne in Jerusalem, and the Israelites must return in faith to their land, to be permanently settled in that land.

 

9.  Christ is to Reign and Prosper and Execute Judgment and Justice in the Earth.

 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the EARTH.  In his days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," Jer. 23:5-6. Christ’s throne, like that of David, will be on earth.

 

What God said to Coniah is used by some to try to refute the Bible truth at this point. Let us examine that passage.

 

         “Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol?  Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure?  Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah," Jer. 22:28-30.

 

But the objectors stop too soon. They should continue into the next chapter, to where the Lord said a RIGHTEOUS BRANCH would be raised up unto David, and a King shall reign and prosper IN THE EARTH.  None of Coniah’s seed will, but this RIGHTEOUS Branch, Christ, who is not of Coniah’s seed, will reign and prosper on David’s throne on this earth, and at Jerusalem.  See Jer. 3:17 and 23:5.

 

Coniah’s seed were cut off and thus the line of Solomon was cut off from the throne.  But Luke shows that Christ descended from David through his son Nathan, and not through Solomon.  See Luke 3:23-31.

 

Jeremiah 23:5-6 belongs to the same context as Jeremiah 22:28-30.  The chapter division is the work of man.  The passage in Jeremiah 23:5-6 which follows right after that about Coniah in the verses above shows that even though Coniah and his seed were cut off, and none of them should ever prosper, sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem, yet David would have a RIGHTEOUS Branch (not an ungodly one like Coniah), who would sit on his throne and prosper and reign in the earth.

 

The verse that follows Jeremiah 23:5 shows that when this righteous Branch reigns and prospers in the EARTH Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely.  No one can find a time up until this hour when Judah has been saved and Israel has dwelled safely.  Until the present time the lives of these people have been in jeopardy every hour.  But when Christ, the righteous Branch, shall reign and prosper in the earth they shall dwell in safety.

 

10.  The Land of Palestine Was Made for a Place For the Lord to Dwell in.

 

In this connection, look at a part of the song which the children of Israel sang after their passage of the Red Sea.

 

“The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of PALESTINA. - - - Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, IN THE PLACE, O LORD, which thou hast made for THEE TO DWELL IN, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” Ex 15:14-17.  So, Palestine, the land into which the Lord led the Israelites, is the PLACE which He made for Himself to DWELL IN.  This will put His dwelling place ON THE EARTH.

 

11.  The Lord Will Return to Zion and DWELL IN JERUSALEM.

 

“Thus saith the LORD; I am RETURNED unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of JERUSALEM: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts. Zech. 8:3-6.

 

Dr. Smith, in the Goodspeed translation, translates verse 3, “I will return to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.”  He translates verse 6, “If it seem incredible in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, in my sight also will it seem incredible?”

 

This is a prophecy of Christ’s return to Zion to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.  When Jeremiah said, “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord” (Jer. 3:17), he meant the Jerusalem where David dwelled and where David had his throne.

 

12.  When the Lord Appears in His Glory He Will Build Up ZION>

 

“When the Lord shall build up ZION, he shall appear in his glory,” Ps. 102.16.  This connects the building up of Zion with the Lord’s return in glory.

 

13.  When the Lord Comes in His Glory He Will Sit Upon the Throne of His Glory.

 

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” Matt. 25:31.

 

This is when He shall appear in His glory and build up Zion, as in Psalms 102.16.  It is when He shall return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, as in Zechariah 8:3.

 

The judgment that follows Matthew 25:31 is not the judgment of the dead who come from the sea, death and Hades to be judged, mentioned in Revelation l20:11-13.  Matthew 25:32 says, “Before him shall be gathered all nations.”  The living constitute nations, not the dead.  It will be those who are left living on this earth at our Lord’s return to sit on His throne (Matt. 25:31) and shall be gathered before Him to be judged at that time.  See Matt. 25:32-46.

 

14.    The Lord at His Return to Earth Will Come to Mount of Olives.

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” Zech. 14:1-4.

 

Here is a prophecy of our Lord’s return to the earth.  It is to come in the midst of a battle that is raging over Jerusalem.  It is to come at a time when Jerusalem is being destroyed and when half of the city has been captured.  He is coming to fight against the nations that are in the very act of destroying the city.  His coming brings to an end that destruction.  At His coming His feet shall stand on the mount of Olives.  At that time the mount of Olives will be split asunder.  Half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south, forming a valley running east and west, the natural consequences of part of the mountain going north and part of it going south.

 

The feeble effort of those who oppose Premillennial truth to get around this plain prophecy is pathetic, and a downright denial of the word of God.  They say this was fulfilled when Jesus was her the first time.  But saying something is one thing, proving it is another.  It is very easy to make an affirmation.  But oftentimes it is impossible to prove it.  They show where Jesus was on the mount of Olives when He was here the first time.  That is readily admitted.  But where is the proof that the mount of Olives was split asunder at that time?  Where is their proof that half of it was moved toward the north and half of it toward the south, forming a great valley east and west?  Where is the proof that all nations were gathered against Jerusalem to battle at that time?  Where is the proof that the city was being destroyed and plundered at that time, and that Jesus fought against those nations bringing to a halt the destruction of the city.  When they bring the proof that all these things happened when Jesus was here the first time they have proven their contention, and not before.  But they cannot bring this proof, and they know they cannot.  Therefore, they simply show that Jesus was on the mount of Olives when He was here the firs time, and pass it off with that.  This writer cannot accept such loose handling of the word of God.  He wonders if such a treatment of this whole passage of prophecy is really satisfying to those who make such a flimsy effort to explain it away.  They know they cannot bring the proof that all of these things happened when Jesus was here the first time.  The best they can do is prove that He was on the mount of Olives, and stop at that.  They try to forget, or get the people to forget, the many other things which mush happen to fulfill this prophecy.  Such methods of dealing with the word of God do not satisfy this writer.  For this reason he is a Premillennialist.  A Premillennialist can believe that all the things foretold in this passage must and will happen.

 

This prophecy proves that Jesus will return to this earth, and His feet shall stand on the earth.  This was what Job believed and foretold when he said, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the EARTH: and though after my skin works destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25-26.

 

Job expected to see Christ on this earth after the Lord had raised the old patriarch from his grave. The Lord must return to the earth as the many passages which have bene given plainly show.  None but Premillennialists believe this.  Because of this fact, this writer can never be anything else than a Premillennialist.

 

15.  Christ is to Return in the Midst of the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty, Commonly Known as the Battle of Armageddon.

 

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. BEHOLD, I COME AS A THIEF. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16:13-16.

 

This is a gathering of all nations of the whole world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.  The coming of Christ is mentioned in the same connection.  The gathering place for the armies is Armageddon.  This will be the logical place for the gathering.  It is inland, just a short distance from the port of Hiafa, the main seaport in Palestine.  It is in the right place for the forces coming by sea to join the forces coming by land from the north.

 

However, let it be noticed, it does not say the battle will be fought at Armageddon, but that the nations will be gathered there.  The fight will probably range from her south to Jerusalem.  Armageddon is some fifty miles or more north of Jerusalem.

 

This is the same battle which Zechariah foretold in chapter 14, verses 1 to 15.  In Revelation, John calls it the battle of the great day of God Almighty.  Zechariah said, “Behold the day of the Lord cometh.”  John said the kings of the whole world would be gathered to it.  Zechariah said all nations would be gathered against Jerusalem to battle.  The Lord warns of His coming in connection with this great battle.  Zechariah states that the Lord shall come to FIGHT against those nations.

 

In Revelation 19:11-21 is a prophecy of our Lord’s coming and the battler of the great day of God Almighty.  “I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and MAKE WAR,” VERSE 11.  This is Christ coming to make WAR or to fight against the nations gathered to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, as foretold in Zech. 14:1-4, and Rev. 16:13-16.

 

“His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself.  And he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God,” verses 12-13. This is more proof that this is Christ, for He is the Word of God.

 

“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” Verse 14.  These are the saints of God coming back from heaven with Christ.  They are clothed in fine linen.  Revelation 19:8 states, “The fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”  These are the saints of God, previously raptured with Christ in the air, now coming back with Him to the battle.  This is in keeping with what Zechariah foretold, “And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee,” Zech. 14:5.  Compare with Revelation 19:11-14 where Christ is shown coming out of heaven and the saints coming with him.

 

In Revelation 17:14, speaking of the kings who shall be associated with the beast, John said, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are  CALLED, AND CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL.”  This is the same battle described in Revelation 19:11-231 and in Zechariah 14:1-15.  The “Called and chosen and faithful” who are with the Lamb in this place are the saints of Zechariah 14:5 and of Revelation 19:14 who shall come back from heaven with Christ as He comes to make war with His enemies and overcome them.

 

But let us proceed with our study of the battle in the 19th chapter of Revelation.

 

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

 

This should settle any doubt one might have as to the identity of the white horse rider in this passage who is coming to make WAR.  He is called Faithful and True.  He is called the WORD of God.  He is called King of kings, and Lord of lords.  This can be none other than Christ.  He is pictured coming out of heaven, and the saints with Him, coming to make war.  This must be one and the same event as that foretold by Zechariah in chapter 14, verses 1 to 5, where the Lord comes to fight against Israel’s enemies.

 

He is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and is to smite the nations with a rod of iron.  This corresponds with Psalms 2:8-9, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

 

Let us read the closing verses of Revelation 19.

 

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, - - - These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

 

This is the consummation of the battle.  The beast and the false prophet are cast alive into a lake of fire.  The kings with them and their armies are all destroyed.  This does not mean, however, that there will not still be people in the nations from which these armies came.  All the people of a nation do not go into an army.

 

The beast and the false prophet are seen in this connection.  Their influence is seen in Revelation l16:3-16 gathering the kings of the earth to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.  The kings are seen in this connection.  They are mentioned in Revelation 17:14 as making war against the Lamb.  The coming of Christ is seen in connection with the battle of the great day of God Almighty in Revelation 16:4-5.  It is foretold in Revelation 17:14 that the Lamb shall overcome those kings.  He is seen coming and fighting against those kings and their armies in Revelation 19:11-21.

 

The purpose in the minds of the beast and his associates will be to destroy Israel.  But in coming against Israel they will find they have come against the Lord of hosts, the One might in battle.  They will meet with the King of glory, King of kings and Lord of lords, the One might in battle. “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord might in battle,” Ps. 24:8.

 

While the beast and kings of the earth will have their purpose in gathering to this battle, which will be to destroy Israel, God will also have His purpose.  They will be ignorant of the Lord’s purpose.  Both purposes are found in Micah 4:11.

 

“Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”

 

All these passages show the prophecy of Zechariah 14:1-5 to be predictions of an event still in the future.  It must be fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled in connection with our Lord’s return to earth.

 

Some who do not want to accept the truth of these prophecies make light of the prediction that Christ will return from heaven on a white horse.  They sneeringly ask, “Is there a livery stable in heaven?”

 

First of all, let it be said that nothing in the Bible was written to be laughed at, or to be made a source of jest.  That borders on railing, which the Bible greatly condemns.  The Bible, and everything in it, was written for our profit, and our enlightenment.  In the next place, the Bible teaches that horses are a symbol of warfare.  In Proverbs 21:31 it is stated, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle.”  Since Christ is coming in Revelation 19:11-21 to make war, then he is pictured riding a white horse.

 

If the reader will turn to 2 Kings 6:8-17 he will find similar horses.  When the armies of the Syrians came to take the  prophet Elisha God had the prophet protected by horses and chariots of fire.  Elisha’s servant had to be supernaturally enabled to see these horses and chariots of fire.  The horses of Revelation 19:11-14 will be after this same fashion.  John saw them in a vision.  The beast and his armies may be able to see them at the last moment when the heavens open and the Lord and His host descend upon the heads of the unsuspecting followers of the beast.

 

The Bible foretold the place to which Christ would come the first time.  That place was Bethlehem, found in, Micah 5:2.  It also foretells the place to which He will come the second time.  That will be the mount of Olives, found in Zechariah 14:1-4.

 

16.  Christ is to Be King Over the Whole Earth.

 

This take us back to the 14th chapter of Zechariah.  After telling about the Lord coming with His saints in the midst of the battle against Jerusalem the prophet went on to say, “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one,” Verse 9.

 

Now, if the reader will take up where we left off in our discussion of the battle in Revelation 19:11-21, and will read on down to chapter 20, verse 6, he will read about the thousand year reign of Christ and His saints.  These prophecies of Zechariah and John fit together.  In many ways they foretell the same things.  They both foretell of all the nations being gathered together to war.  They both foretell the coming of the saints with Christ.  They both foretell that the Lord will be victorious.  They both foretell the reign that shall follow the coming of Christ.  Zechariah adds some details that John does not have, and John gives some details that Zechariah does not have, but the pattern and general outline is the same in both prophecies. Zechariah states the reign will be on the earth.  John states it is to last a thousand years.  The whole context in Revelation shows the reign is to be on the earth.  This shall be taken up later in this work.

CHAPTER TWO

 

THE SAINTS SHARE IN THE REIGN

 

Having seen what the Bible teaches about the reign of Christ on this earth, we shall now see what it teaches concerning the part the saints of the Lord shall have in that reign.

 

1.  Those Who Suffer Are Promised They Shall Reign With Him.

 

“If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him, “ 2 Tim. 2:11-12.  The suffering comes in this present life, the reigning comes hereafter, but they do not come together.

 

2.  Those Who Suffer with Christ Are to Be Glorified With Him.

 

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.  For I reckon that the suffering of THIS PRESENT TIME are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” Rom. 8:17-18.  The suffering is now, the glory hereafter.

 

3.  The Saints Are to Be Partakers of the Glory of Christ, When His Glory Shall Be Revealed.

 

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Pet. 4:12-13.

 

“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,” 1 Pet. 5:1.

 

These passages show those who are partakers of the sufferings of Christ in this present time shall be partakers of His glory, when His glory shall be revealed.  That will be at His return.

 

 

4.  The Revelation of that Glory is Connected with the Receiving of Crowns at the Lord’s Coming.

 

“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. AND WHEN THE CHIEF SHEPHERD SHALL APPEAR, ye shall receive a crown of GLORY that fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. 5:1-4.

 

These passages teach those who share in the sufferings of Christ will also be partakers of His GLORY when that GLORY shall be revealed; and when Christ comes a crown of GLORY shall be given to the faithful servants of the Lord. 2 Tim. 2:12 teaches they shall reign with Him.  Thus it is proved that those who suffer with Christ shall share in His GLORY when that GLORY shall be revealed.  They shall be given a crown of GLORY at the Lord’s coming.  Those who suffer with Him shall be GLORIFIED with Him.  Those who suffer for Him shall REIGN with Him.

 

Those who reign as kings have crowns.  Crowns and reigning are associated together.  The saints of the Lord shall reign with Him after He returns, and not before.  There is no room here for a reign of Christ and His saints before Christ returns.  The Postmillennial and Amillennial views are wrong.  The Premillennial view which teaches Christ must return before the reign, is the correct position.

 

5.  Paul and Apollos Were NOT Reigning in Their Lifetime.

 

5. Paul and Apollos Were NOT Reigning in Their Lifetime.

 

In rebuking the Corinthians about their conduct Paul wrote to them as follows: "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: And I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God hath set forth us apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you," 1 Cor. 4:8-14.

 

Dr. Williams' translation makes this passage more em­phatic. It reads: "Are you satisfied already? Have you grown rich already? Have you ascended your thrones without us to join you? Yes, I could wish that you had ascended your thrones, that we, too, might join you on them! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles at the very tail end of the procession, as they do with men who are doomed to die in the arena. For we have become a spectacle to the uni­verse, to angels as well as to men. For Christ's sake we are held as fools, while you through your union with Christ are men of wisdom. We are weak, you are strong. You are held in honor, we in dishonor. To this very hour we have gone hungry, thirsty, poorly clad; we have been roughly knocked around, we have had no home, we have worked hard with our own hands for a living. When abused by people we bless them, when persecuted we patiently bear it, when slandered by them we try to conciliate them. To this very hour we have been made the filth of the world, and the scum of the universe! I do not write this to make you blush with shame but to give you counsel as my dear children."

 

In his footnote Dr. Williams said these words were spoken in the keenest irony. They were spoken in rebuke to the Corinthians for acting as though they had already entered their reign. But he lets them know they were not yet reigning. He expresses a wish they had entered their reign, that he and Apollos might reign with them. Instead of Paul and his companions in labor having already received their glory and entered their reign, they were being put to shame, held as fools, being reviled, being persecuted, de­famed, and held as the filth and scum of the universe. If the Corinthians had in fact entered their reign then Paul and Apollos and others would also have been reigning with them, and their trials, persecutions, humiliation, and suffer­ings would have been over. They would have been sharing in the Lord's glory, and not in the suffering.

 

From this passage it is clearly seen that neither Paul, Apollos, the other apostles, nor even the Corinthians had yet entered their reign. If Paul did not reign with Christ in his lifetime, then how can others presume to say they are now reigning with Christ?

 

When Paul said, "I would to God that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you," he was showing that one group of the Lord's people could not reign apart from others, but when some entered the reign they would all enter it together. That makes the reign impossible as long as the Lord has suffering saints in this world. We must all go into the reign together, the saved of the twentieth century along with the saved of the first century, and all interven­ing time. The saints of the first century are all dead and gone. So are those of the intervening centuries. These, then, cannot reign until Christ has come and has raised them from the dead. We cannot enter the reign before them, and without them. Christ must come and glorify all His saints before any can reign with Him.

 

The Postmillennial position puts the thousand years reign before the coming of Christ. Paul did not reign with Christ during his lifetime. If so, he would not have expressed a wish to be reigning. What a man sees and has he does not hope for, Rom. 8:24. Paul expected to reign with Christ. He hoped for and desired that very thing. But he died without ever entering that reign. If the reign takes place before Christ returns then it will take place before Paul is raised from the dead, and Paul's wish, hope and desire will never be realized. The Postmillennial theory would cheat Paul, and all saints who are in their graves, out of their reign with Christ. This, alone, is enough to show the absurdity and unscripturalness of the Postmillennial theory.

 

Furthermore, the words of Paul in this place show the absurdity and unscripturalness of the Amillennial position. Paul said, "I would to God ye did reign that we also might reign with you." A prominent Boston preacher with a D.D. on his name claims the Amillennial position. In his book he said when the children of God die and their spirits go to heaven they then start their thousand years reign. He did not give one scripture to prove the saints enter their reign at death. He gave none to show the saints would ever REIGN in heaven. This for the very good reason that there were none to give. Let the Amillennialist, or other critic, find one passage that says the saints will go into their REIGN at death. Let him find one passage that says the saints will REIGN in heaven. It may be a popular senti­ment, but it has no scriptural foundation, whatsoever. The Bible plainly states, "We shall reign on the EARTH," Rev. 5:10. It plainly states those who have part in the first RES­URRECTION shall reign with Christ a thousand years, Rev. 20:6. Men may place the reign of the saints in heaven, but the Bible places it on the earth. Men may connect our reign with death, but the Bible places it in connection with our resurrection. Would this Boston preacher, an Amillennialist, dare say to his congregation what Paul said to the Corin­thians, and apply it to his theory of the millennial reign? Can one feature him saying to his people, "You will start your reign with Christ when you die, and, in the words of Paul I say to you, I would to God that ye did reign?" How else could that be taken but as a wish they were all dead? If a man cannot make an application of a scriptural wish to his theory, he had better give it up.

But every Premillennialist can teach his position to his people and make the same wish about his congregation that Paul made about the Corinthians. He can say, "You and all other saints will enter the reign after Christ has come and glorified you. In the words of Paul I can say, I would to God ye did reign." That would simply be expressing a wish Christ had already come. Such a wish is in keeping with the word of God. But to wish that all the congregation were dead would be unscriptural, offensive, absurd, and wicked. No pastor ever wished such a thing about his congregation. Paul was not wishing the Corinthians were all dead, but that Christ had already come and they were all glorified. Many a pastor has wished that about himself and all his people. He is praying for that very thing when he prays, as did John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," Rev. 22:20.

 

Thus the Bible proves that the reign cannot come be­fore the coming of Christ. This is the Premillennial position.

 

6. The Bible Puts the Reign in the Future.

 

"If we suffer: we shall also reign with him," 2 Tim. 2:12. The words "shall reign" are future tense. They place the reign in the future, not in the present time.

 

"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him I will give power over the nations: and he SHALL RULE them with a rod of iron," Rev. 2:26-27. The words SHALL RULE are also future tense, and place the ruling in the future. If the saints were not reigning in Paul's time, nor when John wrote the book of Revelation, but are reigning today, will someone tell us when they began to reign? Will they say they are now ruling the nations? If so, when did they begin to do this? What event started that rule?

 

"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we SHALL reign on the EARTH," Rev. 5:9-10. Again the reign is placed in the future, as in 2 Tim. 2:12 and Rev. 2:26-27.

 

Those whom John heard singing the song of Revelation 5:9-10 were in heaven when they were singing it. In Revela­tion 4:2 John said, "I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in HEAVEN, and one sat on the throne." This throne was in heaven. In Revelation 5:1 John said, "I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side sealed with seven seals." The book was in heaven. Then John said, "I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, - - ­and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne," verses 6 and 7. The throne, the one on the throne, the book, and the Lamb were in heaven. Then verses 9 to 10: "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, - - - and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall (future) reign on the earth." The ones who fell down before the Lamb and sang the song were in heaven.

 

Notice, these did not say, "We are reigning in heaven," but, "We SHALL reign on the EARTH." If the saints are reigning in heaven why did they say, "We shall reign on the earth," instead of saying, "We are reigning in heaven?"

 

If those who were in heaven singing "We shall reign on the earth," ever reign on the earth, will they not have to come back from heaven to earth to do that reigning? How then, can they come back unless the Lord returns to earth and brings them with him? Zechariah 14:4-5 shows the Lord coming back to earth, and the saints coming with Him. The same thing is shown in Revelation 19:11-14. This answers the question of how those who sang, "We shall reign on the earth," will return from heaven to earth to do their reigning on the earth. When Christ returns to earth to reign He will bring those saints back to earth with Him to reign with Him over the nations on the earth.

 

7. The Lord Promised the Overcomers Would Rule the Nations, and that Promise is Connected with the Ad­monition to Hold Fast Until He Comes.

 

"But that which ye have already hold fast TILL I COME. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron," Rev. 2:25-27.

 

The promise that overcomers shall reign over the na­tions follows right after the admonition to hold fast until the Lord comes. This proves the ruling will take place after the Lord comes, and not before.

 

There are nations on earth, not in heaven. No scripture can be brought to show nations existing in heaven. If, therefore, the saints are to rule over the nations, their rule must be on the earth. Psalms 67:4 says the Lord "shall govern the nations upon EARTH." If the saints RULE the nations on the earth, and they are to REIGN with Christ (2 Tim. 2:12), then they will REIGN on the earth.

 

8. The Bible Plainly States the Redeemed Shall Reign on the Earth.

 

"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign ON THE EARTH," Rev. 5:9-10.

 

Not only is it proved with other scriptures that the re­deemed will reign on the earth, but here it is declared in so many words, "We shall reign on the earth." This reign is placed in the future in passage after passage. This should be the end of all controversy. For a Premillennialist this settles the question as to where the redeemed shall reign. It will be on the EARTH. Men may declare, "The redeemed SHALL NOT reign on the earth," but the Bible declares they will. The Premillennialist believes exactly what the Bible declares on this point. He does not have to give an assertion without proof for his opinion. For his belief that the redeemed shall reign on the earth he can quote, "To him will I give power over the nations," and "We shall reign on the EARTH." For his belief that the saints shall REGIN in heaven the other man can quote WHAT? Where will he find a passage that says the redeemed shall reign, or do reign in heaven? Who has the scriptural proof? No one. The Premillennialist has positive scriptural statements to the effect that the saints shall reign on the earth, and that their reign is future. The other person is without any scriptural statement that the saints are reigning now, or shall reign in heaven. We prove our position with scripture. He gives his own assertions for his position. Who has the right foundation?

 

9. The Saints Are to Be Given the Kingdom and Dominion Under the Whole Heaven.

 

"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High," Dan. 7:26-27.

 

The dominion UNDER heaven, not IN heaven, is to be given to the saints of the most High. This dominion is to be given to the saints after the destruction of the dominion, of Daniel's Little Horn (Dan. 7:21-26), who is the same as the beast of Revelation. In Revelation 19:20 to 20:6 the setting up of the thousand years follows the destruction of the beast and his armies, and the binding of Satan.

 

10. The Saints of God Cannot Inherit the Kingdom and Reign Until They Have Their Glorified Bodies.

 

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption in­herit incorruption, " 1 Cor. 15:50.

 

This passage is almost invariably misused. It is usually quoted to prove that salvation does not come to a person because of any fleshly relations he may have. While that is true, yet that was not the thought about which the apostle Paul was writing in this place. The one who so uses this passage should take notice of the context. Paul was arguing the question of the resurrection of the dead in this whole chapter. Some at Corinth had said there was no resurrection of the dead. Paul had shown if they were right his preaching was in vain; and their faith was in vain; and all he had suffered for the cause of the Lord was useless. Now he is showing if there is no resurrection they cannot even inherit the kingdom of God. He follows his statement about flesh and blood not inheriting the kingdom of God by saying, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

 

In all this Paul is simply showing that before they can inherit the kingdom of God their bodies must be changed from mortal, corruptible bodies of flesh and blood to im­mortal, glorified, undying, and incorruptible bodies. And there must be a resurrection for the saints to inherit the kingdom of God. This will necessitate the coming of Christ, at which time the resurrection of the sleeping saints will take place, and also the changing of the bodies of the living saints. This is the same thing John was teaching in Revela­tion 20:6 when he said those in the first resurrection would reign with Christ a thousand years. Since a resurrection is necessary for the saints to inherit the kingdom of God, then the resurrection of Revelation 20:5-6 is that of the saved dead.

 

It was necessary for Christ to be raised from the dead to sit upon His throne. "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this spake before of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption," Acts 2:30-31. If it was necessary for Christ to be resurrected to sit on His throne, then why should not the same be necessary for His people?

 

11. The Bible Connects the Reign of the Saints With Their Resurrection.

 

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the FIRST RESURRECTION: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," Rev. 20:6.

 

This is in perfect harmony with what we have already found, namely, that people must be changed from bodies of flesh and blood to glorified, immortal bodies before they can reign with Christ. We have also seen that the reign cannot take place until Christ returns, and He must return for the saved dead to be raised.

 

Those who shall reign with Christ a thousand years are those who have had part in the FIRST resurrection. They are people over whom the second death shall have no power. They are also classed as being blessed and holy. And last, they are said to be PRIESTS unto God. To be a PRIEST unto God one must be washed in the blood of Christ. "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and PRIESTS unto God and his Father: to him be glory and dominion forever and ever," Rev. 1:5-6. "Thou - - - hast redeemed us to God by thy blood - - - and hast made us unto our God kings and PRIESTS: and we shall reign on the EARTH," Rev. 5:9-10.

 

To be a PRIEST unto God, one must be washed in the blood of Christ, and redeemed by His blood. These PRIESTS unto God are also kings. Kingship is connected with reign­ing. These PRIESTS unto God are the ones who said, "We shall reign on the EARTH," Rev. 5:9-10. They are the ones who have part in the FIRST resurrection and reign with Christ a thousand years. None will be in the FIRST res­urrection and will reign with Christ a thousand years but people redeemed by the blood of Christ, washed in His

blood. No one but the Lord's people will be in the FIRST resurrection, which resurrection will be brought about by the Lord's return.

 

12. The Bible States the Lord's People Will Be Raised At His Coming. It Nowhere States the Unsaved Dead Will Be Raised At That Time.

 

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits: afterward THEY THAT ARE CHRIST'S at his coming," 1 Cor. 15:22-23.

 

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and THE DEAD IN CHRIST shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to­gether with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thes. 4:16-17.

 

Here are two passages which positively state the Lord's people will be raised at His coming. These are positive as­sertions to that effect. In neither place is it even implied that any will be raised but those who belong to the Lord. It does not say THE DEAD (including all dead) at His com­ing. It specifies who will be raised at that time by saying, "The dead IN CHRIST," and "They THAT ARE CHRIST'S."

 

By no rule of language or logic can any be placed in the resurrection at that time who do not belong to Christ. In all the word of God no passage can be found that states the unsaved dead will be raised at Christ's coming. If any think there is such a passage, let him furnish it, and it will end the argument.

 

Their whole argument must hinge on an interpretation of certain scriptures which say nothing about the coming of Christ. There is no positive statement to the effect that the unsaved will be raised at His coming. They (the unsaved) are left out of such positive statements as 1 Corinthians 15: 22-23 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Is this not proof enough that the unsaved will not be raised at Christ's coming?

 

Is it a sound practice to set aside plain positive state­ments of God's word, and hold to a theory that does not have one positive statement to back it up, but must be sup­ported by inferences of men?

 

Dr. Williams translates 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 as fol­lows: "But each in his proper order; Christ first, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. After that comes the end, when He will turn the kingdom over to the Father."

 

Goodspeed's translation reads: "Christ first, and then at Christ's coming those who belong to him. After that will come the end." It is a fact nothing is said about the unsaved being raised at Christ's coming. It is a further fact that the end does not come at that time, but afterwards. Is this not proof enough that the unsaved must be raised at another time?

 

Having seen that nothing is said about the unsaved be­ing raised at the coming of Christ, there must of necessity, be two resurrections.

 

13. The Thousand Years Reign is Placed Between Two Resurrections, Making Them a Thousand Years Apart.

 

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrec­tion: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be PRIESTS of God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," Rev. 20:5-6.

 

This shows two resurrections, one which just precedes the thousand years and one which does not come until after the thousand years. One comes before the reign, the other comes after it. Thus, the thousand years reign comes be­tween these two resurrections. This locates the thousand years reign with reference to these two resurrections.

 

Just who are the rest of the dead who live not until the thousand years are finished? They are not PRIESTS of God, for those who are priests of God are in the resurrection which comes before the thousand years. Since those who are PRIESTS of God are people washed in the blood of Christ and redeemed by His blood (Rev. 1:5-6), and since they are the dead identified in the first resurrection, who shall be raised and reign a thousand years, then it follows that the REST OF THE DEAD who are to live again after the thousand years are finished are the unsaved dead. That part of the dead who are in the FIRST resurrection are those on whom the second death hath no power. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the FIRST resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." That leaves only THE REST, or the last part of the dead, those who shall be raised after the thousand years, for the second death to have power over.

 

General resurrectionists will admit this resurrection that comes after the thousand years is a bodily resurrection. Then whose resurrection is it? Those in it are not PRIESTS of God, because they are not in the thousand years reign. They are not blessed and holy. They are not washed in the blood of Christ. They are not delivered from the second death. They can only be the unsaved part of the dead. If then, the resurrection that comes after the thousand years is a bodily resurrection, and It will be, none can be in it but unsaved dead.

 

In the passage under consideration there are two parts of THE DEAD. First, that part who live and reign during the thousand years. Second, the rest of the dead, who do not live again until the thousand years are over. The first part are said to be blessed and holy. They are said to reign with Christ, and to be delivered from the second death. Since none of these things are said, or could be said, of the rest of the dead, then the rest of the dead can only be the unsaved part of the dead. The first part are the saved part of the dead. They are raised first.

 

Since the rest of the dead will be the unsaved part of the dead, then, when they are caused to live again, that will only be the resurrection of the UNSAVED. None will be in that resurrection except the unsaved. If then, the resurrection that comes before the thousand years, called the FIRST resurrection, is not the bodily resurrection of the saved dead, when and where will they have their bodily resurrection?

 

(There is no other kind of a resurrection than that of bodies, but since some think regeneration is a resurrection this writer uses the expression "bodily resurrection.")

 

In the resurrection that shall follow the thousand years is found a resurrection in which there will be no saved people, but unsaved only. Now, we shall find a resurrection in which there will be no unsaved people.

 

The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. In their effort to entagle Jesus on this subject they brought forward a case where seven brothers had married the same woman, each after the other had died childless, according to the law of Moses. Finally the last one died, and also the woman. They wanted to know whose wife she would be in the resurrection. This question is found in Luke 20:27-33. The answer is found in verses 34 to 38. Consider the answer.

 

"And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection FROM THE DEAD, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels: and are CHILDREN OF GOD, being the CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION. Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him."

 

There are five things to be noticed in our Lord's answer. A consideration of these five things will show this to be a resurrection in which there will be no one but saved people.

 

First, this is called a resurrection FROM the dead. Dr. Berry translates it "FROM AMONG THE DEAD." The res­urrection of Jesus was called a resurrection FROM the dead. "Now is Christ risen FROM the dead," 1 Cor. 15:20. His resurrection, which was FROM the dead, brought him out FROM AMONG THE DEAD, leaving others still dead in their graves. When the women went to the grave of Jesus to anoint His body the angels said to them, "Why seek ye the living AMONG THE DEAD? He is not here, but is risen," Luke 24:5-6. This proves that a resurrection FROM the dead is one in which some come out from the dead, leaving others behind. The resurrection of the saved, to be like that of their Lord, must be a resurrection FROM THE DEAD, one which will bring them out FROM AMONG other dead, leaving some behind and yet in their graves. If their resurrection is not that kind of a resurrection it will not follow the pattern of their Lord's resurrection. That is exactly what Jesus called it in this place, "THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD." Their resurrection will follow the pattern of their Lord's resurrection.

 

There is no room here for a general resurrection. A res­urrection FROM AMONG the dead could not be a general resurrection. The one excludes the other. This resurrection FROM the dead in Luke 20:35 excludes the idea of all the dead being raised at the same time.

 

Next, those in the resurrection FROM the dead must be people who shall be accounted WORTHY to be in it. There is a certain qualification to be met to be in this resurrec­tion of Luke 20:35-38. Since the unsaved cannot be account­ed WORTHY, then they will not be in this resurrection. Their resurrection must come at another time.

 

Third, Jesus called those in this resurrection CHIL­DREN OF GOD. The unsaved are not children of God, so they will not be in this resurrection.

 

Fourth, Jesus said those in this resurrection could not die any more, This is not true of the unsaved. After being raised from their graves and judged they will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The unsaved can and will die again after their resurrection. Therefore, there will be no unsaved in the resurrection mentioned in Luke 20:35-38.

 

Fifth, those who are in the resurrection in this place will live unto God. Jesus said, "FOR they all live unto God," v. 38. That is, all those in this resurrection will live unto God. Their resurrection will be unto LIFE. "They that have done good unto the resurrection of LIFE." The res­urrection of the unsaved will be unto damnation. "They that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation," John 5:28-29. This excludes the unsaved from this resurrec­tion in Luke 20:35-38.

 

Thus we have found two different resurrections. There is one in which there will be no one but saved people. It is found in Luke 20:35-38. The other, in which there will be no one but unsaved people. This is the resurrection of the REST OF THE DEAD, which will not come until after the thousand years of Revelation 20:1-7 are finished.

 

A comparison between the resurrection that is men­tioned in Luke 20:35-38 and the FIRST RESURRECTION in Revelation 20:4-6 shows it is one and the same resurrection.

 

First, those in the resurrection in Luke 20:35-38 are called the children of God. Those in the FIRST RESUR­RECTION in Revelation 20:4-6 are called PRIESTS of God. Revelation 1:5-6 and 5:9-10 show those who are PRIESTS of God have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and washed in His blood. These are children of God the same as in Luke 20:35-38.

 

Second, of those in the resurrection of Luke 20:35-38 it is said, "Neither can they die any more." This is equiva­lent to what is said in Revelation 20:6 about those in the FIRST resurrection. "On such the second death hath no power."

 

Third, there must be an interval of time between the resurrection of those who are raised FROM the dead, and that of the dead FROM whom they will be raised. In Rev­elation 20:5-6 there is an interval of time a thousand years in duration between those who are raised in the FIRST resurrection, and the rest of the dead, who live not again until the thousand years are finished. Since those in the FIRST resurrection have their resurrection a thousand years before the rest of the dead, then those in the FIRST resur­rection will be raised FROM AMONG those dead who will be raised a thousand years later. Their resurrection, like that of their Lord, will bring them out from among the dead, leaving others behind to be raised later.

 

Fourth, Jesus said those in the resurrection of Luke 20:35-38 LIVE UNTO GOD. John shows in Rev. 20:4-6 those who are in the FIRST resurrection live and reign with Christ a thousand years. They will LIVE UNTO GOD. This is the resurrection unto LIFE.

 

This proves the resurrection of Luke 20:35-28, and the FIRST resurrection in Revelation 20:4-6, and the resur­rection unto LIFE in John 5:28-29 to be one and the same resurrection, that of the bodies of sleeping saints.

 

Those in the FIRST resurrection will be the children of God who will be raised from the dead at the coming of Christ, as declared in 1 Cor. 15:22-23 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The rest of the dead, those raised a thousand years later, will be the unsaved dead who are not included in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

 

Since the FIRST resurrection must precede the thou­sand years reign, then the coming of Christ must also pre­cede that reign. Again, the Premillennial position is shown to be the scriptural position. John's vision of our Lord's return to earth in Revelation 19:11-21 immediately pre­cedes his account of the thousand years reign in the six fol­lowing verses, Revelation 20:1-6. There is no need for one to blunder here if he will study the whole account from chapter 19, verse 11 through chapter 20, verse 6. Remember the chapter division of the Bible is the work of man. Let the reader ignore that in his reading, and consider the sub­ject matter. If he will read from Rev. 19:11 to 20:6 he will find the coming of Christ before the thousand years reign.

 

14. THREE is the Number Associated Throughout the Bible With the Resurrection of the Body.

 

First, the proof shall be given that number THREE is the number that denotes the resurrection, from one end of the Bible to the other.

 

Then, it will be shown that the third time the word PRIESTS occurs in the book of Revelation it is connected with the first resurrection.

 

The Lord was raised from the dead after THREE DAYS, Matthew 12:40. There were THREE dead people raised back to life in the Old Testament. These are found in 1 Kings 17:19-23; 2 Kings 4:18-36; and 2 Kings 13:20-21.

There were THREE dead people raised by Jesus; the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of the ruler, Jarius, and Lazarus of Bethany. There were THREE members in the family of Lazarus: Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus used the name of Lazarus THREE times. The third time is when He called him to come forth. In this place He used THREE words. The third word has exactly THREE letters in the Greek. Just before He raised Lazarus, in praying to the Father He used the personal pronoun THREE times, thus: "I thank," "I know," and "I said." In this prayer THREE of the words have exactly seven letters each. Lazarus was bound hand (1), foot (2), and face (3).

 

THREE times Jesus said of those who came unto Him, "I will raise him up at the last day. See John 6:40; 6:44 and 6:54.

 

In Acts 1:15 it is said that Peter stood up. In Acts 2:14 it is said again that he stood up. The word resurrection means to stand up AGAIN. Where Peter stood up the second time, or AGAIN, he preached on the resurrection of Christ. He quoted from David's prophecy about the resurrection of Christ and he used the name of David three times in that sermon.

 

In the 9th chapter of Acts the account of the death of Dorcas is found. After she died the name of Peter is found 3 times and he raised her from the dead. In Rom. 8:23 Paul, in speaking of the redemption of our body, used the word OURSELVES 3 times.

 

The whole of the 15th chapter of First Corinthians deals with the subject of the resurrection. The 3rd AND in the discourse is "AND he rose again the third day," V. 3. The words apostle, grace, preached and preaching, Adam, star, heavenly, incorruptible and victory are each found just 3 times. The glory of the resurrection is compared to that of 3 heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, and the stars. The chapter closes with a THREEFOLD admonition to "Be stedfast (1), unmoveable (2), always abounding in the work of the Lord (3)."

 

In Rev. 1:5-6 we read "And FROM JESUS CHRIST, who is the faithful witness (1), and the first begotten of the dead (2), and the prince of the kings of the earth (3). Unto him that loved us (1), and washed us from our sins in his own blood (2), and hath made us kings and priests (3) unto God and his Father." In this place the name JESUS CHRIST occurs the 3rd time in Revelation, and in connec­tion with the resurrection. The first FROM here is the 3rd in the book. In the 4th verse we have FROM (1) him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and FROM (2) the seven spirits which are before his throne. Then we have "FROM JESUS CHRIST (3), who is the faithful wit­ness and the first begotten of the dead." Then there is a THREEFOLD division twice over.

 

In Rev. 1:18 we read, "I am he that liveth (1), and was dead (2), and, behold, I am alive forever more (3), Amen." Here is a THREEFOLD division and the words "Amen" and "Death" occur the 3rd time in the book. Now let us study the word PRIESTS. We shall find that this word is important and that it occurs THREE times in the book of Revelation. The THIRD time it is found in chapter 20, verse 6, in connection with the FIRST resurrection and the thou­sand years reign.

 

"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and PRIESTS unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen," Rev. 1:5-6. These PRIESTS unto God are those who have been washed in the blood of Christ. They are also made kings.

 

The second place is in Revelation 5:9-10. "Thou art wor­thy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and PRIESTS: and we shall reign on the earth." Here the word PRIESTS is con­nected with redemption by the blood of Christ, and with the reign on the earth.

 

The THIRD time, and last place the word PRIESTS is found, is in Revelation 20:6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the FIRST resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be PRIESTS of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Here the word PRIESTS is connected with the FIRST res­urrection and the reign. Number THREE, being the Bible number that is associated with the bodily resurrection, is still further proof that the FIRST resurrection is the bodily resurrection of the saved dead. The resurrection of the saved and the coming of Christ must come before the thou­sand years reign. This is the Premillennialists' position.

 

If space permitted further numerical proof could be shown. FORTY-TWO is the Bible number for the coming of Christ. The Greek word "Anastasis" translated "Resur­rection" occurs the FORTY-SECOND time in the New Test­ament in this place. In the statement "This is the first resurrection" there are 20 Greek letters in 5 Greek words. When all the numbers from one to twenty are added they total two hundred ten. Divide this number by five, the num­ber of words in the statement, and get FORTY-TWO.

 

If the reader wishes to go further into the study of Bible numbers he may order this writer's book, THE MIRACLE OF DIVINE INSPIRATION, as advertised herein.

 

15. Daniel's Little Horn, the Beast of Revelation, Will Pre­vail Against the Saints Until the Time Comes that the Saints Shall Possess the Kingdom.

 

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; UNTIL the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and THE TIME CAME THAT THE SAINTS POSSESSED THE KINGDOM," Dan. 7:21-22.

 

The Little Horn under consideration here (Dan. 7:7-8, 19-21) will prevail until the time comes the saints shall possess the kingdom. The saints will not enter into their reign until the Little Horn is put down. All we need to do now is prove this Little Horn to be identical with the beast of Revelation, and we have clinched the proof that the saints will go into their reign after the forty-two months reign of the beast. The following will prove that.

 

The Little Horn

 

"In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a MAN, and a mouth speaking great things," Dan. 7:8.

 

The Beast

 

"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy," Rev. 13:5.

 

"Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a MAN," Rev. 13:18.

 

The Little Horn

 

"He shall speak great words against the most High," Dan. 7:25.

 

The Beast

 

"And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven," Rev. 13:6.

 

The Little Horn

 

"The same horn made war against the saints, and pre­vailed against them; until - - - the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom," Dan. 7:21-22.

 

The Beast

 

"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them," Rev. 13:7. Rev. 19:20 to 20:6 shows the beast will be cast into the lake of fire just before the thousand years reign.

 

The Little Horn

 

"And they shall be given into his hand UNTIL a time, times, and a half a time," Dan. 7:25. A time is one year (Dan. 4:32), times would be two years, half a time would be half a year. This would be three years and a half.

 

The Beast

 

"And power was given to him to continue forty and two months," Rev. 13:5. This is three and one half years, the same length of time Daniel said the Little Horn would prevail.

 

The Little Horn

 

"The same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them; UNTIL the ANCIENT OF DAYS came - - ­and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom," Dan. 7:21-22. Here is stated the Little Horn is to continue until the Ancient of days, who evidently is Christ, comes.

 

The Beast

 

In the study of Revelation 19:11-21 it was found that when the white horse rider (Christ) comes from heaven he will overthrow the beast and his armies. The next six verses show the saints entering the thousand years reign. See Rev. 20:1-6.

 

Thus, by comparison, one can see the Little Horn of Daniel and the beast of Revelation will be the same person. When his 42 months, or three and one half years has run its course, the Ancient of days, or Christ, will come, overthrow him, and the time will have come for the saints to possess the kingdom. Then the thousand years reign will take place. Daniel says the dominion under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints of the most High. This will put their dominion on the earth. "And we shall reign on the earth," Rev. 5:10. The thousand years reign will be on the earth after Christ comes.

 

16. The Meek Are to Inherit the Earth When the Wicked Have Been Cut Off.

 

"For the evildoers shall be cut off: but those that WAIT upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be, but the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abund­ance of peace," Ps. 37:9-11.

 

"In his days shall the righteous flourish; and ABUND­ANCE OF PEACE so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the EARTH," Ps. 72:7-8.

 

This passage connects ABUNDANCE OF PEACE with the Lord's dominion to the ends of the earth. The above quotation from Psalms 37:11 connects ABUNDANCE OF PEACE with the meek's inheritance of the EARTH.

 

"Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. WHEN THE WICKED ARE CUT OFF thou shalt see it," Ps. 37:34.

 

The meek shall inherit the earth, but they must wait until the Lord cuts off the wicked before they can enter into that inheritance. This is in harmony with Revelation 19:20 to 20:6. After the Lord has come and destroyed the beast, the false prophet, and those associated with them, and has sealed up Satan in the bottomless pit, then the saints will enter into their inheritance and will reign with Christ a thousand years. This is when the meek shall delight them­selves in the abundance of peace. This reign and this abund­ance of peace is immediately preceded by our Lord's com­ing in the battle of the great day of God Almighty to cut off the wicked powers. When the beast and his associates are cut off, the meek will see it.

 

17. The Reign Will Be at the Time the Devil is Sealed Up in the Bottomless Pit.

 

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not wor­shipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Does this sound like suffering for Christ? Did not Paul say, "If we suffer: we shall also reign with him"?) "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," Rev. 20:1-6.

 

These words follow right after those of chapter 19:20-21, which tell of the destruction of the beast, the false prophet, and their armies. Through the preceding chapters the beast, false prophet and dragon may be seen working in conjunc­tion. See Rev. 13:1-2; 13:11; and 16:13-16. It will be under the influence of these three characters, an evil TRINITY, the kings of the earth will be gathered to the battle of Revelation 19:11-21. See also 16:13-16. The beast and false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire. In the same con­nection, the dragon, or devil, is to be bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Then follows the reign of a thousand years.

 

The purpose of the binding of Satan is to keep him from deceiving the nations (of the earth, of course) while the reign of a thousand years is going on. His deceptive work must not be allowed to disturb the tranquility and peace of that reign. He is put in a place where his influence over the nations cannot be exerted during that time. His influence of deception can be seen working in Revelation 13:11 to 14, also 16:3-16. It is still at work up to the point of chapter 19, verse 20. Now (chapter 20:1-3), that deceptive work is stop­ped for a period of a thousand years. During this time, when he has no power to wield his deception the saints will reign on the earth for a thousand years, and shall de­light in ABUNDANT PEACE.

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

THE THOUSAND YEARS REIGN, THE EARTH'S GREAT JUBILEE

 

The word JUBILEE means an occasion or season of great joy. The word JUBILANT comes from a word which means to shout for joy. The thousand years reign will be the earth's great JUBILEE. There are many passages in the word of God which refer to this period of time as one of great rejoicing. The song of the angels at the birth of Jesus foretold this very period of time.

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE, good will toward men," Luke 2:13-14. Since the first coming of Christ to the earth did not bring peace many have wondered about this statement in the angels' song. Some have tried to explain it to mean peace in the hearts of believers. That explana­tion never did satisfy this writer. He believes it goes beyond that and refers to a time when the EARTH shall have peace. The song says, "On the EARTH, peace, good will to men." This is in harmony with many other passages in the word of God.

 

"O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon EARTH. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee, Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our God shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him," Ps. 67:4-7.

 

This passage connects the singing for joy, and gladness among the nations, with the time when the Lord shall gov­ern the nations upon the earth. It also connects the earth yielding her increase with the same event. We shall also see that famines shall cease, deserts shall be reclaimed, and there will be no more floods.

 

"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be GLAD then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain MODERATELY, and he will cause to come down upon you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats (vats) shall overflow with wine and oil," Joel 2:21-24.

 

This shows a time of gladness and plenty. The pastures will not be burned up with drouths, nor will the crops of grain be cut short. There will be no flood of rain to be followed by a searing drouth, but the rain will come MOD­ERATELY, to be followed by more rain when needed. The reason of floods and drouths today is the earth is under a curse. See Gen. 3:17-18. It will be lifted in that time.

 

This time when the earth shall yield her increase (Ps. 67:4-7) will be when the Lord governs the nations on earth. Why not take these passages literally, just as they read? To place another meaning on them is to force one's own pri­vate interpretation on the word of prophecy. Peter said, "No prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation," 2 Pet. 1:20.

 

"The remnant of Israel shall do no 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. Sing, O daughter of Zion: shout (jubilee) O daughter of Jerusalem, The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord is IN THE MIDST OF THEE: thou shalt not see evil anymore. In THAT DAY (that is, when their king, even the Lord is in their midst) it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God IN THE MIDST OF THEE is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing," Zeph. 3:13-16.

 

This is a time of great rejoicing when the Lord, Israel's king shall be in the midst of Jerusalem. That will be when Jerusalem is the throne of the Lord. See Jer. 3:17. Zion and Jerusalem shall see evil NO MORE. This definitely applies to earthly Jerusalem and Zion, for the Jerusalem in heaven has never seen evil, but Jerusalem on earth has. This is still future, since Jerusalem is seeing evil now. It can only come when Israel's king, the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting on David's throne, when Jerusalem is called His throne, as Jeremiah said. See Jer. 3:17.

 

The reign of the Lord on earth will be a time of great joy. Why should not the people of Israel, and the whole world, rejoice in that time? Wars, famines, floods, and pestilences will not plague them as they do today. People can then go in and out in safety, and dwell without the threat of war and violence hanging over their heads from day to day, as it is now.

 

"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy (jubilee) upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away," Isa. 35:10.

 

The word of God promises a great time of rejoicing and peace and prosperity when the Lord, the king of Israel, is in the midst of Jerusalem, with Jerusalem as His throne, reigning on David's throne, and ruling the nations on earth. See above, Isa. 35:10.

 

Israel will return with great joy, as is shown also in the above passage. Israel's JUBILEE year, a time in which ev­ery man returned to his own people and to his own posses­sion was a picture of the thousand years reign when the earth shall rejoice, and when the Israelites shall all return to their own land. Let us now study

 

The Jubilee Year

 

"Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the FIFTIETH year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to the in­habitants thereof: it shall he a JUBILEE unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A JUBILEE shall that FIFTIETH year be unto you," Lev. 25:9-11.

 

“And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant. As a hired servant, and as a settler, he shall be with thee, he and his children with him; he shall serve thee unto the year of JURILEE. Then he shall go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of HIS FATHERS shall he return," Lev. 25:39-41.

 

(The above two passages have been quoted from the Hebrew translation of the Old Testament.)

 

Israel had a JUBILEE year every fifty years, in which freedom was granted throughout the land. Any who had sold himself or his possessions because of poverty returned to his own people and to the possessions of his fathers. This jubilee year started on the day of atonement. It was ushered in and announced by the sounding of the trumpet through­out the land. This is a picture of the time when Israel's bondage will cease; when they shall be at one with the Lord because of their repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and when they shall return to the land and possession of their fathers.

 

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off the channel of the river unto the stream in Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day that the GREAT TRUMPET shall be blown, and they shall come which are ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem," Isa. 27:12-13.

 

This is the gathering of the outcasts of Israel back to their possession, which gathering is brought about by the blowing of a GREAT TRUMPET.

 

"In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given them for an inheritance UNTO YOUR FATHERS," Jer. 3:18.

 

Here is the gathering of the Israelites back to the pos­sessions of their fathers, as they did in the year of jubilee. This verse follows the one which says that Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, Jer. 3:17.

 

Israel's jubilee year came every 50 years. In the Hebrew translation the word "Jubilee" is found 20 times in the book of Leviticus. According to Young's Analytical Concord­ance the Hebrew word "Yobel," translated "Jubilee," oc­curs just 20 times in Leviticus. Multiply 50 years by 20, and get 1000 years!

 

In Revelation 20:5, there are two statements of numer­ical similarity. According to Dr. Berry's text there are ex­actly 50 Greek letters in "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the THOUSAND years were finished." The next statement, "This is the first resurrection," has 20 Greek letters. Multiply 50 by 20, and get 1000, the number found in this very verse (1000 years). In the study of the jubilee we have 50 years and the word "Jubilee" 20 times. Here in Revelation 20:5 we have 50 letters and 20 letters, the same numbers and in the same order. It is not 50 and 20 in one place and 20 and 50 in the other, but the order is 50 and 20 in each case. The 50 years in Leviticus multiplied by 20, the number of times the word "Yobel" (Jubilee) is found equals 1000 years. In Revelation 20:5 we have a statement about a 1000 years, and we have 50 letters in one sentence and 20 in the next. These two multiplied get 1000, the num­ber expressed in the verse. Can this be said to be accidental, or did the divine hand of inspiration so arrange it? Since, in the New Testament we have the positive statement that there will be a thousand years reign, then should there not also be found something in the Old Testament which would indicate the same, the meaning of which is plainly under­stood when placed side by side with the passage in Revel­ation?

 

There is still another way of arriving at the number 1000 in Revelation 20:5. The words "The thousand years" in the Greek are 3 words of 10 letters: "Ta xilia eta." Count the words and then the letters. Then take 3 tens and multi­ply them, and get 1000 (10 times 10 times 10 equals 1000). Will anyone say this is accidental?

 

In the very arrangement of the Greek words, the three words "The thousand years" are the last words in the first part of Revelation 20:5. (The arrangement is different in our English translation.) There are 10 Greek letters in "The thousand years," immediately followed by the statement, "This is the first resurrection," which has 5 Greek words and 20 Greek letters. 10 times 5 times 20 equals 1000. Per­haps someone thinks this arrangement of letters and words was also accidental. But it certainly strains one's credulity to believe all these numbers were so arranged by accident, rather than by God Himself. In doing so He desired to es­tablish His truth beyond the point of all controversy.

 

(Note, in the above passage the Westcott-Hort text has only 47 letters in the first part of Revelation 20:5. But in a footnote it gives a 3 letter word which, it says, possibly belongs in the passage. When this 3 letter word is added it makes 50 letters in this sentence in the Westcott-Hort text, also. The King James translation gives the word "Jubilee" in Leviticus 25:9, but a marginal reading corrects this. The Hebrew word here is "Teruah," not "Yobel." This leaves exactly 20 times for the word JUBILEE to be found in Levi­ticus.)

 

In the Bible, number 20 stands for Redemption. The men of Israel paid ransom, or redemption money, at the age of 20 years. See Ex. 30:12-14. Boaz, who redeemed the prop­erty of Elimelech and his sons, was the 20th generation from Shem (after the flood) to Boaz, counting Shem. His name occurs 20 times in the book of Ruth. The millennial age will bring, not only Israel's redemption from their exile and bondage, but also the redemption of this earth from its curse. When 20 for redemption is multiplied by 50, the number connected with the jubilee, the result is 1000, the duration of the millennium.

 

We have seen that Israel's jubilee year pictured the time when all those people shall return to the land of their possession. When God told Abraham about his people going into Egyptian bondage, and returning to their land in the fourth generation He said, "For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet FULL." See Gen. 15:13-16. So Israel could not return and come into possession of that land UNTIL the iniquity of the Amorites was FULL. Neither can Israel come into their final possession of that land UNTIL THE FULLNESS of the Gentiles has come in. In Rom. 11:25-27 we read, "Blindness in part is happened unto Israel, UN­TIL THE FULLNESS of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins." Like the iniquity of the Amorites had to run its course before Israel came into possession of their land, so this present evil world (Gal. 1:4), which is under Gentile dominion, must run its course before Israel can come into complete and permanent possession of their land. In the meantime the Lord is taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name. After this taking out of the Gen­tiles a people for His name the Lord is going to return and build again the tabernacle of David. "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, AFTER THIS I WILL RETURN and will build again the tabernacle of David that is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up," Acts 15:14-16. The Lord said, "AFTER THIS I will return." After what? After the taking out of the Gen­tiles a people for His name, as mentioned above. The work of taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name com­menced with the conversion of the house of Cornelius, men­tioned by Peter in vs. 7 to 9. It will continue until the work of taking out of the Gentiles a people for Himself has been completed. It is AFTER THIS the Lord will return and build up the tabernacle of David. The word RETURN means to come back again. So the Lord's second coming is under consideration here.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

THE SUBJECTS OF THE REIGN

 

A careful distinction must be made between the sub­jects of the reign and the heirs of the kingdom. The heirs will be the rulers of the kingdom. All the people of Great Britain are subjects of the Queen of England. But only those of her blood relations can be heirs. Only those who are bound to Christ by His blood, and who have exper­ienced with Him the resurrection FROM the dead can be heirs and co-rulers with Him. They will not be in bodies of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50), but in their glorified bod­ies. On the other hand, the subjects of the kingdom will be composed of men and women of flesh and blood. When overcomers will be given power over the nations (Rev. 2: 26-27), the nations over whom they are to rule will be people who are still in their natural bodies. Nations have always been made up of such people.

 

The fact that the Devil is shut up in the bottomless pit that he may deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are over, is proof of the fact that there will be nations on the earth at that time. It is further proof that those nations will be composed of men and women in their natural bodies. Surely the Devil does not have to be bound to keep him from deceiving those who have already been glorified.

 

When Satan will be loosed out of his prison (Rev. 20:7) he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. This is proof that toward the end of the thousand years reign there will be nations on the earth composed of some people who can be deceived. These will be men and women in their natural bodies at that time. if there are people with natural bodies at that time, it must be the same throughout the duration of the thousand years.

 

There is much scriptural evidence that children will be born on the earth during this period of time. We read of "weaned children" and "sucking children" in this age. (This will be brought out later in another chapter.) Such children must have parents of flesh and blood. This has always been, and always will be as long as there are weaned children and sucking children.

 

To some, it seems to be a stumbling block to think of glorified saints dwelling here on earth with people in their natural bodies. That is because they are not now accustomed to such as this. They are looking at the matter and deciding the issue wholly and solely on the basis of their natural reasoning. There is not one scripture that even hints at it being impossible for these to dwell together. On the other hand there are many scriptures which teach it to be so. Just remember Zechariah 8:3-6, "If it be incredible in the eyes of the remnant of this people - - - should it also be incredible in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts."

 

After the resurrection of Jesus He mingled with His disciples for forty days, and taught them the truth about His word. If such a thing were possible then, it can happen again. Let us not be turned away from the truth of God's word by the philosophy and reasonings of man. That was the trouble with those wrapped up in Greek philosophy. They mocked when Paul preached unto them the resur­rection, Acts 17:32. A "Thus saith the word of God" should be sufficient for us. Along with Paul, this writer wishes to warn the reader against the philosophies of men, Col. 2:8. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." God said, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways," Isa. 55:8. Let man give up his thoughts about the matter and take what the word of God says. "If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them," Isa. 8:20.

CHAPTER FIVE

 

THE NATURE OF THE REIGN

 

1. It Shall Be a Reign of Peace.

 

The reign of Christ and His saints on the earth will bring to the earth a time of universal PEACE. There are many passages which teach this very thing. The only hope of peace and safety on this earth is the coming of Christ, the Prince of peace, and the establishment of the reign of Him­self and His saints here.

 

"Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become an heaps, and the moun­tain of the house as the high places of the forest. BUT IN THE LAST DAYS it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not life up sword against nation, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR any more.  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,” Micah 3:12 to 4:4.

 

Brother, it is the mouth of the Lord that has spoken these things.  Do you believe what he has said? If not, then why not?  What influence has turned you away from believing this?

 

Let us see just what the Lord has spoken in this passage.

 

First, in the last verse of the third chapter of Micah the Lord said Zion would be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem would become heaps, and the mountain of the house, the place where the temple stood, should be as the places of the forest.  This has already been fulfilled in a literal war in which Jerusalem was laid waste, and the temple was destroyed.

 

Next, after foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem in a literal war, He changes the picture.  He foretells the time coming when the city should be reestablished, and the mountain of the Lord’s house, the place where the temple of the Lord shall be, will be established in the top of the mountains. One translation reads, “Shall be established as the highest mountain.”  Smith-Godspeed translation.  This idea is strengthened by Zechariah 14:10.  “And the land shall be turned as a plain form Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be LIFTED UP, and inhabited in her place.”  The UP above the surrounding country and made the HIGHEST mountain round about.  It shall be raised above the surrounding hills.

 

There will be a radical change in the contour of the country.  The mount of Olives on the east side will divide, half of it moving north, and half moving south.  This will form a valley running east and west where the mountain now stands. The land at Jerusalem and north and south of the city will be lifted up and turned into a high plain.  The temple site, the mountain of the Lord’s house, will be made higher than the hills and mountains about.

 

Next, the Lord says in the above passage we are study­ing, the nations of the earth shall come up to Jerusalem to be judged of the Lord, and taught of His ways.

 

Next, as the result of the Lord's judging and teaching, the nations of the earth will beat their swords into plow­shares, and their spears into pruninghooks, and wars will cease. In Ps. 46:9 we read, "He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth." In contrast to Jerusalem being made an heap by war, and the temple site being desolated, the city and the temple will be rebuilt and there will be a ces­sation of wars. Just as surely as a literal war is under con­sideration in the first verse in the quotation, which is the last verse in chapter three of Micah, the end of literal wars is under consideration in the verses that follow. The word "BUT" with which the next verse commences shows that a picture different from that in the verse above is going to be given. There is no excuse for this passage to be taken in any other way than referring to a time when war will be brought to an end.

 

Next, we read that the law shall go forth out of Zion. This is not the law of Moses, but the law of the kingdom at that time. Since the Lord will be reigning in Mount Zion, as we read in Isa. 24:23, then it follows that, the law of the kingdom shall go out from that place. This will be the time when the righteous Branch shall reign and pros­per, and execute judgment and justice in the earth, as we read in Jer. 23:5. It will be the time when the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the ABUND­ANCE of peace as we read in. Ps. 37:11 and Ps. 72:7. Because wars have ceased then Israel shall dwell safely as we read in connection with the Branch executing judgment and jus­tice in the earth, Jer. 23:5-6.

 

Last, the prophet Micah goes on to say that every man shall sit under his vine and his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid. They will not be afraid of wars any longer. The implements of warfare will have been convert­ed into implements of agriculture. They will not sit trem­bling in some bomb raid shelter, or in some fox hole or dugout, but they will sit unafraid under their vines and fig trees. Neither will they have to flee from their homes through fear of invading armies. When this writer read about the people of Holland and Belgium fleeing from their homes before Hitler's invading hordes, and the fleeing women, children and old people being pushed aside in the ditches or run down by the ruthless heels of the invaders, his heart was made to bleed, and he was made to long for the time which was foretold through Micah when nations would beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks and cease from their wars. Day by day as the war progressed and things looked darker and darker he read the newspapers and listened to the radio with a trembling heart. He was made to long for the earth's great jubilee, and to pray with John, "Even so come, Lord Jesus." Then when his own son lost his life in the war his cup of bitterness was filled to the brim. The sorrow which he suffered millions of others were suffering and much more. When we stop to think of the horrors of wars, and the untold misery and heartaches which they have brought, then who would not long for the time of the great jubilee on this earth? That will be a glorious age.

 

Is not this what the nations of earth have long desired? Is it not what they want brought about? The Bible calls it the desire of all nations.

 

"I will shake all nations, and the DESIRE of all nations SHALL COME: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts - The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I GIVE PEACE, saith the Lord of hosts," Haggai 2:7-9.

 

Among all nations there has been a dream of a golden age when there would be no wars, when the earth would be blessed with peace and plenty. Whence came this idea? It has been foretold by the mouth of all God's holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:21 foretells the time of resti­tution. This glad message foretold by God's prophets found its way from mouth to mouth until some way all nations have been led to expect and desire this glorious time. But human traditions, the influence of Satan, and the passing of the centuries have blurred this hope in the minds of all not taught in the word of God, and not willing to believe what it teaches. As Satan has tried to turn men away from salvation by grace by bringing in the works of man, so he has deceived and turned them away from the hope of Christ's coming. He has caused them to look to science and the works and wisdom of men to bring in this golden age of jubilee. But it will not come in this way. This peace cannot come until He, the Prince of peace (see Isa. 9:6) shall sit on His throne and have dominion to the ends of the earth.

 

Psalms 46:9 states, "He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth." This can only be when He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the EARTH. Then they shall delight themselves in the abundance of PEACE. See Ps. 72:7-8.

 

If any thinks this is figurative language let him read about the reign of Solomon in 1 Kings 4:24-25. "He had do­minion over all the region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side of the river: and he had PEACE on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon." Can the reader say this is figurative language, or did they have literal PEACE, rest from wars, and dwell in safety under their vines and fig trees? If we are going to accept this passage about Solomon's reign in 1 Kings 4:24-25 as being literal, what good reason can be given for refusing to take the same words as found in Micah's pro­phecy as being literal? In both places we see them sitting under their vines and fig trees. It is said that Solomon had PEACE on every side. Micah said they would learn war no more. In Solomon's case Premillennialists have a Bible ex­ample for taking the words of Micah literally. Where can others find an example for taking them otherwise?

 

Brother preacher, have you been guilty of trying to ex­plain away the plain meaning of these prophecies? Then repent before God for beclouding the truth, and obscuring the light of prophecy, which gives to this earth and its na­tions their only hope for release from its present bondage and suffering. If you have taught men to expect relief to come through the achievement of men, repent of this and show them their only hope. Would you teach a poor, con­victed, burdened sinner that his works could in any way bring him salvation? Then, why teach struggling, suffering humanity to expect release from their earthly bondage through the works of man? Salvation is a divine trans­action, a supernatural work, both for the individual sinner and for the nations of earth.

 

2. The Curse Will Be Lifted from the Animal Creation.

 

The animal creation was involved in the fall of Adam. God said the serpent should be cursed "Above all cattle, and above every beast of the earth," Gen. 3:14. God did not say the serpent was cursed ALONE of all beasts, but ABOVE all beasts. The animal creation was all placed under the curse, but not to the same extent as was the serpent.

 

Before the fall all animals fed upon herbs, and not upon one another. "To every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so," Gen. 1:30. It was after this that some animals and birds began to prey on others. It must have been brought about by the fall, and the curse that came as the result of that fall. The first Adam, in his fall, drew off with him all the creation over which he had been given dominion. The last Adam, who is Christ, will, through His redemptive work, lift the curse from that creation and it shall share in the redemption of the great jubilee of this earth.

 

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: (notice the reason) FOR the earth shall be full of the know­ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Isa. 11:6-9.

 

"And I will make with them a covenant of PEACE, and will cause the EVIL BEASTS to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and SLEEP IN THE WOODS. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower TO COME DOWN IN HIS SEASON," Ezek. 34:25-26.

The evil disposition will be taken away from wild beasts and serpents. They will go back to eating herbs as they did in the beginning before Adam sinned and the curse came. The lamb will not have to fear the wolf, nor the kid the leopard. They shall dwell together in peace. Parents will not have to fear that their small children will be harmed by poisonous serpents. Their evil disposition will have been taken away.

 

Should we not take these passages just as they read instead of trying to twist them entirely out of their mean­ing? Does not a comparison of this prophecy in Isaiah with Genesis 1:30 show it MUST be literal? When God saw every­thing he had made, "It was very good," Gen. 1:31. If God made everything good did He create such animals as the wolf, the lion, and the bear with evil dispositions? Did He create man with the evil heart he now has? If not, then is it not part of His plan to redeem the animal creation from the effects of the fall? Do not Isaiah 11:6-9 and Ezekiel 34: 25-26 teach this very thing?

 

Since the fall of man this earth has not seen a time like that foretold in Isaiah 11:6-9. What shall be done with this prophecy? These things do not exist today, nor can they as long as conditions remain as they are in this present age. We must go beyond the present age to a future one for the fulfillment of this prophecy. How are those who think to bring in the millennium by their own works going to lift the curse off the animal creation? How will they cause snakes to be no longer dangerous and wild beasts to become gentle and eat herbs again? The Lord placed the curse. He alone can remove it. This is part of His work in. reigning until He has put all things under His feet. Pre-millennialists believe these prophecies to be literal.

 

3. The Deserts Will Become Fertile Fields.

 

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them: and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom ABUNDANTLY, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God," Isa. 35:1-2.

 

"The parched ground shall become a pool, and thirsty land springs of water," Isa. 35:7.

 

"Until the spirit be poured out from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be count­ed for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilder­ness, and righteousness in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be PEACE; and the effect of right­eousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a PEACEFUL habitation, and in sure dwell­ings, and in quiet resting places," Isa. 32:15-18.

 

"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together," Isa. 41:19.

 

These passages show that the deserts will be reclaimed, will become fruitful fields and productive land like the plain of Sharon. They will become places with beautiful, valuable forests like those found on Mount Lebanon. Fields, forests, towns and cities will be there. They will be places of joy and singing. The great JUBILEE will be on the earth.

 

4. The Curse Will Be Removed from the Ground.

 

When God made the garden of Eden He planted in it every tree which was good for food and pleasant to the eye, Gen. 2:9. When man sinned the ground became cursed for his sake. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee," Gen. 3:17-18.

 

That which before had brought forth only what was good for food and pleasant to the eye, now brings forth thorns and thistles. Briers and weeds are with us today to make the toil of man more vexatious. Pests destroy crops. Year by year it becomes more difficult to combat these things. But in the earth's great JUBILEE thorns, thistles, briers, noxous weeds and pests of all kinds will no longer curse the earth.

 

"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off," Isa. 55:13.

 

Can anyone believe the thorns, briers, prickly cactus, nettles, etc., will vanish from the earth as long as this pres­ent age lasts? How will this prophecy ever be fulfilled unless the earth has another age different from the present one, when there will be no more thorns and briers? What shall be done with this prophecy? Can any prophecy of God's word fail? Jesus said it could not. Then we must have an explanation of this prophecy that gives to this earth a different age after this present one is over. Thorns and briers now grow on this earth. The fir trees and the myrtle tree which take the place of these must likewise be on this present earth. But when? Will the Amillennialist, the Post-millennialist, and the Nonmillennialist answer this question?

 

This is another prophecy for which only the Premillennialist can find a place. He does not leave prophecy unful­filled, and the scripture broken. This prophecy belongs to the millennial age, the EARTH'S GREAT JUBILEE.

 

5. The Span of Human Life Will Be Greatly Lengthened.

 

"There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat: for as THE DAYS OF A TREE are the days of my people, and mine elect shall LONG enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall dwell together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock," Isa. 65:20-25.

 

The Goodspeed-Smith translation, verse 20, reads, "The youngest shall die a hundred years old."

 

This passage shows an age where there will be no infant death. The youngest will live to be an hundred, and the one who dies at an hundred years will be the sinner.

 

The Lord says the days of His people shall be as the days of a tree, and they shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and other eat. That is, they will not die to leave the fruits of their labors to others, but will live to eat of their vineyards and orchards, and dwell in the houses which they build. It seems evident that those in their natural bodies who are called the Lord's elect, who will be saved people (but not glorified), will not die at all, but will con­tinue throughout the thousand years. Some lived almost that long before the flood. It will be so again.

 

"They shall not labour in vain or bring forth for trou­ble." The labor of their hands will not be consumed by de­vouring pests, nor destroyed by hails, storms, floods and drouths. Those things will be in the past. They belong to this present time, not to the time of the earth's great JUB­ILEE. In one place the Lord says, "I will call for the corn and increase it, and lay no famine upon you," Ezek. 36:29. In another place He said, "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt WONDROUSLY with you, and ye shall know that I AM IN THE MIDST of Israel," Joel 2:26-27.

 

This passage from Isaiah says, "They are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their OFFSPRING with them." This shows there will be children born in this age, proving there will be people in their natural bodies. Glorified people will not give birth to children.

 

Does anyone try to put this in the present age? Let him tell us: Are the days of the Lord's people as the days of a tree now? Do infants die today? Do people labor in vain or bring forth for trouble now? Does the lion eat straw like the bullock today? When all these things (Isa. 65:20-25) are taken into consideration it must be admitted that we have no such conditions today. Therefore, this prophecy belongs to another age on this earth. The fulfillment will be in the great JUBILEE age of the earth. Only Premillennialists be­lieve this. These things are not to the rejected or explained away just because they foretell a condition different from what we are used to today. So is the time in which we are living today, different from that before the fall of man, and the curse which God placed on creation. Wicked men are different after being redeemed by God's grace. So will this earth be a different kind of a place after it has undergone the redeeming work of the Lord.

CHAPTER SIX

 

ISRAEL'S CONVERSION AND PERMANENT RESTORATION

 

The people of Israel will repent and turn to the Lord, and become a regenerated people, and they will be finally and permanently restored to their own land, and the whole nation, all twelve of the tribes will be reestablished. By this it is meant that those Israelites who are remaining alive at Christ's return will be reestablished in their own land. After this restoration they will no more be pulled up out of their land.

 

1. The Abrahamic Covenant Demands Israel's Restoration.

 

The final and permanent restoration of Israel to their land is demanded by the covenant that God made with Abra­ham concerning that land. "An angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of the land of Egypt, and I have brought you into the land which I sware unto your fathers, and I said, I WILL NEVER BREAK my covenant with you," Judges 2:1. Notice that God said that He would never break His covenant He had made with their fathers about that land. The fathers under consideration were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. After Moses had foretold Israel's dispersion from that land he went on to say, "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in TRIBULA­TION, and all these things are come upon thee, even IN THE LATTER DAYS, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shall be obedient unto his voice; (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee, NOR FORGET THE COVENANT OF THY FATHERS WHICH HE SWARE UNTO THEM," Deut. 4:29-31.

 

This Abrahamic covenant was not affected in any way by the giving, the breaking, and the disannulling of the law covenant. "Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto," Gal. 3:15. "And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, CANNOT DISANNULL, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of law it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise," Gal. 3:17-18. Those who teach that the promises God made to Abraham were made null and void because Israel broke the law covenant flatly contradict what Paul said in Gal. 3:15-18. Those who say that the promise con­cerning the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has been cancelled are wrong. In Judges 2:1 we find that God said that He sware with an oath that He would never break His covenant with them. In Deut. 4:31 God said that HE WOULD NOT FORGET the covenant of their fathers which He sware unto them. This is confirmed again by the word of the Lord in Rom. 11:25 to 29. After telling about Israel being broken off of their tame olive tree and the Gentiles being grated in, then the apostle tells about the grafting in of Israel again. "And they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again," Rom. 11:23. Then he went on to say, "Blind­ness in part is happened unto Israel UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion a Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my COVENANT WITH THEM WHEN I SHALL TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS. As concerning the gospel they (Israel) are enemies for your (the Gentiles) sakes: but as teaching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."

 

In the scripture just quoted it is said that they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. The fathers (plural) here are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then he went on to say that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. That is, God does not repent or go back on His gifts and calling. He confirmed His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob con­cerning the land of promise with His oath. Therefore He can never go back on that gift and that promise. His word and His oath demands that His promise to Abraham be car­ried out. In keeping with that covenant God will take away Israel's sins, and the whole nation, all 12 tribes, will be saved and restored to their land. This is not to be construed as teaching the salvation of such Israelites as have died in unbelief.

 

2. Israel Will Turn from Her Unbelief.

 

In Deut. 4:29-31 God said that He would remember them if they turned to Him with all their hearts. They are going to do that very thing. "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Is­rael return, and seek the Lord their God," Hos. 3:4. This is when God shall take away their sins as we read in Rom. 11:27.

 

3. The People of Israel Shall Be Given a New Heart.

 

"I will take you from among the heathen, and will gath­er you out of ALL COUNTRIES, and will bring you into your OWN LAND. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from your idols, will I cleanse you. A NEW HEART also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take way the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and do them. And ye shall dwell IN THE LAND THAT I GAVE TO YOUR FATHERS; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen," Ezek. 36:24-30.

 

From this passage we learn that the people of Israel will become a born again people. God will save them from their sins and give them a new heart and put His Spirit within them. This will cause them to walk in His statutes and do them. This will be done when they shall be gathered out from ALL countries. They shall be made to dwell in the land which God gave to their fathers. As was said be­fore the Abrahamic covenant demands this very thing. After this God will increase and multiply the increase of their fields and orchards. Just a few days ago this writer saw the picture of a man who made three and one half bales of cotton to the acre this year. If such abundant crops can be made now, what will they be when God's rich blessings are on the land and He multiplies the yields of their fields.

 

After this Israel is to know no more famine. In Acts 11:27 to 30 we find a great dearth in Judaea and other coun­tries. So this prophecy of Ezekiel had not yet been fulfilled. It is still future.

 

This same thing is foretold in Deut. 30:4-6. "If any of thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence shall he fetch thee: and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy FATHERS POSSESSED, to POSSESS it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God shall circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart."

 

These and many other passages show that Israel will repent and be saved, and become a regenerated people, and placed back in the land which God gave to their fathers to possess. These passages are too plain to be misunderstood. God certainly was not making false promises to Israel in all these places. He cannot lie.

 

4. Not One Israelite Will Be Left in Gentile Countries

 

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now I will bring again the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on the WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, and will be jealous for my holy name; after they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them again out of their enemies lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of THEM ANY MORE THERE. Neither will I hide my face ANY MORE from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of ISRAEL, saith the Lord God," Ezek. 39:25-29.

 

In this regathering there will not be one Israelite left among the Gentile nations. As long as we see one Jew on our streets this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. After this God will pour out His Spirit on them. This will be a repitition of what happened on Pentecost, only in a greater way. It is in keeping with Ezekiel 36:27, "I will put my spirit within you." He said after that He would not hide his face from them any more.

 

5. After This Regathering They Will No More Be Plucked Up Out of Their Land.

 

"And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall NO MORE be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God," Amos 9:14-15.

 

After this return they are to be NO MORE pulled up out of their land. This does not refer to the return of 42,360 of those people in Ezra's day. See Ezra 2:64. They were pulled up out of their land after that, about A.D. 70 by Titus, the Roman general. Why contradict what God said by the mouth of Amos, that the people should NO MORE be pulled up out of their land?

 

Only the Premillennialists have a place for the return of Israel to their land, after which they shall be plucked up NO MORE out of it.

 

6. This Regathering Is to Take Place After Many Gen­erations.

 

"And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of MANY GENERATIONS," Isa. 61:4.

 

The return under Ezra was not after many generations. Some of the old men who were present when the temple of Ezra was built had seen Solomon's temple. "But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy," Ezra 3:12. Many of the same generation who were living at the time of the Babylonian captivity were still living, and re­turned with Ezra. This was not after MANY generations, as we read in Isa. 61:4.

 

7. The Twelve Tribes Are to Be Restored.

 

"Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL," Matt. 19:28. Jesus promised the apostles that they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. He also told them they should do that when He shall sit on the throne of His glory. In Matthew 25:31 He tells when that will be. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit upon the throne of his glory."

 

The Greek word for THEN in this place is "TOTE" and not "EITA" which occurs in 1 Corinthians 15:24. This is the word for THEN meaning "At that time." If Premillennial opposers could find the word "TOTE" in 1 Corinthians 15:24 they would have their point proven on that. But the word "TOTE" is not there. No one who has examined the original language will say so. Therefore they have to ignore the original word and its meaning, and choose their own mean­ing of the English word THEN, and insist on people accept­ing it. Be careful, brethren, be sure you are right before you go ahead. Just how do you know the English word THEN in 1 Corinthians 15:24 means "AT THAT TIME"? Have you made an examination of it or just made an as­sumption?

 

The passage quoted from Matthew 19:27-28 shows that the apostles shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the TWELVE TRIBES of Israel, when Christ shall sit on His throne. The twelve tribes must be regathered to their land and restored as tribes when Christ sits on His throne. The twelve tribes of Israel constituted the whole house of Israel, both Judah and Israel. The following passage connects the regathering of the whole house of Israel with the time when Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem THE THRONE OF THE LORD; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. IN THOSE days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers," Jer. 3:17-18.

 

In THOSE days, that is, the days referred to in the verse above, when Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, both the house of Judah and the house of Israel shall come together to the land God gave their fathers. The TWELVE tribes of Israel composed the house of Judah and the house of Israel. That will bring the TWELVE tribes of Israel back to the land which God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and at this time the Lord will be on His throne at Jerusalem. In Matthew 19:28 Jesus told the apostles that when He sat on the throne of His glory, they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the TWELVE tribes of Israel. This harmonizes closely with Jeremiah 3:17-18; that is, the whole house of Israel will be regathered to their land when Jeru­salem is the throne of the Lord. Here is the Lord on His throne, and here is the whole house of Israel regathered to their land. Then the twelve apostles can sit on their twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. To sit on His throne at Jerusalem the Lord must return accord­ing to Matt. 25:31. Then the apostles can sit on their thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This is according to the prophecy of Isa. 1:26. "I will restore thy JUDGES as at the first."

 

Some have tried to evade the passage in Matt. 19:28 by applying it to the church. No one can show where the church was divided into twelve tribes. Throughout the Bible the twelve tribes are connected with national Israel. Some have quoted Luke 22:28-29 to prove their contention. "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptation, And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in MY KING­DOM, and sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Those who apply this passage to the church assume that the kingdom here is the church. It is an assump­tion without proof. In Luke 14:13-15 we read these words, "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. And when one of them that sat at meat heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." So this eating bread in the Lord's kingdom will take place after the resurrection of the just. This places this promise in the future, and shows that those who apply the passage about the apostles sitting on twelve thrones to the church are wrong. They go against the whole tenure of the Bible which connects the twelve tribes of Israel with national Israel. Like all false doctrine, this idea about Matt. 19:28 applying to the church is based upon assumption and inference. If the tribal distinction is lost to man, as some claim, it is not lost from God, who knows all things, and can and will re­store the twelve tribes.

 

8. A Second Division of the Land Among the Twelve Tribes is Foretold.

 

The whole house of Israel is to be regathered to their land, and the apostles are to sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes. The twelve tribes made up the nation of Israel. It will be so again. When Israel was in that land in former times the land was divided among those twelve tribes. When they shall be regathered to their land there will need to be a second division of the land among the tribes. The Lord foretold this through His prophet Ezekiel.

 

"Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye SHALL INHERIT (future) the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions, and ye shall inherit it, one as well as the other: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it TO YOUR FATHERS: and this land shall fall (future) unto you for an inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Ha-math; Hazorhatticon, which is in the border of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the EAST SEA. And this is the east side," Ezek. 47:13-18.

 

Gilead was on the east side of Jordan River, and Da­mascus is northeast. Beginning there the land is to extend to the east sea, known as the Persian Gulf. But let us con­tinue.

 

"And the south side southward from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward," Verse 19.

 

Kadesh was the place from which Moses sent the spies to spy out the land of promise. See Numbers 13:25-26. The river in the verse above is the river of Egypt. See Gen. 15:18. It flows out of the northern part of the peninsula of Sinai into the Mediterranean Sea, called the great sea in the Bible. This will be the southern extremity of the land.

 

"The west side also shall be the great sea, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side," Verse 20. This will take in the old Phoenicean country. See Bible map.

 

"So shall ye divide the land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the stranger that sojourn among you, which shall BEGET CHIL­DREN among you; and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel," Verse 21-22.

 

The next chapter tells where each of the twelve tribes shall have their inheritance. It starts with Dan on the north, Ezek. 48:2. In the division under Joshua Dan was not on the north, but next to the great sea, south of Ephraim, east of Benjamin. However, later on some of the Danites went north and captured the city of Laish, and called the city Dan. See Judges 18:7-29. But in the division in Ezekiel the whole tribe is to have its portion on the extreme north. Each tribe's land is to run from east to west, a different ar­rangement from that under Joshua. See map of the loca­tions of these tribes. In Ezekiel the tribe of Gad is placed in the extreme southern part. It shall be from Kadesh to the great sea. Ezek. 48:28. In the division by Moses before his death, Gad was given the land of Gilead, north of the tribe of Reuben, east of the Jordan River. It did not touch the sea, nor was it near Kadesh. They will not possess Gil­ead the next time.

 

Thus, Ezekiel foretold a future division of the land among the tribes of Israel. No such a division was found after Ezra's return. Then, this division of the land, which God foretold through Ezekiel, MUST take place in some future time, or what God foretold can never come true. God cannot lie, nor His word fail. If His promise to Israel fails, then perhaps the promise of Christ to return for us will fail. We cannot afford to treat the word of God in any such a manner. It is an erroneous and dangerous method of Bible teaching which culls out some passages in God's word and discards this and discards that.

 

When this writer was a young man he would go to a blacksmith to have tools or farm Implements repaired. The blacksmith would go to a pile of junk iron and toss aside one piece and another until finally he found something that would fit where he needed it. The Bible is just like a junk heap to many men. They toss aside this passage and that passage until they come to something they think they can fit into their theory. They discard all the rest. Instead of being like a pile of junk iron, to be rolled and tossed aside until a certain thing is found, it is like a watch or clock: each piece has its place to fit. Each wheel, coil, and spring must be there, and in its proper place before the watch can work. Once a small boy took a clock to pieces to examine the parts. When he put it back together in his own way he had as many parts left as he had used, but his clock was not of much service after that. That is the way of many preachers and teachers with the Bible. When they have their system of theology fixed up, it is like the little boy's clock. There is as much left for which they have no use as they have used. Such a servant could hardly be called "Approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," 2 Tim. 2:15. We will have to give an account unto God for how we deal with His word. "My brethren, be not many masters (teachers), know­ing we shall receive the greater condemnation," James 3:1.

 

If God has called us to preach or teach He has laid upon us the solemn responsibility to do our utmost to find out exactly what the word of God teaches on every point. We are not to teach our own ideas. For example, take the word "THEN" in 1 Corinthians 15:24. Since our English word "THEN" has more than one definition we are under obliga­tion to find which meaning God wishes to be used here.

 

Most anyone can purchase a Young's Analytical Concord­ance, which will show the exact meaning in this place. In this case he gives "Afterwards" as the definition of the Greek word "Eita" translated "Then," 1 Cor. 15:24. He refers to this very verse, and Mark 4:28, and 1 Tim. 2:13, as ex­amples.

 

In our examination of Ezekiel 47:13, through chapter 48, we have seen a second and future division of the land among the twelve tribes. To many, this passage may seem dry and uninteresting, but it is part of God's word. We are told that ALL scripture is profitable to thoroughly furnish the man of God unto every good work. See 2 Tim. 3:16-17. A close study of this prophecy of scripture would have saved many a man from stumbling into an error, and teaching a wrong doctrine.

 

This future division of the land among the twelve tribes is a prophecy no one has a place for, except Premillennialists. In all the works of Postmillennialists, Amillennialists, and Nonmillennialists this writer has read, and they are numerous, he has never found one who has tried to place this prophecy (Ezek. 47:13 to 48:35). They can only find a place for it by giving up their unscriptural positions and accepting the Premillennial view. This doctrine, like all other scriptural doctrines, is unpopular.

 

Ezekiel describes the city in the midst, the land it will occupy, and closes with this statement, "And the name of the city from that day shall be, THE LORD IS THERE," chapter 48:35. From WHAT DAY? From the day the land is divided according to this prophecy. The Lord will be in the city, which is called Jerusalem, and which from that time shall be called THE LORD IS THERE. This will put Him on earth, and among the twelve tribes of Israel. It will restore those tribes. The twelve apostles can then sit on their twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes, as Jesus promised, Matt. 19:28.

 

9. Their Land Will Become Like the Garden of Eden.

 

"Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen (Gen­tiles) that are left about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I WILL DO IT. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock in Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord," Ezek. 36:33-38.

 

Several things in this passage should be considered here.

 

First, the Lord is going to cleanse the house of Israel from their sins, v. 33.

 

Second, the house of Israel is going to inquire of Him to do all these things. Here is Israel calling on the name of the Lord, v. 37.

 

Third, the waste land will be reclaimed, and the waste cities rebuilded, vs. 33-34.

 

Fourth, the land will become like the garden of Eden, v. 35. It will be the earth's JUBILEE.

 

Fifth, some of the heathen (Gentiles) about them will be left, thus surviving the great disasters which immediately precede the Lord's return to earth, v. 36.

 

Sixth, the people of Israel will become as a flock, as to numbers and increase, v. 37.

Seventh, the cities which were laid waste will be rebuilded and filled with men, as Jerusalem was on her feast days, v. 38. This will bring about a congested condition which will need to be met.

 

Eighth, God said, "I have spoken it, and I will do it," v. 36. He will do what? He will cleanse Israel from her iniquities. He will rebuild their waste places. He will make their land like the garden of Eden. He will increase then  like a flock and fill their cities that have been rebuilded. Are we to believe He will do just what He said in this passage, or, are we to believe God did not mean what He said here? If we do not believe God meant just what He said here, how are we going to know what He did mean? Who is the authority to tell us? This writer believes just what God said in this place, and that He will do it. He would not have had His word written in a way to lead peo­ple to believe He will do something He will not do. This Arabian desert, will become a dwelling place for the chil­dren of Israel. "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen, and close up the breeches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Be­hold, the days come, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them UPON THEIR LAND, and they shall NO MORE be pulled up out of their land which I have given them," Amos 9:9-15.

 

This is in keeping with the prophecy of Obadiah. "Upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holi­ness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau (Edom) for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and of Sa­maria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarepath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom SHALL BE THE LORD'S," Obadiah 17:21.

 

These passages show that when the captivity of the children return and the kingdom is the Lord's that the chil­dren of Israel shall possess and occupy all the land which David conquered, and which was given to them in the Abrahamic covenant.

 

The reader's attention is called especially to the words which say that Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The land of Gilead is east of Jordan River. Benjamin's possession was west of Jordan River in the days of Joshua. The tribes of would lead people into error. God is not the author of con­fusion.

 

Some will wonder why the cities will need to be fenced, if no war in that time. The land which the Israelites former­ly occupied was a small country. Every available piece of ground was needed for pastures, fields, or dwelling places. It is possible the cities will need to be fenced to keep out the stock.

 

10. The People Will Reach Out and Take in More Territory. It has been shown that Israel's waste cities will be re‑

 

built, and filled to overflowing with men, even as was Jeru­salem on her feast days. On those occasions the Israelites came from all the country round about to Jerusalem. When all the cities they once had are built again and become filled with men as was Jerusalem on her feast days they will have a congested condition. This will cause them to want more territory in which to dwell. We find this very thing foretold by the Prophet Isaiah.

 

"For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, the place is too strait (narrow) for me: give place to me that I may dwell," Isa. 49:19-20.

 

This shows that when the people of Israel shall have increased as is foretold in Ezek. 36:37-38 that the land they once occupied, in the days of their destruction, will be too small for them. That will make it necessary for them to reach out and take in all the land promised to Abraham in the covenant God made with them. That will reach east to the Euphrates River, and on down to the Persian Sea. It has been seen that the deserts will be reclaimed. The great Arabian desert, about the size of Texas, will be included in this territory. In 2 Sam. 8:1 to 14 we read where David conquered all the territory of the Moabites, the Syrians, the Ammonites, the Edomites and that of the king of Zobah, and Toi, king of Hamath, and pushed his dominion all the way to the River Euphrates on the north, and to the land of Edom on the south. He made all these people to become tributaries to him. But this conquered territory was still occupied by those conquered people. This dominion was handed down to his son Solomon who reigned from the River of Euphrates unto the border of Egypt. But in the days to come all this territory, including the reclaimed Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh were given their possessions east of Jordan River before the death of Moses. See Numb. 32:1 to 42. The new arrangement of the land foretold by Ezekiel will give the land of Gilead to Benjamin.

 

The reader's attention is also called to the statement of Amos which said that the children of Israel should no more be pulled up out of their land. This is in keeping with the promise which God made to David in 2 Sam. 7:10. "More­over I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and MOVE NO MORE; neither shall the children of wicked­ness afflict them any more as beforetime."

 

There can be no occasion for anyone to misunderstand these plain prophecies. They can teach but one thing, and that is that there is a future restoration of the people of Israel to their land, the land of promise, given to Abraham in the covenant God made with him. After this future restor­ation that shall MOVE NO MORE. Neither shall the chil­dren of wickedness afflict them ANY MORE. When we con­sider what the Jewish people suffered at the hands of Hitler, and the trouble they are now having with the people round about the small portion of land they now occupy, then no one can say these prophecies have yet been fufilled. To say that they have is to make the Lord tell a falsehood, because He said they would MOVE NO MORE, neither would they BE AFFLICTED ANY MORE. The mark of a false prophet is to foretell something which does not come to pass. "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it pre­sumptuously," Deut. 18:22. If then, what Amos, Obadiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and other prophets of the Bible foretold about Israel's future and permanent restoration does not come to pass, all these men have been proven to be false prophets. We may as well throw all their writings out of the Bible, along with Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus, and His vicarious sufferings, if what these men foretold about Israel's future and permanent restora­tion does not come to pass. They would be proven to be false prophets, so what they foretold about the birth and sufferings of Christ would also have to be ruled out. If they did not speak the truth with reference to the restoration of Israel, neither can we rely upon them to speak the truth about our Lord's birth, sufferings and resurrection. When anyone discredits their prophecies on one thing they at the same time discredit their prophecies on every thing else. The foundations of our faith are overthrown, and we may as well surrender to the modernist. Because of this the writer can never be anything but a Premillennialist. They accept the words of the prophets concerning the future and permanent restoration of Israel even as they accept them on the birth and sufferings of Christ. Infidels and modernists will accept certain parts of the Bible, if they are allowed to pick out those parts. If we are not going to follow their example we must accept and believe all which the prophets foretold, not just those parts which might suit our purpose. Therefore all who refuse to accept what the prophets fore­told about Israel's future and permanent restoration are playing into the hands of modernists. The modernists of the early times rejected the book of Revelation, John's gospel, and the millennial reign of Christ on earth. So do the mod­ernists of today. Why play into their hands by denying what the Bible teaches about Israel's restoration and the reign of Christ and His saints on this earth?

 

11. The Dead Sea Will Be Cleansed and Its Wealth Will Be Converted unto Israel.

 

In the Dead Sea the Lord has stored up an immense amount of wealth for Israel in the future. It has been estim­ated that the value of the mineral deposits in the Dead Sea exceeds $1,300,000,000,000. The prophet Isaiah foretold that this immense amount of wealth would be converted unto Israel. "Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine hearts shall fear, and be enlarged; because the ABUND­ANCE OF THE SEA shall be converted unto thee," Isa. 60:5. The mineral deposits from that sea will help reclaim and make the desert lands highly productive fields and gardens.

 

The prophet Ezekiel foretold that the Dead Sea would be reclaimed and made to become a great fishing resort. At the present time nothing lives in its waters. In the Bible it was called the salt sea, or the sea of the plain. The towns and lands mentioned in connection with Ezekiel's prophecy makes anything but a literal construction of that prophecy absurd and ridiculous. Let us read that prophecy.

 

"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the thres­hold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate north­ward, and led me about the way unto the utter gate that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; and the waters were to the ancles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thou­sand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come shall live: and there shall be a great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be ac­cording to their kinds, as the fish of THE GREAT SEA, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and that side, shall grow trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall their fruit be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine," Ezk. 47:1 to 12.

 

The next verse after this prophecy begins Ezekiel's pro­phecy of the future land division among the twelve tribes of Israel, which has already been considered. The two pro­phecies go hand in hand and will have their fulfillment in the same period of time, the earth's great jubilee.

 

There can be no excuse for one not understanding Ezekiel's prophecy as quoted above. It foretells the cleansing of the waters of the Dead Sea, called the salt sea, or sea of the plain in the Bible. The waters which issue out from under the threshold of the house go eastward. The Dead Sea is east of Jerusalem. The waters go down into the desert. The country on the west bank of the Dead Sea, between that sea and Jerusalem, is a desert country. It extends a few miles away from the Dead Sea. The coming of these waters into the desert will cause many trees to grow on both banks of the river. The waters go into the sea and cause the waters of the sea to be healed. When this time comes those waters will abound in fish, and those fish shall be according to the kinds found in THE GREAT SEA, the Bible term for the sea which we call the Mediterranean Sea. Fishermen shall stand on this sea from Engedi to Eneglaim. The Bible maps show that Engedi is a small town on the western bank of the Dead Sea, about half the way down. Eneglaim, which is not shown by all maps, is a place on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. So the fishermen shall spread their nets in this sea from the town of Engedi all the way around the northern part of the sea and down the eastern bank to Eneglaim. The places mentioned in this prophecy, and every­thing about it show that the prophet was giving to Israel a prophecy of the future cleansing of the Dead Sea. To make any other application is absurd and ridiculous.

 

In John 6:16-17 we read where the disciples of Jesus "Entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum." Capernaum was a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. One may as well contend that a literal boat and the Sea of Galilee and the city of Capernaum are not under consideration in this place as to argue that Engedi, Eneglaim and the Dead Sea are not under consideration in Ezek. 47:1-12. Cornelius was told to send men to Joppa and call for Simon Peter, who was lodging with Simon a tan­ner, whose house was by the sea side. Acts 10:5-6. No one would be so absurd as to say that the city of Joppa and the Mediterranean Sea were not under consideration in this place. Engedi and Eneglaim were places located on the banks of the Dead Sea the same as Capernaum and Joppa were places located on the Sea of Galilee and the Mediter­ranean Sea. Then why should one take the absurd position that the Dead Sea and its cleansing are not under consider­ation in Ezekiel's prophecy? It can be nothing else but a prophecy of the cleansing of the Dead Sea.

 

Now just what are Postmillennialists, Amillennialists and Nonmillennialists going to do with this prophecy? Are they going to leave it without a place to be fulfilled and thus have the scriptures broken, and prove Ezekiel to be a false prophet. Or will they take the absurd position that Engedi does not mean Engedi, and that eastward does not mean eastward, that the desert does not mean desert, and that the fish in this prophecy does not mean fish, and that THE GREAT SEA does not mean the great sea? This is just one more prophecy of the word of God that none but Premillennialist have a place for its fulfillment. That system of Bible interpretation which does not have, and cannot have a place for the fulfillment of all of the prophecies can­not be the right one.

 

Some ask, "Of what value are these things anyway? Why be concerned about them'?? They are a part of "The more sure word of prophecy" unto which we are told we do well to take heed, 2 Pet. 1:18. They are a part of the scripture given by inspiration. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for DOCTRINE, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto ALL GOOD WORKS," 2 Tim. 3:16-17. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," Matt. 4:4. These passages do not teach that we are to live by just some of God's words, but by EVERY WORD. They do not tell us that some parts of scripture are profitable for doctrine, and we do well to leave some of it alone. But they tell us that ALL scripture is profitable for doctrine. If we expect to be well rounded, and well grounded in the word of God, then we must not neglect any part of it. The reason so many are led away with unscriptural movements, designed by men for the pur­pose of refashioning and improving a world system which is ruled over by the devil, is because they have not acquaint­ed themselves with the prophetic part of God's word. Be­cause of this they have taken upon themselves a task the Lord has never assigned to us, and which He alone can do. There is no hope for world improvement outside of the supernatural coming of Jesus Christ. Men, dead in tres­passes and sins, are powerless to save themselves. They must be saved by the supernatural power of God. Neither can a world which is dominated by the powers of darkness ever throw off its chains of bondage. That too, will take a supernatural work. Christ must return and lift from the earth the curse. In proportion as we engage ourselves in an effort to make the world better, just in that proportion do we encourage men in a false hope. This is one main reason we need to understand the prophetic portions of God's word. In this way only can we know what God expects of us today. Only in this way can we keep ourselves from being en­tangled in unscriptural movements and waste our time, ef­forts and money which should be used in the task of wit­nessing to a lost world that its only hope is in Christ. The drift today is from the gospel of Christ to a social gospel. This has been brought about because men have either neg­lected the study of prophecy, or have tried to interpret it to fit in with the false idea of taking the world for Christ. We need to know God's plan for this age. It is not to bring peace and harmony and order in a world ruled over by Satan, but to take out of the Gentiles a people for His name, Acts 15:14. Christ Himself will set things in order when He returns.

 

We have seen that the prophets foretold a future and a permanent restoration of Israel to the land which God gave to their fathers. We have seen that it is a restoration which shall not be brought to an end. We have seen that the whole house of Israel, both Judah and Israel, all the 12 tribes are to be restored. We have seen that it will be at a time when Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord. We have seen that the 12 tribes must be restored for the 12 apostles to sit on 12 thrones judging those tribes. Since the apostles have died, then they must be raised from the dead for this to take place. Since the apostles cannot be raised from the dead until Christ returns then Christ must return for all this to take place. We have seen that there has been foretold by Ezekiel a future division of the promised land among the 12 tribes. We have seen that Israel's land is to be made like the garden of Eden. We have seen that deserts are to be reclaimed, and the Dead Sea to be cleansed. Shall we deny that all these things shall be done and thus make Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah and others to be false prophets. That is exactly what we do when we deny that these things shall come to pass. We put a lie in the mouth of all these pro­phets. The reader may say it is a matter of interpretation. No, it is a matter of not believing what the prophets have foretold. Let us suppose that the man who believes that God meant what He plainly said in these places, and that all these things shall come to pass as foretold, is wrong. Could God justly bring a charge against him for believing His word? But suppose the man is wrong who says we are not to take the prophecies of the word of God as they read. He will certainly have to face a charge of unbelief on this line. If men will only put aside preceived opinions and tra­ditions of men the word of God is not hard to understand.

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

THE TIMES OF RESTITUTION

 

The millennial age, which will be the earth's great jubilee, will be the times of the restitution of all the things which God has foretold by His prophets. We find this spoken of by the Apostle Peter in his preaching to the people of Israel in Acts 3:12-26. This times of restitution Peter placed after the return of Christ from heaven. He began his mes­sage that day by saying, "Ye MEN OF ISRAEL." After telling about the death and resurrection of Christ, through whose name the lame man had been healed, he went on to say to these men of Israel:

 

"Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, And he shall send (future tense) Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive UNTIL the times of the restitution of ALL things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

 

From this it is seen that heaven must receive, or as some translations read, RETAIN Jesus UNTIL the times of the restitution of all things which God foretold by the mouth of His prophets. We have just learned that the nation of Israel must be restored to their own land. The 12 tribes must be restored. Israel's judges must be restored according to Isa. 1:26. Not until then can the 12 apostles be sitting on their 12 thrones JUDGING the 12 tribes of Israel. Not until Christ returns and raises the apostles from the dead can they do that, nor can Israel's JUDGES be restored. This is all in keeping with the words of Peter in Acts 3:21 that heaven must receive or retain Christ UNTIL the times of the restitution of ALL things foretold through the prophets. It is in keeping with Christ being seated on the throne of His glory when the 12 apostles sit on their 12 thrones. It is in keeping with what Jesus said in Matt. 25:31 about the Son of man being seated on His throne when He comes in His glory. So Israel must be restored to their own land, the land God gave to their fathers, the land given to Abraham in the land grant in Gen. 15:18 to 21. This land reaches from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates River. It is on this earth. Its boundaries are set in that deed which God gave to Abraham, as are the boundaries and description of the land in any other deed. Deeds are not written up in ambiguous terms for any man to put his own interpretation on the same. If I am deeded some land in a certain range, and a certain section in Conway County, the land which is specified in that deed is what I get. I would be laughed out of court if I should go to Mississippi County, Arkansas, and try to claim some of that rich land on the deed that specified that the land given to me was in Conway County. Then why will men try to so spiritualize this deed made to Abraham to make it mean something else different from what God specified in Gen. 15:18-21. Is the Bible a rope of sand to make plain words mean just anything and every­thing according to the whims and fancies of each particular person? No, it is not. The land given to Abraham is specified and we must take it just as it reads. Well, it is to this land that the prophets have said Israel is to be brought in the days to come, and restored to the land, never to be pulled up out of it any more. Jeremiah, in Jer. 3:17-18, connected this restoration of the nation with the time when Jerusalem is called the throne of the Lord. In Jer. 23:5-6 Jeremiah connected Judah being saved and Israel dwelling safely with the righteous BRANCH of David reigning and pros­pering and executing judgment and justice IN THE EARTH. This all agrees with what Peter said about heaven receiving Christ UNTIL the times of restitution. So this restitution cannot come until Christ has returned from heaven. After that return Israel is to dwell in that land. To have the earth destroyed immediately upon the return of Christ would cancel all these prophecies and make them null and void, and would have the scripture broken. There is no scripture that teaches that the earth will be destroyed im­mediately upon the Lord's return. It is connected with the DAY OF THE LORD in 2 Pet. 3:10, which shall be con­sidered later. The same expression "THE DAY OF THE LORD" is found in the 14th chapter of Zechariah, and is connected with our Lord's return to the Mount of Olives in the midst of a battle which will be raging in Jerusalem. It will cause the Mount of Olives to divide. In that same day, the DAY OF THE LORD, "they are to have both sum­mer and winter." And it shall be in THAT DAY (that is, the DAY OF THE LORD mentioned in v. 1), that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea (Dead Sea), and half of them toward the hinder sea (the Mediterranean), in SUMMER and in WIN­TER shall it be, Zech. 14:8. Here we find both summer and winter in the day of the Lord, and that after the Lord has returned to Mount Olives. In Gen. 8:22 God said, "While the EARTH REMAINETH, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, SUMMER and WINTER, and day and night shall not cease." Since they will have both summer and winter in THE DAY OF THE LORD and after the return of Christ, then the earth will still be remaining since winter and summer are to continue as long as the EARTH REMAINETH.

 

Then we have seen that the prophet foretold that the earth is to be restored to its pristine beauty and glory. When God made the earth He did not make it with thorns and thistles and briers. These things came about as a result of the curse pronounced after the fall of man. Gen. 3:17-18. When God made the garden of Eden he made to grow every tree that was good for food, and pleasant to the sight. Gen. 2:9. Thorns, brambles, bull-nettles, cactus, scrubby desert trees, rag weeds, and other noxious weeds did not curse the earth nor mar its beauty. Nature itself must be restored to its former beauty and glory. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come tip the myrtle tree," Isa. 55:13. In Lev. 25:24 God said to Israel, "Ye shall grant a REDEMPTION unto the land." So the land of this earth is to have a redemption. All nature is groaning and travailing in pain waiting for that day. And nature's REDEMPTION from its curse and bondage is tied up with the redemption of the believer's body and the manifestation of the sons of God. "For the earnest expecta­tion of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature (Dr. Berry trans. "Cre-ation") itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the GLORIOUS LIBERTY of the children of God. For we know that the whole CREATION groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the REDEMPTION of our body," Rom. 8:19-23. All nature is groaning and crying out for de­liverance from the curse and the fall. What meaneth the many hurricanes that have been lashing our eastern coasts so often this year, destroying lives and property and bring­ing misery and suffering? What meaneth the mighty earth­quakes that make the earth to quiver and shake? What meaneth the unrest and upheaval among the nations of earth this day? What meaneth the fear that grips the hearts of men today, as statesmen seek in vain to bring an end to the threat of a war of destruction? They are but the tra­vailing groans and cries of nature as it travails in pain, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God and its deliverance. In all the voices of nature, the wind, the moan­ing of the sea, and the lowing of the cattle there seems to be a minor chord. Nature is like a woman with child, upon whom the birth pains have seized. Those pains and cries do not grow less, but inore severe as the time of delivery draws near, until every nerve and muscle in the woman's body quivers with pain and agony. So will it be with nature and this present world. Its troubles and fears and sorrows will grow more intense until it winds up in the great tribu­lation age of this world. Release and joy will come when Christ returns in glory and strikes off the shackles of bond­age and sets nature free. After the child is born then the woman has relief from her travail pains and she has joy and gladness and great rejoicing in the birth of a new child. So when Christ returns to bring earth's deliverance, and the earth's great JUBILEE AGE has been born, then the earth will have joy and gladness. The nations will rejoice, because the Lord will be governing the nations upon earth. Ps. 67:4. The deserts will rejoice and blossom like the rose. Isa. 35:1. The redeemed of Israel will return to their land with songs and joy. "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away," Isa. 35:10. It will not be jazz music, or filthy songs that shall fill the ears and hearts of people then, but songs of joy and praise unto the Lord who has brought all these things to pass. The tongue of those who stammer now will be loosed then, and they can voice the praises of God with the sweetest of songs. How the hearts and souls of God's people today fill with gladness, joy and thanksgiving when we hear the songs of the Lord sung in the power of the Spirit. What shall it be then? "Thus saith the Lord, Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH, and IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, that are without man and without inhabitant, and without beast. The voice of JOY, the voice of GLADNESS, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and the voice of them that say, PRAISE THE LORD OF HOSTS: for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth forever," Jer. 33:10-11.

 

This writer does not profess to be able to answer every question that might be asked about the 1000 years reign, the earth's great jubilee, but he does know that the Bible teaches that such a time is coming to this earth. It is as clear to him as the noon day sun that Christ and His glor­ified saints are to reign here on earth during that time. He has not the slightest doubt concerning Israel's future and permanent restoration, and the restoration of this earth to its former beauty. He knows also that no position but that of the Premillennialists has a place for all these pre­dicted events. When I began to preach about 44 years ago I was a Premillennialist. I have never wavered the least from that position until this hour, but as the years have come and gone this former conviction has deepened and a clearer and clearer view of these have been mine. My soul has been made to leap for joy as I have preached and written on these things. I have seen souls saved and saints made to shout the praises of God as I have preached these things. I know that all the truth of God is harmonious, and that no system of doctrine that must discard a large part of the prophetic word and leave no place for the ful­fillment of the same can be the right one. None but the Premillennialists have a place for the restoration of Israel to her land, never to be removed again. None but the Premillennialists have a place for a second land division among the 12 tribes. No others have a place for the prophesied reign of Christ and His saints on earth. No other system of teaching ever places Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem executing judgment and justice in the earth. No other position has a place for the redemption of nature and the restoration of the earth to its former beauty and glory. This leaves the field to the Premillennialists. Others need to get away from human wisdom and theories and thoughts on this line, revise their theology, and get in line with the prophetic truths of God's word. Their system of prophetic interpretation, that which would explain away all the lit­eral meaning of prophecy, was introduced into the ranks of Christianity from Greek philosophy. It came by the way of the philosophical and religious school at Alexandria, Egypt, and propogated by such men as Origen, Dionysius, and later on by Augustine. Most of the Bible schools and seminaries of the land today are following in the steps of Origen and his successors. Their theology is cut out to fit the pattern of the unscriptural programs of their denom­inations. State religions have always opposed the idea of Christ returning to the earth to reign. This doctrine 'does not fit in with their scheme of things. Then the doctrine does not coincide with men's ideas of building a world order in which they will have peace and prosperity brought in by man's work, and not by the supernatural coming of Christ. Men have ever tried to rule out the supernatural.

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

PROPHETIC VISIONS HAVE LITERAL FULFILLMENT

 

It is often said that the book of Revelation is a book of symbols, and because of that we cannot expect a literal fulfillment. Those who make this statement have never given close attention to the fulfillment of prophetic visions and symbols in times past. If the fulfillment of prophetic visions and symbols in the past teach anything, then we can expect a literal fulfillment of the prophecies in Revel­ation.

 

The book of Daniel is as much a book of visions and symbols as is the book of Revelation. Some of its symbolic, prophetical visions have already had a literal fulfillment. In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, Daniel had a vision, Dan. 8:1. In that vision he saw a ram with two horns pushing westward, northward, and southward, Dan. 8:2-4. Then he saw a he goat with a notable horn between his eyes coming from the west. He ran into the ram, breaking his two horns, knocking him to the ground and trampling on him. When the he goat had waxed strong, his horn was broken, and four others came up in its place, Dan. 8:5-8. This prophecy was given in a vision and set forth by sym­bols.

 

In the interpretation of the vision it was said to Daniel, "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the horn between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power," Dan. 8:20-22. In this place a symbolic prophecy had a literal fulfillment. The ram was a symbol, but it repre­sented a literal kingdom, Media-Persia. Its two horns Were symbols which represented the two literal nations that made up that kingdom. The he goat and his horns were symbols. He represented the literal kingdom of Grecia. His first horn represented the first king. The four that took its place represented the four kingdoms into which the empire would be divided upon the death of the first king. He was Alex­ander the Great.

 

"And I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four beasts came (past tense) up from the sea, diverse one from another," Dan. 7:2-3. This is symbolic prophecy. Daniel saw four beasts in the vision. He used the past tense when he said they "came up." The word "beasts" is symbolic. The numeral is FOUR. The interpretation is found in Dan. 7:16‑17. "I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are FOUR, are FOUR kings, which shall arise (future tense) out of the earth." In the interpretation the tense is changed from past to future. Instead of "came up" as it was in the vision, it is "SHALL ARISE" in the interpretation. The symbol "BEASTS" is explained to mean "KINGS" in the interpretation. The number FOUR in the vision is still FOUR in the interpretation. This is a literal fulfillment of symbolic prophecy.

 

Pharaoh, in his dream, saw seven lean cattle eat up seven fat cattle; and seven blasted ears of corn consume seven full ears. In his interpretation Joseph said the seven fat cattle and the seven full ears of corn represented seven years of plenty; and the seven lean cattle and seven blasted ears of corn represented seven years of famine. The cattle and the ears of corn were symbols, but the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine were literal years of plenty and famine. In each case the number in the dream was the same number in the interpretation. See Gen. 41:17-32.

 

Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image, and that of the great tree being cut down had their fulfillment in literal events, Dan. 2:1-45; and 4:4-37.

 

If these symbolic visions had literal fulfillments, why should not the symbolic prophecies in the book of Revela­tion have literal fulfillments?

 

But, someone has said the word EARTH is not found connected with the thousand years. He should read Revela­tion 20:7-8. "And when the THOUSAND YEARS are ex­pired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the EARTH, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle." Here are nations on earth at the end of the thou­sand years of Satan's imprisonment. Since this will be so, then they will be on earth all during the thousand years. He will not access to these nations while he is shut up in prison. Rev. 20:3 and 20:7. Here are the nations over whom Christ and His saints shall reign. In addition to this we have the positive statements, "We shall reign on the earth" and "To him will I give power over the nations." These, and the many passages that show that Christ will reign on the earth, should convince anyone that the thousand years is the time when all this shall take place. If that is not the time when the meek shall inherit the earth, and reign with Christ on the same, then there is no scriptural way to point out the time when they shall do so. Let the other man rule out the thousand years reign on earth and take the Bible and try to point out the time when the meek shall reign on the earth and inherit it, and see what success he will have.  He will be wholly at a loss to find one scripture to point out that time.  Before he finds fault with those who teach that the thousand years is the time when the saints shall reign on earth, and inherit it, he should be able to point out to men with the Bible when that time shall be.  He should not leave these passages handing in mid-air, with no place to put them.  Will he take Rev 5:10 and Rev. 2:26-27 and preach on them and explain to people when and how these things shall be, instead of criticizing and trying to block the teaching of the Premillennialists who have a place for them?  So far as many are concerned these passages may as well not be in the Bible.

 

In Ezek. 37:16 to 22 there is a symbolic prophecy which is interpreted by divine inspiration in the same passage, and the interpretation shows that it is to have a literal fulfillment in the restoration of Israel to the land of promise.

“Moreover thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it.  For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.”

 

Here is a prophecy set forth in a symbol or picture.  The sticks (literal sticks) in the hand of the prophet were symbols.  There were two of then, corresponding to the divided condition of Israel which came about in the days of Rehoboam and Jereboam.  When the prophet put the two sticks together they became JUST ONE stick.  Now comes the inspired interpretation of the picture.

 

“And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into THEIR OWN LAND: And I will make them ONE nation IN THE LAND UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:”

 

This was to be the answer that Ezekiel was to give to the children of Israel when they asked him the meaning of the two sticks becoming one. They were to be told that God was going to gather them out of all countries and make them ONE nation in the land of Israel, and they should have ONE king. They were not to be divided into two kingdoms any more. In the days of Rehoboam they were divided into two nations. But when God gathers them out of all countries they shall become one nation with ONE king, and they are not to be divided into two kingdoms any more as they were in the past. This prophecy was made to Israel and about the people of Israel, their land, their future restoration, and their ONE KING. The above passage was what God told Ezekiel to tell the people the prophecy of the two sticks meant. Here is an inspired interpretation of a symbolic prophecy, and the interpretation shows that it is to have a literal fulfillment. The inspired interpretation applied the symbolic picture to the final and complete restor­ation of Israel to their own land. Ephraim was the leading tribe in the Northern Kingdom, and Judah in the southern kingdom. The two are to be made ONE nation again, never to be divided. This should be the end of all controversy and should convince any one of the future and complete restoration of Israel into one nation, and to their own land. To make anything else out of it is to make it mean some­thing else besides what God told the prophet to say it meant. Did God have the prophet to tell the children of Israel it meant one thing when in reality it did not mean that, but something else? Surely not. Then there is but one way to take this symbolic prophecy and that is for what God said it meant. There is entirely too much interpreting on the part of man, and not enough believing on his part.

 

Since Jer. 3:17 tells us that Jerusalem shall be the Lord's throne when all the house of Israel will be regathered to their land (Jer. 3:18), then the ONE king they shall have can be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in Mount Zion, and in their midst.

 

Thus it has been proved that symbolic visions and pro­phecies have a literal fulfillment. It has been so in the past as we have seen. It shall be so again when Israel is re­stored, according to the prophecy in Ezek. 37:16-22. It will be so when the prophecies about the 1000 years reign are fulfilled. The scriptural evidence is all on the side of the Premillennial view, and the objection about Revelation be­ing symbolic rebounds and cuts to pieces the position of those who bring this objection. The Bible shows that we are to expect a literal fulfillment of symbolic prophecy.

CHAPTER NINE

 

TWO SEPARATE MANIFESTATIONS IN CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT

 

Many have been confused because they have never seen but one manifestation of Christ at His second advent, the one found in 1 Thes. 4:13 to 18. Here they find Him coming in the air and raising the sleeping saints, and catch­ing up the living saints with them. To them this is the end of the matter. They have never seen the complete picture because they are unwilling to take what Zechariah said about the Lord coming with His saints, and coming to Mount Olive, nor have they accepted the teaching of Rev. 19:11 to 21. One is just as much a part of the word of God as the other, and none of them are to be rejected. People will al­ways be confused when they accept what one passage reveals and reject what is in another. No one can get the complete picture in that way. All of these passages have their proper place to fill in the Lord's plan of things.

 

In 1 Thes. 4:13-18 Paul was simply concerned with com­forting those people concerning some of their number who had fallen asleep. They had "Turned from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven," 1 Thes. 1:9. But while they were waiting for His coming some of them had died. They were disturbed over this thing. The words of I Thes. 4:13 to 18 were written to comfort them, and to let them know that the position of the sleeping saints would not be changed because of their death. They would be caught up to meet Christ the same as those who remained alive. The occasion did not call for an explanation of how the Lord would return to Mount Olive to deliver Israel when they would be at the point of being destroyed by their enemies, as is shown in Zech. 14:1 to 5. The two different passages were written to two different classes of people, and for a different purpose. In 1 Thes. 4:13 to 17 Christ comes for His saints. In Zech. 14:1 to 5 and Rev. 19:11 to 14 He comes back to earth with them. At that time He will come all the way to the earth and His foot shall stand on Mount Olive.

 

The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah opens by saying, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh." It is strange that when some find the expression "The Day of the Lord" in 2 Pet. 3:10, that they are willing to connect our Lord's second advent with this expression. But when they meet with the same expression in Zech. 14:1 they are unwilling to associ­ate it with the Lord's second advent. Consistency, thou are a jewel! If the expression "The day of the Lord" in 2 Pet. 3:10 is to be connected with the second coming of the Lord, then that same expression in Zech. 14:1 must also be as­sociated with the second advent. After telling about ALL nations being gathered against Jerusalem to battle (vs. 1-2) the prophet goes on to tell that the Lord shall go forth to fight against those nations. It certainly means that He is to come and fight against the nations gathered against Jerusalem at that time. v. 3. The next verse tells that His feet shall stand upon Mount Olives IN THAT DAY. In what day? In the day of the Lord when the nations are gathered against Jerusalem to battle, and He goes forth to fight against them. In the next verse it is stated "The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee," Zech. 14:5. Then the prophet went on to say, "The Lord shall be king over ALL THE EARTH: IN THAT DAY shall there be one Lord and his name one," Zech. 14:9. When the pro­phet used the words "IN THAT DAY" in v. 9 he had refer­ence to the same day that is under consideration in this whole chapter, the DAY OF THE LORD, with which the chapter opens. All this connects the great battle against Jerusalem, His return to deliver Israel, His coming with His saints, His return to earth, and His reign with the Day of the Lord, about which the prophet was speaking in all these verses.

 

The first manifestation of Christ is His return to His churches as the BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR. "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and MORNING STAR," Rev. 22:16. Just above this He had said, "Behold, I come quickly," Rev. 22:12. Then He closes by saying, "Surely I come quickly," Rev. 22:20. This will be His first manifestation.

 

The second manifestation is when He shall come to Israel as the SUN of righteousness. "Unto you that fear my name shall the SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS arise with heal­ing in his wings, - - - and ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet IN THAT DAY," Mal. 4:2 to 3. Here is the Lord's return to Israel to overthrow their enemies who will be gathered against them to battle. So He will be the SUN of righteous­ness to Israel. To the churches He will be the bright and morning star. The morning star arises before the sun. The morning star heralds the approach of day. The rising of the SUN of righteousness will usher in the day of the Lord.

 

In the first manifestation Christ will manifest Himself as the Bridegroom that has come for His bride and for His wedding. In the second manifestation He will be revealed as a warring KING, who is coming to put down all opposition and take His rightful place as KING of KINGS. In this manifestation John pictures Him coming with a vesture dipped in blood. Surely the Bible would not give such a picture of the Bridegroom coming to His wedding. Bride­grooms do not go to their weddings with their garments dripping with blood. This is a picture of a warring King, destroying His enemies. Separate these two events and things will become clear. But confuse them and make our Lord's manifestation as Bridegroom and as Warrior one and the same and one will never have anything but confusion. It was unscriptural for Bridegrooms to go out to battle. "What man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her: Let him go and return unto his own house, lest he die in battle," Deut. 20:7. "When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war," Deut. 24:5. In 1 Cor. 10:11 it says, "Now all these things happened unto them for our ensamples." So the things concerning Israel were written for our learning. To have Christ going to battle as a warrior and a Bridegroom would be unscriptural.

 

CHAPTER TEN

 

NUMERICAL TESTIMONY

 

For years this writer has thought that there must be some revealed way whereby Bible truths could be so marked out that there would be no room left for doubt. In the past five years he has discovered that way. It is the numerical pattern which God placed in His word. Jesus said that the one who is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like the householder who brings forth from his treasure things both NEW and old. See Matt. 13:52. This newly discovered way, if men will follow it, will end all controversy. Men have long debated as to whether or not "For" in Acts 2:38 means "In order to" or "Because of." But no one ever heard a debate as to whether two and two equal four or five. Nor will such a debate ever be held. The science of num­bers is an exact science. Men may twist the meaning of words to make different things out of the same statement. But numbers cannot be twisted in such a manner. The reader is asked to withhold his opinion of this newly dis­covered way of identifying the truth until he has followed the writer carefully through the proof that shall be given. He will be made to marvel, as this writer has marveled. He will see things that have been hidden just under the surface of the word of God about which he has never dreamed.

 

It has already been pointed out that Israel had a jubilee year every 50 years. In this year, every man re­turned to his own people and to his own possession. God had the Hebrew word "Yobel," translated "Jubilee" placed in Leviticus just enough times to multiply to 1000 years. The word is found 20 times, and 20 times 50 years makes 1000 years. The numbers, as well as the words were in­spired. They play just as important a part in that inspired word, all of which is profitable for doctrine. It is no acci­dent that the word for JUBILEE occurs just enough times to multiply the 50 years up to 1000 years, because in the 1000 years reign every living Israelite will be returned to his own land and to his own people.

 

Different numbers are associated with different doc­trines, and the doctrines are identified by the same. It has already been shown how number THREE is associated over and over with the resurrection. It is the same with other doctrines. Much of the evidence is on the very surface of the scriptures. Still other evidence was concealed in the arrangement of the words and letters of the original language. It has been pointed out that in Dr. Berry's Inter­linear 50 Greek letters are found in the words, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the THOUSAND years were finished." The statement that follows, "This is the first resurrection," contains 20 Greek letters. When these two numbers are multiplied, they make 1000, the very number expressed in that verse, Rev. 20:5.

 

Examples like this may be found. The beast of Revela­tion has seven heads, 10 horns and 10 crowns. These num­bers add up to 27, and 27 Greek words are found in the opening statement about the beast. On the day Jesus showed Himself to His disciples the third time after His resurrection the disciples caught 153 fish. See John 21:1-14. The opening statement of that account has exactly 17 Greek words. Dr. Berry's text shows exactly  SEVEN letter Greek words up to the place where Jesus said, "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught." The next verse states that there were 153 fish. When all the numbers from one up to 17 are added they equal 153, the number of fish caught. Christ was crucified on the passover day, the 14th of the month, and raised three days later, which was the 17th day of the month. And all the numbers from one up to 17 add up to 153. In this place Christ showed Himself to His disci­ples the third time after He had risen. V. 14. Multiply three for His resurrection, three for the THIRD time He showed Himself to the disciples, and 17, the number of the day on which he rose, and we again get 153, the number of fish caught that day. In the 15th chapter of First Corinthians Paul discussed the subject of the resurrection. If the reader will count every name found in that chapter up to where it is said, "But now is CHRIST risen from the dead" (v. 20), he will find the name CHRIST to be the 17th name. Com­mencing with the third verse where the death of Christ is first mentioned and count up to the word CHRIST in the 20th verse and exactly 17 SEVEN letter Greek words are found, and the 17th one is the word CHRIST in this very verse. In Ruth 4:5 the name of Naomi is found the 17th time and connected with the expression "Raise up the name of the dead." In the ninth and 10th verses of the same chapter the name of Boaz is found the 17th time and connected with the same expression, "Raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance."

 

The things in Ruth are typical in their meaning and show that the dead must be raised up before entering into their inheritance. The number 17 in these places correspond with the number of the day of the month on which Christ rose from the dead. This number 17 indicates VICTORY. In 1 Cor. 15:51 to 54 Paul tells about THE DEAD being raised incorruptible and DEATH being swallowed up in VICTORY. In this place the words "THE DEAD" occur the 14th time in that discourse, and the word "DEATH" the third time. These two numbers add up to 17 for the word VICTORY found in this connection. It has been seen that number three stands for the resurrection. It shall be shown that number 14 stands for SALVATION. So when the dead are raised incorruptible and death is swallowed up in vic­tory the resurrection of the saints and the salvation of their bodies will take place. That is why the word "THE DEAD" occurs the 14th time and "DEATH" the third time. The res­urrection and salvation of the bodies of the believers and their victory over death are under consideration. So we have the numbers 14 and three and 17. The second coming of Christ will also take place here. It shall be shown that 42 is the number for that and 14 times three equals 42, for the coming of Christ. Thus the numbers balance all the way around.

 

Since the numbers 14 for SALVATION, 23 for DEATH, 19 for FAITH and 42 for THE COMING OF CHRIST are the main numbers that shall be used in this part of this work they are the ones which shall be discussed in this part of the work.

 

FOURTEEN — SALVATION

 

FOURTEEN is the number for SALVATION. Israel was saved out of Egyptian bondage on the 14th day of the month. See Ex. 12:18 to 27 and 13:3-4. Paul and his companions on the ship were saved from the sea and death on the 14th day.  See Acts 27:33 to 44.  The Bible states that “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Rom. 10:13.  When we take 14, the number for SALVATION, and add all the numbers from one up to 14 the sum is 105.  This number 105 is connected with the birth of Enos at which time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.  See Gen. 4:26 and 5:6.  In the 33rd chapter of Jeremiah we read where the Lord appeared unto Jeremiah the second time after the prophet had been put in prison.  The Lord used the personal pronoun I FOURTEEN times and then said, “In those days Judah shall BE SAVED.”  See Jer. 33:1 to 16.  If space permitted much more proof could be given that 14 stands for SALVATION or deliverance. The 14th noun in the 116th psalm is the word SOUL WHERE David said “DELIVER my soul.”  SALVATION means deliverance.

 

NINETEEN — FAITH

 

NINETEEN is the Bible number for FAITH. The word FAITH occurs 19 times in Paul's discussion of justification by FAITH in Rom. 3:22 to 5:2. In Heb. 11:11 it is stated that it was through FAITH that Sarah conceived and was de­livered of a child. This verse has exactly 19 Greek words, the number for FAITH. When all the numbers from one up to 19 are added the sum is 190. By reading Gen. 17:17 and 21:5 it is learned that the sum of the ages of Sarah and Abraham at the birth of Isaac was exactly 190 years. FAITH made possible that birth, and when we take 19, the number for FAITH, and add up all the numbers from one up to 19, we get that number 190. Who can be so blind as to believe that all this was accidental, rather than fixed by Him who had this number system in mind when He inspired the word to be written? Let the reader turn and read the state­ment about FAITH in Gal. 3:25-26. It also contains 19 GREEK words. So do many other like passages about FAITH.

TWENTY-THREE — DEATH

 

TWENTY-THREE is the Bible number for DEATH. The reader first found this by counting the 23 evil things mentioned in Rom. 1:29 to 31 and reading the following verse. "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of DEATH, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." V. 32. This statement which follows the 23 evil things listed in verses 29 to 31 has 23 Greek words. The first evil thing mentioned is "Being filled with all unrighteousness." This has 23 Greek letters. The 13th in the list is "Haters of God." This has 10 Greek letters and 13 and 10 add up to 23. Starting with this the writer began to hunt for the number 23 connected with DEATH. He could give at least 250 places. The 23rd times the names of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses (in the book of Deuteronomy) and Ahasuerus are found they are connected with death, or the thought of death. In Rev. 20:12 John said, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were OPENED." This is the 23rd time the word OPEN is found in Revelation. The 23rd time the name of Haman occurs is where he erected the gallows on which he hoped to put Mordecai to DEATH. See Esther 5:14. Haman's 10 sons were put to death on the 13th day of the month. See Esther 9:1 to 10. Numbers 10 and 13 add to 23 for death. There were 276 on the ship with Paul who were saved from death on the 14th day of the storm. See Acts 27:33 to 44. Numbers 1 to 23 add up to 276, the number on the ship. In the 16th chapter of Numbers there is the account of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against Moses and Aaron. They brought death upon them­selves. The name of Korah occurs 11 times, that of Dathan 6 times, and that of Abiram 6 times, and these numbers add up to 23 for their death. As the result of that rebellion and murmuring 14,950 died. Read verses 35 and 49 and add the numbers. The number 23 for DEATH divides into 14,950 exactly 650 times. If space permitted this 650 could be broken down into two other Bible numbers which showed forth the nature of the sin which brought on this death.

 

But let us go back to the 27th chapter of Acts. Upon the authority of God's word Paul told the 276 they would be saved from death. In Dan. 4:29 to 32 number 12 is con­nected with the rule or authority of the MOST HIGH. This number 12 divides into the 276 on the ship exactly 23 times. Numbers 12 and 23 add up to 35. In the same connection in which Paul told these men they would be saved from death we find 20 fathoms and 15 fathoms. These two num­bers add up to 35 the same as 12 and 23, the factors in 276. Who can study all these things and still try to gainsay the plain facts?

 

FORTY-TWO — THE COMING OF CHRIST

 

FORTY-TWO is the number connected with the coming of Christ, both His first coming and both of the manifesta­tions at His second advent. In Matt. 1:17 it is revealed that Christ was born 42 generations from Abraham. He was born at a time which was fixed beforehand by the God of heaven.
"When the FULNESS OF TIME WAS COME, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman," Gal. 4:4. By reading Rev. 13:5 we find that the beast is to continue for 42 months. By reading Rev. 19:11 to 21 we find that he is to be cast in the lake of fire when Christ comes. So this puts our Lord's return to earth at the close of the 42 months reign of the beast. In Dan. 7:25 we have learned that the little horn, whom we have proven to be the beast, will continue for three and one-half years, which is 42 months. In Dan. 7:21 to 22 we have found that the horn is to prevail until the Ancient of days (Christ) comes, and the time comes for the saints to possess the kingdom. This again places the return of the Lord after 42 months. It also places the reign of the saints at His coming, even as the 1000 years reign in Rev. 20:1 to 6 follows our Lord's return in Rev. 19:11 to 21. Commencing with Rev. 19:11, where John saw Christ coming from heaven, and reading down to Rev. 20:6 where it says, "They shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," there are, according to Dr. Berry's Greek text, 42 SEVEN letter Greek words. So the 1000 years reign is connected with the return of Christ, both by context and Bible numbers.

 

Now we shall go into the study of the 11th chapter of John, where we have the account of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. We shall again find number 42 connected with the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the believing dead. We shall find something that is indeed marvelous. It has been shown that number 23 stands for DEATH. The 23rd name in that account is the name of LAZARUS where Jesus said, "Lazarus is DEAD," V. 14. Up to that place the name of Bethany is found one time, that of Judaea one time, Jews one time, Master one time, God one time, Son of God one time, Mary two times, Martha two times, Lord three times, Jesus five times and Lazarus five times, making 23 in all.

 

In the 11th verse Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may wake him out of sleep." The name LAZARUS in this place is the 19th name that is found. Next time his name is found is where Jesus said, "Lazarus is DEAD." This is the 23rd name. The difference between 19 and 23 is FOUR, and Lazarus had been dead FOUR days when Jesus came. "When Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave FOUR days already," V. 17. In verse 39 Martha said that he had been dead FOUR days. So the difference in the number of the name of Lazarus in verse 11, and the next place his name is mentioned, equals the days that he has been dead. Just after reading where Lazarus had been in the grave FOUR days already we read, "Now BETHANY was nigh unto Jerusalem, about FIFTEEN furlongs off." The name Bethany is the fourth name after where Jesus said Lazarus is dead. It immediately fol­lows the statement about him being in the grave FOUR days. It was the place to which Jesus came to awake Lazarus from his sleep. It was 15 furlongs from Jerusalem. When 15 is added to the 27 that makes 42, the number for the coming of Christ. Both Bethany and Jerusalem which are mentioned in this place were cities in Judaea. They were 15 furlongs apart. The name Judaea is mentioned in the seventh verse and it is the 15th name, corresponding with the number of furlongs from Bethany to Jerusalem.

 

Lazarus had been dead FOUR days when Jesus came. FOUR different parties mentioned the death of Lazarus; Jesus in the 14th verse, Martha in the 21st verse, Mary in the 32nd verse, and the Jews in the 37th verse. Thus he had been dead FOUR days and FOUR different ones spoke of his death. There were FOUR main characters involved in the account of Lazarus. They were Lazarus, Martha, Mary, and Jesus. There will be FOUR main characters in­volved in the resurrection of the believer at the coming of Christ. They will be the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the believer. In Rom. 8:11 we are told that God will quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit which dwells in us. This connects the Father and the Spirit with our resur­rection. It will be brought about at the coming of Christ. And the believer himself will be involved. So this makes FOUR main characters who will be involved in our resur­rection, corresponding with the FOUR main characters in­volved in the account of Lazarus. Number four represents the creature, or body.

 

Where Jesus said "Lazarus is DEAD" we found the 23rd name. Before this his name was mentioned in the 19th place a name is found. When we count 19 more names from the place where Jesus said "Lazarus is DEAD" it brings us to the 25th verse where we find the 42nd name, and it is JESUS. This is the number for THE COMING OF CHRIST. Number 19 stands for FAITH. As the 19 names reached from the DEATH of Lazarus to the number for the coming of Christ, so the FAITH of the dead believer links him on to the coming of Christ and will bring his resurrection at that time. Now let us notice what Jesus said in the 25th verse, where we find the name JESUS to be the 42nd name in the account. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that BELIEVETH in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." So here in connection with the 42nd name, which is JESUS, the Lord mentioned the resurrection of the BE­LIEVING DEAD. The Bible positively states in 1 Cor. 15:23 and 1 Thes. 4:16 that this will take place at the coming of Christ. So the number for the coming of Christ, 42, which is found in this place, coincides exactly with the positive statements about the resurrection of the dead in Christ. The numbers go hand in hand with the positive statements, and they confirm each other.

 

In this 25th verse where the name JESUS is found to be the 42nd name we have the word BELIEVETH. Here is FAITH, and the number for that is 19. We also have a state­ment about one being DEAD. The number for DEATH is 23. When these two numbers 19 and 23 are added we get 42, the exact number of the name found in this verse. Thus the number for the death of the believer (23) plus the num­ber for his FAITH (19) equal 42, the number for the coming of Christ, when the one who has died believing in Jesus will have his resurrection. In the statement in this verse, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," there are 14 Greek words. This is the number for SALVATION. This connects the resurrection and the bodily salvation of the believer with number 42, found in this verse. This is the number for the coming of Christ, and we know that the Bible also teaches that the salvation of the believer's body will take place at the coming of Jesus.

 

Let us go on to where Jesus said "Lazarus come forth" in the 43rd verse. Here the name Lazarus is the 68th name in the account. Jesus had said that He was going to awake Lazarus out of sleep. He has now come and is calling him forth from the grave. Now add 42 for the coming of Christ, 23 for the death of Lazarus, and three for his resurrection, and we get 68, the exact number of the name found in this place. Previous to this time the name of Lazarus is found in the first, seventh, 14th, 19th and 23rd places, and he had been dead four days. When one and seven and 14 and 19 and 23 and four are added they equal 68, correspond­ing with the name Lazarus in this place being the 68th name. It has been mentioned that number 17 stands for VICTORY. Lazarus had been dead four days. When 68, the number found here, is divided by four the result is 17, the number for VICTORY. After Jesus said "Lazarus come forth," we read "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.” Dr. Berry's Interlinear shows exactly 17 Greek words in this statement, which stands for VIC­TORY, and which is the number we get when we divide 68 by four, the number of days Lazarus had been dead. No wonder Job said that God had numbered his steps, his days, and his months. No wonder God has numbered all our hairs. He numbered the names in the account of Laz­arus and placed each name at the right place to make the whole account balance in a numerical way.

 

Now let us look again at the 25th verse. There where we find the 42nd name, which is Jesus, He said, "I am the resurrection." There are 17 Greek letters in that statement. This was the day of the month on which Jesus rose from the dead. Number 17 is three plus 14. Number three stands for the resurrection, and 14 for salvation. The resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the 17th day of the month, guarantees both the resurrection and the bodily salvation of the believer, represented by numbers three and 14, which add up to 17 for VICTORY. His resurrection, which took place on the 17th day of the month, also guarantees the believer's VICTORY over death. Number 17 is three plus 14, and three times 14 equals 42, the number for the coming of Christ. His resurrection, which took place on the 17th day (three plus 14), also guarantees His second coming, represented by number 42, which is three times 14. The numerical pattern is perfect and complete. If we add 19 for the faith of the child of God to 23 for his death it equals 42 for the coming of Christ when he will be raised from the dead. If we multiply three for his resurrection by 14 for his bodily salvation, we get 42 for the coming of Christ when this will take place. If we add three for his resurrec­tion to 14 for his salvation it equals 17 for the day of the month when Jesus rose from the dead, which event guar­antees the believers resurrection and bodily salvation and his VICTORY over death.

 

No such numbers can be found connected with the un­believing dead to tie him on to the coming of Christ. He will neither have the salvation of his body nor victory at his resurrection. So he has neither the Bible numbers, no/ positive scriptural statements to connect his resurrection with the coming of Christ. The child of God has both. In addition to these there is the positive scriptural statement that the REST of the dead will not live again until the 1000 years are fulfilled. When Christ appears the second time, He is coming unto SALVATION unto the dead that are looking for Him, Heb. 9:27-28. This leaves the unbeliev­ing dead out of the picture. They must wait a 1000 years after the saved have been raised for their resurrection. Thus from every point of view the coming of Christ and the bodily resurrection of the saved dead must take place before the 1000 years reign.

 

If the reader wants to see something else wonderful in the 11th chapter of John let him list and number the names until he gets to the 23rd, where it is said, "Lazarus is dead." Add all the numbers from one to 23 and the sum will be 276. Divide this 276 by the number 12 Jesus used in the ninth verse, and he will again get 23, the number for death. This is how the Bible is put together.

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED

 

Objection No. 1. That There Are None but Martyred People in the First Resurrection.

 

Those who make this objection have not studied the passage closely, nor have they given much consideration to the prophecy concerning the beast and his work, as found in Revelation 13:1 to 19:20. Neither have they considered all that is implied in this objection.

 

In the first place they ignore the opening words of verse 4, chapter 20, where John said, "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." Dr. Goodspeed, who could not be classed as a Premillennialist, translated this, "I saw thrones with beings seated on them, who were empowered to act as judges." Paul asked the Corinthians, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" The Little Horn of Daniel 7:21-22 is to make war against the saints and prevail against them; until the Ancient of days comes, and judgment is given to the saints of the most High, and the TIME comes that the saints possess the kingdom. So, when John said, "And judgment was given unto them," he was speaking of the same thing we read in Daniel 7:22 where judgment is given to the saints, and they possess the kingdom. Paul spoke of the same when he said, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" 1 Cor. 6:3.

 

There is no mention of martyred saints in the first part of this verse. While there will be some martyrs in this group, there will also be many who have died of natural causes. The martyrs mentioned in this verse are those mar­tyred during the forty-two months reign of the beast, and do not include those of the centuries gone by. The last will be included in the first group in this verse. It is unfair to take the last part of verse 4, and ignore the first part.

Now let us consider the second group in this passage, "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands," verse 4. All that dwell upon the earth except those whose names are in the book of life, will worship the beast, 13:8. Those of that time whose names are in the book of life will refuse to worship the beast, and those who do not go into hiding will be killed. Verse 15 of the same chapter tells of an image that will be made to the beast, and a law will be passed that whosoever does not worship the image will be killed. These are the martyrs mentioned by John in Rev. 20:4. They will be beheaded because they will not wor­ship the beast and his image. This period of martyrdom cannot run more than 42 months, because that is the period of time the beast will be in power, Rev. 13:5.

 

Such martyrs as Stephen, who was stoned to death, not by the beast, but by the Jewish Sanhedrin (Acts 7:59­-60), and James whom Herod slew with the sword (Acts 12:1-2), are not included in the martyrs mentioned here, because they are those who will be beheaded for refusing to worship the beast and his image.

 

After adding the group of martyrs in this place to those mentioned in the first part of the verse, John said, "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." The first group in this verse, as well as the martyred saints, will live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Then John declares, "This is the first resurrection."

 

Last, let us notice the implication of the statement that none but martyrs are in the first resurrection. Where does the word of God imply that at His coming Christ will raise only the martyred dead, and leave all the other dead in Christ in their graves? No such conclusion can be reached by the study of God's word.

 

All are included in the FIRST resurrection, both those whom John saw on thrones, to whom were given judgment, and those who will be martyred by the beast. This being so, there will be two parts, or two separate groups in the. FIRST resurrection. The first, verse 4-a, will be those raised at our Lord's coming in the air. That will include all saints who have died previous to that time. The second, verse 4-b, will be the martyrs of the reign of the beast. To some, this might seem to be two resurrections, but John said, "This is the FIRST resurrection."

 

The question has been asked, "How will any be saved after the rapture of the saints, with none to preach to them?" God will have two prophets here at that time, Rev. 11:3-13, evidently two of the old prophets sent back to the earth, for that special occasion. Also, there will be 144,000 of God's servants sealed from twelve tribes of Israel, Rev. 7:1-8. These will certainly preach the word to others. Many will be saved in that time (Rev. 13:8-15), and many will be put to death, but not all, for the Lord said those days would be shortened for the elect's sake, Matt. 24:21-22. Some of the elect will be spared in the flesh to be carried over into the thousand years reign to repopulate the earth, even as God did through Noah's family.

 

The two separate parts in the first resurrection were foreshadowed by the gathering of the Jewish harvest. First, the first ripe fruits were waved before the Lord on the morrow after the sabbath. See Lev. 23:10-11. This firstfruits of the harvest represented the resurrection of Christ, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept," 1 Cor. 15:20.

 

After waving the firstfruits unto the Lord, there came the ingathering, and gleaning. See Lev. 19:9-10, and the sec­ond chapter of Ruth. The ingathering represented our res­urrection, when Christ comes in the air. The gleanings, which came after the ingathering, represented the resur­rection of those who will die at the hand of the beast.

 

Objection No. 2. That the People of Nineveh Will Be Judged Together with Unbelievers.

 

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here, Matt. 12:41.

 

Those who are called into court to give their testimony against a prisoner at the bar, are not under trial and being judged, unless they are guilty of the same thing as the pris­oner. They are simply there to render their testimony against the one who is being judged. The Ninevites will be there only to witness against the generation that would not repent at the preaching of Jesus.

 

Objection No. 3. That Christ's Throne Will Not Be on the Earth Because He Could Not Be A Priest On Earth.

 

This objection falls apart in the light of God's word. The passages used to support it are Hebrews 8:4, and Zech­ariah 6:12-13,

 

First, Heb. 8:4: "For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law." The first statement in this verse is qualified by the last. At that time the temple still existed and the Jewish priests were still offering their sacrifices. If Christ had been on earth then and performing the office of a priest, He would have had to be of the tribe of Levi, or there would have been two kinds of priesthood on earth at the same time. When Christ returns to earth to sit on His throne the Levitical priests will not be offering their gifts according to the law.

 

Now, Zech. 6:12-14, which takes us one verse beyond where the objectors stop, ruins their argument. "Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of PEACE shall be between them both. And the CROWNS shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah - - - for a memorial in the temple of the Lord."

 

This last verse puts the sitting of the BRANCH on His throne when Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen have their crowns for a memorial in the temple of the Lord, which the BRANCH shall build. Since Christ will not give crowns to His servants until He comes again, the fulfillment of this prophecy is beyond His return to earth, 1 Pet. 5:4.

 

The man who is to be a priest and king on his throne in this passage is called the BRANCH. According to Jere­miah 23:5-6 the BRANCH will be on the earth when He is on His throne. "Behold the days come saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the EARTH. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely." So the man named BRANCH will have His throne on this earth, and rule on this earth.

 

Objection No. 4. That Christ Is on His Throne Now.

 

The passages which are used to prove this are Acts 2:30-31, and Rev. 3:21. These shall be examined and shown that they do not prove this contention.

 

"Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God hath sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, ac­cording to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne: he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption," Acts 2:30-31.

 

This passage says nothing about the time when Christ is to sit on David's throne. It simply gives the purpose of His resurrection with reference to David's throne. It shows the necessity of His resurrection, as far as David's throne was concerned. If it teaches that Christ took His seat on David's throne when He was raised, then He took His seat on that throne 40 days before He ascended to heaven, and that throne would have been on earth during those 40 days. If the sitting of Christ on His throne can be postponed 40 days after His resurrection, it can be postponed until His return. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit upon the throne of his glory," Matt. 25:31. This should settle the matter.

 

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne," Rev. 3:21. There are two thrones in this verse, MY throne, referring to the throne of Christ, and HIS throne, referring to the throne of the heavenly Father. It was the throne of David which was promised to Jesus, not the throne of His heavenly Father.

 

Objection No. 5. That David's Throne Is Now in Heaven.

 

"His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven," Ps. 89:36-37.

 

This is simply a comparison between the existence of the throne and the existence of the moon, which is a faith­ful witness in heaven. It does not say that His throne would be established FOR a faithful witness in heaven, but AS a faithful witness in heaven; that is, LIKE the moon, which is a faithful witness in heaven.

 

A comparison of the above passage with Psalms 72:7-8 shows plainly what the psalmist was talking about. "In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace SO LONG AS THE MOON ENDURETH. He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the EARTH." Both these passages compare the endur­ance of the throne of- David and Christ to the endurance of the moon. Psalms 72:7-8 puts the reign on the earth.

 

Objection No. 6. That the First Resurrection is Regeneration.

 

According to Taylor's history of the doctrine of the millennial reign this doctrine (that the resurrection is re­generation) was not taught until the time of Augustine. He formulated the false theory to get around the Bible doc­trine that Christ and His saints would return to earth to reign a thousand years.

 

The passages used to try to teach this untruth are Ephesians 2:5-6, and Colossians 3:1.

 

"When we were dead in sins hath quickened us WITH CHRIST, (by grace are ye saved:) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. 2:5-6.

 

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above," Col. 3:1.

 

All that is needed to disprove the idea that these pass­ages refer to regeneration is to substitute the word RE­GENERATION for the words QUICKENED, RAISED UP, and RISEN. Read them that way and see how they sound. "Even when we were dead in sins hath REGENERATED us with Christ, (by grace are ye saved:) and hath regener­ated us up together; and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. 2:5-6. "If ye then be REGEN­ERATED with Christ, seek those things which are above," Col. 3:1.

 

How does that sound? It would have Christ being re­generated the same as man. Thompson and I graduated from college together. This means we both graduated, he as well as I. If we were regenerated with Christ, then He also was regenerated. This is the absurd position of those who have the words QUICKENED, RAISED UP, and RISEN to refer to REGENERATION. Who is ready for this position?

 

What, then, is the meaning of those words in Ephesians 2:5-6, and Colossians 3:1? Christ is the federal head of the new creation, even as Adam was of the first. The human race fell in Adam. His sin was reckoned to us. All mankind are subject to death because of it. When Christ, our federal head, was quickened (in His grave), and was raised up from the dead and made to sit in heavenly places (Eph. 1:20), God counted that benefit to us as being already risen from the dead (out of our graves), ascended to heaven with Christ, and made to sit together with Hilt in heavenly places. That is why Paul could say, "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, AS THOUGH LIVING IN THE WORLD, are ye subject to ordinances?" and "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." In Christ, our federal head, God counts us already dead, buried, risen, ascended, and seated in heaven­ly places. We were identified with Him in His resurrection, and therefore we are raised up, or risen with Him from the dead, in the council of God.

 

Regeneration is the creation of something new. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature," 2 Cor. 5:17. A res­urrection is the raising up something which has already been in existence. The word "Anastasis" translated "Resur­rection" only applies to the body, and means "To stand up again."

 

Objection No. 7. That a General Resurrection is Taught in John 5:28-29

 

"The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation," John 5:28-29. The word HOUR in this place is often used in the sense of TIME. It no more teaches that all will be raised at the same time than John 5:24-25 teaches that all will be saved at the same time. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." The word HOUR is used in the same sense in both these places. To limit the HOUR in John 5:25 to 60 minutes would limit God's saving grace to just 60 minutes. The hour came when this writer heard and lived. The hour came when his neighbor heard and lived. We were not made to live in the same hour, but each in his own hour. So it will be in the resurrection. The hour will come when the saved shall come forth to the resurrection of life. The hour (an­other hour) will come when the unsaved shall come forth to the resurrection of damnation.

 

There is a resurrection in which there will be no unsav­ed, Luke 20:35-38, in which they shall come forth to LIVE UNTO GOD. The FIRST resurrection is one in which they shall LIVE and reign with Christ, Rev. 20:4-5. These are the ones in the resurrection unto LIFE in John 5:29. Those who do not live again until after the thousand years are finished are the ones who come forth to the resurrection of damna­tion. John 5:28-29 should not be used to contradict the whole tenure of the Bible. To have a simultaneous resurrection here does just that. It ignores the fact that it is no where stated that the unsaved will be raised when Christ comes. On the other hand it is positively stated there is to be a 1000 years between the first resurrection, and that of the rest of the dead. It also positively states that the saved WILL BE raised at his coming.

 

Objection No. 8. That the Earth Will Be Burned Up at Christ's Return.

 

The passage of scripture used to uphold this false theory is 2-Pet. 3:10. "But THE DAY OF THE LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up."

 

This verse opens with the statement, "THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME." The fourteenth chapter of Zech­ariah opens with this statement, "BEHOLD, THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH," Zech. 14:1. If the second coming of the Lord is under consideration in 2 Pet. 3:10 it is also under consideration in Zechariah 14:1. Yet the opponents of the Premillennial position want to apply the expression in 2 Pet. 3:10 to the second coming of Christ, but not the same expression found in Zechariah 14:1-9.

 

An Examination of Zechariah 14:1-9

First, all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem to battle, v 1-2

 

Second, the Lord is coming to fight against those na­tions, v. 3.

 

Third, His feet are going to stand on Mount Olive IN THAT DAY, v. 4.

 

Fourth, The mountain of Olives will divide, half mov­ing north, and half moving south, v. 4.

 

Fifth, All the saints are coming with the Lord, v. 5.

 

Sixth, They are going to have both Summer` and Winter IN THAT DAY, the day of the Lord.

 

Seventh, The Lord is going to be king over all the earth IN THAT DAY, the day of the Lord.

 

This proves the DAY OF THE LORD to be a long period of time, not just a 24-hour day as some presume. It proves that our Lord is coming back to earth to reign on the earth in the day of the Lord. The earth cannot be destroyed by fire until the Lord has reigned on the earth. Not until we reach Revelation 20:11 is anything said in that book about the earth passing away. Revelation 20:6-10 shows this is to come after the thousand years reign, and after Satan is loosed following the 1000 years of his imprisonment. THE DAY OF THE LORD evidently reaches beyond the 1000 years reign, to the consummation of all things. It is defi­nitely stated that the saints shall reign with Christ a thou­sand years. But it is not definitely stated that the time of our Lord's earthly reign closes, when the saints' part of it closes.

 

If the Bible student will stay with the order of events set forth in Revelation 19:11 to 21:1, he will be placed right. That order is: first, the coming of Christ back to the earth. Second, the destruction of the beast and his armies. Third, the eating of the dead bodies of the beast's armies by the birds of prey. Fourth, the binding of Satan. Fifth, the 1000 years reign. Sixth, the loosing of Satan. Seventh, the des­truction by fire of those who follow him at that time. Eighth, the casting of Satan into the Lake of fire. Ninth, the final resurrection. Tenth, the final Judgment. Eleventh, death and all the lost cast into the lake of fire. Twelfth, the new heaven and the new earth. Nowhere else in the whole Bible is the order of events so plainly set forth.

 

Objection No. 9. That John 12:48 Teaches a General Judg­ment.

 

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words - - ­the words that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the LAST DAY." John 12:48.

 

Proponents of this theory infer the LAST DAY here to be a 24 hour day. But a comparison of this with 1 Pet. 1:5 and John 6:48, shows the Lord had under consideration the LAST period of time. In 1 Pet. 1:5 the inspired writer spoke of "Salvation ready to be revealed in the LAST TIME." Thayer's Greek Lexicon says the LAST TIME in 1 Pet. 1:5 denotes the time from the return of Christ until the con­summation, page 319. Jesus said, concerning the believer, "I will raise him up at the LAST DAY." The salvation of his body will take place then. So, the LAST DAY of John 6:40, is the LAST TIME of 1 Pet. 1:5. The coming of the Lord will usher in that LAST DAY or LAST TIME, but it will not bring it to a close. The final judgment which is referred to in Revelation 20:11-15, which the context shows will come following the 1000 years, will bring it to a close. The ob­jector is without a passage to uphold his view that the unsaved will be raised and JUDGED at Christ's return. Not being able to support his position with one positive state­ment, he falls back on human inference. By so doing he draws a conclusion which is in direct opposition to Revela­tion 2:26-27; 5:10; and 20:6, and many other passages.

 

A close examination of Revelation 20:11-12 shows that it is THE DEAD who are to be judged in the judgment of the great white throne. The saved will not be dead, either spiritually or physically at that time. They cannot be among those classed as the dead, who will be judged at the great white throne judgement. After being raised from the dead the saved will not be dead in any sense. Therefore they. will not be the dead judged in this place.

 

Objection No. 10. That the Last Enemy is Destroyed at Christ's Return.

 

"For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," 1 Cor. 15:22-26.

 

This is quoted by others than Premillennialists, to prove that when the saints are raised the last enemy is thereby destroyed. But, no, that is when they get the victory over death. The Devil is an enemy. "The enemy that sowed them is the devil," Matt. 13:39. Since death is the last enemy to be destroyed, the Devil must be destroyed before death is destroyed. That is the order in Revelation 20:10-15. The Devil will be cast into the lake of fire, verse 10. He will be destroyed then. After that, death and hell are to be cast into the lake of fire, verse 14. This will destroy the last enemy.

 

If the last enemy, death, is destroyed at the resurrection of the saints, the Devil's destruction would need be before that time, thus before our Lord's return.

 

The Devil is not yet destroyed when his thousand years imprisonment are over, because he goes out on the four cor­ners of the earth to deceive the nations again. If he is not destroyed at that time, neither will death be destroyed then, for "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

 

Objection No. 11. That, If the Devil is to Be Chained for a Thousand Years, Why Is He to Be Loosed Again?

 

The Bible tells us that he will be loosed again. Since the word of God declares it, we should believe it, whether or not we know why.

 

Many think and teach that if people had the right en­vironment they would grow up to be children of God, and not need to repent. No better environment could be desired than will prevail in the thousand years reign. For some rea­son, some will not be saved, and will go after the Devil when he is loosed. This will prove that it is the grace of God, not environment, that makes people to become children of God. This may be the reason Satan will be loosed again. What­ever may be the reason, we are plainly told that he will be loosed, and this is ours to believe, even if we cannot under­stand it.

 

Objection No. 12. That, If Satan Is Bound in the Thousand Years, How Can There Be Sin in that Time?

 

Satan is a deceiver. He is bound in order to keep him from deceiving the nations. Men will still be born with the Adamic, or sinful, nature. The binding of Satan will not re­move that from the natural man.

 

Objection No. 13. That, There Are No Ages to Come.

 

In a book written by a Nonmillennialist, the author said, "There are no ages to come." He taught that we go out of this present age into the eternal age. He should have read Ephesians 2:7, "That in the AGES (plural) to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness to­ward us in Christ Jesus."

Is this not AGES (plural) to come? Rule out the thousand years reign and there will be only one age to come, the eternal age.

 

Objection No. 14. That the Saints Are Inheriting the Earth Today.

 

An Amillennialist Bible teacher in a certain school was asked by one of his pupils when the saints would inherit the earth. His reply was, "They are inheriting it today. We have the beautiful flowers, trees, and streams to enjoy." If that be the case, then unbelievers are likewise inheriting the earth. There has been many a nature lover who did not even believe in Christ. They have appreciated and enjoyed these things as much as God's children have. Jesus did not say, "The meek are inheriting the earth," but did say, "The meek SHALL inherit the earth." If the man knows anything about his Bible, he knows it is after the wicked are cut off that the meek shall inherit the earth. See Ps. 37:9-10, and 37:34. These men have no real answer for the people. Such an one is just a feeble effort to evade the issue.

 

Objection No. 15. The Thousand Years Reign is Only Men­tioned in Revelation.

 

This day the writer was handed a pamphlet by a so-called Church of Christ preacher. In it he said, "Nowhere in the Bible is the 1000 years reign mentioned except in Rev­elation. Since other scriptures teach to THE CONTRARY, then it stands to reason that this is a figurative term." Thus he arrays other scriptures and his reason against a plain statement of John in the interpretation of Rev. 20:4. "In his interpretation he said, "They shall be priests of God and Christ, AND SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS." Man says there shall be no 1000 years reign. The inspired apostle in his interpretation of his vision said "THEY SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS." In­stead of believing what is plainly stated in God's word and giving to people an understanding of the same, their teach­ing is all in the negative. Just how many times does God have to say a thing for us to believe it? In only one place was the place of the birth of Jesus foretold. Yet it is believed. In only one place does it say we have received the atone­ment through Christ. In only one place did Jesus say, "I am the door." Only in John 3:3-8 are we told that one must be born again. In only one place did Jesus say, "I will build my church." Yet we do not reject these things because they are only mentioned in one place. The teaching of the earthly rule of Christ and His saints is found all through the scrip­tures. Only Revelation positively states the length of the reign. But it was foretold in Israel's Jubilee year, when viewed in the light of Revelation. Of what use would this book have been if it did not add additional light to the truth already revealed in the rest of the Bible. Did the Lord give us Revelation, the last book in the Bible, to help us better understand the rest of the Bible, or to throw us into con­fusion, and darken that which had already been revealed? The doctrine of the 1000 years reign is not in keeping with that preacher's theory on the church and kingdom, so he rejects it.

 

Objection No. 16. The Kingdom of Christ It Not of This World.

 

Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of THIS world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews." John 18:36.

 

This objection comes as the result of confusing terms. Jesus did not say that His kingdom would not be on this EARTH, but of THIS WORLD. The earth is the globe on which we live. The world is the present system of human affairs which now prevails on the earth. What the objector needs, but does not have, is a scripture which says the Lord's kingdom will not be on THIS EARTH. Why take a passage which does not have the word EARTH, but world, and array it against the following passages which teach that the Lord's kingdom will be on EARTH? "For thou shalt judge the peo­ple righteously, AND GOVERN THE NATIONS UPON EARTH." The Lord shall be king over ALL THE EARTH." The mark of a false doctrine is that it arrays one part of the word of God against another part, and tries to prove with one passage that what it plainly says in another place is not so. It so interprets the word of God as to make that word contradictory. If the Bible said in one place that Christ will not reign on the earth then it would contradict those pass­ages which tells that He will reign on the earth. But no pass­age can be found that says Christ's kingdom will not be on the earth. When Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world He meant that He did not receive it from THIS WORLD, which would have linked His kingdom with Satan, the god of this world.

 

Objection No. 17. The Apostles not to Taste Death Until They Had Seen Christ Coming in His Kingdom.

 

This statement is found in Matt. 16:28. And in Mark 9:1 Christ said that they should not taste death until they had seen the kingdom of God come with power. But each state­ment is immediately preceded by a statement about the com­ing of Christ back in glory, and immediately followed by the transfiguration scene. See Mark 8:38 to 9:9, and Matt. 16:27 to 17:9. In 2 Peter 1:16 to 19 Peter said they saw the power and the coming of Jesus when they were with him in the holy mount. Peter should know more about it than the men today who try to apply this to the day of Pentecost. Peter had it fulfilled when they saw on the mountain of trans­figuration a vision of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The trouble with men is they want to reject the interpretations of scripture given in the Bible itself, and through inspired men, and place their own interpretation on certain passages that will fit their false theories. Instead of believing what the Bible plainly states they are continually seeking to build up a mountain of difficulties to keep from believing the truth. They set aside the word of God that they may keep their own traditions and hold on to their false theology which has been fashioned by them to uphold their own peculiar tenets. The word kingdom is nowhere found mentioned in connection with Pentecost. These men find the word power and kingdom in one place, which is asso­ciated with a statement about the Lord's coming in Mark 8:38, which is the verse that just precedes Mark 9:1, and they take the passage out of its context and lift it over and place it on Pentecost. They find a place where the church is call­ed the house of God. They find a place where the word mountain symbolize a kingdom. They assume that whenever these words and "mountain" and "house" are found in prop­hecy it means church or kingdom which they assume are the same thing. Let us try out their theory on one of their fav­orite passages, which they pervert and see how it goes. "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the church of the Lord's church shall be established in the top of the churches," Isa. 2:2. The word church has been substituted for the words house and mountain in this passage which they claim these words mean. It makes nonsense to read it that way. So it does to interpret it that way.

 

A Ridiculous and Absurd Position

 

In closing this chapter the ridiculous and absurd position of all those who deny that the FIRST resurrection is the bod­ily resurrection of the saved dead shall be shown. It shall be reduced to an absurdity.

 

"And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. BUT the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the FIRST resurrec­tion. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the FIRST resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," Rev. 20:4-6.

 

This divides the dead into TWO groups. The first group are in the FIRST resurrection, who are caused to live before the 1000 years. The second are those who are not in the FIRST resurrection, who do not live again until the 1000 years are over. If the first resurrection is the new birth, as some claim, then what kind of a resurrection is that which is to follow 1000 years later? Is it also a new birth, or a bodily resurrection? If it is also the new birth then God's work of regeneration will cease for a 1000 years to be started again after that time. All who would be dead in sins before the 1000 years would also be physically dead at the end of the 1000 years. If they received the new birth after the 1000 years, then that new birth would come after their physical death. Then this would ultimately bring universal salvation, the new birth of the first part before the 1000 years, and that of all the rest after the 1000 years. This is unscriptural and absurd. This position is eliminated.

 

If we take the position that the FIRST resurrection is the new birth, and the one which follows the 1000 years is a bodily resurrection, both of the saved and unsaved, we are likewise in an awkward position. This would cause every child of God to have to have his bodily resurrection 1000 years after his new birth. Since people are being born again every day then the bodily resurrection of the saved would have to be a continuous affair. It would have commenced 1000 years after the first person was born again and would continue until 1000 years after the last one was born again. Otherwise their bodily resurrection would not come 1000 years after their new birth. This would in no sense be a simultaneous resurrection, but a continuous affair stretch­ing over the centuries until 1000 years after the last one was born again. Thus this position itself defeats the purpose of those who would have a general resurrection. Their own position defeats them.

 

Again, this writer was born again 49 years ago. He, then, could not have his bodily resurrection for 951 more years. If he should die today, and Christ should come to­morrow, he could not receive his bodily resurrection until 951 years after the coming of Christ. The same thing would be true of others. So this position has been proved unscriptural and absurd. It is eliminated.

 

Thus by a process of elimination the proposition is re­duced to just one position, that of the Premillennialists. The 1000 years cannot be the interval of time between the new birth of one group dead in sins, and the rest of the ones dead in sins. This would stop regeneration for 1000 years, and have it beginning again after that period of time. It cannot be the interval of time between the new birth of a child of God and his bodily resurrection. In such a case each child of God would have to have his bodily resurrection 1000 years after his new birth. Then the 1000 years can only be the in­terval of time between the bodily resurrection of the saved, and that of the unsaved.

 

Finally, we have seen that no child of God will be in the resurrection that will come after the 1000 years. We have also seen from Luke 20:34-38 that no unsaved will be in that bodily resurrection mentioned by Jesus, and called the res­urrection FROM the dead. Jesus said they were children of God. No unsaved person is a child of God. Their resurrec­tion must take place at another time. Since no child of God will be in the resurrection that will come after the 1000 years, then their resurrection must be found at another time. But both the saved and unsaved must have their resurrection according to Acts 24:15. If the bodily resurrection of the saved dead is not the FIRST resurrection, which comes be­fore the 1000 years, there is no place to put it. If the resur­rection of the unjust is not that resurrection which shall come after the 1000 years then there is no place for it. So the Premillennial position is the only one that will stand up under the test.

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

 

THE FAITH OF THE EARLY CHURCHES

 

This work would not be complete without a brief his­tory of what the early churches believed on this subject, and likewise the true churches of the middle ages. History re­veals that the early churches believed just what is called Premillennialism today. In the early days it was called Chiliasm. Those who held to it were called Chiliasts. This name was given to them by their enemies toward the last of the second century. The name came from the Greek word that means A THOUSAND.

 

In this chapter some quotations will be given from the Encyclopedia Britannica. The reader may find these quo­tations in the 15th volume of this encyclopedia, on pages 495 to 497. Let him keep in mind that the word Chiliasm has reference to the doctrine of the thousand years reign of Christ on the earth, and that the Chiliasts refers to those who held to this doctrine. Each quotation will be followed by a few remarks.

 

QUOTATION

 

"Faith in the nearness of Christ's second advent and of the establishment of his reign of glory on earth was un­doubtedly a strong point in the primitive Christian Church. In the anticipations of the future prevalent amongst the early Christians (50 to 150) it is necessary to distinguish a fixed and fluctuating element. The former included (1) the notion that a last terrible battle with the enemies of God was im­pending; (2) the faith in the speedy return to Christ; (3) con­viction that Christ will judge all men; and (4) will set up a kingdom of glory on earth. To the latter belong views of the Antichrist, of the heathen world-power, of the place, extent and duration of the earthly kingdom of Christ. These re­mained in a state of solution; they were modified day by day, partly because of changing circumstances of the present by which forecasts of the future were regulated partly by
the indications- - - real or supposed - - - of the ancient prop­hets admitted of new combinations and constructions. But even here certain positions were agreed upon in large sec­tions of Christendom. Amongst these was the expectation that the future kingdom OF CHRIST ON EARTH should have a fixed duration- - - according to the most prevalent opinion, a duration of 1000 years. From this fact the whole ANCIENT Christian eschatology (the doctrine of the last things), was known in latter times as Chiliasm."

 

COMMENTS

 

From this it is seen that from A.D. 50 to 150 the belief that Christ would return and set up a kingdom on EARTH and reign here for a period of 1000 years was a STRONG POINT with the early Christians. Being from A.D. 50 to 150 these believers lived either in the days of the apostles, or in the days of those teachers and preachers who immed­iately followed the apostles. It stands to reason that those who lived nearest to the time of the apostles would come nearer being right than those who were removed from them by centuries. A few centuries this side of the apostles they had drifted far from the doctrines of grace, and the place of baptism, and who were to be baptized. They likewise drifted from the original position of the Christians on the reign of Christ and His saints.

 

QUOTATION

 

"After the middle of the 2nd century these expectations were GRADUALLY thrust into the background. They would never have died out, however, had not circumstances altered, and a NEW MENTAL ATTITUDE (my capitals) had been taken up. The spirit of PHILOSOPHICAL (my capi­tals) and theological speculation and of ethical reflection, which began to spread through the churches, did not know what to make of the OLD HOPES of the future." p. 496.

 

COMMENTS

This describes a drift away from the position of the early churches, those of the apostles' time, on the subject of the reign of Christ. A NEW mental attitude toward the future was being brought in through the influence of Greek phil­osophy. The Holy Spirit, through Paul warned, "Beware lest any man spoil you through PHILOSOPHY and vain de­ceit. After the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ," Col. 2:8. The work of modern­ism had begun, and the opinions of philosophers were ex­alted above the word of God. The modernists of our time, like those of that time, have no use for the doctrine of the 1000 years reign on earth.

 

QUOTATION

 

"Early as the year 170, a church party in Asia Minor, - - - the so-called Alogi - - - rejected the whole body of the apo­calyptic writings and denounced the book of Revelation as a book of fables. All the more powerful was the reaction. In the so-called Montanistic controversy (160-220) one of the principal issues involved was the continuance of Chiliastic expectation in the churches."

 

COMMENTS

 

This is the fruit of the opposition to the 1000 years reign on earth. It caused the Alogi party to denounce the book of Revelation as fables. A doctrine, as well as a per­son may be judged by its fruit. Opponents of the Premillennial position have never had much use for the book of Reve­lation. Unless they are rank modernists they would not dare today to dispute its inspiration. But the Devil accomplishes the same thing in a more cunning way. He discourages the study of the book, and tells men it cannot be understood. If men neglect to study and believe the teachings of the same, then it may as well not been given by inspiration. In neither case does it accomplish any good.

 

Dr. Newman said the Alogi party also rejected John's gospel and epistles, and the doctrine of the WORD or the eternal existence of Christ. Such was the evil fruit of those who turned away from the old belief in the 1000 years reign on earth, to the philosophy and vain reasonings of men.

 

QUOTATION

 

"After the Montanistic controversy Chiliastic views were more and more discredited in the Greek Church; they were, in fact, stigmatized as Jewish and heretical. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, succeeded in healing the schism as­serting the allegorical interpretation of the prophets as the only legitimate exegesis. During this controversy Dionysius became convinced that the victory of mystical theology over Jewish Chiliasm would never be secure so long as the book of Revelation passed for an apostolic writing. - - - He accord­ingly raised the question of its apostolic origin; and by re­viving old difficulties, with new ingenious arguments he car­ried his point. The Greek Church kept Revelation out of its canon, and consequently Chiliasm remained in its grave."

 

COMMENTS

 

Dionysius of Alexandria had been a pupil of Origen who had been the head of a philosophical religious school in Alex­andria. Dionysius had been misled by the teachings of Origen before him. Sometime after the death of Origen, Dionysius succeeded him in that school in Alexandria.

 

We can see, that to carry his point, Dionysius dared to question the inspiration of the book of Revelation which was written by John. See Rev. 1:1 and 1:4. Such was the evil influence of the opposition to the thousand years reign of Christ on earth, and of the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian thinking. The truth may often be identified by knowing who are its enemies.

 

The allegorical method of interpreting the prophecies of scripture had been brought in from Greek philosophy. The following quotations in this connection are from Dr. Newman's Church History.

 

"Plato's philosophy - - - profoundly affected Jewish thought during the last two centuries before Christ, and its influence on Christian theology of the second and following centuries was great beyond computation." Page 24, vol I.

 

"In Philo, who lived in the New Testament time, we met with the ablest and most elaborate effort to blend Hebrew and Greek thought, and by the application of the allegorical method of interpretation to explain away everything in the Old Testament that was out of harmony with refined, spirit­ualism of the current modified Platonism," p. 28, vol. I.

 

"Origen was the first to reduce the allegorical method of interpretation to a system. The allegorical interpretation of scripture had been extensively employed by the great Jewish-Alexandrian thinkers, Aristobulus and Philo - - ­The aim of the allegorical interpretation was to harmonize the scriptures, which were regarded as divinely inspired, with Platonic modes of thought, which had become, as it were, a part and parcel of the being of such Christians as, Origen. Had Origen been shut up to a literal interpretation of the Old Testament, he would probably, like the Gnostics, have rejected the Old Testament, and the God of the Old Testament," page 286, Vol. I.

 

QUOTATION

From Encyclopedia Britannica:

 

"But the western church was also more conservative than the Greek. Her theologians had, to begin with, little turn for the mystical speculation," Vol. 15.

 

COMMENTS

 

The further away the Christians were from the influ­ence of Greek philosophy the longer they held to the old belief that there would be a thousand years reign on earth.

 

QUOTATION

 

"This however holds good of the Western theologians only after the middle of the third century. The earlier fathers, Trenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullion, believed in Chiliasni simply because it was a part of the tradition of the church, and because the Gnostics would have nothing to do with it. It was the same in the third and fourth centuries with those Latin theologians who escaped the influence of Greek speculation. Commodian, Lactantus and Severius were all pronounced millennarians."

 

COMMENTS

 

This shows that those who had not been influenced by Greek philosophy and the allegorical method of interpreta­tion of prophecy still held on to the doctrine of the 1000 years reign on earth. This same allegorical method of inter­pretation is employed today by those who would explain away all the literal meaning of prophecy. Few realize that it was brought into Christian ranks from Greek philosophy.

 

QUOTATION

 

"This state of matters, however gradually disappeared after the end of the fourth century. The change was brought about by two causes, first, Greek theology which had reached the West chiefly through Jerome, Rufinus and Ambrose, and second, the NEW IDEA (my capitals) of a church wrought out by Augustine on the basis of the altered polit­ical situation of the church. Augustine was the first who ventured to teach that the Catholic Church in its EMPIR­ICAL FORM (my capitals) was the kingdom of Christ on earth, that the millennial kingdom had commenced with the appearing of Christ, and was therefore an accomplished fact. By this doctrine of Augustine the old millennarianism, though not completely extirpated, was at least banished from OFFICIAL (my capitals) theology."

 

COMMENTS

 

From this there are seen two influences working to turn the Western churches away from the old belief in the 1000 years reign on earth. First, the influence of the Greek phi­losophical-religious thought had now reached the West. Next, a new political situation prevailed. Constantine the emperor of Rome had declared Christianity to be the state religion. On page 307 of his Church History, Dr. Newman said that Constantine is said to have offered twenty pieces of gold to every convert to Christianity, and that ten thou­sand were baptized in Rome in one year. The people began to think that the millennium had come. This caused Augus­tine to formulate his new idea about the church being the same thing as the kingdom, and to teach the promised reign of Christ over the nations was now going on throughout the church in its political rule. Here was the beginning of many errors. It was the beginning of the union of church and state. It was the beginning of the idea that the terms church and kingdom are synonymous. It was the beginning of the idea that the Christians should regulate the life and belief of all people. From this came the doctrine that the pope is the vicegerant of Christ, administering the rule of Christ over the nations. From this came the idea that we are now reigning with Christ. Since the return of Christ Himself to earth to reign is not in keeping with that false system it banished from its official theology the doctrine that Christ and His saints were to return to earth to reign.

 

But this was not all. On page 311 of his history Dr. Newman tells that Augustine and Ambrose advocated the forcible suppression of heresy. All who did not accept their false theory of the kingdom and reign of Christ and other things were to be punished with corporal punishment. The religious ideas of the political church was to be forced down people by physical torture. From this idea came the bitter religious persecution of the middle centuries which has been a blot and stain on the pages of so-called Christianity. All people classed as heretics by the official church were hunted down like wild beasts and slain by the millions. Such was the consequences of turning away from the be­lief of the early churches that Christ and His saints would return to earth to reign. And the false religious system which had come about because of the turning away from the old millennial doctrine, had now become a persecuting power. Lactanus has already been mentioned as a pro­nounced millennarian. On the same page where Dr. New­man tells about Augustine and Ambrose advocating forcible suppression of heresy he said that Lactanus said that re­ligion was not to be forced.

 

He said that nothing is so vol­untary as religion. So the Premillennialist advocated free­dom of conscience. Those who opposed this doctrine advocated punishment for those who did not agree with them.

 

We shall now return to our examination of the account found in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

 

QUOTATION

 

"It still lived on however, in the lower strata of Chris­tian society; and in certain undercurrents of tradition it was transmitted from century to century. At various periods in the history of the middle ages we encounter certain out­breaks of millennarianism, sometimes as a tenet of a small sect, sometimes in a far reaching movement. And since it was SUPPRESSED (my capitals) not, as in the East by mystical speculation, its mightiest antagonist, but BY THE CHURCH OF THE HIERARCHY (my capitals), we find that wherever Chiliasm appears in the middle ages it makes common cause with all enemies of the secularized church. - - In the revolutionary movements of the 15th and 16th centuries - - - especially in Anabaptist movements - - - it appears with all its old uncompromising energy."

 

COMMENTS

 

From this we see that though its adherents were perse­cuted by the church of the hierarchy, the old doctrine of the thousand years reign still survived and was transmitted from century to century. The church of the hierarchy was the enemy of this doctrine through the middle ages. If the churches had all stayed with the faith of the early Chris­tians, believing in the return of Christ to reign in person on the earth, the world would never have been plagued with the church of the hierarchy. The idea that Christ will re­turn to reign in person over the nations of this earth as foretold in Ps. 67:4; 72:7-8; Jer. 3:17; 23:5, and other places, is in direct opposition to the doctrine of the hierarchy, which teaches that He is now reigning over the nations through the church in its empirical form. The return of Christ in person to this earth to reign will prove this ec­clesiastical hierarchy has been trying to counterfeit the promised reign of Christ, and is a colossal fraud. It will prove that He is the world's rightful ruler, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It will exalt Him to the place which is justly due Him. It will manifest to men the folly of this world's wisdom and philosophy. It will usher in the earth's great JUBILEE.

 

If the reader is willing to investigate the authorities given he can verify the truthfulness of this historical sketch. Until you have done so you have no right to say this writer is wrong. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.”

 

CLOSING REMARKS

 

This brief historical sketch on the history of the doc­trine of the millennial reign has been brought to show the reader who have been the enemies of this doctrine, and who have been its friends. Its enemies have been, first, those who were corrupted and led away by a love of Greek philosophy; second, those, who in order to gain their point, were willing to discard the book of Revelation; third, those who adopted a new and different idea about Christianity; and fourth, the church of the hierarchy which persecuted those who espoused the millennial reign. Its friends have been those who were in favor of holding to the same opin­ions as that held by the early churches; who believed in the inspiration of the book of Revelation; who did not be­lieve in religious persecution, nor in the union of church and state. These had to suffer persecution for their stand for the truth. Brother, which side are you on? Whom do you want for your bed fellows; those who denied the inspiration of Revelation and the other writings of John, or those who held to the inspiration of the same; those who followed the wisdom of men, and were corrupted by Greek philosophy, or those who held the word of God above the wisdom and philosophies of men; those who upheld the position of the church of the hierarchy on the millennium, or those who stood out against it, and held to the old position; those who persecuted those who held to the truth, or those who suf­fered persecution for the truth? Why line up with those who shed the blood of our brothers and sisters in the mid­dle ages, and support their false doctrine? Why oppose those who are contending for the old millennial position held by the early churches, and taught in the Bible? I ask you in the words of Jehu to Jehoshaphat, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chron. ,19:2. You who try to explain away the literal meaning of prophecy are following in the steps of Origen and others who were led astray by a love of Greek philosophy, and a desire to cater to the opinions of the great men of their day and time. Every modernist in the world today is opposed to the idea that Christ and His saints will come back to this earth and take over the affairs of men, and will rule here for 1000 years. It is time for those who are out and out for the word of God to take a stand. Neither are the modernists expecting the coming of the Anti-christ or beast. They will be ready victims for him when he comes. Why not lay aside the opinions of men, and line up with Premillennialists who warn men of the coming of the beast, and point to the return of Christ to the earth to reign as the only way out of the dark and dismal situation in which men find them­selves today?

 

ADDENDA ON ISRAEL'S JUBILEE AND CONVERSION

Since turning the manuscript over to the printer the writer has made an important discovery which forever set­tles the question of the meaning of Israel's jubilee year, and as to how it foreshadowed Israel's future conversion and re-establishment in their land during the 1000 years reign. This shall be added to the book.

 

In the book of Daniel we read, "I Daniel understood by books the NUMBER of years, whereby the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accom­plish SEVENTY years in the desolations of Jerusalem," Dan. 9:2. By this we see that Israel's return was connected with a certain number which is SEVENTY. Then Daniel began to pray for God to forgive Israel's sins and look upon the desolations of the city of Jerusalem. See Dan. 9:20. In verses 20 to 23 we find that while he was praying that the angel Gabriel came and informed him that he had come to give him understanding concerning the matter about which he had been praying. Then the angel Gabriel told him that 70 weeks were determined upon HIS (Daniel's) people to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity. See Dan. 9:24. Here again we have the number 70 connected with Israel, and it is connected with forgiveness of sins for that people. Let the reader keep in mind this number SEVENTY.

 

After studying for some time on the account of the death and resurrection of Lazarus this writer decided to make a list of the names and titles found in that record. Beginning at John 11:1 he numbered them to the end of the account in the 46th verse. The amazing fitness of these numbers was indeed enlightening. The 23rd name was Laza­rus where Jesus said "Lazarus is dead." The name of Laza­rus was found in the first, seventh, 14th, 19th, 23rd, and 68th places. These numbers add up to 132. This is exactly 12 times 11. Numbers 12 and 11 add up to 23 for the death of Lazarus. What happened unto Lazarus Jesus said was for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. See the fourth verse. The name Son of God is the 11th in the list, and the name Jesus is the 12th in the list. When these two numbers are multiplied we get 132, the exact number we get by adding the numbers connected with the name of Lazarus. The name of Lazarus is found six times in the account. That of Jesus is found 21 times in all. The sum of the numbers from one up to six is 21. The name Jesus is the 21st in the list. The name Lord is found eight times in the account, and it is the eighth name in the list. The name of Lazarus occurs six times and the name Lord is the sixth in the list. In the 14th verse Jesus said, "Lazarus is dead." The name Jesus in this place is the 22nd and that of Lazarus is the 23rd. Numbers 22 and 23 add up to 45, and the 45th number is "Son of God," V. 27. By this the num­bers were bearing witness that Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead was indeed Son of God as He claimed to be, which claim was disputed by the unbelieving Jews. After Jesus raised Lazarus some of the Jews who had come to Bethany from Jerusalem believed, V. 45. The name Jews in this verse is the 70th in the list. This belief on the part of many of the Jews followed the resurrection of Lazarus and was brought about by what Jesus did at that time. This convinced them that He was the Son of God. The number 70 found in this place is the exact number found in Daniel which is connected with forgiveness, or reconciliation for iniquity, Dan. 9:24. In John 11:45 we read, "Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on HIM." It was the Jews who believed on HIM. The 50th name in the account is JEWS, V. 31. In this 45th verse the name Jesus is found for the 20th time in the record. When 50 is multiplied by 20 we get 1000. These numbers, 50 and 20 and 70, are all found in the account and connected with the Jews and their believing on Jesus. It has already been shown how Israel's jubilee year came every 50 years and the Hebrew word translated "Jubilee" is found 20 times in the book of Leviticus. The word "Jubilee" is found exactly 20 times in the Jewish translation of Leviticus. The 50 years multiplied by 20 equals 1000 years, the same period of time found in Rev. 20:6 when those in the FIRST resurrection, typified by Laz­arus, who was raised FROM THE DEAD, will reign with Christ. By referring to Lev. 25:9 to 11 it will be found that the jubilee year was ushered in on the day of atonement which was the 10th day of the seventh month. The numbers 10 and seven multiply and make 70. So here we have the same numbers found connected with the belief of the Jews in John 11:45. When one believes atonement is made for his sins. (The sacrificial death of Christ was for all men. The atonement is only for the believer.) Israel's jubilee year started with the day of atonement. In Dan. 9:24 number 70 is connected with the reconciliation (or atonement) for the iniquity of that people. Then the 20 times 50 which is 1000, points to the 1000 years reign as the time when Israel will believe, her sins will be forgiven, and that people shall re­turn, as they did in the jubilee year, to their own land and own possessions and their people. The proof is conclusive and the argument unanswerable.

 

(Note. If the Lord permits, this writer plans to write a book on the proof that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, based upon what he has found on the raising of Lazarus. The writer has made four different tables on that record. He has numbered the names going down. Then commencing at the end and numbering backwards he made another list of the names. This proved to be so wonderful he then made a list of the verbs and the pronouns referring to Jesus and Lazarus. There are 17 pronouns connected with Lazarus. He was dead four days. Number 17 multiplied by four equals 68, and the last time his name occurs in the record it is the 68th. The numbers from start to finish are that fitting.)

 

THE MIRACLE OF DIVINE INSPIRATION

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S. V. Richards of Strasburg, Ill., says: "It seems a near miracle how you can ferret out all those numbers and make them fit together so perfectly."

THE FIRST RESURRECTION

This book shows that the first resurrection is the bodily resurrec­tion of the saved dead. It also shows up the errors of the Postmillennialists, Amillennialists and Nonmillennialists. Price '75 cents.

CHRIST REVEALED IN THE TABERNACLE

This is a work on the tabernacle which Moses and the children of Israel built in the wilderness. This book has had a ready sale. There are not too many left in stock. Price $1.00.

GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE

This book deals with the foreknowledge, election and the subject of calling and predestination. It has delighted many. It will give to the reader a stronger faith in the doctrine of eternal security. Price 75 cents per copy..

THE WORLD SYSTEM AND SOCIAL GOSPEL

This is a red hot exposure of modernism in education, religion and other lines. It shows the drift of the times. Price 50 cents.

THE TRIBE OF ISHMAEL

This book exposes the doctrines of Campbellism. This book has been in great demand. Price 40 cents.

TWENTY-SIX DOCTRINAL LESSONS
FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

The discussion on the Abrahamic covenant alone is worth the price of the book. Price 75 cents.

TWENTY-SIX DOCTRINAL LESSONS

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

A companion book to the one mentioned above. Price 75 cents.