The literal millenial reign of Christ on the earth has been a matter of great dispute among many religious leaders. Some have contended that it is, in reality, a myth ; a dream rendered utterly impossible because of their belief that the righteous are to be taken to kingdoms beyond the skies. Such a theory as this leaves no room whatsoever for the fulfilment of the events spoken of elsewhere in this article.
There are some, however, such as the Christadelphians, who, believing all things which the prophets have spoken, look forward with eager anticipation to the personal return of the Lord from heaven to establish a system of peace such as the world has never known. The very nature of the permutations described in the following paragraphs demands that these transpire in the earth.
There is hardly a detail of the inauguration and governing of the Kingdom of God that is left to doubt. For Scripture speaks copiously, through inspired prophets, of the age to come and of the happiness of the righteous in that new world.
With a vividness of language and power of phrase unmatched in all the world’s literature, these holy prophets warmed and cheered hearts of the Lord’s faithful remnant by that which they unveiled. These prophetic pictures need but little in the way of commentary or explanation.
An obvious beginning to any survey of this nature is Psalm 72. It is called a Psalm for Solomon, for it embodies David’s prayers that the glorious promises of God might be fulfilled in this favourite son. But Solomon’s reign ended in spiritual disaster (the guess that Solomon repented in old age to write Ecclesiastes is devoid of support. On the other hand, Ecc. 2:7, and I Chron. 28 :9 veto the idea, and later Scriptures apply these very words unmistakably to Jesus and his reign. What a picture of peace and happiness is here described!).
“He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment . . . He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor . . . In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust . . . for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence ; and precious shall their blood be in his sight” (Verses 2, 4, 7-9, 12-14).
And this is to he a reign that will last. Human kingdoms have known short periods of peace and blessedness when outstandingly able and good men have reigned ; but sooner or later death has claimed them, and their wisdom and goodness have given place to the folly and tyranny of others. But “His name shall endure forever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun . . . Blessed be His glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory.”
Isaiah’s prophecies are specially eloquent in describing the transforming influence of this Prince of Peace. For instance, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills: and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3,4).
Here is indication of a centre of worship for all mankind in Jerusalem, “the city of the Great King.” More than this, there is to be a positive eagerness on the part of the nations of the world to use these exceptional opportunities of knowing the will and law of their Creator. Could contrast with the world’s present spiritual decadence be more marked ? Today the Bible goes unheeded, and millions worship at the shrines of pleasure, sport, money and vice. Instead they will turn with eager minds to the Word of God and its wholesome instruction.
Nor can it be accident that this centre of worship in Jerusalem is described as the house of the God of Jacob! This is clear allusion to Bethel (the house of God) where Jacob beheld a steady intercourse between heaven and earth, angels ascending and descending upon the altar that Jacob set up, and that altar the Son of Man. Even so, will it be in that glad day—God’s will is then to be fulfilled in the earth even as it is now fulfilled in heaven by the angels.
Zechariah has a similar picture of a spiritually regenerate world. “And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech. 14: 16).
“In that day,” the prophet continues, “there shall be upon the bells of the horses Holiness to the Lord.” But this was the very phrase inscribed on the golden plate let into the crown of the High Priest, the holiest man in Israel when accoutered in his garments “for glory and for beauty.” How better, then, could Zechariah signify that every aspect of life (in the age to come), whether important or trivial, will be characterized by holiness, instead of the selfishness and sin now rampant ?
Back to Isaiah 2 again: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Verse 4). Here is the dream of all men of goodwill come to pass. The contrast with the present age of madness could hardly be greater. Today untold resources are wasted in a lunatic scramble to intensify the threat of war by the multiplication of more diabolic devices of mass destruction, and the prospect for the world’s millions becomes ever blacker. But in that divinely appointed day the nations will know such a change of heart as now appears to be only the fantasy of an impractical dreamer. They shall learn war no more!
Elsewhere (in chapters 9, 11, 35, 65 especially) Isaiah paints the picture afresh. The details differ, but always the general impression is the same—Peace and Righteousness, Peace because of Righteousness ; the Law of God supreme and the Reign of God supreme. Even if one colourful detail after another were not added it would still be comparatively easy for the discerning disciple to fill in the picture with reasonable accuracy. For the Gospels tell more than enough for the reader to know well what kind of man Jesus of Nazareth was in the days of his weakness. The wondrous powers he exercised in that far-off time still fascinate the minds of all who read—how he fed the multitudes, cleansed lepers and healed all manner of sickness among the people, how he restored sight and hearing when the best powers of human healing were baffled, how he even raised the dead.
All this is commonplace knowledge. All this will become commonplace experience! For think you, reader, that Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will have powers any less than those he wielded so beneficently and with such loving kindness in the days of his weakness. Nay, rather will they be intensified a thousand fold. And this world to come will be blessed by the presence of such as He!
No wonder, then, that the prophets vie with each other in their glowing pictures of sin and rebellion restrained (even as Jesus rebuked sin in the days of his flesh (John 2, Matthew 23, Psalm 2). of peace and tranquility with all discord abolished, of a happy and fruitful earth smiling back to a Creator whose frown is withdrawn and whose curse is annulled, of equality and justice for the masses who have known only hardship and tyranny, of godliness flourishing more than the weeds of wickedness ever did.
All this, that has already been written, and more, is yet in store for this sin-wracked world when Jesus reigns from Mount Zion.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One