INTRODUCTION
"I thought I was a decent father," he says in the house
where the smell of death still lingers. "I've cried so hard
my face hurts." And yet something within him still grasps
a solution. "Somehow we've got to bring happiness back onto
the planet so that people will want to live…" He reaches
for a more precise word. "So that children will want to
live."
Do you want that to happen too? How much do you want it
to happen? Do you hope that the lives, opportunities and well-being
of people will get better? For everyone? If so, you are similar
to millions of others on this earth who hope and wish for life
to improve. There is nothing wrong with that. Indeed, much human
endeavour has been fuelled by a deep desire to make life better—even
perfect. The stark realities of life are so difficult we don't
even want to contemplate them. Do you remember those people in
the Philippines who were buried by mud and rubbish when the garbage
tip they lived on collapsed due to heavy rain? Their plight was
unimaginable! To consider that circumstances might indeed worsen
for the vast majority of the world's population is simply too
much for many people to bear. Part of the message of this season
though is the reality of a world that will go perilously close
to destroying everyone, aided and abetted by a demented and enraged
demonic horde.
THE NEED FOR HOPE
I can remember as a student in high school becoming completely
disillusioned by the knowledge of impending doom. It eroded much
of my will to succeed and strive and produced a gnawing despondency
at the time I was meant to strive the most in fifth form high
school. Where had my hope gone? Into the 'World Tomorrow!' I
had been listening to the morning radio program with Garner Ted
Armstrong, had heard the bad news, and then the 'Good News'—that
Christ would come and all would be well. Did you hear that too?
Was there a place for me? Yes, pay and pray, and you could be
there too. Anything else? Not really. God's government would
usher in a perfect world: no illness, plentiful food, no pollution,
no deserts, animals that don't eat people or other animals (vegetarian
apparently!), universal happiness and well-being. At last, a 'world
government'—the Kingdom of God.
What did I have to do now? Keep the ten commandments, tithe diligently
and obey the present church government, a kind of pre-millennial
version of the future one to come. Not as perfect, of course,
but it wasn't meant to be, because that was part of the test:
to obey imperfect government and remain loyal and unquestioning.
My intention here though is not to extensively re-visit the past,
rather to review our assumptions regarding Christ's millennial
rule, including those assumptions that were formed in the past
which have remained unexamined, and to consider how that past
view is affected by our need to know that things will get
better—and quickly. I'd like to talk about this notion of utopia,
the past, present and future, and re-examine the fundamental truths
about how God works in human beings, asking and answering the
question: "Will God do something at Christ's return He has
never done before?"
NOTIONS OF UTOPIA
Incredible as it might seem, the creation of utopia has been behind
most governments, technologies, inventions and economic manoeuvring
throughout human history. The main difference seems to have been
the extent that utopia was explicitly claimed, as
opposed to being implicitly promised through symbols and
abstractions. Here is one example taken from Ronald Conway's book,
Rage for Utopia:
So successful was Owen's experiment that even the future Tsar
of Russia stayed with the saviour and urged him to provide two
million men to establish his new paradise in the great territory
of all the Russias. Ambassadors, parliamentarians, all flocked
to New Lanark to admire what Own had done. Proving that he could
do as well at another site, Owen gathered together half a million
pounds to create another model manufacturing town in the village
of Motherwell, after which the industrial wizard journeyed to
the United States to address Congress in Washington in 1825. He
later established a new foundation in Indiana, where the Rappists,
a fundamentalist sect from Bavaria, had already made a similar
experiment.
Robert Owen was undoubtedly a cheerful sort of redeemer with sanguine
temperament, sufficient practicality, money and energy to make
his system work—but only up to a point. He had overlooked the
basic cupidity and cantankerousness in human nature, particularly
among poor folk, who did not always know what to do with the fruits
of their prosperity and their new leisure once they had attained
it. When he returned in 1828 to the colony of New Harmony, as
Owen called his Indiana settlement, he found the system had broken
down, that alcoholism, friction and disharmony had taken
the place of his demi-paradise. Even this did not discourage his
belief in the essential goodness of mankind. But when he tried
to install his system in Texas—then still under the control of
Mexico—this too collapsed, and little by little Owen's dream faded.
Robert Owen's experiment had shown that small-scale reform was
possible, and that some lasting degree of success in redeeming
the industrial and social order could be brought by concentrating
on a local microcosm rather than upon obsessively grandiose plans
for the redemption of the entire planet. Owen had seen from the
beginning that for any economic program to succeed it would do
well to avoid partisan political fanaticisms of all kinds. This
failure of his plans for his human subjects came from Owen's inability
to recognise that the good in humankind is amply commingled with
evil and folly. In that sense he was yet another seeker after
perfection in an imperfectible world."(emphasis mine)
(pp 108-109)
FALSE VIEWS OF THE MILLENNIUM?
SPIRITUAL IMAGERY
As Christopher Nugent has said: "Condoning a little evil
is like condoning cancer—it progresses to grow away from the Truth
and finish the race with evil." That's why we have to take
drastic action against it, like 'plucking out one's eye'. Why
have we thought this would be any different during the Millennium?
Notice this stark contrast found in Jeremiah:
PARALLELS WITH ANCIENT ISRAEL
But after Christ returns, what will be different? Satan will
be removed! What differences will that make to us and to this
world? To name just a few:
But of course with people obedient to God, nature will also prosper!
What happens when peoples and nations don't obey God?
Why the Feast of Tabernacles? Why is it so important? All of
these events have had a single defining purpose:
GOG AND MAGOG: COMPLIANCE VERSUS INTERNALISATION
It will take a thousand years for people to learn the way of God,
and many—"a number like the sands of the sea"—will not
have it written on their hearts, just like Eve who met the Serpent
for the first time in the Garden of Eden and was offered another
way. She swallowed it. She and Adam had their chance to take of
the Tree of Life, but by their own volition—without being forced,
controlled or prevented by God—they took of the forbidden tree.
In the same way, the entire population of the Millennium will
be offered the Tree of Life, but many at the end will want the
other 'tree'.
Will we? Are we having the Law of God written into our hearts
now? God hasn't raised stones to be a kingdom of priests in the
coming Millennium. He has called us. Do we want Him 100%, or is
there reservation about the truth? What is your saltometer
like? Is the water stagnant, or is it flowing with vibrant life,
flushing all remaining salt encrustations away so that when the
water reaches the sea, it is still refreshing and healing?
If Christ could introduce a system that could do all of
this, He wouldn't need at least a remnant around. He could just
institute a 'system' and all would be well. Remember the principle:
systemic efforts in the absence of extensive righteous
personal efforts are bound to fail. In this arrangement, the system
is not separate from the individuals, but rather is made up of
all the individuals seeking nourishment from the same source for
the same reasons. Christ will bring peace, but He will also bring
the Way of Peace, because He will bring knowledge of the one true
God.
The 'utopia' taught in the past painted an unreality born out
of an essentially materialistic perspective and a naïve,
or at least superficial view of the Scriptures. Great and awesome
things are going to occur, and the world will be shaken to its
very core. But the trees and blossoms of this present spiritual
desert will come from people supported and taught by the priests
of the Kingdom with spiritual bodies who have no other god but
the true God—without reservation.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), the French statesman and political
philosopher who wrote Democracy in America stated:
When the New Jerusalem is established, when there is no need for
sun and moon (Rev 21:23), when there is no night (Rev 21:25)—for
the Lamb of God is the Light (Rev 21:23)—then there shall be no
curse of any kind, for both God and His Christ will rule perfectly
over all with no kind of apostasy, no rebellion, no disagreement
with God. Only then can we have a world government, made up of
those who have internalised and integrated the Word of God into
their very being—on the tablets of their heart—bringing more perfection
and peace in life, as Isaiah tells us:
Les Franklin was a black man born into poverty in America who
rose to become an IBM executive, worked for the Governor of Colorado
and even ran for Congress. Then tragedy struck when his 16-year-old
youngest son Shaka shot himself in his own bedroom. He turned
his grief into civic action, and started a foundation for the
prevention of youth suicide. His eldest son drifted into depression
and, while promising his father that he would never harm himself,
was found dead in the garage where he had suffocated himself with
car fumes. As reported in the September 4, issue of Time
magazine, "Les will remain the Shaka Franklin Foundation
chairman, but he is putting aside his work in suicide prevention.
For the first time in his life he feels defeated. He is also selling
the home he worked so hard to build. 'My two kids died 8 meters
apart, one in the bedroom and one in the garage. We thought it
was our dream house, but it holds only sad, sad, hard memories.'"
I was conducting a workshop recently where it became clear that
most people there had a deep need to have an optimistic hope in
the future, along with an unalterable belief that all manner of
things were getting better in a rapidly improving world. Perhaps
some of you here are also like that. To contemplate that things
are escalating towards mayhem simply undermines people's hopes.
And without hope where are we?
Utopia as a term has either of two meanings: 1) 'No place' literally—it
doesn't exist, or 2) The place, an environment of perfection.
"Robert Owen was a young man full of cheerful benevolence
who had become a part-owner of a textile mill at New Lanark, and
he was fortunate enough to have substantial capital, even in his
late teens. Starting with one hundred pounds, he established a
prosperous textile factory and became wealthy enough to put plans
for improved industrial conditions into effect. Enthusiastic rather
than obsessed, he questioned why there should be poverty, distress
and suffering in the world. Owen considered that the cause of
every problem in the world was not to be found in genetic inadequacy
of the human being. Rather, environment was at fault since people
were mostly a product of their environment, and hence environmental
change would bring about human change. Here we have a foretaste
of the much more radical theory of Marx and Engels. Owen set about
using his own factory as a proving ground. Upon arrival in Scotland
he had the inhabitants of New Lanark tear down the old workers'
hovels and cottages and commenced work on new, clean and tidy
houses and streets.
Indeed, Robert Owen is just one of so many reformers: Marx, Jeremy
Bentham, Rousseau, Adam Smith and political reformers who dare
to put their ideas into practice. Each believes that the system
they create will usher in untold physical and social prosperity
and happiness for all. Our current political leaders are little
different. What seems so astonishing is that people continue to
gullibly believe the utopian claims (though disguised in current
economic jargon) of various political parties and leaders. Yet
as we see from history, each claim contains a fundamental flaw
that relates to the belief that a system provides the means
to utopia, and therefore fails to apprehend the nature of human
nature and its capacity for evil and folly—in the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. Of course, we recognise (or should)
that these claims amount to a false god, an idolatrous faith that
must be cast down.
Our previous view of the Millennium was similarly focussed on
the introduction of a system to usher in the 'wonderful
world tomorrow'. Indeed, its authors used copious quotes from
prominent people to claim that a 'world government' was the
mechanism that would bring about peace and prosperity—that is,
human nature could be changed by a system. But, as T.S. Elliott
wrote:
They constantly try to escape
And, to quote Wolfensberger:
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming a system so perfect
That no one will need to be Good.
There are, of course, many morally valid ways to be good to others,
and to combat humanity's inhumanity to humanity. Even systemic
ways of doing it may be morally valid, and there are many personal
ways of striving to do it. But we can also say with certainty
that systemic efforts in the absence of extensive personal
efforts are bound to fail (emphasis mine). Failure to perceive
this has been the error at the heart of many social theories and
political systems, such as Marxism, which proposed that a good
society could be built by force so as to eventually make people
more moral, rather than that it takes moral people to build a
better society (A Brief Outline of Some of the Most Important
Concepts and Assumptions Underlying Citizen Advocacy, The
Citizen Advocacy Forum, 1995).
Have we had a Marxist view of the 'World Tomorrow'? Will Christ
usher in a world government that will change human nature? How
would that work? Would it work via control, an insistence on
compliance, or else the use of the 'rod of iron'? Of course, when
each of us imagines an utopia, we bring our own preconceived ideas
of what that would consist of; for some it might be a totalitarian
government, for others, anarchy. Yet what will Christ do, and
will this be consistent with the way God has always dealt with
human beings? Will it be fair? How will God create a world where
children will want to remain alive?
Let's begin in the Book of Joel:
Joel 1:15-20 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD
is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty. 16
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from
the house of our God? 17 The seed shrivels under the clods, storehouses
are in shambles; barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because
they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
19 O LORD, to You I cry out; for fire has devoured the open pastures,
and a flame has burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts
of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried
up, and fire has devoured the open pastures.
As we view conditions at the end-time here, we have a description
of utter desolation of the agricultural landscape, an environment
that should provide nourishment and sustenance. But here it can
no longer sustain life. Is this also a parable about the condition
of the church? Food (spiritual nourishment and knowledge of God)
is cut off before our eyes, there is no gladness in the house
of God. How does that compare with the description of events after
Christ returns? Well, firstly, let's look and see how the Scriptures
use certain imagery to express these different spiritual conditions.
For example:
Jn 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture
has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Notice how differently a stream of living water represents an
image of nourishment, compared with 'fire has burned the open
pastures'. A graphic and stark comparison. Compare that to:
Ps 1:3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also
shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
The question then is, Who comes to be like this?
Ps 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful; 2 but his delight is in the law of
the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.
So when we read further references to this imagery in Ps 46:4,
we soon realise that these Scriptures are not necessarily, nor
solely referring to physical manifestations. Notice:
Ps 46:4-5 There is a river whose streams shall make glad
the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most
High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God
shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
Where else have we heard of a temple being connected to a river
and streams?
Ezek 47:1-3 Then he brought me back to the door of the
temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold
of the temple toward the east, (the east is where the people come
from—the gate that is only entered, never exited) for the front
of the temple faces east; the water flows from under the right
side (Christ sits at the right hand of God) of the temple, south
of the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and
led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east;
and there was water, running out on the right side. 3 And when
the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured
one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the
water came up to my ankles (we're reminded that Christ said that
if you wash His feet, you are clean all over).
Nu 35:4 talks of a thousand cubits (the Septuagint has 2000; Maimonides
proposes that it can only be 3000 cubits if one takes in the whole
city) as pastureland—nourishment—for the Levites beyond the city.
Does this mean the kings and priests (the resurrected saints)
must also receive nourishment?
Ezek 47:4-5 Again he measured one thousand and brought
me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he
measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up
to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river
that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which
one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. (Does this
suggest complete immersion?)
Notice the gradual increase in the depth of water. It is not instantaneous.
What has to happen for the depth of water to increase? What is
its ultimate depth?
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy
mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
LORD as the waters cover the sea.
SALT AND LIVING WATER
Isa 45:8 "Rain down, you heavens, from above, and
let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let
them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the LORD, have created it."
Back to Ezekiel:
Ezek 47:6-11 He said to me, "Son of man, have
you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the
bank of the river. 7 When I returned, there, along the bank of
the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then
he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region,
goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches
the sea, its waters are healed. 9 And it shall be that every living
thing that moves (alters its position—becomes reconciled?) , wherever
the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude
of fish (cf. "I will make you fishers of men"?), because
these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything
will live wherever the river goes. 10 It shall be that fishermen
will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim (En Gedi is on the
western edge of the Dead Sea and En Englaim is on the north-west
shore; presently no fish exist there. So in a dead
place, filled with salt that kills off most life, life—spiritual
life—will then exist in abundance); there will be places
for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds
as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 But its swamps
and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt."
In areas of stagnation, where there is no flow, salt deposits
can build, until only salt is left. If anything less than 100%
of the salt is not removed, over time it will become clogged with
salt. With water settling, not flowing, but constantly receiving
salt, it is inevitable that a large slat bed will develop. If
there is anything less than 100% agreement with the truth, in
time all truth will be gone. 100% is with all your heart and
soul (Dt 30:10). This Scripture also indicates that individuals
will still have to thirst and hunger for the Truth—you
have to want it, it is still a decision that has to be made. There
is a constant demand for and a constant use of fresh water. There
is a flow of living waters.
Jer 17:5-8 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man
who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs
from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and
shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places
in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 Blessed
is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads
out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes;
but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year
of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."
Let's now go back to Ezekiel to see more of this imagery:
Ezek 47:12 "Along the bank of the river, on this side
and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves
will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear
fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary
(their strength is not their own; there is a complete trust in
God). Their fruit will be for food (bringing nourishment),
and their leaves for medicine (causing healing)."
So what the "trees" produce in turn gives life to others.
How badly do we want to be like that? But notice that stagnation
and becoming encrusted with salt—which happen whenever our reliance
shifts even slightly away from God—can also take place. Anything
less than 100% will, in time, lead to encrustation—the desert,
wilderness—overtones to the parable of the sower!
The contrast of a desert condition with that of an ever-flowing
stream is made all the more relevant when one considers some parallels
with Israel:
Ex 23:31 "And I will set your bounds from the Red
Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River."
Jn 6:31 "Our fathers ate the manna in the desert;
as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Ps 78:40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
and grieved Him in the desert!
In that sense, they wanted the desert. That's why they got to
stay and die there, except for those who wanted life—the water
(see Rev 22:1,17).
Ps 106:14 … but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
and tested God in the desert.
God showed His capacity to sustain Israel at the waters of Meribah:
Nu 20:11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock
twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and
their livestock drank.
The 40 years in the wilderness reflected not only a physical state,
but—more importantly—sought a spiritual one. God continually implored
His people to seek Him and not to commit idolatry. To not trust
in God is to commit idolatry.
Hos 2:3-5 speaks of the parabolic relationship between
the people of God and their environment of nourishment: Lest
I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born,
and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and
slay her with thirst. 4 I will not have mercy on her children,
for they are the children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has
played the harlot; she who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread
and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'
MILLENNIAL CONDITIONS
So what can be hoped for when Christ returns? Are there promises
relating to a physically-reformed earth in which people are incapable
of sinning, or will Christ usher in a period where there is knowledge
of the Lord and access to His Spirit? People will still have to
respond—or become a marsh. What will take place?
Zec 14:8-9 On that day living water will flow out from
Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea,
in summer and in winter. (Not a seasonal flow, rather a
stable, continuous, never-ending one) 9 The LORD will be king
over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and
his Name the only name.
This month (the month of the Feast of Tabernacles) is the month
of Ethanim (1Ki 8:1-2), whose meaning is 'continuous, ever-flowing,
permanent', as an ever-flowing stream. What in the entire universe
is permanent? Only God the Father and those enduringly faithful
to Him!
Isa 35:1-6 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad
for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel
and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency
of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble
knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong,
do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the
recompense of God; He will come and save you." 5 Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall
be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the
tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the
wilderness, and streams in the desert.
What are these waters, and what do these streams in the desert
comprise? Is this physical water, or is more than that, symbolic
of something so much more significant? Remember:
Isa 45:8 "Rain down, you heavens, from above, and
let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let
them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the LORD, have created it."
Back to chapter 35 of Isaiah:
Isa 35:7 The parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals (wild
animals who devour are another symbolic description of those who
reject God), where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and
rushes.
Salt in marshes can be eradicated by reeds and rushes; they actually
remove salt. However, one would have to want the reeds
and rushes to be planted!
Isa 35:8-9 A highway shall be there, and a road, and it
shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not
pass over it (the unclean can still exist, but there are consequences
for such a state), but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the
road, although a fool, shall not go astray. (This doesn't sound
like a physical road, but rather a spiritual one!)
9 No lion (people who tear others apart) shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast (beasts are often used as symbols
for demonic behaviour) go up on it; it shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there.
How these Scriptures have been used to paint a purely physical
picture of the 'World Tomorrow'! What was Christ primarily concerned
with when He was here on earth? The spiritual condition
of people—that which is based only in God's will and which is
therefore permanent, not temporary. Yet why were we so attracted
to a materialistic gospel? Was it a reflection of what we covet?
So with Satan gone, and the streams of living water able to freely
nourish those who thirst, what still has to happen?
Ezek 36:22-25 "Therefore say to the house of Israel,
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake,
O house of Israel, but for My holy Name's sake, which you
have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will
sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the
nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations
shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when
I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you
from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring
you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water
on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your
filthiness and from all your idols.'""
A "HEART OF FLESH"
Isa 30:19-25 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the
sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 And
though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water
of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner
any more. But your eyes shall see your teachers. 21 Your
ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way,
walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever
you turn to the left. (Is this the voice of a re-activated
conscience speaking? If these are the saints speaking, then
people are not seeing their teachers, which would contradict the
previous verse.) 22 You will also defile the covering of your
graven images of silver, and the ornament of your moulded images
of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; you will
say to them, "Get away!" 23 Then He will give the
rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread
of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plentiful. In
that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. 24 Likewise
the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured
fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan (thoroughly
worked over, contemplated and examined). 25 There will be
on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams
of waters (a physical impossibility—and hence a spiritual
metaphor).
Let's return to the Book of Ezekiel.
When motivated by a gospel of material covetousness, one overlooks
the wonderful spiritual parables reflecting the restoration of
good works in human activity, with its obvious consequences upon
the environment. More importantly, the spiritual environment is
continually improved!
Ezek 36:26-28,33-36 "I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put
My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and
you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell
in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people,
and I will be your God."
How does God put a heart of flesh in us? Isn't our heart already
flesh? Of course it's figurative language. A heart of stone resists
what is good and cannot be entreated. God wants all to have His
Spirit dwell in them, and His laws internalised—not just complied
with. But people have to respond, just as the sower spreads
the Word. And what determines whether the seed falls on stony
ground or amongst weeds that choke it? It is the heart
that decides that. What should the response be?
33 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day that I cleanse you
from all your iniquities (How does God do that? Does He miraculously
change their nature, or do they respond to God working in them?),
I will also enable you (not force you) to dwell in the
cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land shall
be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass
by. 35 So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become
like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined
cities are now fortified and inhabited.' 36 Then the nations which
are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt
the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD,
have spoken it, and I will do it.'"
Ps 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his
steps shall slide.
We can see why David will have leadership in the Church.
Ps 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, and your
law is within my heart.
Ps 119:34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your
law and obey it with all my heart.
Zec 14:17-19 And it shall be that whichever of the families
of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King,
the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain (that is, they
wish for a desert; they will not be nourished by the Word
or the presence of God, which has been rejected—so spiritual nourishment
will be withdrawn. Remember the blessing from God to receive 'rain
in due season'?). 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and
enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague
with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to
keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment
of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come
up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
This doesn't sound much like a utopia to me! There is not perfection
here—not yet!
Ezek 36:22-23 "Therefore say to the house of Israel,
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake,
O house of Israel, but for My holy Name's sake, which you
have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will
sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations,
which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall
know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I
am hallowed in you before their eyes."'"
To have knowledge of the one true God, and of His Son—that continuous,
never-ending stream—is imperative. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates
these very events by which the true Name and nature of God will
be declared.
Why 'Gog and Magog'? Here we are at the end of a millennial period
where the knowledge of God has been fully available under the
personal leadership of Christ and His saints. Then Satan is released
and everything collapses:
Rev 20:7-8 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan
will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the
sand of the sea (see also Ezek 38 and 39).
Why? Because the Law of God is not written in their hearts.
If it were, they'd tell Satan to leave just as Christ did. Satan
can't entice a heart that is not hard, one that has no salt encrustation,
one that is not desolate, but instead is well nourished on the
Word of God—a 100% righteous heart and soul. The millennium will
include people who have been raised in godly culture, who have
no experience of Satan, and who are flourishing in an age of abundance
where the knowledge of God flows continuously from loving leadership,
including that of Christ Himself. But God has never imposed His
will on anyone.
Isa 43:19-21 Behold, I will do a new thing (this
is something God has never done before: make knowledge
of Himself completely available), now it shall spring forth;
shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field will honour
Me, the jackals and the ostriches (wild animals depicting the
ravenous behaviour of people toward each other), because I give
waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink
to My people, My chosen. 21 This people I have formed for Myself;
they shall declare My praise.
Is it possible that many will simply comply with the culture
in much the same way that people comply with it today? They just
behave according to their surroundings. If the samba is being
danced, we dance it, if it's the twist, we dance that. If drugs
are being taken, we'll take them too or condone them; if others
commit suicide, we'll at least not get too upset; if they marry
too late or not at all, so will we. If it's a God we worship,
well, I go along with that too—but I will not be thirsty!
I'm being somewhat sarcastic now.
Isa 44:3-4 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
and My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among
the grass like willows by the watercourses.
It seems as if the rulers of our time sought only to use men to
make things great: I wish they would try a little more to make
great men; that they would set less value on the work and more
on the workman; that they would never forget that a nation cannot
be strong when so many belonging to it are individually weak.
FINALLY—UTOPIA!
Will we ever have a Utopia? What really is the Kingdom of God?
Rev 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of Life,
clear as crystal, (no impurities whatsoever) proceeding
from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its
street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life,
which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They
shall see His face, and His Name shall be on their foreheads.
5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of
the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign
forever and ever.
Notice the connection to light. In Isa 14:12, Satan was described
as the Morning Star. Yet in Rev 22:16 we see this title attributed
to Christ. What is interesting is that the morning star, as a
symbol, rolls back the darkness of the night. As a planet, it
has no light of its own but reflects more light from the sun than
any other celestial object (other than the moon). The morning
star as the planet Venus lies between the Earth and the
Sun. It therefore ushers in the dawn of the sun. Notice:
2Pe 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which
you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (because
we are exhilarated at the coming of the Sun of Righteousness [Mal
4:2]).
What a fitting symbol for our Saviour and High Priest, Jesus Christ,
who makes our contact with the Father possible! Yet as great and
wonderful as Christ is, the Morning Star is eventually drowned
out in comparison to the Sun as it breaks over the horizon and
the whole earth is flooded with the Light of the world—Jesus Christ
in His fullness. What awesomeness, what majesty, what power, what
complete perfection in our God!
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there
shall be no end!
Then will be the time when all of God's children will really live.
Finally, He will be our God, and we will be His people. A time
of no more tears on God's holy mountain, the City of God spoken
of in Rev 21 and 22!