When God Will Be King Over All the Earth

Transcript

GR 1021
08/07/1977
When God Will Be King Over All The Earth
Zechariah 14:1-21
Gil Rugh

Father, we are thankful for a Savior who is totally satisfactory in every way. We’re thankful that He indeed is Lord. Father, that He is Lord of our lives, individually. That someday, He will rule and reign as Lord of all. Even as we consider this fact this evening in the book of Zechariah, pray that You’ll give us a greater appreciation of the salvation that we have. It is so inclusive that it encompasses the entire creation. Father, fill our hearts with anticipation of the time when we shall rule and reign with Him, as He rules and reigns, Lord of all. For we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

We’re in Zechariah and the 14th chapter this evening. Zechariah 14, and we’re going to do the entire 14th chapter this evening. There is a lot of material in chapter 14, so we will do it in an overview. We’re in Zechariah and the 14th chapter. We come to one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible, on the subject of prophecy and the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Events surrounding the second coming of Christ to earth. In many ways, we come to the climax of the book of Zechariah. He covers some material that he’s covered before. As well as bringing in new material as well.

We’ll pick up with chapter 14, where we were in chapter 12. So, it doesn’t seem like we’re making progress, but we are. In chapter 12, if you just flip back there quickly. In verse 2, Zechariah 12:2, “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.” Then he talks about the destruction that will come upon those who surround Jerusalem. In verse 4, “In that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness.”

Now, as you come over to chapter 14, you’re going to pick up at that same point. A time when Jerusalem is encompassed by her enemies and undergoing severe destruction. The time period is the close of the seven-years tribulation. That seven-year period of God’s wrath being poured out on the earth. That will be preceded by the rapture. Then seven-year time of tribulation on the earth. Culminating in the second coming of Christ to earth. Now, as we move to the climax of the seven years, we come to a point in time, when all the nations of the earth gather at Jerusalem. They gather for the destruction of Jerusalem, and to do battle with one another, for control of the world. It’s at this point, when it seems that Jerusalem and the nation Israel will undergo its final destruction, that Jesus Christ, personally intervenes. This is the time period that Jesus has in mind when he told his disciples, in the book of Matthew, that if He did not intervene, there would be no flesh left alive on the face of the earth. Destruction is taking place at such a tremendous rate.

Picking up with verse 1, “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.” So, note, we’re coming now, again on that note of encouragement to Israel. The spoil taken from them, will be divided among them. In other words, their enemies that blundered them, will be blundered by them. They will be the recipients of the spoils. “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.” Again, you’ll note the sovereignty of God, in control of events. The nations of the earth are gathering in Jerusalem. They are gathering at Jerusalem according to the plan of God. Zechariah wrote this hundreds of years before Jesus Christ. A couple of thousands of years have passed since Jesus Christ has been here. Yet, we’re told that in God’s plan, there’s coming a time when the nations will be gathered against Jerusalem, to battle. “The city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.” So, you see, the picture is very vivid, of the battle that will take place. The city is captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished. Half of the city is in exile. So, Jesus Christ has not intervened at the beginning of the destruction. But the destruction is underway in Jerusalem and the nation Israel. “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” It’s a very dramatic scene, as the destruction of the nation Israel is underway. The nations of the world and around the earth are blundering the city and the surrounding region, as part of their battle against one another. This is the battle of Armageddon, as we’ve talked about earlier in Zechariah. The culminating battle of the nations of the earth.

Now, at that point in time, the Lord, Himself will go forth. Almost a picture here, of Jesus Christ in waiting, until the right time. Then at the right time, He descends from Heaven to intervene on behalf of the nation Israel. He’ll “go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” Israel is very aware of their Savior, Jehovah, as pictured as their God, who does battle for them.

Now, note verse 4, one of the more familiar verses in prophetic scriptures. “And in that day His feet [referring to the Lord’s feet] will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” So, we’re not only told that Jesus Christ is going to intervene, we’re told precisely where He is coming to. It’s going to be on the Mount of Olives. The highest point in the region of the city of Jerusalem. Stands a couple of hundred feet higher than the city itself, Mount Zion. It’s at this precise location that Jesus Christ will descend again. It becomes significant, because this becomes the point of departure and the point of return, for the glory of the Lord, for the nation Israel.

This happened in Ezekiel’s day. Flip back to the book of Ezekiel and the 11th chapter. Ezekiel 11, perhaps the tragic point in Israel’s history; throughout the entire Old Testament. Israel had many tragic and low points, but Ezekial 11, is perhaps the greatest tragedy for the nation Israel. Because with Ezekiel 11, we have the departure of the glory of the Lord, from the temple at Jerusalem. That glory departs in Ezekiel 11 and will not return until Zechariah 14. Now, we’ll say something about that in a moment. The scene is already underway, as Ezekiel has seen the glory of the Lord, born along by the cherubim. Now you’ll note, in verse 22, they’ve come to this point. “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.” Which is the Mount of Olives. “And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So, the vision that I had seen left me.” What you have pictured in verse 22 & 23, is the glory of the Lord, in that progressive moving from the temple, it moves outside the city to the Mount of Olives, then it departs from the Mount of Olives. The glory has left the nation Israel. Ezekiel is writing at the time of the Babylonian captivity, some 500 years before Jesus Christ.

Now, also interesting, that when Jesus Christ came at His first coming, offered the kingdom to the nation Israel. In a sense, again, the glory of the Lord was present with the nation. But the nation refused again, to respond to the manifestation of that glory.

So, you come over to the book of Acts 1. Acts 1, we have the departure of the glory of the Lord, again from the nation Israel, in the person of it’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Acts 1, we have the discussion with Christ and His disciples. The end of the book of Luke tells us that we are at Betheny. Betheny takes us to the Mount of Olives. We’re at the Mount of Olives again. The question in verse 6 of Acts 1, comes up. “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” That is fulfilled, the Spirit comes upon them in Acts 2, at the day of Pentecost. Then note in verse 9, “And after He has said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing.” You note, He was departing again, from the Mount of Olives. They give the question, “Men of Galilee, [in verse 11, the two men in white clothing give the question] why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” You have that fulfilled in Zechariah 14. So, the glory leaves the Mount of Olives, in Ezekiel 11. The glory is present for a short period of time in the person of Christ during His earthly ministry. But it departs again from this same position, in Acts 1.

Now, you come back to Zechariah 14. You have the fulfillment of the angels’ statement, that this same Jesus will return in the way that you’ve seen Him go. Not only in the same way, but in the same place, to the Mount of Olives. Now, verse 4 tells us that a significant event occurs. That is, Jesus Christ comes to stand on the Mount of Olives, there’s a tremendous earthquake, and the Mount of Olives is torn in half. A great valley is made. As there’s a valley going east to west. As half of the mountain moves north, and half of the mountain moves south. So, there is a very large valley, that is now created. The purpose of this valley is verse 5. “And you will flee by the valley of My mountains.” This valley that God has just made. “For the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.” This evidently was a very significant earthquake. Amos 1:1, refers to the same event. We don’t know the details of it in Old Testament history. Evedently, it was a powerful enough earthquake, that it was fixed in Israel’s mind. Sort of like, we talk about the San Franciso earthquake as a significant event that people relate to, even after its past many years. Now, this earthquake will provide the opening of the Mount of Olives. It will provide a valley of escape. So that those who are still in the city, will now begin to flee through this valley. A unique event, because the Mount of Olives, because of its height, was an obstacle to those who wanted to flee from the city in difficult times. Because they had to go up over this small mountain to get out. But now, God parts the Mountain and makes a valley for Israel to flee through. You have, of course, a picture of the supernatural protection of Jesus Christ as He stands on the mountain, so that no harm comes to the nation Israel as they flee. It’s His protection for this remnant that He will spare, that will in effect go into the millennium that He’s about to establish.

You note what he says, “Then the Lord my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!” Significant event here. So, if you take the order as the end of the verse says, going backwards, you have the earthquake makes the way of escape for Israel, and the return of Christ to touch at the mountain. Those events being almost simultaneous, but evidently the earthquake immediately preceding, or the other possibility is, the earthquake is cause by the touching down of Jesus Christ. In any event, the events happen within that same sphere of time. It’s interesting, “The Lord my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him.” Again, that’s a portion you ought to mark in your Bible, because that includes you, if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ. We are the “holy ones”. Now, angelic beings maybe included here, but very definitely it would seem the indication of scripture is, you and I are included; who are believers in Jesus Christ. So, very significant, verses 4 and 5 of Zechariah are exciting to me. When I think of the Mount of Olives being split by a great earthquake, and Jesus Christ, Himself standing on the Mount of Olives, that’s exciting to me, not for what it holds to Israel alone, but because I’m going to be watching it all. I’m going to be there firsthand. I won’t be getting the report over a satellite, over TV. Won’t be getting it piped back to heaven by the angels. I’m going to be there to see it with my own two glorified eyes. Be right there.

A couple of passages I jotted down from the New Testament. Look over in 1 Thessalonians. They tell us when Jesus Christ comes. 1 Thessalonians 3 tells us that when Christ comes, we’ll come with Him. 1 Thessalonians 3:11, “Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” When Jesus Christ comes back to earth, all of His saints will be with Him. You and I, who have believed in Him, have received our glorified bodies seven years previous at the rapture of the church, will come back with Him. Jude talked about this. Look over in Jude, that little one chapter book, just before the book of Revelation. Go to the book of Revelation at the end of your Bible, and the book of Jude is just before the book of Revelation. The book of Jude, in verse 14, and Jude is talking about false teachers, and so on. He says that Enoch prophesied about these teachers. Verse 14, “And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’.” When He comes to meet out judgment, who’s going to be with Him? Thousands of His saints, that’s you and I. One other passage, the book of Colossians 3. The book of Colossians 3:4, the reason we’re doing this is, so that you’re familiar when this event occurs, you don’t want to say to the Lord, well my, I didn’t know we were going to go to the Mount of Olives with You. You could say, oh, is it time to go to the Mount of Olives? Well, I’ve been waiting. Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” When He’s revealed before all the world, as Lord and King, I’m going to be there to be revealed with Him as well. Some of you have been in our study on Romans, we talk about this in Romans 8. This is the event that all the creation groans and longs for. That time when you and I will be unveiled in all our glory, as the sons of God. His heirs, co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

So, you come back to Zechariah 14. The detail of this, of course, is Revelation 19. We won’t go over there at this time. But that’s when some of the details of His return are laid out. So, verse 5, He’s come, the earthquake is part of the mountain, and all of His saints are with Him.

Now, verses 6, 7 and 8 talk about the uniqueness of that day. “And it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but will come about that at evening time there will be light.” So, one of the characteristics this time, we know from the close of the tribulation, there’s tremendous upheaval in the heavenly bodies. The sun, the moon and the stars. Joel talked about this. Peter quoted it in Acts 2, it’s fulfilled, as we see in the book of Revelation, toward the end of the seven-year period. We’re told about a characteristic here, associated with the second coming of Christ, which leads into the millennium. That is, you don’t have day and night. That, light from the sun and the moon, as we know it, will phase out of existence and it will be a unique situation that God Himself cares for. “A unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.” It seems here, the emphasis goes beyond just that one day of His return, but from what we know, like in the book of Revelation, it leads on out through the millennium in a unique way. The details of it, I don’t know. From what I’ve read and studied, I don’t know that I know anything more about the details. It’s a unique day, known to the Lord. So, when we get there, we’ll know more about it. But none the less, day and night, as we know it, are being done away with. “And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem.” This gives us an indication that verse 7 goes beyond just the day, when He touches down of the Mount of Olives. Because in this day, the waters flow out of Jerusalem. So, in effect, in this day when Christ reigns and that carries, of course, on into the millennium. You have living water flowing out of Jerusalem. Going to the east and going to the west, the provision there of water. Now again, this is a unique situation. I take it, we have literal water here. This is how there will be such prosperity in Palestine. There’s going to be a unique source of water, flowing from Jerusalem. It will flow out of Jerusalem, and it will go to the east, and it will go to the west. You have this unending supply of water. You’ll note at the end of verse 8, “It will be in summer as well as in winter.” This source of water will never dry up. So, that’s why there can be such, you know, agricultural abundance in the millennium. There will be a supernatural source of water. Now, of course, the waters are also symbolic of the light and blessing and prosperity that are brought by the Messiah, who rules from the city itself. But I take it, its literal water here, and its provision for the desert to blossom as a rose, and so on.

So, then verse 9, now we pick up with the reign of Christ. The first 8 verses have dealt with His actual return, and events connected with His return, as He sets up the kingdom. Now, in verse 9, we’re told, “And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.” There will only be one king over all the earth. That king will be Jesus Christ Himself. “The land will be changed into a plain.” Now, note here, “from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.” Now, these are just names, and I didn’t bring an overhead or an overlay to go over them. You can take a Bible atlas and sit down and get some idea of what he is talking about here. What I want to focus attention on here, is the change in the lay of the land. The geography or topography of the land. It’s changed into a plain. All the surrounding region, and Jerusalem rises above it. As it is now, like the Mount of Olives on the eastern side, blocks the city. But all the surrounding land will be level. It will be like the Jordan valley in effect. Jerusalem will stand out as the city above it all, on Mount Zion. So, a change now, in the land surrounding Jerusalem. This in one of the characteristics that will be true of the millennium. There will be great geographical changes in the world. Here we have one of them alluded to.

Note, verse 11, “And the people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.” So, here we talk about the total security of the nation Israel. The Messiah is reigning over them. They have no fears. The people will live there, no curse, no problems, no enemies to threaten them, no plagues. We have Israel in the millennium depicted here.

Now, what you do in verse 12, is you go back to where we opened up the chapter, in verses 2, 3, 4 and 5, with the return of Christ and the battles that take place. You go back to that now. He wants to go back and pick up something that is not very pretty, but none the less, important. “Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.” So, that’s the first aspect. Jesus Christ returns to do battle, He doesn’t have to take out His sword, literally, and start to do battle one by one. He takes out the sword, as Revelation 19 would depict, but there we have pictured, Him coming to do battle. Of course, when God Himself comes to do battle, those who are doing battle against Him, are in a rather unfortunate position. Here, you have a rather vivid description. They just begin to decay, as they sit on their horses. Their eyes rot, their tongues rot, their flesh just begins to dissolve. Now, some see in the, a picture of atomic warfare. I guess that’s always a possibility. That would not seem to be necessary here. You have the intervention of Jesus Christ. From the rest of prophecy, it would seem that He Himself, is the cause for this plague. He would choose to use man’s own perversity, that wouldn’t be a problem. But I tend to think, that this is directly brought about by God. So, what happens to all these armies? There’s immediate destruction being brought upon them. Even as they ride their horses to do battle, their flesh begins to decay and rot on them. “And it will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.” You have total chaos taking place. You can see that in the description here. With verse 12, and then with the confusion that the coming of Christ brings, everyone turns against themselves. So, you just have mass chaos now, in this huge battle, where you have millions of people. Now they’re in total confusion, doing battle with one another, as their flesh rots in their own bodies. Rather gruesome picture. We know there’s millions, because there’s 200 million that are going to come as representatives of the eastern armies. Then you’ve got to add to that the representatives of the western armies, and the northern armies and the southern armies. You have tremendous chaos here.

Verse 14, “And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance.” So, you see that Judah and the Jews, Jerusalem, are spared and they are the recipients of the spoils of this great war. They’ll gather plunder, the wealth, the gold, the silver, the garments. Because the nations of the earth are destroyed and all the valuables that they had now, are left for Jerusalem, the plunder. “So also like this plague, will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.” The destruction that was talked about in verse 12, that plague of rotting flesh, will plague the animals of these nations as well. So, they are rendered incapacitated.

Now, we also have at this time, and Zechariah doesn’t talk about them, but this is where the judgments of Matthew 25 fit in. The judgment of the sheep and the goats. The judgment in connection with the parable of the ten virgins; that as these armies are destroyed, and then Jesus Christ will set up His throne, and all those who are not part of the armies, but are scattered around the world, are now brought before Him for judgment. Those goats are sentenced to destruction. The sheep, those who were believers, go into the kingdom. Those virgins who did not have oil in their lamp, were unprepared for His coming, are closed out of the kingdom. That’s where Matthew 25 fits in the judgments that are depicted there. It fits here between verses 15 and 16 really, in Zechariah 14.

Okay, now we go into the millennium. Verses 16-21 are interesting, because they shed certain light on events in the millennium. “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went up against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King,” So, what has happened, is we have this destruction brought, down through verse 15. Then we know from other scriptures, like Matthew 25, we have judgments set up. The remaining unbelievers, who were not part of the armies, that are scattered around the world, are brought before Jesus Christ, and judged. All unbelievers are bodily executed at this judgment. So, then we go into the millennium with only believers. Now, we have believers in physical bodies. Those who have survived the destructions of the tribulation and have believed in Jesus Christ. Those Jews, at least the 144,000, we know for sure from the book of Revelation; plus, Gentiles who have believed, and survive the tribulation, will go into the millennium in their physical bodies. They’ll have children, they’ll repopulate the earth.

Okay, now “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths” or the Feast of Tabernacles, as we’re more familiarly know it. Interestingly, this is the only feast that is said to be celebrated in the millennium. It’s the only one of Israel’s feasts that will not have experienced a fulfillment by the millennial times. This feast celebrated the fruits of the harvests. You can read about it in the book of Leviticus 23. We won’t go back there this evening, for time. It’s called the Feast of Tabernacle or Booths, because the children of Israel constructed temporary tabernacles, temporary booths to live in for a week, so the name. It depicted the enjoyment of the fruit of harvests and what we have in the millennium, is Israel enjoying all the blessings and fruits of God’s blessing upon them. So, this is the feast that has yet to be fulfilled when we get to the millennium, and so it carries on into the millennium.

Now, you note, all the nations will go up to Jerusalem, to celebrate this feast and to worship the King. Now, it doesn’t mean every person in the nation, but it means representatives from all the nations, will come up to worship and acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ, and to celebrate this feast. But you’ll note, there are some who do not want to come. Verse 17 “And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” So, this will be the punishment of Egypt, the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feasts of Booths. I wish they’d called that tabernacle still. It’s hard for me to separate booths and booth, Feast of Booths. If you don’t go up to celebrate that feast, Jesus Christ will withhold the rain. Unless you have that kind of difficulty brought upon the nation, if the rain doesn’t come of course, they’re back without harvest.

Now, wait a minute, what do we have rebellion in the millennium? I thought the millennium was perfect. Well, you remember that in the millennium, Jesus Christ is said to rule with a rod of iron? Now, He would not need the rod of iron, if it were not people in the millennium who wanted to rebel. Remember Psalm 2, it says “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way.” We’re talking about the millennium there. When the Son of God rules, and yet there are those who do not submit to His rule. If His anger is stirred, it will result in their destruction, and so, here you have a picture. What is happening, everybody who went into the millennium were believers. But you have these people who went into the millennium as believers, in physical bodies, having children. These children grow up, and they have to personally trust in Jesus Christ, and rely upon Him as their Savior and King. Some of them do not do it, and so, it seems like a great burden to go all the way to Jerusalem to worship Him, and to celebrate this feast. I think we’ll stay home this year. What happens then, He withholds the rain of that nation, as a reminder that they need to come.

Verse 20, “In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice.” You note there will be sacrifices in the millennium. The closing chapters of the book of Ezekiel, read from chapter 40 on, deal with the millennial temple and the sacrifices that will go on there. They will be memorial in character, just as we have the Lord’s Supper as a memorial to the death of Christ. There will be animal sacrifices in the millennium, as a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “All who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.” The description here, “Holy to the Lord” on the bells of the horses, the cooking pots, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah, just depicting that everything will be set apart to Him. Not just certain utensils now, but holiness will characterize His reign in everything on the earth, will be in effect, sanctified to Him. No Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Canaanite is a people characterized by rebellion against God and the people of God. The name being merchandizers or traffickers. They will be nonexistent in this period of time.

So, here you have the Messiah reigning, absolute holiness and perfectly righteous rule. The blessing upon the nation, Israel. The millennium is Jewish in character. You and I who are the bride of Christ, the church, will have been raptured in mass before the tribulation; received glorified bodies. We will not be having children in the millennium. We will be ruling and reigning with Christ, over the nations of the earth.

Ok, one other thing I was going to say about the rebellion here, and then I’ll just give you a chance for a question or two, as we tie together the book of Zechariah. The reason there can be rebellion, like those who don’t go up. I mentioned there will be children born. What the millennium demonstrates is that the problem with mankind, is it’s own sinfulness. Because the Devil will be bound for the entire millennium, but people will still resist the rule of Christ. There will be perfect social conditions during the millennium, but people will still resist the rule of Christ. What the millennium does, is demonstrate that man, living under perfectly righteous conditions, with the curse lifted from the earth, under the perfectly holy reign of Jesus Christ, without the Devil to influence them, is still sinful at heart. All excuses are removed. ‘Well, I wouldn’t be this way if I didn’t grow up in poverty.’ ‘I wouldn’t be this way if it wasn’t for the Devil tempting me.’ The millennium demonstrates, is that man would be that way regardless. Because the problem is on the inside of man. We are sinful and depraved. Until that problem is cared for, by personal faith in Jesus Christ, we are sinners regardless of our environment, regardless of other influences like demonic influences in our life. The real problem is me and my sinfulness. The millennium will prove that. Now, after a thousand years of this perfectly righteous reign, we come to the book of Revelation, to find out that the Devil will be loosed. These who have been chafing under the bit, of having to submit to Jesus Christ, because He’s ruling with a rod of iron, if you don’t kiss the Son, if you don’t bow and acknowledge Him, He’ll destroy you. When they are finally given the choice, after a thousand years of His reign, a number like the sand of the sea, chose to have the Devil as king, over Jesus Christ, and we’ve demonstrated how sinful man really is.

Ok, maybe you have a question or comment, briefly before we close. Evidently, not for those believers who go into the millennium, since the curse has lifted, it seems that the only death that occurs in the millennium is judgments, meted out upon those who resist the rule of Christ. Isaiah mentions the fact that a person who dies at 100, will be considered a baby, has just been a child if you die at 100. So, with the curse lifted, there wouldn’t be the impact of diseases and so on like that, to bring about death. But the intervention of Christ, in judgment, will bring about premature death of those who would rebel.

In Revelation 20, we are told in verses 4 and following, and we’ll pick up with verse 4, won’t read the entire verse, “they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Here we have the resurrection of Old Testament saints and tribulation saints, those who are martyred during the tribulation, they get glorified bodies. Then verse 6, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection.” The first resurrection includes those who are resurrected at the rapture of the church, and also those who are resurrected at the second coming of Christ to earth. Only believers are resurrected at the first resurrection. “Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” So, there we’re told that during this thousand-year period, we’ll be reigning with Him. But then the details of what that entails, we’re not told. But it will involve sharing with Him in the oversite of the earth during the millennium. There will be a distinction, we’ll be in glorified bodies, without the limitations of those who are in earthly bodies. So, it may be, that we’ll go to dinner with some of those in earthly bodies, as Christ did in His glorified body with the disciples. He went and had a fish dinner with them, and then He disappeared and went on His way. We’ll be in glorified bodies at that time.

In Zechariah 14:6, “So it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.” Why could that not occur at the end of the millennium? Well, probably because of the order of events here. It’s tied so closely to skip the millennium altogether and go into eternity, would be just out of line with the prophets. The Old Testament prophecy really doesn’t carry us until we get, perhaps to Revelation 21 and 22. The only time we really go beyond the scope of the millennium. So, it would just be unusual to make that kind of move. What we know about of what’s going to go on in the heavens, with the Sun and the Moon and the stars. The tribulation would fit this as well, that their light is darkened. So, we know that’s going to occur then. So, it would just seem that would fit then as well. Although, we do know that when we get to Revelation 21, we’re told that Christ Himself, would be the light. That fits, so really what we have, is the millennium is only the first step in the eternal kingdom of God. The Bible doesn’t go into the details. What about after the millennium? Well, the only reason we talk about the thousand years at this point, is it’s the first step in the eternal kingdom. Because by the time we get to the end of the thousand years, all unbelievers will be removed forever. Everyone will have glorified bodies, and we’re into eternity. There would be no way to continue to talk about that. Because that stretches on forever. So really, we come to the end of time as far as we’re measuring it at this point, when we come to the end of the millennium. So, we call this the first stage in the eternal kingdom, but the kingdom goes on for ever and ever.

It's difficult to tell, it’s difficult for me to tell where the break in time would be. You know, we’re talking about days, but in connection with verse 8, where the living water comes out of Jerusalem, well, you know, we have the destruction of the people that he’s going to talk about in verses 12 and following. The judgments that Matthew 25 talked about, but really, it doesn’t become a significant, because at least for this period of time, the days are going to blend. Because there’s not going to be an evening. So, it may be in effect here, we have this extended day, and so all of this will be brought about, these judgments will take place, and so on. Because when you come to evening, there’ll still be light, and so, we’ll never go into the night in that sense. Well, I don’t know what that will indicate then, for the millennium days, and how that will be. But again, there won’t be the need for a night and day, in the same way as we have it, even in the millennium.

I take it, that those children who are born in the millennium and believe, will believe as a result of God’s choice, and the work of the Spirit in their lives, right. That would be true for everyone who will ever be saved on through the millennium.

I think that what we have in Revelation 21, that when we have, at the end of Revelation 20, the final rebellion against Christ, and then the final judgment of all unbelievers, then sin is totally obliterated from the world. At that point then, the world is purified and cleansed. So, we have a new heaven and a new earth. The heavens here, not referring to God’s abode particularly, but the heavens around the earth. So, we have a new universe in effect, with all the vestiges of sin totally removed. So, I think that what we have here is at the end of the millennium, and when all sin is finally removed, then we’re going to really, in effect purge and cleanse the earth, and prepare it for eternity. That’s why Revelation 21 and 22, carry us beyond the millennium into eternity. The picture here, with a new Jerusalem and so on.

Rober Culver used to pastor to the Evangelical Free Church, he took a view in some of his writings, that Revelation 21, with the renovation of the earth, really occurred at the beginning of the millennium. So, a little bit different view, he takes that in his book, Daniel in the latter days, if you’re interested in considering a different perspective. But I’d still be more comfortable with keeping the order here, carrying us beyond the millennium, then a renovation occurs there. It’s the same thing that 2 Peter talks about in chapter 3, all these things will be destroyed by fire, ultimate destruction and renovation of the world.

Ok, that’s the book of Zechariah. It’s been a long study. A hit and miss study. Encourage you to go back and read through the book. You may be surprised that you remember some things. One of the great prophetic books of the Bible. If you study the book of Revelation, we’re going to study the book of Revelation sometime in the future, if the Lord doesn’t come. That’s an open-ended statement, that sometime we will. You’ll note that it will be many corollaries and tie-ins with what Zechariah said and what is developed more in detail then, in the book of Revelation.

Father, we are thankful for the hope of the believer. That someday, Jesus Christ will come to take us to be with Himself. That will be glory to us. Pray Father, that we might live in light of this. That we might be faithful in our walk, even this week. Father, give us a boldness and an urgency in sharing the message of Jesus Christ, with those that we come in contact with. Thank You for the day and the privilege of Christian fellowship. We commit ourselves to You, in Jesus Name. Amen