The Paradise of Prophecy

(Utopia on Earth)

The Millennial Reign of Christ

The paradise of prophecy is a fascinating one. Utopia is coming but politicians won't bring it in. I'm going to tell you the story of how wonderful it will be when most of the problems that now face this world will finally be solved. Pollution will be cleaned up. There will be no crime. We'll have a perfect government and a lovely environment. There are so many prophecies in the Bible that talk about it.

A Biblical Jigsaw Puzzle

Somewhere along the line somebody is going to be asking the question, "How do you know these verses fit that you're putting together?" I'm going to select a piece here and a piece here and a piece here, and put them together in what I call a Biblical jigsaw puzzle. They will make one beautiful picture. The answer to such a question is that they fit nowhere else, and they do fit perfectly where I'm putting them. Then the next question is, "Well, how come God didn't arrange them for us by putting everything down in chronological order like He does in some places?" The answer is: He wanted us to study it and search it out because we get a blessing out of that. After all, a jigsaw puzzle won't be any fun, in fact it won't be a jigsaw puzzle, if it's already together. It would be a picture. If you enjoy putting together a jigsaw puzzle, we're going to put together a Biblical jigsaw puzzle. When the picture is finished, we will have paradise on earth at last, and I think it's very near.

The Seven Shalls

First of all, let me say that in the book of Luke we read a prophecy concerning Christ at His birth. In Luke 1: 31 the angel is talking to Mary.

"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and [shall] bring forth a son, and [shall] call His name Jesus."

Verse 32,
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:..."

Thus far we have four shalls, four things, the angel says shall happen, and they shall happen, and they have happened. But that's not all, the rest of the prophecy, says, "...and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David:" (Luke 1: 32)

Verse 33,
"And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end."

Three more shalls, and they have not yet been fulfilled, but they will be, they will be.

The Kingdom For Which We Should Pray

When He gets the kingdom for which He said you should pray, those will be fulfilled. Then there will be seven making the whole. Seven is the number of totality. Jesus said when ye pray say, "...Our Father [who] art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come...." (Matt. 6: 9 - 10).

Someone says, but that's a spiritual kingdom. The answer is yes, it is a spiritual kingdom, but it is also a physical kingdom, because the next line in that prayer proves it.

"...Thy will be done [on] earth, as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6: 10)

That's a physical kingdom on earth.

We Shall Reign on the Earth

Remember when the Redeemed Ones get to heaven (in Revelation 4: 1) and in chapter five in the book of Revelation, the whole Bride is in heaven at the Coronation Ceremony? The Lamb, which is Jesus, the Lion, is holding in His hand the little book, the scroll, the title deed of earth, getting ready to break the seals, as part of the coronation ceremony that will end by crowning Him King of kings. In that ceremony, the Bride, the Redeemed Ones, in Heaven, play in the harp orchestra and then sing in the heavenly choir and when they sing, read the words.

Chapter 4, verse 11,
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive, glory and honor and power:..." (Revelation)

Chapter 5, verse 9,
"...for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us (the four and twenty elders, the Christians) to God by Thy blood out of every [race, and] kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;"

Verse 10,
"and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5)

Some Choose Not to Believe

I was preaching in a Bible conference up in the Northwest sometime back and a very skeptical man in the congregation came to me that afternoon and he said, "You said, we're going to reign on the earth but nowhere in the Bible does it say anything like that." And I said, "Oh yes, it does too." He said, "No, it does not," and we were on the verge of getting into a real old fashioned argument. He said, "Show me." And I said, "right here in Revelation five," and I pointed to the verse. WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH. They are all one-syllable words, any child could understand them. He took a long look and he was silent when he looked at it. Then he said, "Oh, but that doesn't mean that." I turned around and stamped the dust off of my feet and walked away. There's no use talking to a man like that. That is a waste of time talking to a man when it is all written in one-syllable words that any six-year old school child could understand, and a man sees what it says and says, "Oh it doesn't mean that." Well, that's what it says, and that's what it means. ("We shall reign on the earth."). We're going to reign with Him. When we reign it is going to be one beautiful wonderful world.

Now Daniel the prophet had something to say about it too.

Daniel 2: 44,
"...in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, [that] shall never be destroyed:..."

And Zechariah the prophet had something to say in the fourteenth chapter, verses 4 and 5, "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 (split) 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 [be] removed toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee (Him, Jesus)."

A New King

And then he says in verse 9,
"And the Lord (Jesus) shall be King over all the earth: in that day..." (Zech. 14)

"Thy kingdom come..." (Matt. 6: 10) "...the Lord shall be King over all the earth..." (Zech. 14: 9)

Well, all these prophecies I have given you point to one thing. There's going to be a new King and you know who it is. That King is Jesus. He will finally come to reign on the throne of His father David (Luke 1: 31 - 33). Ezekiel said the same thing. (See Ezekiel, chapter 34, verses 23 and 24. Read also chapter 37, verses 24 and 25.). David's greater Son, the heir to David's throne, shall establish again the dynasty of David.

Well, now I want to show you some verses in the book of Isaiah. We could skip back and forth all through the Bible, but it will be easier if I start in the beginning of Isaiah and move through it because Isaiah had so much to say about it. He didn't put everything in chronological order as I have already suggested. He wanted us to compare and study and to meditate. That we will do. In the second chapter we have a verse that tells us there's going to be a new capital. I already told you there's going to be a new King. That involves a new government. It will be a perfect government because the Lord is going to be King over all the earth.

A New Government

For the first time in the history of man the world will have a perfect government. For all the corruption we have had in government lately; well, I think it's been there all the time but it is just surfacing now. The Devil is running the systems of this world, and things are not going to change a whole lot I am afraid. It's going to be wonderful, and I'm delighted to tell you that things are going to change before too long and the world will have a perfect government, a new King, and now I want to tell you they're going to have a new capital.

A New Capital

Chapter 2: 1 and 2,
"The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem."
"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." (Isaiah)

If I would have told you a little bit more from the book of Zechariah from the fourteenth chapter, you would have learned that everybody on earth would be required to come to Jerusalem to worship when the Lord is on the throne in Jerusalem. This is picturing the exact same thing.

Verse 3 now is the big verse,
"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)

Later on Isaiah says,
"...and the knowledge of the Lord (shall cover the earth), as the waters cover the sea." (See Isa. 11: 9.) (Read also Hab. 2: 14.).

Now that never happens, but it will happen. It most surely will.

"...for out of Zion (that's out of Jerusalem) shall go forth the law..." (Isa. 2: 3)

A new capital, Jerusalem, is going to be the capital of the world. You see that again and again as we go through this book in various verses.

A False Kingdom

I believe in the interim during the tribulation period, the Antichrist is going to set up an imitation kingdom, a false kingdom. From Revelation, chapter 17, I observe that that capital is going to be the city of seven hills and in my book, that spells R-O-M-E. Not everybody agrees, but that's the way it looks to me. The awful devastating plagues that are going to be falling on this planet during that time will cumulate into one where the whole earth will shake. There will be an electrical storm like the world has never seen. Hailstones as big as volley balls falling out of the sky, just tremendous, outpouring of the wrath of a Holy God, the seventh and last plague. During that time I believe Revelation 17 and 18 will take place in which we were told the city which is the headquarters of the false ruler, the Antichrist, will go up in flames. It will be burnt up. I think that's Rome, but here the city is Jerusalem, there's no question about it. Now, there's also going to be a new social order.

A New Social Order

I am pleased to tell you there will be no more war.

Isaiah 2: 4,
"And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

I know some people who think we're living in that period now. I have a letter from a theology professor that says we're right in the midst of the millennium now. It's our job now to beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. He goes on to say, "Satan is already hogtied," those are his very words. I don't know where the man lives. If he would travel around a little bit he would know that that is nonsense. Absolutely nonsense, the Devil is loose, everywhere you go. You don't even need to read the newspapers to know that.

Sin and wickedness and violence are abounding and increasing everywhere. Jesus said that's one of the signs of the end of the Age.

Jesus also said the end of the age is going to be characterized by wars and rumors of wars, but now the Bible tells us there will come a day, when there will be no more war. It will not be allowed because the Prince of Peace is going to come and He will force peace.

Man's Sinful Nature

Man is a wicked sinful creature. By nature he is a sinner, that is to say, we inherited a sinful nature from Adam. No man is going to spend eternity in Hell because of that. Christ died and automatically atoned for the Adamic nature. That's why a baby is not lost. A baby is saved because a baby is innocent. It has a sinful nature, yes, but God does not hold that individual accountable until he reaches the age of accountability. I don't know what that age is, but God knows. When an individual becomes old enough to know what is right and what is wrong, then an individual must make a decision on the basis of his own will. He must say, "Yes, I will receive Christ," or "No, I will not," and on that basis he is lost.

There will be a day when in spite of the sinful nature of man and their inclination to fight, to be selfish, to be greedy, to want power, and be ruthless with other mortals, it won't be tolerated. Doing what Stalin did, murdering by starvation, if necessary, between twenty and thirty million mortals won't be tolerated. No wonder he was afraid to die. No wonder in the agony of death he became a raving maniac. If you could hear him and see him now, it would be a frightful experience and you wouldn't be able to sleep.

An individual upon death, you know, goes into the fires of Hades, and he screams out like Jesus said the rich man did, and said, "I can't stand it here. It's too hot. Send a little water to cool my parched tongue." He was told it's too late. Nothing can be done for you now. That's why this whole thing is so very serious.

Wars and Rumors of Wars

Well, I'm delighted to tell you there is coming a day when there will be no more war. All the tears, the suffering, the agony, and all the sorrow that has resulted in this world because of war will end.

Somehow man thinks that without God, if he just keeps plugging along enough and we send Kissenger to enough places, it will somehow bring in a dream world. It isn't going to happen. Wars and rumors of wars are one of the signs of the end of this Age; therefore, this prophecy cannot fit into this present age because it will end with war here and there all over the place, and rumors of wars everywhere. That's what we're having, in an unprecedented manner. Can it fit during the next period, the tribulation period of seven years? No it cannot, because that period ends with the battle of Armageddon. I think it starts with the battle of Gog and Magog and ends with the battle of Armageddon. That battle will be in progress when the Lord comes in the sky. There's not going to be a period between now and the time the Lord comes with His Bride to reign when there is no war. So this verse will only fit in the place where I'm putting it and nowhere else.

The Jigsaw Puzzle

Now that is to explain what I was saying awhile ago. If you're wondering, how do you know where these verses fit? They are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. You start to put a puzzle together, and you get a piece that looks like it might fit there. You pick it up and put it in, it doesn't quite fit, you force it a little bit, and push it down and, no, it doesn't fit. You have to take it out. You knew it all the time, but you thought maybe you could force it a little bit so it would go. You take it out and you lay it back and after awhile you find one that fits right in. The verses that I am giving you fit nowhere else in the Biblical jigsaw puzzle. They absolutely do not fit, but they got a knob on them somewhere. Like that one that says, "And the Lord shall be King in that day over all the earth:" "The Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day..." (Zech. 14: 9).

The little knob is, "...in that day...".

When He Stands Upon the Mount of Olives

What day is that? Why that's when He comes in mighty power, and His feet touch the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives splits in two, half of it moves towards the north, and half towards the south. There shall be a very great valley and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Him (Jesus). (See Zech. 14: 4 - 5.).

That's when it is, no other time. It can't be any other time. So don't try to spiritualize it away. Until the Mount of Olives splits in two there will be no kingdom, literally, physically, on this earth. In the meantime there is a spiritual kingdom in our hearts, yes, but the real kingdom is coming.

"He shall rule on '...the throne of His father David:' ", "...and of His kingdom there shall be no end." (See Luke 1: 31 - 33.), "...and the word of the Lord shall go forth from Jerusalem.", "...and the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." (See Hab. 2: 14.). And in that day, "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks:... [and] they shall [study] war no more." (See Isa. 2: 3, 9: 6 - 7, 11: 9. Read also Micah 4: 2 - 3.).

No Peace

Somehow men cannot get it through their thick skulls that war cannot cease, and there cannot be a period of perpetual universal peace until God Himself brings it. When the Prince of Peace comes, and He whose right it is to reign comes, then at long last there will be peace. It will be permanent peace. He'll never again allow a war. At the end of that thousand-year reign in the book of Revelation you read that Satan is let loose for a little while so that men may show their colors; but He's not allowed to get anywhere with it because God sends fire down out of heaven and destroys his army. There will never be another war after the Lord comes to reign.

So now we're laying the pieces together, we're beginning to build up a big picture. I said there is a new government, a new king, the new world capital, and a new social order.

Christ Reigns Upon the Throne of David

Now in chapter nine there's another wonderful prophecy concerning this very thing concerning Christ reigning. So let me add it to the prophecies that I have already given you.

Chapter 9, verse 6,
"For unto us a child is born..." (Isaiah)

When God writes in these prophetic announcements, the end is the same as the beginning to Him. There's no such thing as past, present, and future. To God it's now. So that which He's going to do in the future, He speaks of as if it's right now.

So He says,
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder:..." (Isaiah 9: 6)

Well, the child was born (in Bethlehem) and the Son was given (John 1: 14, I John 5: 10), but the government was not upon His (Jesus') shoulder, not yet, but it will be (during the Millennium) as I already told you.

"...and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
"Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end,..." (Isa. 9: 6 - 7)

Now that's just verifying and corroborating what I have already said several times. His government is going be perpetual, eternal, and peace is going to be one of the characteristics of His reign.

"...upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever...." (Isa. 9: 7)

Who's going to do it? Not the United Nations. They would never get it done. They would be too busy taking off their shoes and pounding them on the podium, or something else just as bad. Is the World Council of Churches going to do it?

No indeed, I am glad it says, "...The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." (Isa. 9: 7).

That means it's going to be done. It's going to be done right. It is going to be done right on schedule.

A New Jurisprudence

Now let's talk about a new jurisprudence. When I read of some of the things that are happening and some of the decisions that the judges are making, I get real disgusted. I'm so glad for what God has told us concerning the future.

Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 1,
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots:"

That is a prophecy concerning Christ.

"And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;"
"And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears:"
"But with righteousness, shall He judge..." (Isa. 11: 2 - 4)

Today Righteousness Suffers

All too often the crooks get off, the innocent people get caught [framed], and righteousness does not prevail. That's too bad, but that's the way it often is. It's happening all the time.

But it says here,
"...with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." (Isa. 11: 4)

I'm calling this a new jurisprudence, a new method of presenting justice. It will not involve courts and trials where witnesses will be called and the judge will listen and say, "Well, what did you hear? And what do you know? What is your opinion? And what did you see?" No! No! None of that. Instant justice, that's what it's going to be. The age of grace is forever over. Now men can curse God to His face, and God patiently waits for them to repent. But in that day if they did, they would drop dead right on the spot, instant justice.

Isaiah 11: 4,
"...with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked."

Verse 5,
"And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins (strength), and faithfulness the girdle of His reins (emotions)."

In a later portion at the end of the book, we'll read more about that again. But now, let's look at verse 6 where we have something very interesting: a new animal world.

A New Animal World

Isaiah 11: 6,
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,..."

Think about that, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.

"...and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;..." (Isa. 11: 6)

That never happens today unless the kit is inside the leopard, and that's not what it's talking about here.

"...and the calf and the young lion and the fatling..." (Isa. 11: 6)

That's a steer.

"...together; and a little child shall lead them." (Isa. 11: 6)

Now can you picture a wolf, a lamb, a leopard, a kid, a calf, a lion, a steer, and a little child altogether. They're all friendly. The animals are all lying down, the little child is walking among them and it's quite safe.

Then we read,
"And the cow and the bear shall feed;..." (Verse 7)

That means together.

"...their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." (Isa. 11: 7)

The Lion Shall Eat Straw Like the Ox

There is the little knob on the jigsaw puzzle piece, that enables me to fit it in this place and nowhere else. Until you see a lion eating straw, you know the kingdom has not come.

Animals Were Herbivorous Prior to the Flood

Back before the flood, lions did eat straw. The animals were herbivorous. If you read the story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis you'll find that man and animals got their instructions as to what their menu should be. Their menu did not include meat; plants, berries, fruit, that sort of thing. Man and animals were all herbivorous.

But after the flood, the whole thing changed. Animals suddenly became "afraid" of man. They were not before. Prior to the flood the animals were "tame."

God said to Adam, look at all the animals I made. Now I'm going to let you have the fun of naming them. So Adam walked among them and he petted them and he said, I'll call this one a lion, and I'll call this one a giraffe, and I'll call this one an elephant and they were all tame.

Animals Became Carnivorous After the Flood

But after the flood you'll read the story of the book of Genesis when Noah came out (of the ark) he had to sacrifice, the animals became afraid, and then God said to man, now I want you to start eating moving things. Moving things! What could that mean? Well it's not fruit. The next line gives it away. But the blood thereof, ye shall not eat (Gen. 9: 4). So they were to eat meat. Moving things, but not the blood, because the life is in the blood. See Genesis 9: 4.

So what I'm trying to tell you is, that before the flood, men and animals were herbivorous. After the flood they were carnivorous. Now we remain the same way, but after the Lord comes to reign, and He sets up His paradise that we're in the process of talking about men and animals will become herbivorous.

Animals will no longer eat each other; therefore, all these animals can lie down together and all feed together and the lion will eat straw like the ox. It's not figurative, it's exactly what God meant to say, and that's exactly what He said, and it means exactly what it says.

Now Isaiah adds in chapter 11, verse 8, "And the sucking child...".

That's a little child that's still on the bottle.

"...shall play on the hole of the asp,..." (Isa. 11: 8)

The asp was a poisonous reptile of antiquity. My how a mother would scream if she saw a little child playing on the hole where a poisonous snake lived.

"...and the weaned..." (Isa. 11: 8)

Is just a little bit older then a toddler.

"...child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den." (Isa. 11: 8)

Same picture, very dangerous now, but not dangerous then, because, "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." (Isa. 11: 9).

A New Educational System

I would say that involves a new educational system, and do we ever need that. A new educational system when the whole world will get back to learning about God. This nation was founded by men who believed there should be public schools so that everyone could learn to read the Bible. The first pubic schools that were established in America were established for the express purpose of teaching young people to read the word of God and that was their textbook. Now we have come a long way in departing from that whole concept where it's illegal to read the Bible in most places and man has decided he wants to put God out of his mind. But that's going to change when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

The Knowledge of the Lord

There's a beautiful picture presented here. If you were on the ocean, and you think about how the waters cover every spot, you realize that there's no place in the ocean where there's a hole in the water. Imagine you are sailing along and there's a hole that the water didn't flow into. No such thing. There isn't one spot of ocean that doesn't have water on it. Now one day the knowledge of the Lord is going to cover the entire earth like the waters cover the sea. You can meditate on that for a while. It's a beautiful picture.

All right, let's go on. Let's skip a few chapters and come to chapter 33. I want to talk about verse 24, but there are a few other verses here I can't pass by without pointing them out.

Jerusalem Will be the Capital of the World

So verse 17,
"Thine eyes shall see the king in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." (Isaiah 33)

Verse 20,
"Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cores thereof be broken."

This is just again verifying what I already said. Jerusalem is going to be the capital of the world, and the Lord's going to be reigning there.

"But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley (ship) with ores, nether shall gallant ship pass thereby."
"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us." (Isa. 33: 21 - 22)

A New Physiology

Now look at verse 24,
"And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick:..." (Isa. 33)

I hate to talk about it, but almost everyone is sick these days. When is your next appointment with the doctor? In that day "...the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick:..." (Isa. 33: 24). That enables me to tell you people are going to be very healthy during this period. We're going to get rid of this pollution business. The Lord is going to come and clean it all up instantly by a command. He can do it.

One day He spoke the words, and He flung the stars into place. He spoke the words and the planets began to orbit around the sun. Even before that He spoke the word and the sun began to burn. It hasn't burned out in all these thousands of years and nobody adds fuel. He spoke the word and there was light! He spoke the word, and the waters were divided from the dry land. He spoke the word, and the great canopy of water was placed high in the sky all around the earth. (The water above the firmament, above the first heaven. See Gen. 1: 6 - 7, 8.). It made the earth like a paradise. At the time of the flood that canopy of water dissolved and the whole atmosphere changed. The whole climate changed. He spoke the word, and it was so! All those waves beat up against the shore and went flowing over the shore, and He said, "Here shall thy proud waves be stayed." (Job 38: 11). That's beautiful. He spoke the word, and it was so. One day He'll speak the word again, and He'll clean up this mess that men have made. They had polluted the air, the land, the water. Everything that God has made we are on the verge of ruining. Unless God would intervene man would surely destroy himself. The politicians who don't know what God is going to do have a pessimistic outlook because they think that is what it is going to come to. I read the reports from some of the scientists that have some terrible things to say. Well, I'm delighted to tell you God is on the verge of intervening. He'll let men go just so far, and then He'll say, "That's enough!" He's going to take the whole world by the throat. He's going to set them down and say, "Now you be good!"

Well, I'll show you later on how it comes out. But at this point I'm telling you there will be a new physiology, and that everybody will be healthy. "...the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick..." (Isa. 33: 24).

Now come to chapter 35, verse 1,
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."

We will say here there will be a new agriculture.

A New Agriculture

This earth doesn't want to groan under the curse. (See Rom. 8: 22.). You know when God made the world it just produced automatically, abundantly. But then, because of man's sin, God had to put a curse on the earth so that man would never be satisfied to call this heaven and stay here. That's why He had to put the curse on the earth and as a result there are deserts, thorns, thistles, lice, flies, misquotes, and bed bugs. Sometimes I wish I could have been standing by that Ark when Noah came down that gangplank with a fly swatter. I would have gotten a couple of them. Well, it wouldn't have been God's plan. Some of these things, we call them pests, are to remind man he's a sinner, and he needs a savior, and this is not heaven. No matter whatever he does, he can never build utopia on earth by his own ingenuity.

When I was back in high school, they were painting a beautiful dream world out there just ahead when everyone would fly a plane. Automobiles would be obsolete by that time. Everybody would be flying, wealthy, and healthy. Our educational system would have advanced so far everyone would get along with everyone discussing their differences and settling them over a conference table. There will be no more war. They're going to build a beautiful dream world, and they had the nerve to call it the kingdom of God on earth. Here we are a half a century later and it didn't happen. Now the world is in such trouble they don't know which way to turn. But Jesus said, "These things are going to happen, and when they happen then look up for your redemption draweth nigh." (See Luke 21: 28.). That's why I think we are very close to the end of the age. When this age ends and the Lord comes and takes those who love Him up (in the Rapture), seven years will transpire. Then He'll come back with His Redeemed Ones to reign, and then this wonderful kingdom age will come. John tells us in Revelation (chapter 20, verse 4) it is a thousand years. The Latin word is millennium so we call this the millennium, meaning a thousand year period.

Well, in chapter 35 we have some beautiful things about how the curse will be largely lifted, and the desert will disappear. Where there was desert there will be beautiful vegetation, flowers will blossom, the desert shall rejoice, and blossom like a rose. It is happening already in a very minor preliminary scale in Israel, but one day it's going to happen just automatically all over the world.

Isaiah 35: 2 - 3,
"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."
"Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees."

Look at verse 4,
"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you."

Everyone Shall be Healthy

Look at this, talking about being healthy!

Verse 5,
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped."

And verse 6,
"Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,..." (Isa. 35)

A hart is a deer.

"...and the tongue of the dumb shall sing:..."

Isn't that beautiful? There are so many hospitals now. Praise God for hospitals and doctors, but so many people are suffering, so many troubles and problems. It's just delightful to read that when the Lord comes there will be nobody that will be deaf, nobody will be dumb, and nobody will be crippled. That's what it says. The lame man is going to jump up like a deer.

The rest of verse 6,
"...for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." (Isa. 35)

There is a whole lot more there, but we have to stop.

We're going to move on now a little bit farther and come toward the end of the book to chapter 65. It's amazing and thrilling the way Isaiah put so much concerning this millennium kingdom into his book. Just putting some here, and some here, and some here. So we come along and look for the pieces that fit together in a Biblical jigsaw puzzle. We can pick some up, lay them down, they fit beautifully, and they fit nowhere else.

Now take a look in chapter 65. It's not surprising that we find this in view of what we have already said. If there's no pollution and everyone is healthy, then it is not surprising verse 19 and following will tell us about when people live to be old again.

A New Longevity

"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying."

You know, Jerusalem is called Je-ru-salem the city of peace, but there's been no peace there. It's a city where there's been so much warfare. The Devil hates that place. He would like to wipe it out; but God has not allowed that. It has been captured approximately fifty times in history. It has been leveled approximately six times in history, and yet there it is. It cannot be destroyed. One day it's going to be a peaceful place when the Lord comes to reign.

"...I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be heard no more in her, nor the voice of crying." (Isa. 65: 19)

Verse 20,
"There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed."

I take that to mean that a person that dies at the age of one hundred is still considered a youngster. Now put that along with what we read in the next verses, and it comes out to this. They are going to return again to the kind of thing they had back in the days of the patriarchs when men lived to be eight, nine hundred or more years old.

Verse 21,
"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:..." (Isa. 65: 22)

You know that's the way it is now. You build a house, and you get a thirty-year mortgage and about the time you get the mortgage paid they got a hearse at the door ready to take you to the cemetery. Someone else lives in that house, or maybe you build a house and don't even live in it that long. Maybe you don't get to live in it at all.

A few years back I was preaching in a church over in Ohio. Pastor and I were driving down the road one day and he said, "See that beautiful ranch house on the hill?" I said, "Yes, it's a lovely house." It overlooked the valley and the beautiful farmland there. He said, "That house was built by a man who worked all his life, worked very hard as a farmer. He was a member of my church. He came here, and he retired. He decided to take it easy, and he built that new house. He was going to move into it. Before he moved in God offered him a mansion in the sky, and he took that instead." Well he didn't lose anything, but his wife did and his friends did, of course. But that's the story of life. Somebody builds and then another lives in it. Somebody else moved into that house. He never did.

Verse 22,
"...they shall not plant, and another eat (the fruit thereof):..."

That's the way it goes too. When I was a boy my father and my brothers and I planted an orchard of fruit trees. The trees grew big, we got some fruit for awhile, and the boys got big too. One went here and one went there, Dad went off to heaven. The fruit trees and the apple trees are still there but someone else is eating the fruit.

In the millennium people will live so long that when they build a house they will live in it for a long time. I presume they're going to improve the method of construction in view of the fact that they're intending to occupy it so long. When they plant fruit trees they're going to stay and eat the fruit of it.

How long are they going to live? Why it tells us,

Verses 22 and 23,
"...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 labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." (Isaiah 65)

Isn't that beautiful? "...as the days of [the trees] are the days of My people...". Think about that! How long do the trees live? Well, there are olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane that were there when Jesus prayed two thousand years ago. In California you know they have the mighty redwoods and what a delight it is to stand in awe before such a demonstration of the handy work of God. God made a tree that is so thick that it grows 101½ feet in circumference, 32 feet at the base, and towers over three hundred feet into the sky! It was growing three thousand five hundred years ago. I used to think they were the oldest trees in the world. Then I found out the Bristle Cone, a kind of a narrow tree that grows high in the mountains of California is said to be four thousand years old.

Well, that's enough to establish the point I'm going to make now. People will live right through the period, and there will be very little death. The thing that will bring death will be an outward act of sin. Now that's going to change the whole order of things because right now we have so much wickedness, so much crime, so much violence, but in that day it will not be allowed. There will be no locks on doors. They won't need them. There will be no jails. I already told you there will be no courts, no trials, no judges. They won't need them. Anyone who decides to commit an act of sin outwardly will die right in his tracks. I have some other verses on the subject, but first of all, before I forget, let me finish this chapter.

Chapter 65, verse 24,
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

Instant answers to prayer. Isn't that fantastic? This just repeats again what we had before.

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock:..." (Isa. 65: 25)

Now, do you want to know when this is going to happen that people live so long? Well, here's the little knob on the side of the jigsaw puzzle. He's talking about the same period. When the lamb, the wolf, the lion, and the bullock will all feed together. That's when it's going to happen.

"...and dust shall be the serpent's meat (food). They shalt not hunt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord."

Now come to the end of the book of Isaiah, chapter 66. The last two verses (23 and 24).

Verse 23,
"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord."

I already talked about that. It had to do with going to Jerusalem for worship.

By the way, Zechariah the prophet says, if they don't show up for worship they would get no rain on their garden next week. You know some preachers would like to try that right now. You would fill the churches a little bit better. We live out of the grocery store. We eat all the poisons that the grocery manufacturers put in them, and then we have to go visit the doctor to find out what's wrong with us. In that day every man is going to have his own garden. He'll get his fresh vegetables right out of the garden. He is going to be healthy once again, like God intended originally. I said they are going to go to Jerusalem to worship, and if they don't show up, Zechariah said they would get no rain on their garden next week. (See Zech. 14: 16 - 19.).

Sin Will Not be Tolerated

Well verse 24 says,
"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses..."

Now what is a carcass? A carcass is a dead body. But who are these?

"...the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." (Isaiah 66)

I take that to mean that a person who commits an outward act of sin will die right in his tracks! That person will fall over dead! His body will lie there for a constant reminder to the fact that there is a judge on the throne. There is a perfect government that is ordering people to obey under penalty of instant death.

What is the Purpose of This Period?

The purpose is to show to man once and for all eternity that a perfect government and a lovely environment are not enough to change the sinful heart and to show you how it all comes out we'll go to the book of Revelation.

I made reference a while ago, and now I want to show you specific scripture in the end of that book.

The Redeemed Reigns With Christ

Chapter 20, verse 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."

That's the reference to reigning with Christ. It tells how long it will be. John doesn't tell us all about it, but I already did in going through the book of Isaiah.

No More War

And now verse 7 says,
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,"

That is Russia and her satellites.

"...to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." (Rev. 20: 8)

But some of you heard me say, there will be no war, and you think now maybe that's not going to work out. Don't worry, it is. There will be no war.

Verse 9,
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints..."

Our headquarters, the capital of the world. You already know what it is.

Look at the next phrase.

"...and the beloved city:..."

You know what that is, that's Jerusalem.

"...and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Rev. 20: 9)

At that point every unsaved person on earth is dead.

The Purpose of This Period

Now if God had not given to man this period out of the depths of hell, some individuals would have cried out cursing God all the while. If you would of only given us a little bit more time we would have brought in Utopia. We were right on the verge through education and scientific technology. We were on the verge of bringing in a beautiful dream world. You cut us off too soon but they will never say that because God is going to give to man what man could never achieve for himself, but what he has tried to achieve so long: a perfect government and a lovely environment. Now notice those words. I'm choosing them carefully because you must not get them mixed; otherwise, they would not be true. A perfect government. The environment is not perfect. The environment is still earth not heaven. Sin is still present. It will not be tolerated outwardly, but inwardly it will still be there.

The People Who Are Reigned Over During This Period

I should have talked a moment about that because someone will undoubtedly wonder just exactly who is here to be reigned over? Well the answer is that when Jesus comes in mighty power with His saints then He will gather all those who are still alive after the tribulation. That will not be many in terms of those who are alive now. A great portion of the world's population will be dead. Right in the beginning of the tribulation period one fourth of the population dies. Then later on it is a third. You add those together, and you have half. Over half the population is dead in the first half of the tribulation at least, and the second half has the most awful plagues of all. So how many people will be left? I do not know, but those who are left He will gather before Him.

A hundred and forty-four thousand Jews are sealed so they can't be destroyed. They are there, and they are saved. There will be a group of Gentiles that will be saved. How they escape the Antichrist the Bible doesn't tell us, but it says He's going to divide them as the sheep from the goats. To those on the left hand, He will say, Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. These shall go away into everlasting punishment. There shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. (See Matt. 7: 21 - 23, 8: 12, 25: 31 - 34, 41, 46.).

At that moment they are dead and go into Hades, into hell, into the heart of the earth where the lost of all ages await the final judgment.

And to those on His right He said, "...(enter into) the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:" (See Matt. 25: 34.).

Those people are saved people, and like after the flood He starts all over with a group of saved people. Saved Gentiles and saved Jews, and Israel is the leading nation of the world and Jerusalem is the capital. A perfect government, a lovely environment.

We, in redeemed bodies, come back with Him and zoom around the world like the angels do now traveling with the speed of thought carrying out His bidding. Anyone who decides to do an outward act of sin will die right in his tracks. So there will be no thefts, no crime, no violence, no war, nothing like that. It will not be allowed.

Man is Forced to be Good

It will be one wonderful period, but now at the end of the period God is going to let Satan loose so that man can observe what the result of this period is.

Then Satan will go out and gather all those who have been worshipping the Lord insincerely. There will be a vast multitude. Remember they had a lot of children. They lived to be a thousand years old. Some will live right through the millennium. Methuselah's record will certainly be broken. Look how many children, grandchildren, great-grand children, great great-grandchildren, great great great-grandchildren, and great great great great-grandchildren and so forth. I don't know how the grandmothers will keep track of the birthdays, but that's not my problem. I just know they will have big families, the population will spread, and there will be a vast multitude.

A Vast Number Will Follow Satan

I can't believe it, but it says it. There will a vast multitude that will say to Satan, "Come on, be our leader, let's go to Jerusalem, let's destroy the administration, and let's set up a new government so we can live like we want to live!" A vast multitude will follow. That doesn't seem reasonable. You would think they would throw Lucifer out and say, "We had a wonderful time, we don't want you. We read what you did to the world in centuries past," but they won't. All of which proves one thing. Man is desperately wicked. He is awfully sinful, and it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to give him a new heart. It cannot happen by a lovely world and a perfect government. So that's the purpose. For one thousand years men are forced to be good.

An Illustration

I'm wondering if I have time to tell a story, but I'll do it anyway because I think it illustrates here what I'm trying to say.

In the state of Ohio there's a dear family, friends of mine, in whose home I have stayed a good number of times. If I would name names you would know them. So I will try not to do that, but one of the boys when he was little used to be nutty. His mother told me he would do all kinds of nutty things. Like, pretend he was a big game hunter and go down to the town park and kill the ducks. He would come home with them over his shoulder like he was a great victorious hunter home from the jungle. She would spank him, give him some money, make him go down and apologize to the town authorities, and pay for the ducks. The next week he would be into something else. One day she said the mailman came. He said, "Do you know that your son is out here in a tree dropping rocks on the people that go by?" She said, "It cannot be, come with me." She took him down in the basement, and there her boy was sitting on a chair with ropes all around him. He was so nutty that morning she took him down there, she put him on the chair, and she said, "Now you be good!" Then she tied him to the chair with ropes. She went to do her washing, and that's when the mailman came. Well, praise God he grew up to be a wonderful son. I don't know if he remembers those things or not, but his mother does and she told me.

Instant Justice

Now I think of God saying to the human race, now you've been bad. You have been nutty, you have been wicked so much. Now you sit down and be good! For one thousand years don't you do a thing, or you'll die right on the spot. They will be obedient, but only outwardly.

Oh, there will be a multitude who will be saved of course. God doesn't tell us much about them. I'm sure they aren't all lost at the end of that period, but there will be a multitude that will be lost. There's something awfully sad about that, but then in every age people must make their choice. When Satan is loosed they will finally have a choice. They didn't have one during the period, but they will have then (at the end of the millenium). That's why he's loosed. Men will make their choice, and those who have been worshipping insincerely will then take their stand with Satan.

That brings us to the end of time, and the end of the world. In another message I'll be talking about that.

Now as we conclude this message is there anybody reading that needs to make a decision? Someone who has never publicly accepted Christ as Savior, or some Christian to whom God has spoken, and you would like to rededicate your life. If you have a decision for the Lord, tell Him all about it.

Our heavenly Father, we thank and praise Thee for the word of God. We thank Thee for the Scriptures which we studied that pertain to the paradise on earth which will come when the One whose right it is to reign returns to reign. In the meantime Lord, in this present age, the age of grace, when men can curse Thee and live, remind us all that we need constantly to come and say, "Lord, I'm sorry. Lord I have sinned, Lord forgive." And those, Lord, who have not accepted Thee, help them to do it now while there is yet time. Bring to Thyself such as need the Savior and do it now because tomorrow may be too late. We pray it in Jesus' name, Amen.

The Nathan Meyer Bible Prophecy Association (BPA)