5. The Millennium in relation to the World.
The Millennium will be the time, when,
instead of Satan being the world's "Prince," the Christ of God shall be its
King. The form of His government will be theocratic not democratic -
"And the Lord shall be King over all the earth" (Zech. 14:9). The scope or
range of His government will be world-wide. All nations will be subject to His
rule, and the uttermost parts of the earth shall be possessed by Him. "He
shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall be before Him; and His enemies
shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring
presents: the kings of Sheba and Sheba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall
fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him" (Psalms 72:8-11). This is
what is in view in Rev. 11:15 - "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and
ever."
Perhaps at this point it would be well if we
endeavored to meet a difficulty which many inquirers experience in connection
with the Millennium. It may be stated thus. If the saints are all caught up to
meet the Lord at His descent into the air, and the wicked are all destroyed
during the Tribulation period, who will be left to inhabit the earth during the
Kingdom age? The answer is simple. It is a mistake to suppose that all who
are left behind at the Rapture will be subsequently destroyed by God's
judgments. It is true that "the slain of the Lord will be many," yet the earth
will not be entirely depopulated. This is evident from Matt. 25:31. It is
also true that "all" who now believe not the truth will "perish" during the Day
of God's vengeance - 2 Thess. 2, yet many of the children of these unbelievers
will be spared. Not all of those who will be gathered together for the battle
of that great day of God Almighty will be slain, as is clear from Is. 66:19,
where we read of "those that escape." The slaughter at Armageddon will be
inconceivably dreadful, for from that battlefield will flow a river of
blood two hundred miles in length and several feet in depth, yet we know
from Zech. 14:16 that a "remnant" will be spared - "And it shall come to pass,
that every one that is left of all the nations which came against
Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of
hosts." Finally; there will be a Jewish remnant miraculously preserved by God
(Rev. 12) and these together with their resurrected brethren who were slain by
the Anti-christ (Rev. 20:4) will form the nucleus from which will spring the
Millennial Israel.
The seat of Christ's government will be
Jerusalem, the royal city, "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" (Is.
2:3).
The character of Messiah's government is brought
before us in Is. 11:3-5, "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 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. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." During the Kingdom age - in
contradistinction to the present dispensation of Grace wherein God endures with
much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction - wickedness
shall be promptly dealt with and evil doers will meet with swift
judgment: "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that
hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon
the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me: he that walketh in a
perfect way, he shall serve Me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within
My house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in My sight. I will early
destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked-doers from
the city of the Lord" (Ps. 101:5-8).
We turn now to some of the results of Christ's
government. During the Millennium our Lord will rule as "The Prince of Peace."
For the first time since the flood, the earth will be completely delivered from
the horrors of war. Then it will be seen that "He maketh wars to cease unto
the ends of the earth" (Ps. 46:9). The Kingdom age will be a time of universal
peace - "And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war anymore" (Is. 2:4).
During the Millennium there shall also be
universal blessing. An exceedingly sublime picture of the conditions that will
then obtain is to be found in Is. 35:5-10, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man
leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall
waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall
become a pool, and the thirsty land "springs of water: in the habitation of
dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway
shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness: the
unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall not err therein. No lion shall be
there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and
everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
At the beginning of the Millennium there shall be
a universal worship of Christ - "And it shall come to pass that everyone that
is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from
year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 14:16).
What a glorious time the Millennium will be for
our poor sin-cursed earth! Universal righteousness, universal peace, universal
blessing, and universal worship! Surely we have reason to pray "Thy kingdom
come." And now,