Discourse 63 – Conditions of life in the Millennial Kingdom.

Nothing impure can enter the Millennial Kingdom? / Lecture Jürgen Haizmann 01, 2003.

Human life expectations in the Millennium.

Table – Chronological table from Adam to Jacob.

The paradisal state in the Millennial Kingdom.

Table – World history: A week of millennial days..

Summary.

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

The author’s assertion, quoted above, that

"Nothing impure can enter the Millennial Kingdom"

reminds us of the views of the Jehovah’s Witnesses: they also hold that in the Millennium only the faithful will still be alive on earth. That the Jehovah’s Witnesses take this line is to be put down to an error in their interpretation. They confuse the prophecies of the Millennium with those relating to the New Creation – that is to say, they confuse the reorganization of heaven and earth for the Millennium with the New Creation of heaven and earth after the end of the world.

(See also Chapter 14: "The New Creation")

It is easy enough to show, in the light of a few scriptural passages, that the author’s supposition that "Nothing impure can enter the Millennial Kingdom" is actually incorrect. In the Millennium it appears that entire peoples will be converted to the Lord and will go to Jerusalem with the Israelites, to take up their abode there.

All the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you".

Zech 8,20 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 8,21 ‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go."

8,22 ‘So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’ 8,23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."‘" Zech 8,20-23;

Jerusalem will be too small for the multitude of men who will live there with the Israelites.

Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.

Zech 2,1 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2,2 So I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is." 2,3 And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, 2,4 and said to him, "Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. Zech 2, 1- 4;

Until just a few years ago many commentators had difficulty with this passage – seeing that walls are here referred to, whereas for centuries there have been no walls surrounding Jerusalem. Three years ago or thereabouts this problem was solved. Jerusalem now has walls again. And what walls! – eight meters high and 350 kilometers long. At the cost of 350 million dollars Israel’s politicians have erected this "protective fence" – that being their embarrassed term for the massive bulwark.

Wall in Jerusalem.

But this wall too shall fall. When heaven and earth are reorganized, before the Millennium, all that is high will be pulled down and brought low, so that God alone shall be exalted.

The day of the LORD shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and he shall be brought low.

Isa 2,10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. 2,11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

2,12 For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 2,13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 2,14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 2,15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 2,16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 2,17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. Isa 2,10-17;

(See also Chapter 08: "The reorganization of heaven and earth")

And so in the Millennium that follows there will be quantities of converted heathen who throng to Jerusalem, which will now be inhabited without walls. This does not mean, however, that there will no longer be any heathen anywhere in the world. In many parts of the globe there will continue to be people who actually do not want to know anything about the God of Israel in Jerusalem (Zion). All the same, God will permit them to live in their countries and will give them fruit and harvest, as long as they carry out certain religious obligations.

Whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD, there will be no rain on them.

Zech 14,16 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. 14,17 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.

14,18 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. 14,19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. Zech 14,16-19;

For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish.

Isa 60,12 "For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined. Isa 60,12;

But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it.

Jer 12,16 "Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. 12,17 "But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it," declares the LORD. Jer 12,16-17;;

In the Millennium, then, any people that does not go up to Zion once a year to celebrate the Feast of Booths and worship the Lord will have no rain. This means that these peoples will have no harvest, or poor harvests, and will suffer from famine. And those peoples and nations that completely refuse to serve God and to accept his commandments will be altogether destroyed.

(See also Chapter 10: "The Millennium")

As a matter of fact, it must be said that a great many of these peoples will only submit and obey God’s commandments for the sake of mere survival. Their hearts will remain hardened, and they will actually not be converted. This may be inferred from Rev 20,7-8:

Satan will come out to deceive the nations to gather them together for the war.

Rev 20,7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 20,8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. Rev 20, 7- 8;

At the end of the thousand years Satan will be released again, and will come forth to gather an army for the battle against God in Jerusalem. And even after a thousand years during which God has been the supreme ruler of this planet – when one might be inclined to think that anyone who has lived through this would have been converted by now – the devil will still find as many people as "the sand of the seashore" who will rally to him in their eagerness to take part in the battle against God.

There will be hundreds of millions, or even billions of people who will join with Satan in opposition to God at the end of the world. Now it is a fair presumption that this gathering together of the enemies of God will not be extended over a space of centuries, but will last at most just a few years at the end of the Millennium, until the Satanic host marshals itself against the God of Israel. And it can be presumed with equal certainty that these people will not have come to a sudden change of heart that makes them now want to follow the devil instead of God.

This means, though – when we consider the other side of the coin – that even in the Millennium, when God rules supreme upon this earth, there will be a great many peoples who submit to this God only because they are compelled to do so. They will do what is prescribed to them only in order to escape punishment. If they could to what they wanted, they would continue to lie, cheat, rob and murder. And when their "Father" Satan shows up again, they flock to him immediately.

This clearly refutes the too simplistic view of the author quoted above that "nothing impure can enter the Millennial Kingdom".

(See also Chapter 11: "The end of the world".)

Human life expectations in the Millennium.

As for the other assertion in the passage quoted earlier –

"Death will be banished, so that no one needs to die any more. If someone dies at the age of a hundred, he dies young, as if he were an infant."

- this does not agree with what we are told in the Bible either. The biblical passage to which the author is referring is Isa 65,20:

For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach this age will be thought accursed.

Isa 65,18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. 65,19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. 65,20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. Isa 65,18-20;

This passage from Isaiah 65,18-20 reveals to us a number of interesting details which refute some of the theories current today. Certainly, conditions of life in the Millennium will be exceptional (more about this below). But what some interpreters of the Bible overlook is the fact that the passage contains repeated references to "Jerusalem" alone, to "her people" or "My people" – in other words, Israel and the converted gentiles.

As we have shown above, although in the Millennium the earth will be under the supreme dominion of God, there will still be many peoples who bow to him only under compulsion. And thus all the promised blessings – the forgiveness of sin, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the extirpation of evil in man and animal, special climatic conditions that permit harvest and sowing simultaneously – will apply only to the people of God probably only in the extended geographical neighborhood of Israel. Some of the former heathen will be found here as well, but only those who have been completely converted to the God of Israel and so also form part of the people of God.

Contrary to the opinion of the author quoted at the beginning of this Discourse, then, this passage (Isa 65,20) does not speak of an infant, nor does it tell us that death has been "banished". And certainly not from the entire world. What it says is that "… in Jerusalem… no longer will there be… an old man who does not live out his days." And you can only "live out your days" if you do actually die – never mind at what age.

The passage goes on to say that "the youth will die at the age of one hundred". This youth who dies is not obdurate, nor is he a "sinner" or "one who lives in sin", as the author suggests. There is nothing about this in the passage at all. On the contrary, it explicitly indicates that he will be thought of as a youth because he dies at such a relatively young age.

Isaiah then concludes: "And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed." So possibly our author thinks that these are the accursed. But these, we are specifically told, will not reach the age of one hundred. Moreover this same scriptural passage that our author quotes proves that there will be people in the Millennium who are accursed. So from this point of view too the assertion quoted earlier that "Nothing impure can enter the Millennial Kingdom" is patently refuted.

If we now take a look at the immediate context of this scriptural passage, it is an easy matter to see what actually lies behind this prophecy. Isa 65,21-23 speaks of the life expectations of the people:

For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people.

Isa 65,21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 65,22 "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. 65,23 "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. Isa 65,21-23;

We are told here in Isa 65,22 that "as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people". Now we know that the lifetime of a tree, if human beings do not fell it prematurely, is something like a thousand years (if we think of the still virgin jungle of the Amazon, or for that matter some olive trees in the Near East). So we can assume that these people in the Millennium will again reach the age that people attained to before the Flood (the oldest was Methuselah, who lived to be 969).

Chronological table from Adam to Jacob (PORTRAIT)

So if the lifetime of a human being comes to around 1000 years, a man a hundred years of age is indeed a youth. Compared with today’s life expectations of not quite 100 years, this would be a ten-year-old boy … but by no means an infant.

In what follows we must also take issue with the enthusiastic idea that these life expectations apply to everyone then alive, and confront it with the reality of what is stated in the Bible. In Isa 65,22 it is written that "as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people". This means that we have to do here with conditions that relate exclusively to the people of God … Jews and converted heathen, for theChristian believers had already been raptured at the Second Coming of the Lord before the Millennium and are already in heaven. (See also Discourse 38: Is the congregation co-regent in the Millennium?) … in the immediate or more distant neighborhood of Israel … that is to say, the "remnant" of Israel and the "offspring of those blessed by the Lord". The passage is not talking about all those peoples throughout the world who, as explained earlier, submit to the dominion of God but do not belong to his people. Still less is it the case that death has been banished from the entire world and people no longer have to die at all.

This is further confirmed by other Old Testament passages, like this one from Zechariah:

Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age.

Zech 8,3 "Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’

8,4 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 8,5 ‘And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ Zech 8, 3- 5;;

This passage similarly speaks of "the streets of Jerusalem", not of the whole world. This shows us that in the Millennium the blessing of God will be upon his people of Israel and on all those heathen who have affiliated themselves to that people. These will be called by the name of "Jacob", their sins will be forgiven and the Spirit of God will be poured out upon them. Not, however, on all people throughout the world, as some commentators suppose.

The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Isa 33,20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart. 33,21 But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass-

33,22 For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us- 33,23 Your tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; The lame will take the plunder.

33,24 And no resident will say, "I am sick"; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. Isa 33,20-24;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants.

Isa 44,1 "But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: 44,2 Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

44,3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; 44,4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’

44,5 "This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’S’ And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor. Isa 44, 1- 5;

My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Eze Eze 37,26 "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a covenant lasting in world time with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst for world time. 37,27 "My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 37,28"And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst for world time." (Buber) Eze 37,26-28;

The paradisal state in the Millennial Kingdom.

As for the story of the "paradisal state prevailing throughout the world" in the Millennial Kingdom, which so often crops up in sermons or writings, this in its turn can be demythologized on the basis of those same scriptural passages which are advanced in support of this position:

They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain.

Isa 65,24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 65,25 "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD. Isa 65,24-25;

They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the land will be full of the knowledge of the LORD.

Isa 11,1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 11,2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 11,3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 11,4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

11,5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. 11,6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 11,7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

11,8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 11,9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the land will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

11,10 Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. Isa 11, 1-10;

The remnant of Israel will have peace for the seed and become a blessing among the nations.

Zech Zech 8,11 ‘But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 8,12 ‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 8,13 ‘It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’ Zech 8,11-13;

When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed.

Amos 9,13 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine And all the hills will be dissolved. 9,14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. Amos 9,13-14;

The fruit of the land will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

Isa 4,2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. 4,3 It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. Isa 4, 2- 3;

Just as some biblical commentators, even today, continue to reinterpret many of God’s promises to his people Israel, transferring them free of charge to the congregation of all time (like the reference to the 144,000 who were sealed, for instance, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel), here too we are evidently faced with a new understanding of Scripture according to which, in the most generous manner possible, the promises to the people of God in the Millennium are extended to all the peoples of the world. But this is not the case! If we hold by what is written in these scriptural passages, it is not a matter of the whole world and all people on earth being blessed – the blessing is only on "Jerusalem", the "holy mountain" (a synonym for Jerusalem and Israel), "the land" and the "survivors" of Israel, who are then to be a blessing among the heathen.

Besides the presence of almighty God in the temple in Jerusalem (Eze 37,27-28) and the absolutely just world dominion of the Lord Jesus (Zech 6,12-13; Isa 11,1-5) with the resurrected martyrs who as priests and kings will rule with him with a rod of iron (Rev 20,4-6), just this very thing will be one of the typical features of the Millennium – that all those who adhere to the Lord, whether Jews or heathen, will be blessed, while the reluctant and the blasphemous will be punished in that they will have no rain or may actually be annihilated.

You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.

Ps 2,7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 2,8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 2,9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’" Ps 2, 7- 9;

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces.

Rev 2,26 ‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 2,27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; 2,28 and I will give him the morning star. 2,29 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ Rev 2,26-29;

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

Rev 12,5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Rev 12, 5;

From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron.

ReV 19,15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 19,16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Rev 19,15-16;

And seeing that in these thousand years the absolute justice of the Son of God will prevail throughout the world, it will no longer be possible even for the unwilling nations to make war, to plunder or to rob, as this passage from the prophet Micah (Mi 4,3-4) also informs us:

Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks.

Mi 4,3 And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. 4,4 Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. Mic 4, 3- 4;

World history: A week of millennial days. (LANDSCAPE)

Summary