Zechariah 14:8-11, 16-20; Romans 8:18-25. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 14, 2018.
We are taking time to see what the Bible has to say about the period of time that we call the Millennium. This is the promise throughout the Old Testament that God would deliver Israel and rule over the nations of the world through His righteous, anointed King, who will sit upon the throne of David. We are given a taste of this righteous King and his righteous kingdom in the Church. Jesus is our King and we obey his commands. However, the fulfillment of these Old Testament passages is about more than a metaphor for our current experience in Christ. It truly is about an earthly kingdom that will occur when Christ returns to earth. Thus, our current experience simply prepares us for that reality.
Now the Church has preached that Jesus is the coming King of kings for the last 2,000 years. It is clear that, though many people within the nations of the world have embraced Him, the governments of the world have no interest in Jesus being King over them. Not even the “Christian” nations in the West show any true desire for Christ to return and rule over them. Instead we keep doubling down on our own human wisdom and looking for anyone, someone, who will come along with better answers. In short the governments do not like the Savior that God has given and seek another savior, or an antichrist. Eventually God will allow them to have their wish. However, such a hope will be short lived. Jesus is destined to reign over the earth and His divine wisdom will usher in a new time of peace that the world has never known. Let’s continue our look at this 1,000 year kingdom and what it will be like.
Our first passage today will be in Zechariah 14. You will notice that the millennial passages in the Old Testament have a distinctive, Jewish flavor to them because the Israeli people will be re-gathered, and Christ will reign from Jerusalem over them and the world. You may remember Jesus speaking to His disciples in Matthew 19:28. He promised the Twelve, “In the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (NKJV)
However, the Millennium is not just about Israel. It is also about the nations of the world. Thus Zechariah speaks about the whole earth worshipping the Lord Jesus. Now, we should not expect that we will have church services exactly as we do now. However, neither should we expect that all cultures will have to adopt a Jewish-style service. This passage is not saying that we will have to follow the Old Testament laws on worship. Rather, it makes clear that there will be universal aspects of worship that all nations will do. In this case, all nations will gather once a year to celebrate the Feast of Booths (The last feast of the 7 feasts of the Lord, which is in the Fall). This is a super-corporate event. It leaves the question of what worship will be the other days of the year. I believe this passage leaves room for cultural differences, but also makes clear that Jesus will give some specific directions, much like Moses directed Israel in how God wanted them to worship Him.
We are told that there will be some big topographical changes to the area surrounding Jerusalem. Most of the area will be flattened like a plain. However, Jerusalem will be raised up above the plain. This topography actually will occur, but it also symbolizes God’s decree. All who approach the City of Jesus do so from a humble position and should have an attitude of worship. In verse 4 we are told that the Mount of Olives will be split in half as the Lord stands upon it. We are also told that water will flow out of the city of Jerusalem, some towards the Mediterranean Sea and some towards the Dead Sea. This actual water flow is also intended to symbolize what God is doing spiritually. His truth will flow towards the East and towards the West and fill the world. He will lift up Jerusalem and dispense the Life of God to the nations. Ezekiel 47 actually states that the waters that flow from Jerusalem will heal the Dead Sea so that fish swim in it and vegetation grows around it. It also states that the water will flow all year long. In the Pacific Northwest this may not sound like an important statement. In the Middle East this is a powerful statement. It will not just be a powerful spring river that is completely dry by the end of summer. Rather, it will flow continuously, making the land a land of milk and honey once again. Water shortage has been a big problem in the Near East for centuries. The fact that this land lacks water and would be barren without modern technology, despite clearly being bountiful during the times of Moses, points to the judgments of God. During the Millennium the land will be blessed and have plentiful water.
In verse 16 we see the worship of the Millennial Kingdom. The passage uses the term “survivors” for those who remain after the devastations of the Tribulation, and the Second Coming. Under the Beast and the False Prophet, the kings of the earth had gathered their armies against Jerusalem in order to destroy it, but now the nations will come up to worship rather than to attack. The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles. In Ezekiel 45 we also see that the Feast of Passover will be observed. However, it does not say that the people of the earth will gather for it.
Some believers are bothered by the idea that at least some of the Jewish feasts will be reinstated and that sacrifices are described. Let’s remember that they are not Israel’s feasts. They were originally described as the Feasts of the Lord. Clearly, we will not be under the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses. However, there will be some symbolic rituals and memorial offerings that will function much like Christian Communion does today. We do not look to the juice and the bread as our salvation, but rather a celebration of what Christ did. Thus these feasts and their sacrifices will function the same way during the Millennial Kingdom. They will point to the work of Christ. We also should remember that there will be mortals as well as immortals on the earth in those days. Thus the sacrifices will also testify and remind the mortals of where their salvation lies. It lies in Jesus and His ability to atone for sins and to forgive them. This snapshot of global worship doesn’t imply that we will worship only once a year, but that there will be an annual global, worshipful, celebration.
The last part of our section brings up a hypothetical situation where the nation of Egypt might choose not to come to the feast. It describes the “blow” or punishment that Christ will give to any nation that refuses to come. They will lack rain in their country until they comply. This strikes me in two ways. On one hand it is clear that Christ means business and Egypt will have to comply, if they want their country to survive. However, on the other hand, there is no executing of rebels and military occupations either. There will be no tactics of the Antichrist, or the empires of this world, in play here. His response is both extremely powerful and yet extremely gracious. It reminds us of the punishment of a Father who does not wish to destroy a child, but rather to help them learn righteousness. This gives a picture of what the Bible means by the phrase ruling with a rod of iron. His commands will be unyielding and yet they will still be gracious, as is his character.
This concludes the passages that we are going to look at, which describe the Millennial period. However, I want to end today’s lesson by making this one last point from Romans 8:18-25. In this New Testament passage it refers to the time when Jesus returns to earth as the “hope” of all creation. Paul seems to personalize all of creation, as he describes its eager awaiting of this time. It is referred to as the revealing of the Sons of God. This is what the Apostle John spoke of in 1 John 3:2-3. “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” You and I presently do not look like “Sons of God,” which was a phrase used in the Old Testament for the angels. However, when we are resurrected and come with Christ from the clouds at His Second Coming, it will be made clear, or revealed, just who we really are. We need this personal revelation from time to time. Don’t forget what your destiny is and trade it for a bowl of beans in this life. The whole creation is groaning for deliverance and crying for you and I to be revealed for who we really are, the Sons of God.
We can look at this groaning and travailing of creation in a couple of ways. First the sentient parts of creation, angels and humans, literally groan and travail. The righteous angels and righteous men long for the Lord to come back and deliver the earth from the bondage of The Rebellion. However, there is also a symbolic groaning and travailing that we see in the earth itself, which is racked with quakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity. As we approach this blessed event, all of creation will groan more and more, louder and louder.
In verse 20 and following, it refers to the fact that the creation was subjected to futility. This word has the sense of something that has been perverted and lacks truth, or is devoid of the ability for good. This is the same word in Ecclesiastes used to translate the Hebrew, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” Some versions also translate it “meaningless.” I believe that Paul has the curse from the Garden of Eden in mind. There Adam’s sin causes changes to the ability of the earth to produce. However, this curse was not intended to be forever. God’s punishment was given in the “hope” that it would one day be removed. Thus, we should not let the difficulties that we face today cause us to lose hope in the God who will one day lift this curse and celebrate the creation as it was meant to be with us. This is His promise to those who trust Him.
The freedom of the Sons of God will bring freedom to creation, just as the bondage of Adam, the son of God, brought bondage to creation. The Millennium is about Jesus, but it is also about His ability to bring forth the Sons of God. The righteous of every generation are those who put their faith in God. These will enjoy the glorious freedom of Christ as they are set free from death and this freedom will release freedom upon all of creation. Thus the Second Adam brings life where the First Adam brought death. May the Lord fill our hearts with faith even though we may not see these things now. It is the same Lord, who rose up from the dead and ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father, who will set creation free from the bondage that it is currently under. Amen! Don’t squander another minute without turning towards Jesus in faith and trust. Give your life to Him and become a disciple of the greatest Master who ever lived, God Himself.