(#5 Session 6) Day 7 - The Millennium

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

Following the Day of the Lord, the dawn of the Millennium brings about the earthly Shalom of God - the consummation or bringing together into perfect union Man and God as Jesus rules the world through Israel His Lesser Light; the coming of true peace to mankind; and the Sabbath rest for both Man and God - Man resting in God, and God resting from His work of Creation. In a sense, we are brought back to the blessed state of Creation at the original Sabbath in Gen 2, with one major difference as we will see shortly.

Previously, we saw that the Day of the Lord would bring together the joint fulfilment of the first two Fall Feasts of God - the Feast of Trumpets calling us to meet the Lord in the air, and the Day of Atonement when Jesus would return to the Mount of Olives to rescue and restore a repentant Israel while judging the nations. The Millennium is the fulfilment of the last of the 7 Feasts of God - the Feast of Tabernacles - and revolves around worship at the Millennial Temple. The prophet Ezekiel gives us a detailed description of this Temple in Ezekiel 40-42, while Zechariah tells us that “the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles” (Zech 14:16). The Millennium ultimately reflects God’s desire to tabernacle or live among us - we read in Zechariah 2:10-11 and Ezekiel 48:35,““Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you … And the name of the city (Jerusalem) from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE (Yahweh Shammah).” Jerusalem or Yerushalayim, which means the “City of Peace” - and by extension, the world and mankind - can only find true peace (Shalom) in God’s presence.

The Millennium also brings to pass all the unfulfilled Old Testament promises concerning Israel and the Kingdom of David, in particular David’s greatest desire, which was to minister in God’s presence in His Holy Temple. Israel will fulfill its original purpose as God’s Lesser Light to the nations during the Millennium, with David - who would be among the resurrected - serving as Israel’s prince in the Millennial Temple as seen in the verses above.

Lastly, although the world is in a sense restored to its original blessed state, the description of the Millennial Kingdom in Rev 20 and other related passages throughout the Bible seems to suggest that it will comprise 2 groups - the first group being those redeemed by God (i.e., those who are part of the blessed “first resurrection”) and the second group comprising “survivors from all the nations.” The redeemed - which include David, the Apostles and likely only those who are martyred throughout history and the faithful still alive at Christ’s coming - will be clothed in glorified bodies and rule with Christ over these survivors, who remain in their fallen nature and will still experience death. Although greatly blessed by God during this thousand year period, we are nonetheless told that as soon as Satan is released, many among these survivors will be deceived into rebelling against God one final time, with devastating eternal consequences. With this, the sun of time and history will finally set over the Final Day of Creation as the books are opened for the Final Judgment.

Earlier, we saw how the first four Days of Creation gave us a unique Biblical perspective of the first 4,000 years of world history - telling us about sin and the Fall of Man, how sinful men deserved judgment but also how God in His love provided an ark, and later dry ground and a lesser light leading us to His Son Jesus Christ as our ultimate Saviour and Lord.

As we come to the end of the Seven Days of Creation, we are given Biblical insight into the remaining two thousand years of human history from the time of Christ until now, as our generation awaits Jesus’ soon return to usher in the Millennium.

Here, the Fifth Day of Creation pointed to the New Life available to all mankind through the giving of the Holy Spirit and birth of the Church as the Body of Christ. This came to pass with the emergence of Antioch in AM 4002 - the beginning of the Fifth Millennium - where believers were first known as Christians. The predominantly Gentile Church would become God’s vessel bringing His new life to the world for the next 2,000 years, especially following the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of Israel in 70 AD.

However, wherever this new life in the Spirit of Christ has sprouted, the life-destroying Spirit of the Antichrist has often quickly followed suit. The Sixth Day of Creation warns us of this Satan-inspired kingdom and Rule of Man that tries to overthrow the Kingdom and Rule of God. Beginning with the Great Schism and rise of the Papacy in AM 5013 - the start of the Sixth Millennium - these Satanic efforts, which have actually been ongoing since Creation, will intensify and culminate in the rule of the Antichrist in the end times.

With the rebirth of Israel in 1948 (AM 5907) seventy two years ago, the stage is now set for the coming Tribulation as we (AM 5979) approach the end of the Sixth Millennium in our generation. This brings us to the events symbolised by the Seventh and Final Day of Creation - here, the Great Tribulation - and with it God’s discipline of His people and judgment of His enemies - ends with the return of Jesus the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, on the Day of the Lord, as the armies of the world led by the Antichrist surround a desperate and repentant Israel who cries out for her Messiah. In terms of the Fall Feasts, beginning with the Last Trumpet calling the saints to meet the Lord in the air, Jesus returns and sets foot on the Mount of Olives on the Day of Atonement to rescue and restore Israel, judge the nations and Tabernacle with us for a Thousand Years.

With this, mankind and all creation finally experience their earthly Sabbath Rest during the Millennium. The thousand years end with a final battle and the Final Judgment of all mankind.

Link to presentation.

(#4 Session 6) Day 7 - The Day of the Lord

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

The Day of the Lord marks the beginning or sundown as it were of the Seventh and Final Day of Creation, before giving way to the glorious dawn or sunrise of the New Millennium of Christ’s rule (remember, the Jewish day starts at sunset). It is the end of the world as we know it, a dreadful day where God’s discipline of His people and judgment of His enemies reach their climax. As Israel and the world plunges into the dark and fearsome night of the rule of the Antichrist during the Tribulation period, God will pour out His wrath upon the wicked and unrepentant through His Two Witnesses.

As recorded in various Old and New Testament passages (you can get the detailed references in my write-up for the video), all these will culminate in Satan’s last-ditch attempt to destroy God’s people by gathering the nations against Jerusalem and Israel, even as the Antichrist overpowers and kills the Two Witnesses to the delight of the wicked. At this eleventh hour just days before the nation is to celebrate the Fall Feasts, Israel finally acknowledges and cries out in desperation and true repentance for her Messiah.

In that moment, the Two Witnesses come back to life, striking terror in the hearts of the wicked. They then ascend to heaven as a great earthquake strikes Jerusalem, destroying a tenth of the city and killing 7,000 inhabitants. The Mount of Olives is split from East to West, and Jerusalem is raised up high with a fountain of water opening up from under the Temple.

There will be great cosmic signs - “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken … [while] on the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”” (References)

Then, at midnight as it were, on the Feast of Trumpets, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

At that very moment, “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet ... the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed … For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (References).

Because of the great cosmic disturbances during this time, it is plausible that the 10 days between the Feast of Trumpets (1 Tishri) calling God’s people to meet the Lord in the air, and the Day of Atonement (10 Tishri) when Jesus returns and sets foot on the Mount of Olives to rescue and restore a repentant Israel while judging the nations, are compressed into a single day so that these two events happen at the same time.

If this is so, then the Wedding Supper of redemption and restoration of God’s people with Jesus the Lamb is also the Great Supper of judgment of God’s enemies by Jesus the Lion. This is consistent with the Old Testament prophetic narrative concerning God’s discipline of His people (which nonetheless ends in comfort, hope and restoration) and judgment of His enemies - both of which culminate on the Day of the Lord.

Link to presentation.

(#3 Session 6) Day 6 - The Tribulation Week

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

Previously, we looked at the last days which, seen from the perspective of the Seven Days of Creation, refer to the past 2,000 years since the time of Christ and birth of the Church. We saw how Jesus warned us that there would be deception, war, famine, and natural calamities and plagues, but that these were only “the beginning of birth pains.”; how believers will be persecuted until the full number of those who are to die for their faith is in; and finally, how the fullness of the Gentiles, once reached, marks the end of the summer harvest, the Age of Grace or Church age, and the beginning of the 7-year Tribulation. There will be NO MORE Gentile harvest from this point on, as the Church experiences its greatest ever earthly rupture rather than a heavenly rapture. In such a time, we are called to patiently endure and remain faithful as we enter into this final stretch of history before Jesus returns.

As we turn now to the Tribulation Week itself, there are four key events or things to take note of:

First, the Antichrist will “confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’/week” as mentioned in Daniel’s prophecy. This will likely take place on the Feast of Trumpets - which is also the Jewish New Year - to mark the start of a New Year/new beginnings for Israel and the world, thus kicking off the Tribulation countdown and the start of the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” This covenant or treaty is likely a deceptive offer of world peace, as the Antichrist promises to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian/Arab conflict and also the wider “clash of civilisations” between Christianity and Islam through his demonic kingdom. Israel will, for the first time since its rebirth in 1948, be “a land of unwalled villages ... a peaceful and unsuspecting people” as described by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 38:11). The Third Jewish Temple will also be built then, likely side-by-side with the Dome of the Rock/Al-Aqsa Mosque and perhaps even a Church as the Temple Mount becomes the prime example of world peace and inter-faith harmony.

In this new age of “peace” and “enlightened tolerance”, we will witness (ironically) an increasing intolerance of those who refuse to compromise their faith - something that is already happening today. There will arise widespread suppression of true believers by governments and even by their own churches as they buy into this deceptive argument. The path to world peace will be paved with the bodies of possibly millions of God’s faithful, their cries drowned by the shouts of those celebrating this new world order under the Antichrist and His False Prophet.

However, this false peace will not last. The Old Testament prophecies record at least two major wars involving Israel’s Arab neighbours and nations from as far north as Russia, as well as the destruction of Damascus. The deception, war, famine, natural disasters and persecution mentioned earlier will continue until the very end.

This brings us to the next key event - after 3½ years (that is, midway through the Tribulation Week on the Feast of Passover of the fourth year), the Antichrist will break this covenant to set up what is known as the “abomination of desolation” in the Temple. He will declare himself the Passover Lamb, defiling the Temple by making himself God and Christ. Aided by the False Prophet and ten leaders who will come into power then, the Antichrist will trample Jerusalem, blaspheming God and persecuting God’s people while deceiving the rest of the world and making them receive the mark of the beast (666 - see here for its meaning). He will also destroy his former ally, the apostate church, and go to war with various nations.

The remaining half of this 7-year period is known as the Great Tribulation. Jesus described how “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” while John described in detail the key events and characters during this period. In particular, John spoke of the miraculous display of God’s power and judgment by the Two Witnesses - possibly Moses and Elijah, both of whom had performed such amazing acts in their lifetimes and who were with Jesus at His Transfiguration (Rev 11:1-12). There will be a spike in all the calamities unleashed by the first 5 Seals as well as in demonic activity, as Satan will have been thrown down to earth during this period and knows that his time is short.

Third, now those who believe that we can “speed up” the Second Coming of Christ by finishing the task of world evangelisation often quote Jesus’ words in Mt 24:14 that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” While we should certainly try our best to fulfil the Great Commission, when we realise that in verses 9-13 just prior to this Jesus was speaking of persecution, of many turning away from the faith and betraying and hating each other, of many false prophets appearing and deceiving many people, and of increasing wickedness, where the love of most will grow cold and one needs to fight to even stand firm in the faith just to be saved, let alone save others, it is clear that Jesus was not referring to a victorious Church winning over the world - in fact, it will be despite the Church. As John would later reveal in Rev 14:6-7, the Gospel would be preached by supernatural means, likely through the supernatural witnessing of the Two Witnesses as we will see afterwards. The purpose here is not world evangelization, to bring about salvation - for the fullness of Gentiles will have already come in by then. Rather, it is to announce that “the hour of his judgment has come,” for the wicked will remain unrepentant and defiant towards God even after being confronted with the Gospel.

Finally, the Great Tribulation climaxes with a series of cosmic signs and the outpouring of God’s wrath on the wicked with the breaking of the last 2 Seals and releasing of the 7 Trumpet and Bowl judgments described in Revelations. The Old Testament Prophets also spoke of great cosmic signs that would mark the Day of the Lord, while Jesus described how these signs would accompany His return. Now, given how similar the 7 Trumpets and Bowls judgments are to the miracles performed by the Two Witnesses, it is likely that these judgments are the means through which the Two Witnesses demonstrate the truth and power of the Gospel before a wicked and unrepentant world.

As we conclude, let us bear in mind that there are 3 conditions - all known only to God - that must be fulfilled before Christ returns - Fullness of the persecuted, fullness of the Gentiles, and fullness of the Gospel.

Only then will the end come with the Day of the Lord.

Link to presentation.