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Isa. 11:1-10; is a wonderful prophecy about the millennial reign. And it includes these words:
" He [the Messiah Christ] will delight in the fear of Jehovah: He will neither judge by what His eyes see, Nor decide by what His ears hear,
But He will judge the poor in righteousness, And decide with equity for the afflicted of the land.
And He will strike the land with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked."
These are events during the next millennial age on the earth.
We can see that Christ reigning with an iron rod must certainly refer to the strong authority of His speaking - "the rod of His mouth".
From the throne of His glory set up in the Holy Land in Matthew 25:31-46 we can see Him exercising that awesome authority over the sheep and the goats of the nations still living at the time of His return.
"Righteousness will be that which girds His loins, And faithfulness will be that which girds His hips.
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb; "
Do you believe the wolf and the lamb will be in heaven ?
Or do you believe the Bible speaks of a paradise upon the earth?
"And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a young boy will lead them about.
The cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox."
Perhaps if Dasa is blessed to be saved and see that time he will be happier about the vegatarianism creation seems to be restored to then. Pray for Dasa.
"The nursing child will play by the cobra's hole, And upon the viper's den the weaned child will stretch his hand.
They will not harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, as water covers the sea.
And in that day the root of Jesse, Who stands as a banner to the peoples - Him will the nations seek, And His resting place will be the glory."
This prophecy concerns the planet earth. And the nations that seek for the Jewish Messiah, the Son of God as King, are the people transferred from the great tribulation into that age.
These nations are the reigned OVER nations. They heeded an "eternal gospel" (Rev. 14:6,7) to fear God the Creator and did not follow the Antichrist.
The ones reigning over them are the regenerated sons of God who are rewarded for overcoming.
"And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; And he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father." (Rev. 2:26,27)
Shepherd here means to govern and get into line strongly as the need arises.
-Removed-If you find this unprofitable and your spirit is not at peace to read any of it, you may well stop reading.
I am helping some people to see that the judgment of Matt. 25:31-46 is the judgment of the living before the millennial kingdom. It is not the last judgment after the millennial kingdom known as "the great white throne" in Revelation 20.
Originally posted by sonshipYour choice pal. You are like a woman in the burning building who hears the fireman shout " get out of there you stupid woman, the building is going to fall .. She got deaf after she heard the word 'stupid', and died as a result.
Rajk999, I don't mind your disagreements at all.
However, some of your loss of decorum does not encourage me to respond to you.
Im made up very different. I can see past meaningless words and spot the things that matter... a skill you should try to develop.
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Now I would like for some of you to notice something which puzzled me for years.
Some of the people during the harshest judgments of the great tribulation seem to stand afar off and be witnesses. This is mentioned a number of times in Revelation 18.
The mighty judgment of material Babylon shows that some people will stand off, not judged in the same way, yet weeping at the judgment.
" And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, STANDING AFAR OFF because of fear of her torment. " (Rev. 18:9,10)
The judgment of the end times seems more nuanced as to degrees of culpability.
"The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will STAND AFAR OFF because of fear of her torment, weeping in morning. ..." (v.15)
My only salient point here is that degrees of involvement seem to be indicated in the prophecies concerning God's out-poured wrath during the end times.
"For in one hour such great wealth has become desolate! And every ship captain and everyone sailing to a place and sailors and all who work on the sea STOOD AFAR OFF And cried out, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?" (vs. 17,18)
These people standing afar off do not seem to be obviously saints of God. Yet they stand far off from a terrible judgment of the material Babylon.
They weep and give a mighty lament at the destruction of a way of life they have known and benefited from. But they themselves stand afar off from from the destruction.
And they cast dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, by which all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth, for in one hour she has become desolate!" (v.19)
This is nuanced situation in judgment. And I think we should not be surprised that SOME survivors of the great tribulation, though traumatized, are transferred mercifully into the next age.
Notice the saints of God are seen in heaven rather rejoicing in the last verse of chapter 18.
"Be glad over her, O heaven and saints and apostles and prophets, because God has judged judgment for you upon her." (v.20)
We should understand then that God preserves some "sheep" who are not Christian saints, to be transferred from the great tribulation into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34) .
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-Removed-This of course is dependent on your reader agreeing with your view of millennialism and the rapture.
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Whatever your view of rapture, please tell me if you think if during the time just preceding the second coming of Christ, you notice any, shall we say, dispensational transitions.
Views of rapture or millennium, I don't think, are that decisive about what I am asking you.
Originally posted by sonshipThat tells me you are not of Christ or in Christ. Christ is not in you, you dont know Christ, Christ does not know you, You dont abide in Christ and Christ does not abide in you.
If you want to get personal about it, I have a very hard time recalling two consecutive posts from you over the years that I felt were really beneficial to my Christian walk.
You are in Watchman Lee, and Watchman Less is in you. That is why.
Have you noticed something else? Over the years many of those who originally supported the doctrine you preach have gone silent. They are still around but they are quiet. They no doubt now realise that their support for you was a mistake .. because as time goes by you talk more and more mumbo jumbo and twist the word of God into meaningless gibberish.
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Originally posted by Rajk999That tells me you are not of Christ or in Christ. Christ is not in you, you dont know Christ, Christ does not know you, You dont abide in Christ and Christ does not abide in you.
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Oh, stop carrying on like a fool, My God is the man Jesus Christ.
By the way, though I was a bit too late, I decided to erase that comment that you quoted.
I deemed it as only generating heat. I hope to supply some light on the Scripture.
Originally posted by sonshipThen preach what Christ says otherwise you are a hypocrite.
[b] That tells me you are not of Christ or in Christ. Christ is not in you, you dont know Christ, Christ does not know you, You dont abide in Christ and Christ does not abide in you.
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Oh, stop carrying on like a fool, My God is the man Jesus Christ.
By the way, though I w ...[text shortened]... quoted.
I deemed it as only generating heat. I hope to supply some light on the Scripture.[/b]
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From The Life Study of Revelation, by Witness Lee, pages 634,635, Msg. 55
II. THE MILLENNIUM
Acts 3:21 refers to “the times of restoration of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Gk.). This restoration will affect not only man, but also the whole creation—the heavens, the earth, the animals, and even the trees. Everything that was cursed through the fall of man will be restored. Isaiah 30:26 says, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days.” Today the sun and the moon are not normal because they have been cursed through the rebellion of Satan and the fall of man. As Genesis 3:17 and 18 indicate, the earth has been cursed because of man’s fall. Thus, the earth today is not normal.
When the children of Israel were about to enter into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, Moses sent twelve spies to search out the land (Num. 13:1-2). These spies brought back a cluster of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it (Num. 13:23). In 1958 I visited that region and I purposely tried to learn what kind of grapes those were. The guide brought me a cluster of tiny grapes. When I asked why they were so small, I was told that there was no fertile soil and very little rain. Throughout the centuries, the wind has blown away all the topsoil. For this reason, hardly anything can grow there. According to the prophecies in Deuteronomy, this land has been cursed because of the sinfulness of the children of Israel. Therefore, the land has become abnormal. Likewise, the entire universe is abnormal. However, when the millennium comes, everything will be restored.
There are many prophecies in Isaiah, in Zechariah, and in the Psalms regarding the millennium. At the time of restoration, not only mankind but also all of creation will be restored to its original condition. The beasts and the cattle will be restored to such an extent that the “wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid” (Isa. 11:6). This will not be miraculous; rather, it will be normal and common. Isaiah 11:8 says, “And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper’s den” (Heb.). Even the troublesome mosquitoes will be included in the restoration. When a mosquito bites me, I am reminded that the mosquitoes need restoration. After they have been restored, they will make musical sounds, but they will not bite. Do not hate creatures such as mosquitoes, flies, and gophers. Instead, you must blame Adam, for his fall brought about the curse on the creation. But when Christ comes again, everything will be restored. The trees will flourish, and the flowers will blossom abundantly. Isaiah 35:1 and 2 say, “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.” Furthermore, “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” (Isa. 35:6-7). Also, “a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness” (Isa. 35:8). The book of Isaiah is a full description of the millennium.
http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?cid=0CDB
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So let's look closer at Matthew 25:31-46 which I said is a result of the preaching of "an eternal gospel" in Revelation 14:6,7
This prophecy can also be said to be a parable involving the Gentile nations living at the time of Christ's touching down on earth.
The Scriptures divide up the inhabited world into three people:
the Jews,
the church,
and the nations.
I pointed out from the three final parables of Matthew 13 -
The parable of the treasure hidden in a field - is about the Jews (Matthew 13:44) .
The parable of the pearl of great price is about the church (Matthew. 13:45,46)
And the parable of the dragnet of all species from the sea is about the Gentiles (Matt. 13:47-50).
Now I will deal with two erroneous interpretations of the prophecy / parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46) .
The first of these erroneous understandings is that the teaching refers to a future universal judgment. Some people think of verses 31-46 as the last judgment. They think this passage is about ONE grand universal judging of Christ towards all mankind.
But the Bible teaches that God's judgments are dispensed severally. That is judgment to the church, judgment to the Jews, and judgment to the nations.
People who hold that this teaching is the grand last judgment over all mankind argue that men cannot know if they are saved until that time Christ judges. Like Catholicism this view tends to fill the church with people who can only hope to find out in the end if they will be saved.
While it is true that in the last analysis only God knows for certain who is saved, there is no reason to teach obscurity about this as a way of life.