50 Kingdom Takeaways

This is a collection of snippets from our Wednesday night sermons on the End of the World, and these a few of my favorite aspects about the Lord’s millennial kingdom. Enjoy! -j

1. The kingdom is literal, physical, and visible here on this Earth. In the Bible, Jerusalem means Jerusalem. Zion means Zion. And the Earth means the Earth. (Isaiah 2:1-4; 4:2-6; 9:6-7; 11:1-13; 24: 1-23; 32:1-5, 14-20; 33:17-24; 35:1-10; 40:1-11; 42:1-4; 52:7-10; 60:1-61:6; 65:17-25; 66:15-23; Jeremiah 23:1-8; 31:1-37; 33:14-26; Ezekiel 20:33-42; 34:20-31; 36:22-36; 37:1-28; 39:21-29; 43:1-7; Daniel 2:31-45; 7:1-28; 9:1-3, 20-27; 12:1-4; Hosea 3:4-5; Joel 2:28-3:2, 9-21; Amos 9:9-15; Obadiah 1:15-21; Micah 4:1-5:5; Zephaniah 3:8-20; Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 2:1-13; 6:11-13; 8:1-8, 20-23; 9:9-10; 12:1-10; 14:1-21; Malachi 3:1-5; 4:1-6. In addition be sure to look at Psalms: 2:1-12; 22: 1-21, 27-31; 24:1-10; 45:1-17; 46:1-11; 48:1-14; 67:1-7; 72:1-17; 89:1-50; 96:1-13; 98:1-9; 110:1-7.)
2. The Lord shall personally reign. Jeremiah would say that a “A King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in THE EARTH” (Jer. 23:5).
3. As C.R. Stam once wrote, “Israel will then become a blessing to all nations: ‘And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising’ (Isa. 60:3). ‘And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, 0 house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing’ (Zech. 8:13). ‘In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you’ (Zech. 8:23).”
4. The fulness of joy because of the presence of the Lord will also be a distinctive characteristic of this millennial age (Isa. 9:3-4; 12:3-6; 14:7-8; 25:8-9; 30:29; 42:1, 10-12; 52: 9; 60:15; 61:7, 10; 65:18-19; 66:10-14; Jer. 30:18-19; 31:13-14).
5. The Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled. Israel will be gathered from the four corners and allowed possession of the entire promised land forever. (Isa. 10:21-22; 19:25; 43:1; 65:8-9; Jer. 30:22; 32:38; Ezek. 34:24, 30-31; Mic. 7:19-20; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:16-18).
6. The Davidic covenant will be fulfilled. The promises in the Davidic covenant concerning the king, the throne, and the royal house are fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent (Isa. 11:1-2; 55:3, 11; Jer. 23:5-8; 33:20-26; Ezek. 34:23-25; 37:23-24; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:7-8). The fact that Israel has a kingdom, and David’s descendent, who happens to be the Messiah, now reigning as King, is all based on that Davidic covenant.
7. Jer. 33:17 tells us that David, the prince of the kingdom, shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. David wants the Lord to rule. He loves the reign of the Lord. He will never feel compelled to occupy the throne himself. David shall NEVER want another man to EVER sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. Ironically, the city of David, the city that was the center of David’s government will become the center of the global government of David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ.
8. With God, testament and covenant should be used interchangeably because the testament IS the covenant. What God testifies BECOMES the new covenant with that person.
9. When the Lord establishes a covenant, He’ll usually say one or two “I will’s.” I will do this thing and I will do that thing to you and your seed. But when you dig into the New Covenant, the Lord says well over 30 “I will’s.” It’s in those 30+ “I will’s” that we can get a sense of what to expect in the New Covenant. It’s also because of those 30+ “I will’s” that I’m inclined to think the new covenant will be established at His Second Coming, because that is when He will fulfill ALL His 30+ “I will’s.”
10. Melchizedek has to be God the Father. As He is in Heaven, as the King of Salem, so shall His Son be on Earth. Melchizedek is Christ’s Father practically declaring that my Son’s future reign here on Earth will be a reflection of Me. The Father made Himself like unto His Son because He chose to be a type of Christ by appearing as Melchizedek to Abraham.
11. People will be smarter and filled with joy in the kingdom. With the sin curse removed from nature, nature itself will be fertile, vibrant, teeming with life. As a result, people will be more curious. They will learn more about God in their studies of nature. They will love it. Plus, there won’t be an internet in which people will have to discern what’s true and what’s fiction. God’s internet for His kingdom is nothing less than the Holy Spirit Himself. Access to all knowledge and all of it is true.
12. In Jerusalem, with the combination of the sun and the glory of the Lord shining atop Mount Zion, perhaps also the glory of the Father, and the glory of the Body of Christ in the heavens, and the glory of the heavenly host, Jerusalem will be during the daytime, seven times brighter than it is now from the sun (Isa. 30:26).
13. The sin-curse is lifted from creation (Isa. 35). There will still be deserts, but they will no longer be the barren death traps we know them as now. They’ll blossom as a rose. It will open up to reveal the beauty within. The wasteland will become a paradise. The deserts will be teeming with life and trees with flowing streams of water.
14. The whole Earth will be brimming with life but if you’re one of the mortals and you happen to be somewhere and you’re thirsty and you can’t find water, the Lord will miraculously make water available to you (Isa. 41:17-18).
15. Any piece of land thirsty for water shall never thirst again. The mirage shall become a real oasis. Where once there was no water, water will now abound. You’ll never have to water your lawn again (Isa. 35:7).
16. The last time animals will ever eat meat will be when the birds feed on the carcasses after Armageddon.
17. Health and long life shall be restored. The blind will see. The deaf shall hear. The mute shall sing, and the lame man shall leap as an hart (as a deer), which are expressions that speak to the exhilarating joy they’ll be experiencing when they enter the kingdom. A lot of these people who survived the Tribulation, I’m sure, are not going to be in the best of shape. They’re gonna be hurting. They’ve become blind, deaf, paralyzed. They hurt all over. As soon as the Lord gives them entrance, miraculous healing for all of them. There is such exhilarating joy, the mute will sing. The once paralyzed man is now leaping like a deer, like a wild stag (Isa. 35).
18. Old people will not be experiencing the pains of old age like we experience now, nor the steady physical decline of their bodies. Why? Miraculous healing will be a common feature in the kingdom. But there will come a point when their lives will end because of sin. Plus, I think every person is guaranteed at least 100 years to live on this Earth, and the age of accountability will be 100 years (Isa. 65:20). If you’re still a child at one hundred years, then how old is an old person in the kingdom? I’d suggest as old as Adam. 800-900 years old.
19. God makes a deal with the animals. He does not change their natures. He doesn’t put chemicals into water that’ll turn the frogs gay. He simply makes a covenant with them (Hos. 2:18). He shows them grace. He tells them He’s going to bless them. Then they are all naturally at peace just as they were before the fall. Can a leopard change its spots? No, but a leopard can change its behavior after his Creator talks to him and gives him perfect peace in a sinless environment. Animals were created to be able to do that.
20. In Isa. 11:6, God has given us a portrait that conveys such great depths of peace when He describes the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. We have the king of beasts in his prime who could easily take out the calf, the fatted animal, and the child, all without breaking a sweat. But here they’re coexisting in perfect peace. And they’re playing together with the child.
21. Isaiah writes the earth shall be FULL of the knowledge of the LORD. Everything people will see will have God’s creative genius stamped on it. Every glorious aspect of the Earth they see, the natural realm, the animal kingdom, all of that will teach people about the Lord Himself and the wisdom of His ways. The Earth itself becomes the book anyone can read to learn more about God.
22. Will the Tree of Life be here on the Earth for the millennial reign? Notice what John writes about the Tree’s leaves in Rev. 22:2, “and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” He speaks of how the leaves functioned in the past tense, “the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” How can there be nations in the eternal state? How can anyone get hurt in the eternal state? There won’t be, and no one will. The Tree of Life will be here on the Earth for the millennial reign. During those thousand years, the leaves will provide healing to the mortals that make up the nations. People will get hurt. The leaves will be used to heal them.
23. A true theocracy is a nation who has God AS their king. The Lord will be God-King on the Earth in a true theocracy, the direct government of God over mankind.
24. Prophet, priest, and king, has a nice ring to it, but the truth is, that barely scratches the surface of everything He will be and everything He will do when He reigns.
25. Also implied in the name Immanuel, meaning God with us, is that the Earth will be exposed to His glory. I suspect that the light emanating from His very being will be on a par with what Peter, James, and John experienced at His transfiguration. I think of that as His kingdom glory. That is a scaled back version of His true glory in which normal sin-cursed people could actually approach Him and still survive being in His presence. He’ll unveil the fulness of His glory in the eternal state because only the resurrected saints could survive in the presence of the power of all that glory.
26. The Lord’s omniscience and omnipresence will be possible because He is one with the Spirit and the Spirit will be everywhere. During the Lord’s first advent, the entire triune Godhead did everything together through Christ. Everything was of the Father, by Jesus Christ, through the Spirit. The same will be true in the kingdom.
27. Isaiah wrote, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… This is a point of comfort in the midst of judgment. The sense is that His coming is not for more judgment, more oppression, but His coming is for our benefit, for our freedom, for our relief. He is given to us for our deliverance from sin and from Satan.
28. The Son has been given, and yet, we’re still waiting to see the government upon His shoulder, which will take place in the kingdom. In fact, that gap between given and the word and is so big, you could include the entire of age of grace.
29. Then we’re given names He’ll be called in the kingdom. Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
30. How do you define wonderful? For many of us, wonderful is just an adjective we randomly use to compliment something we like. “Hey, that’s wonderful.” But here, wonderful as it’ll be applied to Christ means He is astonishing. He excites wonder in people. He holds your attention because of His extraordinary abilities and goodness…
31. He’ll also be called Counsellor. He isn’t simply the King who will give advice. But as Counselor, He is expertly qualified to speak on everything, which is an understatement since God knows everything and created everything. A number of prophets also wrote of how the Lord will teach us of His ways. He isn’t simply governing but He is also actively teaching all who come to Him.
32. Next, He will be called The mighty God, the God of great power. He did with more ease make a world, than we can form a thought. Plus, power does not define God’s will but rather God’s will directs His power. And His will is holy. But people will see great evidence of His great power and people will call Him in the kingdom The mighty God, the God of great and mighty power.
33. Next, He will be called The everlasting Father, which isn’t just about Christ as a Father-figure who is eternal, but it is also an expression that speaks to His immutability. Christ, who is a Father-figure to all in the kingdom, is eternal, which means He will never change nor will the nature of their relationship with Him ever change.
34. Next, He will be called The Prince of Peace. He will be the peaceful prince. Because His nature is one of peace and He is a God of peace, the predominant characteristic of His kingdom will be perfect peace. He will not tolerate war or the study of war. He will resolve conflicts, and He will execute perfect justice to maintain perfect peace in His kingdom.
35. There is a voluminous number of other titles for Christ as King in His kingdom that I couldn’t even begin to list them all. But I suspect that the volume of titles speaks to the endless worthiness of the praise due Him for our existence, for the brilliance of His creation, for the endless blessings He brings to man by freeing him from sin and Satan and coming to this Earth in His perfect holiness to rule over him with perfect righteousness. His very essence is praiseworthy for all eternity.
36. In Isa 65:24, the Lord says, And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The desires of the people will be anticipated. God will see their needs. He will impart the blessings they need before they cry out to Him for help. God won’t wait for people to pray to Him before He responds. He will respond before they call out to Him. He will answer before they ask.
37. Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. He first writes, Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. In other words, we cannot conceive of the exercise of all the power and authority vested in Christ, and all of that power will be comparable to all the peace that will exist under His rule. All of the power vested in Christ shall be equal to all the peace that will be on Earth. There will be no end to His authority just as there will be no end to the peace.
38. Christ will rule in the power of the sevenfold Spirit (Isa. 11:2, 3).
39. Righteousness will be the descriptive term characterizing the nature of Christ’s rule and His kingdom as a whole. He will reign with perfect righteousness (Isa. 32:1). Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins (Isa. 11:5). With righteousness shall He judge the poor (Isa. 11:4; Cf. Ps. 72:104). Sitting upon His throne He will judge righteously. He will be ever ready to judge, and He will always be swift to judge matters when He’s here (Isa. 16:5).
40. Jerusalem shall be the source from which all righteousness will flow into the world in all its brilliant glory. The righteousness of that city shall “go forth as a brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory” (Isa. 62:1c-2a). Zion shall be called “the city of righteousness” (Isa. 1:26). The Lord proclaimed, “I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness” (Isa. 60:17). The Gentiles will be proclaiming in the kingdom, “Jehovah reigneth! He shall judge the people righteously” (Psa. 96:10).
41. God will speak in holiness. What he speaks and how He speaks is holy and the reaction to His words will be joy (Psa. 60:6).
42. In that day upon the bells of the horses will be inscribed “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD,” and all the pots and pans found in Jerusalem and Judah shall be just as holy as the sacred vessels inside the Lord’s house (Zech. 14:20-21).
43. Christ and His government will deal swiftly with any outbreak of sin should that occur (Ps. 2:9; 72:1-4; Isa. 29:20-21; 65:20; 66:24; Zech. 14:16-21; Jer. 31:29-30). “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” (Isa. 11:4).
44. There will be absolute freedom from all forms of oppression and persecution for believers. (Isa. 14:3-6; 42:6-7; 49:8-9; Zech. 9:11-12). David wrote in Psa. 72:4 that the Lord shall break in pieces the oppressor.
45. There will also be economic prosperity. There will be rich and poor, but the standard of living is so astronomically through the roof in the kingdom compared to what we have now, you gotta ask, what is poor in the kingdom? A poor person in the kingdom would be a dream come true for the wealthiest person today. You’ve got health, long-life, a fertile land, tame animals, peace, comfort. You’ll have a house you designed and built that will never depreciate. What more could you possibly need except to drink of the Lord’s righteousness to feed your soul? (Isa. 4:1; 35:1-2, 7; 30:23-25; 62:8-9; 65:21-23; Jer. 31:5, 12; Ezek. 34:26; Mic. 4:1, 4; Zech. 8:11-12; 9:16-17; Ezek. 36:29-30; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14).
46. How will people be able to travel around the globe to Jerusalem to worship the Lord? The Holy Spirit Crazy Transportation Service. The Spirit will transport you like – snap – THAT (Acts 8:39).
47. There is also this aspect of the kingdom where the resurrected saints won’t simply be filled with the Spirit, but when you take into consideration all the verses about the Holy Spirit in the kingdom, particularly in Ezek. 36, you get this sense that all these people will actually be experiencing the true fulness of the Holy Spirit inside of them like never before. (Isa. 32:13-15; 41:1; 44:3; 59:19, 21; 61:1; Ezek. 36:26-27; 37:14; 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; Ezek. 11:19-20).
48. For the resurrected saints, there’s a continual feeding of their souls by being in the Lord’s perfectly righteous kingdom, by observing righteousness everywhere, by seeing righteousness in all the fellow saints, with whom there are close loving bonds of fellowship, and by observing the rightness of God in all His ways in His leadership. They’re fed by seeing and living a sermon (Ezek. 34:22-249.
49. If there are going to be millions of humans in their sin-corrupted bodies in the kingdom, there has to be law and order. There has to be consequences for sin as a deterrent to maintain perfect peace. How could the Lord possibly rule this Earth if there won’t be any consequences for bad behavior? The animal sacrifices is how He will, in part, manage sin in His kingdom. That sacrificial system is designed first to be a deterrent that teaches the mortals about sin and about Christ’s sacrifice for their sin in all the same ways the sacrificial system taught the people of Israel back in the OT. Just as it was in the OT, those sacrifices will visually teach them the gravity sinning before the eyes of a holy God. The sacrificial system will also be a type of memorial in that it’s designed to make the people think about the gravity of what they did so they won’t do it again. Of course, those sacrifices are also designed to teach people the concept of substitutionary atonement. A life for a sin, and we all know Prince David will be talking about the sacrifice that Christ made for all their sins every time he performs a sacrifice on their behalf. And what’s the natural response going to be? Worship (Ezek. 46:3). The sacrifices of the animals aren’t making the people weep over their own sins. The sacrifices of the animals are causing the people to weep and praise God for His sacrifice of love for us!
50. And finally, everything that is established in the kingdom will carry over into the eternal state. Almost every characteristic in the kingdom is almost always written as a feature that will be eternal (Joel 3:20; Amos 9:15; Ezek. 37:26-28; Isa. 51:6-8; 55:3, 13; 56:5; 60:19-20; 61:8; Jer. 32:40; Ezek. 16:60; 43:7-9; Dan. 9:24; Hos. 2:19-23). Almost everything about the kingdom will continue forever, but after those thousand years, God will judge all the unbelievers at the Great White Throne, and then He will redecorate the universe a little bonfire. We’ll have a new Heaven and a new Earth (Rev. 21). The Lord will give everything back to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-28). God will be all in all. And most things will continue as it was but… even more glorious beyond all comprehension.