Christ Judges Israel

No, this is not talking about the war in Israel.

This is about what happens after the Second Coming.

When the Lord returns, He comes straight down to the Mount of Olives out of the north. When His foot touches the Mount of Olives, the entire mountain explodes. There is a great trumpet. The angels gather the elect from around the globe, which are Jewish believers. The Lord marches up (or He’s carried up or He flies up) to the top of this massive new mountain in Zion in southeast Jerusalem. Then we have nothing less than the long-awaited great day of resurrection. We will watch as all the kingdom saints, all the saints of time past, all the Jewish remnant who were killed during the Tribulation, they’re all resurrected, millions, perhaps billions, and they’re all standing once again upon the surface of the Earth in their new, glorified, resurrected bodies. They’re freed from the presence of sin and filled with the Spirit.

And we, along with the resurrected kingdom saints will all be feeling the fullness of joy being in the presence of the Lord. Then Christ will take His seat on His throne. The angels bring the Father down from Heaven. He stands before His Son. And before the eyes of us all, He gives His Son all dominion and all authority and grants Him an eternal kingdom.

What happens after this?

The books are opened, Daniel told us. Israel, true Israel, will now get judged.

Set the Stage

Ezekiel is a book dealing with the Babylonian invasion. He gets visions before and after the destruction of Jerusalem with occasional comparisons to the end times. In the last nine chapters of this book is an epic vision of the temple that will exist in the kingdom here on Earth. But in Ezekiel 20, we have, in the beginning of this chapter, a concise history of the failings of Israel – how, at every stage, Israel defiled themselves before God. In Egypt, they defiled themselves with idols. When God freed them from Egypt, they defiled themselves again. As soon as the Lord gave the law to Moses, they defiled themselves with idols. And the Lord makes the point that even though He refused to let them enter the promised land, He still spared them when He could’ve wiped them off the face of the Earth. And what we’re about to read are prophecies about the near future of Israel that parallels the distant future of Israel.

Eze 20:33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: Eze 20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. Eze 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Eze 20:36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.

The people of Israel, facing the Babylonian invasion, are all thinking, “You know, since we’re about to be scattered among the nations, maybe we should forget about being Jews for a while, kinda blend in at these other countries, and maybe we’ll somehow avoid God’s judgment.” Kinda like the way thieves scatter when cops show up.

But the Lord is telling them, “Oh no, scatter all you want, I will still rule over you.” In other words, He will rule over Israel whether they’re obedient or not. He will rule over Israel whether they’re scattered or not. He will still rule, and every Jew will still face judgment for idolatry even if they’re scattered. But even in the midst of all His fury and judgment, He says He will still plead with them face-to-face, just as He pleaded with Moses and the leaders of Israel when the people were rebellious against Him in the wilderness.

So there is a parallel here that during the first half of the tribulation, God will be pleading with Israel through Moses and Elijah, just as they pleaded with Israel on God’s behalf when they were alive. Thus, during the first half of the Tribulation, Israel, in the midst of God’s early judgments, they will be confronted by Moses and Elijah. They will plead with them face-to-face as God did with Israel in time past. Then Israel must make a choice – turn or burn.

Interesting to me that in vs. 35, we read, And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, which most think means the wilderness of global Babylon, just as, in the Tribulation, God has determined that Israel will be brought under the rule of the antichrist and the wilderness of the NEW Babylon. And while Israel is being brought under his dominion because of judgment for unbelief, God will still plead with His people face-to-face through Moses and Elijah just as He did with Israel in times of judgment in time past.

What comes next leads many to think there are strong parallels to the last days.

Eze 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: Eze 20:38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

First, this expression, pass under the rod, is used only one other time in Lev. 27:32, which is talking about the tithing of a man’s herd or flock. Lev 27:32 says, And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. In other words, all the animals that pass scrutiny under the law, an offering of a tenth shall be holy. Thus, in Ezek. 20, the principle that will be true in the near future for Israel will also be true for Israel at the end of the Tribulation. Just as God pleaded with Israel face-to-face through Moses and Elijah in time past, so too, God will again plead with Israel face-to-face through Moses and Elijah during the tribulation. In the near future God will allow them to be freed from Babylonian captivity and enjoy the restoration of Jerusalem in the bonds of their covenant. In the distant future, the same will be true at the end of the Tribulation. God will deliver true Israel from the NEW Babylonian captivity and allow them to enter His kingdom on Earth enjoying the eternal bonds of their NEW covenant with Him.

Ezekiel told us that, in the near future, God will purge out the rebellious and only those who pass under the rod, only those who pass scrutiny, those who truly repented of their ways and by faith turned back to God in obedience to His will, THEY will be allowed to participate in the restoration of Jerusalem and enjoy the strong bonds of their covenant relationship with Him.

So, too, in the distant future in the tribulation, God will purge out the rebellious. He will separate the wheat from the chaff. He will thoroughly purge His floor. God will purge all unbelievers from Israel beginning at the Abomination of Desolation. The few unbelieving Jews who might survive will be chased and killed by the antichrist’s army, or they will die in the final seven judgments, or they’ll die at Armageddon.

By the end of the tribulation all unbelieving Jews will be thoroughly purged. Those who pass under the rod, those who pass scrutiny, those who truly repented of their ways and in faith turned to Christ, THEY will be allowed to enter His kingdom and enjoy the eternal bonds of their NEW covenant relationship with Him.

Next, we have this rather funny verse. Look at Eze 20:39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

It’s amazing here to see God tell His people, if you want to serve idols, go serve your idols, but stop bringing shame upon my name by giving me gifts when you’re also worshipping idols. In the next verse, He’s going to show that there will be an eternal consequence to rejecting Him.

Eze 20:40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

Here we have this point that when the Lord is here on His holy mountain, all of true Israel, those who put their faith in Him, THEY will be with Him. He said, there will I accept THEM, not you idolaters. He will only accept true Israel, faithful Israel. THEY will be accepted by Him. THEY will worship Him and serve Him when He is here on His mountain in His kingdom. Only the true faithful Israel will be with the Lord in His kingdom.

Not only that, when He is atop His holy mountain, you get the sense this is a time of restoration for Israel, a time of true fellowship with His true people, a time of worship, a time of unity, a time of acceptance, when God will accept THEM and everything they do for all eternity never to judge them ever again.

The point is – if you keep on with your stupid idols now, you’re going to miss out on eternal life with God and true Israel in the distant future. There is an eternal consequence for rejecting God. You will miss out on the joy of serving Him when He will be atop His holy mountain in Jerusalem, because it is there that He will accept all the house of Israel, not that He will accept unfaithful Jews along with the faithful Jews, but I think He means that there will be no more division between Israel and Judah. All the house of true Israel, all the believers in both Israel and Judah who heeded His calling, who came to Him in faith and obedience, they will serve God as one house and they will be accepted by Him when He takes His throne atop His holy mountain. Plus, He will also accept their offerings, their gifts and holy things.

We have in this verse a contrast between them and you. When He’s atop His holy mountain in Zion, He says, there will I accept THEM, the true Israel, not you idolaters.

Then He says, there will I require YOUR offerings, and the firstfruits of YOUR oblations, with all YOUR holy things. He’s speaking corporately to Israel but the implication is that “I will accept your future offerings atop My mountain. That is the same place where I will accept them NOW only if you turn to Me in faith now, obey My Word now, do all the sacrifices and offerings you should be doing now in Zion because that is where I will be, that is where I will sit on My throne and it is there that I will continue to accept your offerings in My kingdom. But you must accept Me now by faith.” He says in Eze 20:41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. “If you abandon the idols, if you turn to Me in faith now, I will accept your offerings when I restore Jerusalem and bring you out of the scattered countries, AND I will accept your offerings in the distant future when I’ve come to this Earth and I’m sitting on top of My holy mountain and I have embraced in fellowship all of true Israel who will serve me forever.”

I love this phrase: I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. The righteousness of my ways will set you apart from the heathen and they will see it. What will be true in the near future will also be true in the distant future.

I’ll bet Moses and Elijah will have similar messages for Israel during the first half of the Tribulation. If you abandon your love for this false Christ, if you turn to the true Christ in faith now, He will accept your offerings and your incense upon His holy mountain when He restores Jerusalem, when He brings you out of the scattered countries into the promised land.

Look at Eze 20:42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. Eze 20:43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. Eze 20:44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Here, I think the narrative has returned to the near future only, because no one in Israel is going to be loathing themselves in their resurrected bodies serving God in His kingdom.

But there will be memory just as the dead have memory of their past lives in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Plus, there needs to be memory when they’re standing before the Lord in judgment so they know that the rewards they’ll be receiving from Him will perfectly fit the quality of their service when they were alive.

You might think, “Well, a lot of them lived a long time ago. Would they still remember?” I say they will have memory for no other reason than the fact that they’ll be filled with the Spirit and the Holy Spirit never forgets anything. Plus, Isa. 51:3 and Ezek. 36:35 revealed to us that people will be comparing nature in the kingdom to the Garden of Eden. There will be memory of the past. They will remember what certain places of the Earth used to be like, and they will compare the past of those locations to how it is now in the kingdom. They’ll be stunned by how gloriously transformed it is, the wasteland turned into an oasis, and they’ll praise the Lord.

The Judgment

Here we are. Billions, of saints in time past going all the way back to Adam, they’re all resurrected standing before the Lord sitting on His throne atop His holy mountain of Zion in Jerusalem. All the believing Jews who died during the Tribulation have also been resurrected.

Plus, I suspect that all the believing Jews who survived the Tribulation will be instantly transformed into their resurrected bodies just as we would be if the Rapture happened right now.

So the Lord sits on His throne atop His holy mountain. Now the books are opened. Now it’s time for judgment of Israel. We know that the Lord will be doing a lot of talking when He judges Israel. The Lord talked a lot in the Gospels but that’s nothing compared to when He judges Israel. Look at Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psa 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. Psa 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Psa 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Psa 50:6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah. Psa 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. All that has been predetermined to take place atop Zion, which will be the perfection of beauty, God Himself will shine in glory when He has come to judge His people. And He’ll be doing a lot of talking.

In the Olivet Discourse, before the Lord talked about judging the sheep and goat nations, He gave parables reinforcing three spiritual principles about His judgment of Israel following His return. Those three parables are the Parable of the Fig Tree, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable of the Talents:

The Parable of the Fig Tree

To watch for all the signs in Heaven that His coming is getting closer, just as they would know summer is coming by observing new leaves on the tender branches of a fig tree.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Prove that you know Him by being faithful to His Word while you watch and wait for His Second Coming. This is about showing evidence of your faith through your obedience to His Word.

The Parable of the Talents

At the core is this question: What did you Jews do with the gift of truth in Christ committed to all you servants? Did you profit from it or ignore that talent, bury it in the ground, only to dig it up again when it’s too late after the Master has already returned?

The big picture point of all three of those parables is that you, as a Jew, must be careful to watch for His return, which means that you are carefully staying obedient to His Word, because you know that you are going to be judged and rewarded at His return for your faithful service to Him.

This judgment of Israel is a judgment of rewards that is similar but different to what we’ll experience at the Bema Seat.

This is about Jews being rewarded in the kingdom for the quality of their service to Christ when they were alive. This is about who gets what. This is about the first being last and the last being first. This is about the nobody, the lowly, the humble Jewish servant, who served God faithfully, getting his just reward for the quality of his service, him being handed a prominent, glorious position in His kingdom.

This is about the literal fulfillment of the beatitudes when the Jews who were poor in spirit are literally given the kingdom of heaven, when the Jews who were meek will now literally inherit the Earth, when the meek servant, the one who exhibited strength under control, this is that moment when he will be given from the Lord a vast inheritance of land in His kingdom.

This is that moment David wrote about in Psa. 2:8 when the Lord said, “I shall give Thee… the uttermost parts of the Earth for Thy possession.” This is that moment when the Lord will give vast amounts of the Earth to His people as their possession.

This is that moment the Lord talked about in the beatitudes when He’ll reward the persecuted prophets, the peacemakers, the pure in heart, the merciful, and those that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall now be filled. This is why the Lord would say in Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven… This is when they receive those great rewards.

This is also the moment the overcomers will be given all that the Lord had promised in His letters to the seven churches. Remember those promises? Some will get to eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. Some will get to eat of the hidden manna and they’ll be given a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Some will be given power over the nations: And they shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as the Lord received of His Father. Some will get their names confessed before His Father and all His angels. Some will get to be a pillar in the temple of God with all kinds of new names written on them. And some will get to sit with the Lord in His throne room!

Israel has dreamed of this day, and for everyone, this will be a great day, but for some, this is going to be a really great day. I wonder if they’ll jump up and down like contestants on the Price is Right? I also wonder, how will the Lord judge so many people all at once? Wouldn’t it take a billion years just to judge all the works of all the lives of so many people? Will God stop time? Will He stop time to carefully scrutinize and go over with every person every idle word that was said over a lifetime? I don’t think so. I think the saints in the resurrected bodies filled with the Spirit will have perfect recall, a perfect understanding as to why the Lord is rewarding them as He will do, and there will be no arguments, no disputes. In fact, they will all praise Him for His generosity and the rightness of His ways in judgment.

There are some similarities and differences between what we’ll be facing at the Bema Seat vs. what Israel will be facing at the Lord’s Second Coming. Both are judgments about rewards. Both will determine placement and responsibility in His kingdom.

For us, we know from 1 Cor. 3 that our works are burned up and based on whatever remains, that’ll determine our reward. Paul says in 1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive A reward. The good works, represented by gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble will go through the fire of judgment. Whatever abides will determine your reward. In other words, however many good works survive the fire will determine how great the one reward will be. I’ve long suspected that the one reward will be the location of your heavenly seat, which would determine your role and level of responsibility in God’s kingdom.

However, I think it’s possible for an Israelite to get multiple rewards when they are judged. They’re not simply given a position in the kingdom. They’re also given other things, too – a chance to eat of the Tree of Life, or hidden manna, or have names written on them. There’s a variety of rewards up for grabs for the Jews.

Plus, for us, if we screw up, that just means that that work will burn up in the fire. We won’t gain anything. For Israel, however, I think they can lose rewards, have rewards taken away from them, based on specific mistakes they might have made.

Take, for example, the subject of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Matt. 12. We all know this story. The Lord heals this man who was possessed, blind, and mute. It was an astonishing miracle. We know Christ operated in conjunction with the Holy Spirit to accomplish miracles. Every miracle was the entire Godhead operating together as one. It was the will of the Father, by Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. When the disciples carried out miracles, it was because they had the Spirit upon them. Miracles were done through the Holy Spirit. This is why the Lord went off on the Pharisees in Matt. 12 about blaspheming the Spirit when they said in 12:24 that This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. That wasn’t just an attack on the Lord but an attack on the Holy Spirit who was literally doing those miracles on the Lord’s behalf. And this is the framework to the discussion about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This is what it meant to blaspheme the Spirit. It meant that they took the Spirit, a member of the triune Godhead, and they were speaking of Him irreverently, wickedly, spoke evil of Him. That’s what it meant to blaspheme the Spirit. They were speaking words of evil about the Holy Spirit. They were speaking evil about His miracles. They were accusing the Lord of casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils. The Lord could take a personal attack. He could forgive that, but He wasn’t going to put up with any of the Jews attacking the Holy Spirit.

So the Lord laid down the law about blaspheming the Spirit. He told them in Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. This issue of blaspheming the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with us today. The Lord was talking to the Pharisees and unbelieving Jews. The Lord was not speaking about us or to us. He’s speaking to the Pharisees in the context of establishing His kingdom here on Earth. Period.

The Lord clearly defined what it meant to blaspheme the Spirit. He spelled it out. He said in vs. 32 that it’s speaking against the Holy Ghost. To be guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit was to verbally speak evil about the Holy Spirit. Or to speak evil about the work of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees were saying that the Lord cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils is a perfect example of what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. They were saying that that work of the Holy Spirit was of the devil, which was total blasphemy.

So what did it mean for the kingdom saints to NOT be forgiven by God?

Did this mean that if they were saved, they’d lose their salvation? No. Did this mean that it was impossible for them to get saved? No. It simply meant that there would be an eternal consequence for that sin. It meant that that behavior would go unforgiven. That behavior will affect their placement and their role inside God’s kingdom for all eternity. These unforgivable sins, like blaspheming the Holy Spirit, will be addressed HERE when Christ judges Israel.

If somebody blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then got saved, and now he’s standing before the Lord in judgment, he will have some of his rewards taken away because the Lord said there would be an eternal consequence for that sin. That man will not gain the position and prominence in the kingdom he could have had because he committed that sin the Lord said would not be forgiven in the life to come. That one sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will carry with it an eternal consequence, which means that sin will affect their placement and role in the kingdom forever.

For us, we wouldn’t gain in our reward, but for the Jews, they could lose some of their rewards. They would lose positionally in their role in the kingdom for making that one mistake.

The same thing was true when the Lord told the disciples in Matt. 6:14-15, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. These are passages we often cite to make a distinction between kingdom and grace, because here, for the disciples, forgiving others was a requirement to receive forgiveness from God the Father.

But what does Paul tell us? He says we’ve already been forgiven! Colossians 2:13 tells us that God has “forgiven you ALL trespasses.” ALL trespasses have been forgiven. Matt. 6:15 and Col. 2:13 are not contradictions in the Bible. They are simply different programs.

But what did it mean for the disciples that the Father would not forgive their trespasses? Did this mean that if they failed to forgive a brother, they would lose their salvation? No. Just like blaspheming the Spirit, this simply meant that there would be an eternal consequence for their failure to live up to the Lord’s standard of righteousness as His apostles. They will lose rewards. At the Bema Seat, we will not gain rewards for mistakes, but the Jews could lose rewards.

Isa 1:26. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

It may be possible that some of the kingdom saints will be given the same positions that they had when they were alive. Except now, it’s not even work. It’s pure joy. They will always and naturally do what’s right and never make a mistake.

Consider Jeremiah 30. Jeremiah is all about the Babylonian invasion like Ezekiel. In chapter 30, Jeremiah digresses briefly to talk about the time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Jer 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Jer 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Fascinating here that he paints a portrait of a man in so much pain, it’s like a woman in travail with child. Then he explains that this pain we’ll see in men is during the Tribulation BUT he shall be saved out of it. BUT there is provision for the faithful believing remnant. They will be free of suffering when God’s judgment comes to the Earth during the time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Jer 30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

Not only will the believing remnant not face the pains of God’s judgment, but the Tribulation will be a time of deliverance for them, when God will deliver them from the bondage of the antichrist’s Babylonian empire. They’ll be freed from the slavery of living under his domain, no longer slaves to that wicked false Christ.

I love this next verse. What do they get to look forward to after God delivers them from their enemies? Look at Jer 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. The saints will not only be serving the Lord Jesus Christ, but they’ll also apparently be serving David as well.

Hierarchy in the kingdom would seem to be God above all, then David, the prince, the shepherd.

Eze 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. Eze 34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

Christ will be their God and David will be their prince, the ruler, the great shepherd of all the sheep in the kingdom. How does this compare to the twelve disciples? We know they’ll be judges over the twelve tribes of Israel, but it seems David will be the prince, the shepherd over the entire flock.

Eze 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. Eze 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Even Hosea writes in Hos 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. I’m guessing the structure of the kingdom will be God, David, then the twelve disciples. I can’t help but wonder, where’s Solomon? We’ll find out.

Conclusion

After the judgment is over, after everyone is given their rewards and their positions in the kingdom, the first order of business will likely be the restoration of Jerusalem in what seems to be characterized as a time of healing in the world.

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isa 61:4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

I suspect that after Christ judges Israel, it will be a time of restoration in the new kingdom beginning with the restoration of Jerusalem. And this will not be hard labor for them. They’ll restore Jerusalem miraculously through the Spirit, perhaps even perhaps with the help of angels. They’ll just pray or wave a hand, and it’ll be done.

If the Lord can talk about faith that can move a mountain, and whatsoever ye ask, ye shall receive, then these saints will be able to just pray or speak or wave a hand and in no time, they will see Jerusalem fully restored and more beautiful than ever before.

Isaiah isn’t just talking about the restoration of Jerusalem. He said in vs. 4, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities. Many fallen cities around the world will be restored. And make no mistake, these passages are talking about restoration of fallen cities by the saints after the Tribulation in God’s new kingdom.

Isa 61:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. Isa 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

Just as the Gentiles boasted of themselves, the Priests of the Lord will be glorying in the Lord.