End Times
Episode 16

Israel’s territory will be expanded

Present day Israel

Millennial Israel

Obadiah 1:15-21 ¹⁵ For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. 

¹⁹ Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. ²⁰ The captives of this army of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev. ²¹ Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

And I said that Israel is the epicenter of all of that because we get the impression from Scripture that blessings will flow from our Lord to those nations who honor and serve Him, and curses will go to those who do not serve Him. 

The Nations will bow to Christ

Psalm 72: God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son. ² He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. ³ The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness. ⁴ He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces. ⁵ They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. ⁶ He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. ⁷ In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. ⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. ⁹ Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.

Isaiah 19: ¹⁶ In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of the Lord of host’s hand, which he shakes over them. ¹⁷ The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of the LORD of Hosts, which he determines against it. ¹⁸ In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of Hosts. One will be called “The city of destruction.” ¹⁹ In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. ²⁰ It will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. ^{21 The Lord} will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to the Lord, and will perform it. ^{22 The Lord} will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to the Lord, and he will be entreated by them, and will heal them. ²³ In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. ²⁴ In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; ²⁵ because the Lord of Hosts has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

Worldwide peace and justice

Isaiah 2: This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ² It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. ³ Many peoples shall go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the law shall go out of Zion, and the LORD’s word from Jerusalem. ⁴ He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 52: ^{10 The Lord} has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 60: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the Lord’s glory has risen on you.
² For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. ⁴ “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried in arms. ⁵ Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. ⁶ A multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Yahweh. ⁷ All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. They will be accepted as offerings on my altar; and I will beautify my glorious house. ⁸ “Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? ⁹ Surely the islands will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far away, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. ¹⁰ “Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will serve you: for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. ¹¹ Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive. ¹² For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. ¹³ “The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
¹⁴ The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you; and all those who despised you will bow themselves down at the soles of your feet. They will call you the Lord’s City, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵ “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. ¹⁶ You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ For bronze I will bring gold; for iron I will bring silver; for wood, bronze, and for stones, iron. I will also make peace your governor, and righteousness your ruler. ¹⁸ Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

Worldwide knowledge of righteousness

Micah 4: Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it. ² Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 32: Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. ² A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land. ³ The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴ The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. ⁵ The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

Worldwide health and longevity

Isaiah 65:19-21 ¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. ²⁰ “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. ²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Worldwide restoration of creation

Isaiah 11:5-7 ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. ⁶ “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

It’s like a return to the garden of Eden. 

Now, believe it or not, after the 1000 years, Satan is released for a short time.  And he manages to raise a rebellion against the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You might say, “How could anyone rebel against the Lord after living in Paradise?”  Well, they did in the Garden of Eden, and they did it without having the knowledge of good and evil.  The people of the Millennium will have the knowledge of good and evil.

You say, “who will rebel?”  Well, there will be transformed believers who are governing the world under Christ’s authority.  They will have lived over 1000 years by now.  They won’t rebel.  But mortal men enter the Kingdom.  At first they are likely all believers, or at least they bow to Christ, even if they don’t want to.  But through the course of the Millennium, mankind will still be given the choice to repent and receive forgiveness of sins. 

But, as the years progress, and people no longer have a personal memory of the world before Christ ruled, there will be many pretenders.  Just as many of the children of Israel saw God’s miracles in Egypt and the wilderness.  Outwardly they were moving to the Promised land, but their hearts wanted to be back in Egypt with their sins.

Then at the close of the 1000 years, Satan is released from the pit, for a final moment of deception.

I.                     Rebellion after millennium

^{Revelation 20:7} And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ⁸ And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

This is remarkable.  Not only does Satan manage to convince some people to rebel against Christ’s rule, an army is gathered numbering “as the sand of the seashore.”

⁹ And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:

Once again Jerusalem is surrounded by armies.  But this time there is no battle.  No one but the Lord’s enemies die.

and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Isaiah 27:1 In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

Great White Throne Judgment

There is a final coming judgment of all mankind

Matthew 13: ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, ⁵⁰ and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

John 5: ²⁸ Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ²⁹ And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

The resurrection of life already took place, at Jesus’ return.  So, what happens to those people who are born in the millennium, believe on Jesus, receive His forgiveness and salvation, and then maybe die of old age?  Well the Bible doesn’t give us those details, but I think they are simply transformed, and join the other Christians who are reigning with Christ. 

Hebrews 9: ²⁷ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

So, after the 1000 years is over, we have 4 types of people; Resurrected believers, living believers, living unbelievers, dead unbelievers.  I think that when Satan is released, and goes about the world to gather an army to try and overthrow Christ’s rule, all people, who are old enough to be accountable will make a decision about whose side they are on.  And when Satan leads the world’s armies against Israel, a massive number of people will be with them. 

Then Jesus simply destroys those rebels by fire.  I think that at the same moment, all those around the world who had joined the rebellion in their hearts will be judged.  They are brought to their deaths.  And all those who chose Christ, will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  Why do I think that?  Because after the final rebellion is over, you no longer have 4 types of people, you only have 2; the unrighteous dead and the transformed believers.

The unrighteous dead

^{Revelation 20:10 11} And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

1 Corinthians 15: ²⁴ Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The righteous believers

Judgment Seat of Christ

2 Corinthians 5: ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

The righteous are judged for their rewards and then comes the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Some teach that the marriage supper of the Lamb comes at the start of the Tribulation, the Christians are raptured up to heaven, and for the 7 years of the Tribulation, Christians are in heaven participating in the marriage supper of the Lamb.  I don’t believe that for a couple of reasons.  The first is that the marriage supper is not described until chapter 19 of Revelation.  That the end of the book.  If the marriage supper happened at the start of the Tribulation, why wouldn’t it be announced or described until chapter 19, after the Tribulation is over?

And the second reason that I don’t believe it happens at the beginning is because all Christians would not be able to attend at the start of the Tribulation.  As we’ve discussed before, there are people who become Christians during the Tribulation.  We also know that many Jewish people repent and come to Christ during the Tribulation.  There are also likely many people who are born during the millennium who become believers. 

So, if you place the marriage supper of the Lamb at the start of the Tribulation, none of those Christians would be there.  And I think the marriage Supper of the Lamb, considering that it is the celebration of Christ’s marriage to His bride, the Church, should have the complete Bride present.

Revelation 19: ⁶ And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. ⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ⁹ And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

After the marriage supper, then we come to the transition time, as we all enter the eternal Kingdom of God.  In the book of Revelation, it is the revelation of the New Jerusalem.

The Eternal City

New Jerusalem

^{Isaiah 52:19} The sun will be no more your light by day; nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun will not go down any more, nor will your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will end.
²¹ Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. ²² The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will do this quickly in its time.”

Revelation 21: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. ⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ⁵ And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. ⁶ And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. ⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. ⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. ⁹ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ¹¹ Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; ¹² And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: ¹³ On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. ¹⁶ And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. ¹⁷ And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. ¹⁸ And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. ¹⁹ And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; ²⁰ The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. ²² And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. ²³ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. ²⁴ And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. ²⁵ And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. ²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. ²⁷ And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 22: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: ⁴ And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. ⁵ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

The final question I think about as I read that passage is, “Where will this New Jerusalem be set up?”  The New Jerusalem seems to be the place where the believers will live for eternity.  But where is it going to be?  John saw it coming down out of heaven. 

Well, the short answer is this; It will be wherever God wants it to be.

But the passage begins by saying, that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth are passed away.  God completely burns up the old, sin corrupted world and atmosphere.  And He creates a brand-new place.  Now, some have suggested that all the saints will live in the New Jerusalem.  And I have heard preachers take great pains in describing the measurements of the New Jerusalem, and calculating that there will be plenty of space for all the believers of all time.

“He’s going to measure the city, and then he’s going to measure the gates and he’s going to measure the wall. Verse 16: “And the city is laid out as a square,” tetragōnos, foursquare – all sides and all angles are equal. The city is laid out as a square. “Its length is as great as the width. And he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.” It is fifteen hundred miles measured in those directions.

It also needs to be remembered that we will in that city apparently travel vertically as well as horizontally, and so streets will not just be going this way, they’ll be going up and down as well. They will not only be going horizontal, they will be going vertical. The blocks will be cubical blocks instead of square areas like they are in our present life. And that makes it understandable that we could all live there.

You say, “It’s only fifteen hundred miles cubed? Is that enough to get us all in?” Listen to what Henry Morris says: “This kind of geometry makes it easier to understand how all the redeemed of all the ages could be living in a single city. Although there’s no way to know precisely how many people will be there, one can make at least a somewhat accurate guess. It can be calculated,” – he says – “that the total number of people who have lived between Adam’s time and our time is about 40 billion. Then assuming that a similar number will be born during the millennium, because of the conditions, and allowing another 20 billion who died before or soon after death and never really populated the earth, it is reasonable that about 100 billion men, women and children could have been members of the human race, past, present and future.

“Assume, for the sake of argument, that twenty percent of these will be saved, including all of those who die in infancy. It’s obviously only a guess, but the Lord Jesus did make it plain that the large majority will never be saved, right? If this figure is used, then the new Jerusalem would have to accommodate 20 billion residents. Also assume that twenty-five percent of the city is used for the dwelling places of the inhabitants, with the rest allocated to streets, parks, public buildings, et cetera.”

Then he figures out in some exotic calculation – and he’s a scientist – that the average space assigned to each person would be one over thirty cubic miles. This would correspond to a cubicle block with about seventy-five acres on each face. Obviously there’s adequate room in the holy city for all who will be there.”

But I’m not worried about that for three reasons; number one, I don’t think that all believers will necessarily have to live in the New Jerusalem.  If you read the passage, it describes people coming and going into the city.  Which, to me, means that it is not the only space that the eternal souls of the righteous can occupy for eternity. 

I mean, look at God’s creation today.  Space is vast beyond our comprehension.  And if God recreates all of space, then it’s magnitude and beauty will still be beyond our wildest imaginations.  And we will no longer be limited by time and space.  So maybe, we’ll be able to come and go from the holy city, God’s throne, and visit the vast reaches of the new heaven, with just a thought.  We will forever be able to wonder and worship at the creation of God. 

The second reason I don’t worry about how much space there will be in the New Jerusalem is because our entire existence will be different than it is now.  We won’t need to sleep anymore, or shower anymore.  We won’t need houses for security or warmth and shelter anymore.  We won’t need land to plant crops to feed the population anymore.  So, what do we need a bunch of space for?     

And I don’t worry about space for a third reason.  My God is the God of time and space, I think He has it covered.