THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE DAY OF THE LORD
Isaiah 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple well be established as chief among the mountains, it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
In many churches and even in secular TV there seems to be a lot of interest about the end of times. A few years ago several people predicted the end of the world would come in 2012 because the Mayan calendar was thought to come to an end of one of its cycles or long counts. Since we are still here it was determined that only a new long count had started, and not an end to all things. There have been many others that have predicted the end of times from Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus to Isaac Newton who predicted it for 2060. The Bible predicts it also in Rev 21:1 where it says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
What many people tend to get confused at least from the Biblical perspective is there are other things that all get lumped together in the last days. We need to remember that from the Christian perspective there are; seven years of tribulation that will come on the earth, the rapture or snatching up of Christians to heaven (this could be pre-tribulation - mid-tribulation - post-tribulation), 1,000 years of rule of Jesus with his resurrected disciples, there will be a brief rebellion against Jesus’ rule led by Satan, the great white throne judgment, the destruction of the present earth and sky, the creation of a new earth and sky and then at last the inhabiting of the new earth.
While much is said about the seven years of tribulation and the speculation of when the rapture will take place, little is said about the 1,000 years of Jesus’ rule on earth, and this is what this passage in Isaiah is talking about. It will be a time like the earth has not experienced since the days of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. While there will still be free will and opportunity to sin just like with Adam and Eve, Jesus will rule the earth much like a dictator. What he says will be the law. I believe Jesus’ resurrected disciples in their new spiritual bodies will maintain order and stop all sin. They will have supernatural ability much like what we expect of angels.
The 1,000 year reign of Jesus on earth will wonderful. Even though free will still has opportunity to rebell against Jesus and his rule, creation comes under a wonderful time of peace and blessing. Isa 11:6-9 tells us, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child puts his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the water cover the sea.”
Verse 10-12:6 tells of how the nations will rally to Jesus, and the world will be at rest as Jesus draws Jews from all over the world to their Promised Land. During this time Satan and the powers of darkness will be bound from interfering with creation. There will be temptation to sin as the free will God has established will not or will it ever be removed from creation. I believe that even for the resurrected Christians it will still remain when they are in heaven. The reason for this is the same reason why God gave it to creation to begin with, and that is without it we can not love and obey God. Without the ability to sin, we become as a rock with no will and that means no intimate relationship with God.
For 1,000 years it will be almost like heaven on earth with the exception that earth will continue to be part mortal in their creation. While the lifespan on earth will be much longer, people and animals alike will still die. Earth will be a wonderful place to live without the threat of war and violence. No longer will sin and wickedness be tolerated, and the fear of abuse and slavery will be stopped. There will be plenty of food to eat and fresh water to drink. Jesus will also bring all creation from under the curse to a time of blessing. For 1,000 years as we see in today’s passage, there will no war. But at the end of that time Jesus will allow Satan and the powers of darkness to return to bring temptation to the earth. I believe that Jesus will allow this so everyone will come under the same opportunity to be tempted and resist temptation that those before the 1,000 year reign had. The difference will be that those of the 1,000 year rule will have had a chance to see and know Jesus in a personal way and not as those before the 1,000 years of Jesus on earth. Whether the people at that time believe Jesus and his disciples to be an alien from another planet or whatever, they will once again attack him and try to kill him. We see in Rev 20:7-9 that the people will come against Jesus as the sand on the seashore. They will march across the breadth of the earth and surround the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. (Jerusalem) But fire will come down from heaven and destroy them. Thus will end Jesus’ 1,000 years reign on earth. Following that will come the Great White Throne Judgment we see in Rev 20:11-15.
It is sad to think that the people of earth will rebel against Jesus after 1,000 years of happiness on earth that hasn’t been known since the time of Adam and Eve in the garden, but we know it will happen. What can we do about it? Well, we can warn all who will listen just as I am doing today, and we can teach our children and have them teach their children and so on. If we don’t tell them it is certain that they will never know, and will turn against Jesus as so many others will. We may not be able to reach the world, but we can be ready ourselves and help our loved ones to be ready.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for giving us your word, so we can be ready. Please keep us close to your heart, and help us to never become deceived and turn against you. We love you Jesus and never want to hurt you whether it is by thought, word or deed. We ask this in Jesus holy name.
