Hello Friends!
Welcome back to part seven of The Seven Dispensations: Man's Failure &
God's Grace.
The Holy Scriptures divide time – the entire
period from the creation of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis to the "new
heaven and a new earth" promised to all believers in the book of
Revelation – into seven unequal periods, usually titled dispensations (see Ephesians 3:2). These periods are also referred to as “ages” (see Ephesians 2:7). They are also referred to as “days” as in "day of
the Lord".
This week we will investigate the seventh
Dispensation known as KINGDOM…
The Seven Dispensations: #7 – Man in the
Kingdom
KINGDOM
After the purifying judgments (The Great
Tribulation) which attend the personal return of Jesus Christ to the earth, He
will reign over restored Israel and over the earth for one thousand years. This
is the period commonly called "The 1000 Year Millennial Kingdom".
The seat of His power will be Jerusalem. The saints, including the saved of the
dispensation of grace, namely the church, will be associated with Him in His
glory (see Isaiah 2:1-4, Isaiah 11, Acts 15:14-17, Revelation 19:11-21 & Revelation 20:1-6).
But when Satan is "loosed for a little
season", he finds the natural heart as prone to evil as ever, and easily
gathers the nations to battle against the Lord and His saints. This last
dispensation closes, like all the others, in judgment. The Great White Throne
Judgment is set and the wicked dead are raised and finally judged. And then
come the "New Heaven and a New Earth". Eternity is begun (see Revelation 20:3,7-15, 2 Peter 3:10-14,
Revelation 21 & 22).
Summary Principle:
For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His
name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no
end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish
it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of
the Lord of hosts will perform
this – Isaiah 9:6-7
Opening Event – Jesus Christ
returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords:
When the Son of Man comes in
His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of
His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will
set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will
say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world – Matthew
25:31-34
And I saw thrones, and they sat
on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who
had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had
not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their
foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand
years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who
has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a
thousand years – Revelation 20:4-6
Man’s Responsibility – Believe & Obey:
The word that Isaiah the son of
Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 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 all nations shall flow to it. Many people 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 shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; 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 2:1-4
There shall come forth a Rod
from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of
the Lord shall rest upon Him, the
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of
His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with
equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His
mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness
shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. 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. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie
down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child
shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the
viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and
His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His
people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam
and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for
the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Also the envy of Ephraim
shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not
envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall fly down upon
the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder
the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the
people of Ammon shall obey them. The Lord
will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with His mighty wind He
will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and
make men cross over dry-shod. There will be a highway for the remnant of His
people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he
came up from the land of Egypt – Isaiah 11:1-16
And in that day you will say:
“O Lord, I will praise You; though
You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold,
God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord,
is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” Therefore with joy
you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say:
“Praise the Lord, call upon His
name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is
exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He
has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O
inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!” – Isaiah
12:1-6
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come
to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy
wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what
is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy. Listen carefully to Me,
and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline
your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David – Isaiah
55:1-3
And it shall come to pass that
everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go
up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord
of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever
of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King,
the Lord of hosts, on them there
will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they
shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come
up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles – Zechariah 14:16-18
Man’s Failure & Man’s
Tendency ~ Even in the age of
Righteousness, man turns away from Christ to follow Satan when given the
opportunity:
Now when the thousand years
have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They
went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and
the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone
where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever – Revelation 20:7-10
Closing Event – Judgment:
~ The final rebellion is crushed and eternal
destinies are decreed
The devil, who deceived them,
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false
prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I
saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according
to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up
the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in
them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and
Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not
found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire – Revelation
20:10-15
Personal Salvation – By Grace through Faith:
But I saw no temple in it, for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the
sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The
Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its
light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its
gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they
shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by
no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but
only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life – Revelation
21:22-27
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
During the Millennial Kingdom, the disorder of
previous ages is fully corrected:
Innocence - God's truth is known
by all men (see Jeremiah 31:34).
Conscience - God's people have
holy hearts to serve Him (see Jeremiah 31:33).
Government - Jesus Christ rules from Jerusalem and His Righteousness covers the earth.
Promise - Israel is back in her land. Abrahamic & Davidic covenants are fulfilled.
Law - True temple worship declares that Christ has fulfilled the Law.
Grace - The true church is with Christ in His glory.
Government - Jesus Christ rules from Jerusalem and His Righteousness covers the earth.
Promise - Israel is back in her land. Abrahamic & Davidic covenants are fulfilled.
Law - True temple worship declares that Christ has fulfilled the Law.
Grace - The true church is with Christ in His glory.
Thank you for reading! It
is our hope that you now have a better understanding of God’s time-table of
events as discovered throughout the Holy Scriptures.
May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect
love, mercy and grace!
Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah
and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
Blessings!
Shane <><