Who’s On Earth During The Millennium?

Q. I have a question about Isaiah 65:17-25. I know that Isaiah 65:1-16 is about Israel and their rebellion against God, but a friend told me that verses 17-25 are not about Israel, but about the people who will inhabit the earth after the Tribulation, not necessarily Israel. We are having a discussion about who exactly will inhabit the earth at that time.

The question also arises that the raptured Church won’t actually live in heaven, in mansions, but will live on the earth. So, in a nutshell: (1)who lives on the earth after the Tribulation, but before satan is released for 1,000 years, (2) who will live in heaven and will there be mansions, and (3) who will populate the earth after Satan is released?

A. Isaiah 65:17-25 clearly mentions Jerusalem and its people. There’s no justification for thinking of this as anything other than a passage pertaining to Israel in the Millennium. Remember, for Israel the Millennium is the promised Kingdom Age, so it doesn’t make any sense to have a Millennium without them in their land.

Jewish believers who survive the Great Tribulation will live in Israel during the Millennium while believing Gentile survivors will populate the nations. They and their children will live on Earth during the Millennium.

The Church will inhabit the New Jerusalem, and that’s where the mansions are that Jesus spoke of in John 14:1-2. It’s seen coming down from Heaven in Rev. 21 but is never described as actually landing here. Truth be told, it wouldn’t really fit anywhere. Far bigger than all of Israel it will have a foot print as big as western Europe, or all of the Eastern US from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River and Maine to Florida. Besides that it’s 1400 miles tall. Compare that to the tallest building on earth today at 1800 feet. In volume it’s 1/6th the size of Earth.

The Bible doesn’t say anything about what happens after the Millennium following Satan’s release. Its chronological end is in Rev. 20:7-15. Rev. 21-22 take us back to the beginning of the Millennium to show us the New Jerusalem and the restored Israel.

Where Will Old Testament Saints Live?

Q. Thank you so much for your site. I have been a believer since I was a preteen, I am now in my late 50′s,  and I have always been interested in the end times. I have learned a lot from your site. However, I have another question about the millennium. If I understand correctly, the church will be in New Jerusalem, the tribulation saints serve in the temple, those who survived the tribulation will live on Earth to repopulate it with the Jewish people living in Israel. How about the Old Testament saints? I know they were in Sheol until Jesus went to get them and they are in Heaven now. But where will they live during the millennium? Thank you so much for your work in the faith.

 

A. I believe the Old Testament saints will live in Israel. The promise to Israel has always been that in the Kingdom Age, God would dwell among them again. Since He’ll inhabit the Millennial Temple in Israel, this is the likely place for them to be as well. Ezekiel 37:15-28 gives a clear picture of Israel one day living peacefully in the land forever with David as their eternal King.

Just as people from all the generations of the Church will inhabit the New Jerusalem, people from all generations of Israel will inhabit the Promised Land.

Jerusalem At The End Of The Age

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:2).

 

With all our focus on the New Jerusalem, home of the Church, we sometimes forget there will still be an “old” Jerusalem here on Earth during the Millennium.

Paul was the first to make reference to both cities when he said the current Jerusalem is symbolic of the Old Covenant, but the Jerusalem that’s above symbolizes the New Covenant (Galatians 4:24-26). I think it’s also the first mention of the New Jerusalem being above the Earth, not on it.

I’ve written about the New Jerusalem several times, how it will be the exclusive home of the redeemed Church. At about 1400 miles tall, wide, and deep it will be much too big to fit on Earth. In fact, it will be almost 2/3rds the size of the moon. Put in a different perspective, if the entire world population, currently about 7,000,000,000 people, lived in one geographic location with the population density of New York City, it would be a city the size of the state of Texas. The way it’s described in Rev. 21:16 leads many people to believe the New Jerusalem is either a cube or pyramid shaped. But if it was a sphere, like the moon, the New Jerusalem could easily accommodate 22 cities this size on its surface area. That’s 22 times the total current population of Earth. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not big enough for the Church.

It won’t require the light of the Sun or the Moon because its light will come from the Glory of Lord. It will never be night there, but will provide light for the Earth during the Millennium (Rev. 21:23-25).

But the purpose of this article is to describe the Jerusalem on Earth at the End of the Age. In Zechariah 12:3 the Lord warned that He will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. Listen to what follows.

“On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place” (Zechariah 12:6). “On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).

Because Jerusalem isn’t threatened in these verses, and since Israel will consume the surrounding peoples, I think these verses will find their fulfillment in the Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, and Ezekiel 38 battles. If they turn out the way we think, Israel will regain all it’s Biblical lands and will think they have no more border issues to deal with. The land on which Ezekiel’s battle will be fought is called the mountains of Israel in Ezekiel 38:8. Today we know this land as the Golan Heights, currently contested by Syria and Lebanon/Hezbollah, and central Israel which is where the boundary of the so-called West Bank meets Israel proper. To me this gives us a hint that Ezekiel 38 may in part be an attempt by the Islamic attackers to regain territory their brothers in arms will have lost in Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17.

Also, the burial ground mentioned in Ezekiel 39:11 and called the Valley of Hamon Gog in Ezekiel 39:15 is just outside of Jericho, the current Palestinian headquarters. Ezekiel 39:11 says it will be part of Israel at the time of this battle, giving us another hint that the Palestinian issue will be resolved in Israel’s favor before Ezekiel 38 begins.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10).

According to Ezekiel 39:22 Israel will return to the Lord after the battle of Ezekiel 38 for the last seven years of the Old Covenant, which was interrupted some 2,000 years ago by the Church Age. This period is also called Daniel’s 70th Week.

Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, which is the last half of the 70th Week, the Lord will finally open Jewish eyes that since the first Palm Sunday have been blinded to the fact that Jesus has been their Messiah all along (Luke 19:41-45).

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zechariah 13:1).

I think this will happen just before the Battle of Armageddon when the remnant will be sequestered in Petra, which is its Greek name. It’s called Bozrah in Isaiah 63:1-6.

Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.

For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.”

Having defeated the armies who will attack His people in Petra, the Lord will turn toward Jerusalem for the final showdown. Let’s go back to the prophecy of Zechariah to see how that unfolds.

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city (Zechariah 14:1-2).

As the battle for Planet Earth begins, the armies of the anti-Christ will attack and this time will control the Holy City for a little while. It will be a terrible time for those who didn’t heed the Lord’s earlier warning to flee into the desert (Matt. 24:15-18). Their belongings will be taken from them and distributed to their enemies right before their eyes and half the city’s population will flee from the invaders.

Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (Zechariah 14:3-5)

When it looks as if all is lost, the Lord will descend to the Mount of Olives, to the very place He departed from nearly 2000 years ago just as Acts 1:10-11 foretold. As He does, an earthquake will cause the Mount of Olives to split in half forming a deep valley that extends to the Mediterranean in the west and to the Dead Sea in the east. It will run straight through the current Temple Mount, which is due west of the Mt. Of Olives. The Temple Mount along with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque will disappear into a pile of rubble at the bottom of this valley.

The Lord’s return will cause the immediate defeat of His enemies, after which He’ll make His triumphal entry into the city followed by His legions of Holy Warriors.

On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name (Zechariah 14:6-9)

From Matt. 24:29 we know that immediately after the Great Tribulation the Sun and Moon will go dark. Normally, temperatures would begin dropping immediately and the world would soon become unbearably cold. But in the passage above we see that although it will be totally dark, there will be no such temperature drop during the time when the world awaits the Lord’s return because He’ll maintain the Earth’s temperature. At the end of the day of His return, there will be light, probably because of the New Jerusalem descending down out of Heaven to take its place in the vicinity of Earth (Rev. 21:2). Remember, during the Millennium Earth’s light will come from the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24 ).

By connecting Ezekiel 47-48 to Zechariah 14:6-9, a growing number of scholars have come to believe that the next Temple will be built just north of Jerusalem in Shiloh, and not on the current Temple Mount. In his vision, Ezekiel saw a great river flowing from beneath the south side of the Temple and Zechariah shows it doing so on the day of the Lord’s return, meaning the Temple will already be in place. Since the earthquake will have destroyed the current Temple Mount earlier in the same day, we can see why this northern location makes sense. When the cascading water reaches the newly created valley, half will flow east into the Dead Sea and half will flow west into the Mediterranean, drowning the rubble from the current Temple mount beneath its crystal depths.

This will also be the day of fulfillment for Philippians 2:9-11; Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

But that’s not all. Psalms 2 and 110 will also be fulfilled along with a host of other prophecies, as the Messiah-King takes possession of that which He’s paid for, Planet Earth. In the process the topography of the land surrounding Jerusalem will be forever changed.

The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.(Zech. 14:10-11)

The Arabah contains the Jordan River valley and the Dead Sea and continues to the Red Sea. It’s the lowest place on Earth, over 1300 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea. The area south of Jerusalem will be lowered to match it, while the city itself will be elevated. And finally, for the first time in thousands of years, it will be secure, a City of Peace at last. Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. (Joel 3:20)

But Wait, There’s More

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (Isaiah 62:1-3)

About 150 years after Isaiah wrote these words, the Lord revealed Jerusalem’s new name to Ezekiel. Ezekiel 48 describes how the Promised Land will be divided among the tribes in the Millennium and includes the allocation for the Temple and the Holy City. In the very last sentence of the last verse in the book, the Lord had Ezekiel write;

And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE (Ezekiel 48:35)

You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 02-11-12

 

The Temple, The Throne, And The River

If there is no temple in the New Jerusalem (because God is) but the river flows out of the midst of it – does that mean the river in Rev 22 is not in the New Jerusalem? Will there be a temple in the Jerusalem on earth that the river flows from?

 

 

Q. I enjoyed your article – “Thy Kingdom Come”. My question is regarding Rev 22 and Ezekiel 47. The river is flowing from the throne in Rev 22 and from the temple or the house in Ezekiel 47.

 

If there is no temple in the New Jerusalem (because God is) but the river flows out of the midst of it – does that mean the river in Rev 22 is not in the New Jerusalem? Will there be a temple in the Jerusalem on earth that the river flows from?

 

I was thinking that the River of Life was in the heavenly city? Maybe I was wrong on that. Could you help clarify that for me?

 

A. Ezekiel 43:6-7 tell us that God’s throne will be in the Temple making Ezekiel 47 and Rev. 22 agree. And you’re right, the river is not in the New Jerusalem, it’s on Earth.

 

The Temple on Earth won’t be in Jerusalem, but in Shiloh, a few miles north. A careful plotting of the land distribution in Ezekiel 48 will reveal this. The Temple mount in Jerusalem will be destroyed by the Earthquake described in Zechariah 14:4 and you’ll find another description of the river in Zech. 14:8 flowing east and west through the valley created by the quake, half to the Mediterranean and half to the Dead Sea, on Earth.

How Does The River Flow?

Q. I have been listening to your mp3 series on Revelation for two days and I have to take a little break to try to work out an idea that has cropped up.  If a river flows out of the temple mount and runs in two directions  and one of the directions is toward the Med. Sea, then I can’t see how the Med Sea flow into the river won’t change the direction back toward the other end.  The other end of that flow would be the Dead Sea.  Isn’t the Dead Sea way below sea level?  And if so, won’t the water try to reach it’s own level which would be the level of the Med Sea?

Maybe I missed something but I can’t see water staying at two levels in the same river without some kind of lock system like the Panama Canal.  How much of Israel and Jordan (the whole mid east) would go under water if the Med Sea gets a chance to flood it?  I’m stumped.

A. I’m only reporting what the Bible says about this.  Zechariah 14:8 says that on the day of the Lord’s return, living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the Eastern Sea (the Dead Sea) and half to the Western Sea (Mediterranean).  Ezekiel 47: 7-11 explains that this river will turn the Dead Sea fresh and fish will swim there. From Zechariah 14:10 we learn that the topography of the area will change.  Everything south of Jerusalem will drop to the level of the Dead Sea area, while Jerusalem will be elevated, perhaps to prevent the water flowing west from reversing itself.  The good thing is that God already has this all figured out, so we don’t have to worry about it.

Two Rivers Of Life?

Q.  I just read Ezekiel and in chapter 47, it is quite clear that Ezekiel was shown the River of Life, described exactly (even with the trees, leaves, and their functions) as it is in Revelation 22:1-2. But after reading Ezekiel, I’m a little confused. Ezekiel’s vision of the river pertained to the geographic region of Israel and the Dead Sea, but in Revelation 22, John saw it in the New Jerusalem flowing down the street of the great city (and not on the earth). Are there going to be two Rivers of Life?… one on earth and one in the New Jerusalem?

 

 

A.  This one’s easy to miss, but if you think about it for a minute you’ll see there’s neither need nor purpose for a river of life in the New Jerusalem, it being the exclusive home of the redeemed Church.  There will be no more sickness or death there, so we won’t need healing, and there won’t be anyone from the nations there either (Rev. 21:27).  That plus the similarity of wording confirms that in Rev. 22 John was describing the River of Life on Earth, just like Ezekiel had done in Ezekiel 47.