IX. THE BLESSINGS OF THE COMING AGE -- PEACE ON EARTH — GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST — ISRAEL'S SUPREMACY AND MINISTRY — ALL CREATION BLESSED

Like one who ascends a high mountain, and the nearer he comes to the summit the grander becomes the view, so have we reached the consummation, and as we advanced the horizon has widened and the things to come were viewed by us. Now as we reach the summit and look out over the revelations of the prophetic Word and behold some of the blessings which are promised for the coming age, the age of the kingdom, the millennium, we shall have the grandest view of all. Many nations have records of a so-called golden age, which is to come, and their poets have written about it. But only in the Word of God have we a true description of that age and the blessings it will bring. Christendom generally believes in such an age of blessing, but it has, with its spiritualizing method, turned everything upside down. The millennium is generally put down as " the universal triumph of the church and the conversion of the world by the church." Such a millennium as it is taught now was unknown in the apostolic age and for many centuries after. The present-day teaching of a Christless and kingless millennium originated in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Its father was a man who held wicked doctrine. Whitby, the originator of postmillennialism, the theory of a church-millennium without Christ having returned, denied the absolute Deity of our Lord and the Deity of the Holy Spirit.

Now the fact is, when the millennium comes it will not be an age of blessing for the church in the earth, for the church is then passed out of the world and rules and reigns with Christ, her Lord, in the heavenlies. The church has no promise of a millennium, but the blessings of the coming age are for Israel, the nations and creation.

And how rich and full is the revelation of this age of blessing, which will be ushered in with the mighty shaking of the heavens and the earth and the manifestation of Jehovah! We gave only a small portion of Scriptures in our preceding chapters describing these great coming events and showing the harmony of the prophetic Word; we shall be obliged to confine ourselves again to a few passages in treating this theme. By far the greater part of prophecies are prophecies of blessing in the coming age.

How numerous are the Scriptures which declare the blessedness of converted and restored Israel! His people, no longer the tail of the nations, but the Head and Jehovah's witness in the earth. Converted, born again, Spirit-filled, this nation will be at last God's " first born Son" in the earth, and bring nations to the new birth, so that converted nations, a thing unknown in this age, will be added unto Israel, the leader and head of the nations. Idolatry will cease completely. Blessings immeasurable will be upon Israel. They will walk now in the statutes of the Lord and keep His laws. Once more will the Word of Jehovah and the law go forth from Jerusalem and Zion, and nations will be taught to walk in these ordinances. Jerusalem will be the great centre of the world. There, as we saw before, the mountain of Jehovah's Rest, Zion, will be seen in all its beauty, and a most blessed intercourse between the heavens and the earth will take place, and the glory of Jehovah which appears there will spread like a canopy over the land; the knowledge of that glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

In Jerusalem there will stand a marvellous temple, which will be a house of prayer for all nations, and there an elaborate ritual will be kept. Nations and representatives of nations will come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. War will be unknown in the earth, for the Prince of Peace will speak to the nations and they will learn war no more; praise and worship will be in the earth. All creation will be blessed likewise. Groaning creation will be delivered and restored to its normal condition. But we have to quote some of these prophecies to learn of these blessings to come and see once more the perfect harmony of prophecy.

We turn again to the great prophecies which were before us throughout this volume. Balaam speaks through the Spirit of this age of blessing for Israel.

"How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, And thy tabernacles, Israel! Like valleys are they spread forth, Like gardens by the river side, Like aloe-trees, which Jehovah has planted, Like cedars beside the waters. Water shall flow out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in great waters." (Num 24:5-7.)

Here we have a picture of Israel's blessedness, planted and kept by Jehovah. "The water flowing out of his buckets," is a prophecy which relates to the day when the living waters shall flow forth from Jerusalem; when the Spirit will be poured forth upon all.

The last verse of Moses' Song, which showed us so much, is a short and concise description of the coming millennium, and to this little verse prophecies recur again and again.

If we found so much in the Book of Psalms before, we shall find much more now. The descriptions of the blest and delivered nation, their joy and worship, the subdued earth, the joy of the nations, and other blessed events falling into the coming age are very numerous. In the 46th Psalm we read, "There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the habitations of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her at the dawn of the morning" (verse 4, 5). This will be when the new age begins and the river of God will flow forth from Jerusalem. The " eternal city," not Rome, but Jerusalem, will receive her help, her glory and exaltation at the dawn of the morning, when the Sun of Righteousness rises. In the same Psalm we read of another scene which will be at the beginning of the millennium.

"Come behold the works of Jehovah, what desolation He has made in the earth, He hath made war to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear asunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire" (verses 8, 9).

The two Psalms which follow contain millennial descriptions.

We take another illustration from the 66th Psalm:

"Shout aloud unto God all the earth; sing forth the glory of His name, make His praise glorious; say unto God, How terrible are Thy works! because of the greatness of Thy strength, thine enemies come cringing unto Thee; all the earth shall worship Thee, and sing Psalms unto Thee; they shall sing forth Thy name" (verses 1-4).

This description is followed by Israel's confession and calling upon the people to bless their God (verse 8), and their own worship, " I will go into thy house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to thee " (verse 13).

Much could be quoted from the 68th Psalm, but we call attention only to a few verses at the end.

"Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto Thee. . . . Great ones shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall quickly stretch out her hands unto God—Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God; sing Psalms of Jehovah" (verses 29, 31, 32).

All this will be fulfilled when Jehovah has come and His glory is known in the earth, and because of that glorious temple in Jerusalem the kings come to bring their presents.

The kingdom Psalm, the 72d, gives the millennial blessings still more fully. Justice will be given then to the afflicted, the righteous will flourish, and there will be abundance of peace. " The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute; yea, all the kings shall bow down before Him; all nations shall serve Him" (verses 10, n). "There shall be abundance of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall bloom like the herb of the earth" (verse 16).

Then famines will have an end and poverty will be unknown in that coming kingdom age.

The 84th and 85th Psalms are further prophecies of the blessings to come.

"Thou hast been favourable, Jehovah, to thy land (Immanuel's land—Palestine); thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sins" (Psa 85:1-2).

We have seen before when this takes place. Not before the Redeemer comes to Zion and turns away ungodliness will the people Israel have forgiveness of sins. If we turn to the end of this Psalm we find what is revealed in connection with this event.

" Loving kindness and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other; truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from the heavens. Jehovah will also give what is good, and our land shall yield its increase. Righteousness shall go before Him, and He shall set His footsteps on the way" (Psa 85:10-13).

This is the perfection and glory of the age tocome. In the 96th Psalm and those connected with it we have a still wider description of the kingdom blessings.

" Worship Jehovah in holy splendour, tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, Jehovah reignethl Yea, the earth is established, it shall not be moved; He will execute judgments upon the people with equity. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar and the fulness thereof. Let the field exult and all that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing; for joy" (Psa 96:9-12).

The 103d Psalm is one which is used much in Christian ritual and song. Prophetically it is. Israel's song throughout the millennium, and other nations will learn to sing that song after Israel.

" Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from the pit, who covereth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies" (verses 1-4).

A similar song of praise is the 113th Psalm. It will be sung in the millennium, and Jehovah's name will be praised from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same. The Psalm closes with that significant verse:

"He maketh the barren woman to keep house as a joyful mother of sons. Hallelujah."

The barren woman who will be a mother is Israel.

The shortest of all the Psalms, the 117th, refers to the coming age, while the longest Psalm, the 119th, gives the description of the righteous nation occupied with the law and the Word. How Jehovah will keep His people in the age to come is learned from the 121st Psalm. The 122d Psalm is a beautiful one. It shows how they go up with rejoicing into the house of Jehovah. They go there in the millennium to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah. " For there are set thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David." Peace, too, will be in Jerusalem. This shows the time when this will be. But we dare not tarry longer in these precious songs in which the Holy Spirit reveals the high and blessed position of redeemed Israel in the earth, in the midst of the nations. As we read through the fifth book of the Psalms we find that praise to Jehovah increases and there is not a word said that it will ever stop. Israel praises Jehovah, the nations praise Him, and all creation, mountains and hills, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowls, every thing that hath breath, will praise Jehovah.

Our view into these coming earthly glories widens as we turn to the prophets. That judgment and restoration chapter, Joel 3, gives us a glimpse of the millennial glory.

" And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the watercourses of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim" (verse 18).

We must leave it to the reader to find the perfect agreement of all these prophecies relating to the blessings of the coming age and to find them is an easy task, with the key we have given.

In the ad chapter of Hosea we find a predictive description of the blessings which Jehovah will give when He has arisen and had mercy upon Zion.

" And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel" (Hos 2:18-22).

And in the last chapter of the same book of Hosea we read the assurance that Israel shall then blossom as the lily and his beauty shall be as the olive tree.

Richer than all other prophets is Isaiah in his God-given visions of what is in store for Israel, the nations, and the entire creation. Such perfect blessings for this sin-cursed world are unfolded here that the searcher becomes overwhelmed by the wonderful and gracious ways of our God and Father, and praises Him that He has made known these exceeding great and precious things. We quoted from the 2d chapter before without looking at the details of the Word which Isaiah saw. Here, as well as in Micah 4, we read the nations shall come to Jerusalem, to the house of Jehovah, to be taught by Him, and that the nations will learn war no more and lift no longer a sword against other nations. Now a universal peace is attempted by an international court of arbitration, and it—fails. Peace on earth will only be when the Prince of Peace comes and begins His rule over the nations.

Turning to the 11th chapter we find still more here. Groaning creation is delivered from the curse resting upon it now and restored to its normal Edenic condition. There is no warrant whatever to spiritualize these familiar words, " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted beast together," etc. (Isa 11:6-10). These words mean what they say. When the first Adam with his helpmeet stood in the garden all creation was subjected to them; neither did the leopard spring upon the kid to tear it to pieces. Sin, coming in, changed all. But now the last Adam, the second man, has everything put under His feet (in this age we see not yet all things put under Him— Heb. 2). With Him in that age to come is His bride, the church, and His earthly bride, Israel. Then that deliverance for which all creation waits will have come. Other millennial events in chapter 11 we are obliged to pass by. The 12th chapter is redeemed Israel's song of praise, so harmonious with many of the Psalms.

The 25th chapter may serve to put another millennial scene before us.

"And He will destroy in this mountain (Zion) the face of the veil which veileth all the peoples, and the covering that is spread over all the nations. He will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away from off all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken" (Isa 25:7-8).

In the 26th chapter Israel's glad millennial praise is once more recorded, and in the 35th chapter we find additional promises to be fulfilled in the kingdom age. The wilderness will be glad and the desert will rejoice; " they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God" (verse 5).

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out and torrents in the desert. . . . And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

What an age it will be when all this has come literally true!

With the 40th chapter we find many more prophecies relating to the topic of our chapter.

" Behold I do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the waste. The beast in the field shall glorify me, and the jackals and the ostriches; for I will give waters in the wilderness, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise" (Isa 43:19-21; see also Isa 41:18-19).

Here is Jehovah's address to the nations, and His chosen people Israel will deliver the message to them:

" Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Declare and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath caused this to be heard from ancient time? Who hath declared this long ago? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no God else besides Me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none besides Me. Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none besides else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Only in Jehovah shall one say, have I righteousness and strength " (Isa 45:20-24).

From the 49th chapter we select another passage:

"Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west and these from the land of Sinim. Shout, ye heavens; and be joyful, thou earth, and break forth into singing, ye mountains; for Jehovah hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted ones" (verses 12-13).

The 53d chapter makes known the suffering Servant of Jehovah, that is the Messiah, Jehovah Himself, and His atonement as well as Israel's confession that they knew Him not. Upon this confession and the assurance of the exaltation of Him who went into death, follows a chapter which falls entirely into the coming age. Read through this chapter and learn still more of Israel's Hope and its full realization after this present age is passed. It is precious to read all this now.

" Thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted! Behold, I will set thy stones in antimony, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make thy walls with rubies and thy gates of carbuncles and all thy borders of precious stones. And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isa 54:11-13).

And in the 55th chapter it is written:

" For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn there shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle there shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (verses 12, 13).

Still more impressive become these predictions of blessings to come, as we turn to the end of this prophet.

There are three chapters so full of millennial prophecies, the 60th, 61st, and 62d.

In the 60th, Israel is told that nations shall walk by her light. She is to lift up her eyes and see the multitudes from the nations and from the sea coming unto her. In the 6th verse we read: " They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall publish the praises of Jehovah." It is generally said this was fulfilled in the wise men coming to Bethlehem to worship the young child. However, the wise men brought gold, incense, and myrrh. Myrrh typifies the bitterness of death. Those coming in the millennium, according to the verse above, bring no myrrh, because the sufferings are now passed.

Again, that coming glorious age is described in the following words:

" For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood I will bring bronze, and for stones iron; and I will make thine officers peace and thy rulers righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light and thy God thy Glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall the moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isa 60:19-20).

No more sun then for Jerusalem, because a brighter Sun, the Sun of Righteousness, the Glory of Jehovah, shines above Jerusalem.

In the 61st chapter Israel is seen as the priest among the nations, ministers of God they are called, and the chapter ends with Israel's hymn of praise (verse 10) and a short description of the blessings among the nations.

" For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as a garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness to spring forth before all nations" (11).

Just as rich is the 62d chapter, and at the close of the 65th chapter the Spirit of God speaks even more fully of what Jehovah, the Jehovah who was made sin for us, who was raised from the dead and returns in power and glory, will do. We must quote this:

" But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice over Jerusalem, and will joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thenceforth an infant of days, nor an old man that has not completed his days; for the youth shall die a hundred years old, and a sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed; and they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof: they shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands, they shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth terror; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I shall answer; I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah" (verses 18-25).

It would take many pages to expound this most interesting prophecy. We take it literal; why should we not ? When it says " dust shall be the serpent's meat," it means most likely that of all animals only the serpent, the instrument of Satan once, will still have the mark of the curse " crawling upon its belly " during the millennium. The last chapter of Isaiah adds still more to these complete visions of the blessings in the coming age. Here again we read, " And it shall come to pass from new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, saith Jehovah." And outside of Jerusalem there will still be seen the carcasses of the men which sinned against Jehovah, and in that mass the worm is not dying and the fire is not-quenched (24th verse). It is a most solemn warning, for glorious as that coming age is it ends too with man's failure. Satan, bound a thousand years to seduce the nations no more, becomes loosed for a little while and finds in his final revolt abundant material among the nations.

From Jeremiah we take but one passage, which perhaps is less familiar to readers of prophecy. It is in chapter Jer 16:19-21. The verses before tell us of Israel being brought back from the nations, their coming great restoration. In connection with this we read the following:

"Jehovah, my strength and my fortress in the day of distress (thus will Israel say), unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited falsehoods and vanity; and in these things there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah."

This tells us that idolatry will cease on the earth. Ezekiel's wonderful description of the millennial temple and its ceremonies we cannot follow now. Suffice it to say that such a glorious temple, a house of prayer for all nations, and Levites attending to the ceremonies, will be built in the coming age. What a house it will be!

Of the many, many other passages which might be quoted we give but a few from the prophet Zechariah.

"And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that day, and shall be unto me for a people" (Zec 2:11).

This word stands in the night vision in which the prophet sees the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of Israel to their land. It is, therefore, that day in which nations shall join themselves to Jehovah.

The 8th chapter in Zechariah is another chapter which treats of the restoration and the blessings in connection with it.

"Thy seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all things" (verse 12).

" Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet again shall there come peoples and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily, to supplicate Jehovah and to seek Jehovah of hosts; I will go also. And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem and to supplicate Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days shalt ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you" (verses 20-23).

It was promised to Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth are to be blest. Here is the fulfilment. Israel's land, the centre of the world. Jehovah's glory spread over it will be the goal of the desires of the nations of the earth during the millennium. Then as the Jew goes among the nations and shows himself there, the nations will no longer cast him out and ridicule him, but they cling to his skirt and ask him to take them along to the glorious land.—Through Israel world conversion at last. In the 9th chapter of Zechariah we read once more of " Peace on Earth/' for " He shall speak peace to the nations."

In the last chapter of Zechariah the nations are also seen coming to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah, and that Jerusalem will be a holy city. Malachi, who describes the Return of Jehovah as the rising of the Sun, says it will be with healing beneath His wings. Healing for Israel, for the nations and for groaning creation.

But is there anything said in the New Testament ? We read little of it there. This has led some to say that the blessings spoken of in the Old Testament Scriptures must mean the church. The reason why the Epistles say nothing on the millennium is because the millennium is not for the church. The church is like the sheet which Peter saw. It came out of heaven and it was taken back again. The church belongs to the heavenlies, and she is not to be blessed with the earthly things and expect a fulfilment of earthly blessings.

Nevertheless, do we find a witness of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Our Lord preached not only the kingdom of the heavens to be at hand, but with His preaching came the signs of that kingdom. The multitudes were miraculously fed, the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the lame leaped (Isaiah 35). In the 19th chapter of Matthew He speaks as sitting upon His own throne in the regeneration. By regeneration He means the coming age. Still clearer does that age stand out in the great chapter of our redemption in Christ, Romans 8. There the Spirit of God speaks expressly of the deliverance of groaning creation, and that term includes all, Israel, the nations, and the rest of creation. The deliverance will take place when the sons of God will be manifested. The sons of God will be manifested when He, the first-born, comes forth from glory. In the book of Acts we read also of it, when it is said that after the Lord has returned and the tabernacle of David is built again the residue of men will seek the Lord. (Acts 15.) From the book of Revelation we learn that this coming age will last a thousand years; for this reason it is called a millennium. (Rev 20:1-6.) God has revealed His plans, and He wants us, the future heirs of all things with His Son, to know now a little of the things to come. Oh, why are we so slow to take hold of them? How different it would be with all of us if we would search, and search deeper and deeper, in the Word of our God and let the Spirit of God show us these things to come!