The ministry of the two witnesses lasts for 1,260 days which is the length of one half of the 70th week of Daniel. This could be the first or the second half. One important factor in determining whether their ministry occurs in the first half or second half is the starting point. If we look at the starting point of their ministry, it occurs at the same time as the takeover of the Temple by the Gentiles.

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”(Rev.11:1-3).

This is the point in the 70th week of Daniel at which the antiChrist takes over the Temple. This is the point at which God gives power to His two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. This event occurs precisely at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when the antiChrist relocates his headquarters to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”(Dan.11:45).

“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”(2 Thess.2:4).

It is at this point also that he surrounds Jerusalem with his armies.

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”(Luk.21:20).

This event is concurrent with the abomination of desolation.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:).”[Matt.24:15; cp Mk.13:14].

And the self-apotheosis of the antiChrist and his demand of worship by all mortals(2 Thess.2:4). The Gentiles shall tread under foot the Holy City for 42 months. The two witnesses shall minister for the same length of time, 1,260 days. The 42 months and the 1,260 days have the same terminus-a-quo and terminus-ad-quem. It therefore follows that the 42 months and the 1,260 days are coincident, concurrent and simultaneous. More precisely, they are the same period of time.

The starting point of the ministry of the two witnesses cannot occur at the commencement of the 70th seven when the antiChrist signs a 7-year peace pact with the many from within Israel(Dan.9:27a) because the Temple was not taken over by the Gentiles at this point. The ministry of the two witnesses is in opposition to the antiChrist. The antiChrist is no where in sight in the land of Israel at the commencement of the 70th seven, and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the first half of the 70th seven of Daniel. During the first half of the 70th week of Daniel, the antiChrist is embroiled in war in others parts of the world. He went forth conquering and to conquer(Rev.6:2b). The Second seal of Rev.6:3,4 parallels the wars, commotions, rumours and threats of wars that Our Lord Jesus spoke about in the Olivet Discourse or Prohecy(Matt.24:6,7a). The antiChrist is allied with Israel. He offers the Jewish nation protection. He stations a protection force in the land of Israel to deter the enemies of Israel, the surrounding Arab and Islamic nations from attacking Israel. These nations are also allied to the antiChrist. Indeed, they are part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth and Final Beast Empire(Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Turkey, Azerbaijan: Ezek.38:5,6; Rev.13:2). These nations cannot attack Israel until the antiChrist is in disfavor with the Jewish nation. Their invading Israel in both the Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat campaigns is at the behest of the antiChrist. The Jerusalem Campaign occurs at the midpoint of the 70th week when the antiMessiah relocates his headquarters to Jerusalem from somewhere in Europe, in the land of Magog.

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”(Luk.21:20).

“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”(Dan.11:45).

The other point we shall look at is the termination of the ministry of the two witnesses. If their ministry begins at the commencement of the 70th week, it shall end at the midpoint inasmuch as their ministry lasts for 1,260, 42 months or three and one half years. This is the starting point of the Great Tribulation. It also means they will be killed on the last day of the 1,260 of the first half of the 70th week or early on the first day of the second half of the 70th week.

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”(Rev.11:11-13).

In that case, their resurrection will occur on the late afternoon or evening of the fourth day into the Second half of the 70th week.

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”(Rev.11:7-8).

One of the functions of the ministry of the two witnesses is to provide encouragement and hope to believers and Jews who are persecuted by the antiChrist during the horrors of the Great Tribulation as they stand in opposition to the antiChrist and his minions as they persecute the saints and terrorize the whole world, moreso in Jerusalem which is the epicenter of the Great Tribulation. If they died before the beginning of the Great Tribulation or its commencement, this aim is defeated. Their location will be more or less confined to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, right under the nose of the antiChrist, though the effect of their ministry shall be worldwide. After the Rapture of the saints at the appearance of the coming of the Son Of Man, their ministry shall intensify as they begin to recompense affliction to those who oppose them during the trumpet judgments of the wrath of God. They will be seen by the living wicked earth-dwellers as God’s ambassadors of terror.

“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”(Rev.11:5-6).

At the death of the two witnesses, the Beast marked Earth-dwellers are found rejoicing and exchanging gifts one with another in merriment to the demise of their tormentors, the two witnesses.

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”(Rev.11:10).

But there is no evidence of the inhabitants of the earth being tormented by the two witnesses in the first half of the 70th week. The events of the first half of the 70th week are emergence of false christs epitomized by the antiChrist, wars, rumours and threats of wars and commotions, famines, pestilence and earthquakes which are the consequences of war. During the first half of the 70th week, men have not yet been compulsorily branded with the mark of the Beast. This programme of mandatory branding of the antiChrist begins at the midpoint of the 70th seven when he makes his debut at the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. So, the ministry of the two witnesses cannot occur during the first half of the 70th week.

The terminus-ad-quem of the ministry of the two witnesses is the second woe.

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”(Rev.11:7-14).

The second woe which occurs on the fourth day of the 30-day Reclamation Period corresponds with the end of the sixth trumpet judgement. The last three trumpets, fifth, sixth and seventh are the three woes.

“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”(Rev.8:13).

The trumpets judgments begin in the second half of the 70th week at the breaking of the seventh seal, after the cosmic disturbances(sixth seal), the appearance of The Shekinah in the heavens, the sealing of the 144,000, and the Rapture of the Church(Matt.24:29-31; Rev.7:1-17). The starting point of the trumpet judgments which is the breaking of the seventh seal is the beginning of the Day Of The Lord which is synonymous with the End Of The Ages. During the trumpets judgments God begins to pour out His wrath on all those who are not raptured except the 144,000 who are sealed for protection with the name of God.

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”(Rev.7:1-3).

At this point, the ministry of the two witnesses is at its peak. The wicked earth-dwellers and worshippers of the antiChrist are being punished. They associated their calamities with the ministry of the two witnesses which is the reason adduced for their merriment at their demise at the hands of the antiChrist at the expiry of their ministry. If the ministry of the two witnesses occurs during the second of the 70th week, it will terminate on the last day of the 70th week which also more or less marks the end of the sixth trumpet judgment. They are killed on the last day of The 70th week or early on the first day of the 30-Day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom. Their resurrection occurs on the fourth day of the 30-Day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom three and one half days after their death.

Locating the ministry of the two witnesses in the second half of the 70th week makes perfect sense. During this period of the outpouring of God’s wrath, God is in perfect control. During the Day Of The Lord, the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down and the loftiness of men shall brought low. Only the Lord shall be exalted in that Day(Isa.2:18-22; Rev.6:15-17; 2 Thess.2:8). The antiChrist shall be paralyzed by the brightness of His coming. Christ shall be there physically to raise them from the dead, having rescued the 144,000 from the red rose city of Petra in the Edomite wilderness alongside with the remnants of unbranded Jews who survived the Great Tribulation and are purged, purified, and cleansed by the trumpet judgments, from the Judaean wilderness, and the remnants from Assyria and Egypt to Mouth Zion where he will reclaim God’s rule over the Earth on the fifth day of the 30-Day Reclamation Period Of The kingdom at the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”(Rev.11:15-19).

Of late some prewrathers have straddled the ministry of the two witnesses between the two halves of the 70th week of Daniel in such a way as to make their death and resurrection correspond with the Rapture of the Church. This they do because they believe the two witnesses are believers, and therefore cannot be left behind after the Rapture of the saints. There is no evidence the two witnesses are believers as we are today. Obviously, they believe in the Messiah, but they mirror OT figures like Moses and Elijah or some others with similar ministries.

“And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”(Zech.4:3, 11-14).

John the Baptizer was the herald of His first coming; he was not part of the Church.

“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(Matt.11:11).

John the Baptist was the greatest of the OT prophets, but the least in the kingdom of God, that is the Church, is greater than he. John the Baptist is the friend of the bridegroom, Christ’s bestman at the marriage of the Lamb.

“Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”(John 3:28-29). John the Baptizer cannot be the bestman as well as part of the bride at the marriage of the Lamb. It is therefore clear he belongs to the OT dispensation. The two witnesses are the two olive trees that stand before the God of the whole Earth. One of them has the ministry of Elijah. As Elijah, the premier prophet of Israel was the forerunner of His first advent, so shall he also be the forerunner or herald of His second advent. It is evident that Elijah belongs to the OT dispensation. If one of them belongs to the OT dispensation, then both of them must of necessity belong to the OT dispensation. It therefore follows that the two witnesses are not part of the Church. It is not imperative that they be resurrected at the Rapture of the Church. It will be stretching Scriptures beyond their elasticity and credulity to time their ministry in such a way as to make their resurrection correspond with the Rapture of the Church. Apart from encouraging all those who refuse the mark of the Beast, the ministry of the two witnesses involves plagues similar to the wrath of God in the trumpets. At their death, the wicked earth-dwellers rejoice because they associate them with the plagues of the trumpets. Besides, their resurrection corresponds with the second woe. It will be very difficult to dissociate the two without doing violence to the text of Rev.11:11-14. Does the Rapture then correspond with the second woe? Impossible.

It is also clearly stated that their ministry begins at the same time that the Gentiles take over the Temple(Rev.11:1,2). The length of the Gentile takeover of the Third Temple and the length of their ministry are the same. I think the Apostle John, the apocalytist wants us to understand they are concurrent. If they are not, what is the key for separating them? What is the reason for pairing two periods of equal length if they refer to two different and unrelated periods?

The two witnesses are of the household of Israel. The 70th week is a transition period. In the 70th week, God is dealing with the two families, the Church and Israel at the same time. The ministry of the two witnesses is a warning to the Church, the house of Israel as well as the world in general. Human history is coming to a consummate end. There is a handing over of baton from the Church to Israel like in a relay race as it happened in the first century after the 69th week of Daniel’s 70 week, from Israel to the Church. The twelve Apostles of the Lamb with whom God cut the New Covenant were representative of Israel before the covenant, and the Church after the covenant was cut. The Church ends with the Rapture. After the inception of the Church on the day of Pentecost, the Church and Temple co-existed side by side for 38 years until the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah by the Roman general Titus Vespasian in 70 AD. It is the same in the 70th week. After the erection of the Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, and The resumption of animal sacrifice, wine and grain offerings, the two covenants, the Temple and the Church shall exist side by side at the same time until the Church is taken away in the Rapture of the saints in the second half of the 70th week.

As pertaining to the first resurrection, all believers do not resurrect at the same time. The OT saints rose at the same time when Christ rose from the dead.

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”(Matt.27:50-53).

Did these dear OT saints return back to the graves after their resurrection or did they continue with Christ into Heaven? After Christ’s resurrection from the dead, paradise is now in heaven, no more in the underworld of the dead. At the beginning of the Millennial reign of Christ, the NT saints who are beheaded for the word of God and the testimony which they uphold during the reign of terror by the antiChrist shall be raised from the dead to live and reign with Christ for a thousand years.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”(Rev.20:4-5).

Greek scholars tell us that the tense of the verbs are in such a way that the raising, sitting, and reigning occur at the same time. They are also referred to as souls which goes to indicate they have not been clothed with their new and glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies up until this time. Are they not believers? What about those who believe in Jesus during the Millennium, will they not resurrect at the end of the Millennium? We must not twist Scriptures to conform to our preconceived notions.

They also forget however that situating the ministry of the two witnesses between the two halves of the 70th week can lead to speculation of the time of the Rapture aside from creating a third division of the 70th week which merits no biblical justification. One can then calculate the day and the hour of the Rapture, something that Jesus says neither he nor the angels in heaven know but the Father only.

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”(Matt.24:36).

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”(Mk.13:32 KJV).

Their ministry will last 1,260 days. They will be overpowered and killed by the antiChrist at the end of their ministry, and be raised from the dead three and one half days later. If their resurrection corresponds with the Rapture, one can then calculate the day and the hour of the Rapture three and one half years after their death right from the starting point of their ministry. The other point is that the living wicked earth-dwellers will be rejoicing at their demise. If they die before the breaking of the seventh seal which is the commencement of the wrath of God, the living wicked earth-dwellers would not have seen much of the wrath of God with which they are associated to rejoice at their demise. They would not have been seen as God’s messengers of terror.

There is no better period in the chronology of the events of the 70th week that presents a better scenario of the ministry of the two witnesses other than the second half of the 70th week of Daniel.

Avraham Shallom.

“And as it was in the days of Noe,  so shall it be also in the days of the Son Of Man. They did eat,  they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the Ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son Of Man is revealed.”(Luk.17:26-30).

In the Olivet discourse, we see the most extensive and exhaustive teaching on the End Times The Lord Jesus The Christ gave to His disciples prior to His death, burial, resurrection, ascension into Heaven and session at the right hand of the Majesty in the Heaven. The Olivet Discourse was triggered off by the question His disciples asked Him concerning the End Times as they sat on the Mount Of Olives overlooking the Temple on the Temple Mount. He had previously communicated to them the fact that the second Temple then standing on the Temple Mount, built by returning exiles, and gorgeously and extensively refurbished by Herod the Great would be destroyed to the extent that one stone would not be left on top of another that would not be thrown down(Matt.24:2). That particular aspect of His prophetic message is now history. The second Temple was destroyed by the Roman general Titus Vespasian in 70 AD as also prophesied by the prophet Daniel(Dan.9:26). It was this previous communication that generated the question:

“Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of  the end of the age?”

As we have pointed out severally in our previous articles, the Greek word eion translated world in the KJV is better translated age. It is not referent to the physical world but the moving world. In Judaism, there is the concept of two ages, the present age, “olam haze,”and the age to come, “olam haba.” Both ages occur within the context of the physical world, the planet Earth, but at different times in its history. The present age is coming to a consummate end, and a new age, the “olam haba,” the age to come will be inaugurated. The end of this age will merge into the beginning of another age, the age to come. The Greek word for the end of the age, “sunteleia” is better translated end of the ages, because the two ends of the ages, the end of the present age, and the beginning of the age to come are merging together. The end of this age moves into the beginning of the age to come.

After our Lord Jesus The Christ enumerated certain events that would occur before the sign of His coming and the End Of The Ages, He compared the prevailing atmosphere in the world prior to that day to the prevailing atmosphere in the days of Noe and Lot. It therefore follows that we shall gain insight into the prevailing conditions on Earth in the End Times through the examination of the prevailing conditions on Earth in the days of Noe, and the prevailing conditions in the days of Lot in the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, Zeboim and Adama. The fifth of the five cities of the plain, Zoar was spared destruction as an act of divine mercy towards Lot and his family, the nephew of Abraham the Hebrew, the friend of God. The Lord gave two examples, because in the mouth of two or more witnesses every word shall be established(2 Cor.13:1; 1 Tim.5:19; Heb.10:28). In the last days God shall give power unto His two witnesses to testify of these things(Rev.11:3). The specific events the Lord enumerated will occur within the context of the 70th seven of Daniel beginning with the appearance of the Man Of Sin, who will sign the covenant of Apostasy with the many from within Israel, or the covenant with death as the prophet Isaiah called it(Is.28:18). Although these prevailing atmosphere shall be heightened, intensified, and epitomized in the days of the antiMessiah, in the context of the 70th seven, leading to the Day Of the Lord, the End Of The Ages, Armaggedon and the establishment of the New Millennium, they shall begin to take shape and be recognizable in the gap of time, the indeterminate period between the 69th and the 70th sevens prior to the emergence of the antiChrist at the commencement of the 70th seven of Daniel. We live in this indeterminate period which is fast approaching its terminus-ad-quem which is the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel. When we critically examine the days of Noe, and the days of Lot in the period of his sourgeon in the cities of the plain, certain facts will begin to emerge. We shall examine these facts in the light of the prevailing conditions on Earth in our day, in order to determine how close we are to the emergence of the Man Of Sin, the terminus-a-quo or the commencement of the 70th seven of Daniel.

In the days of Noe and of Lot, men were eating and drinking, buying and selling, and marrying and being given in marriage. At the surface, these are ordinary, normal human activities that are common to all ages of human history. Every man who has lived on this planet called Earth, has eaten and drunken water and or wine. Likewise every man has bought or sold at one time or the other. But why did the Lord single out the days of Noe and the days of Lot in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? Were there some elements of these common human activities in those days that rendered them unusual and marked them out? Were there some things uncanny about these common, ordinary human activities in the days of Noe and Lot?  We shall see by looking at how people lived in those days and what they did.

(1) The Nephilim Are Here Again.

In the days of Noah, men began to multiply upon the Earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose(Gen.6:2). The Hebrew word “elohim” which is translated God in the KJV is the plural of “el.” It simply means gods. It is generic. It is applied to God Almighty, the God of Israel(Gen.1:1), the idols of the nations(2 kin.17:29), to angels(Heb.2:9) and important human personalities(Exod.22:28).  Prior to the Satanic revolt, all angels were called sons of God. But after the Satanic rebellion, the angels who sided with Satan, the fallen evil angels, became known as the sons of gods. The sons of God in Gen.6:2, should read sons of gods, because they are fallen evil angels. Angels are spirit beings without physical bodies.  But they have the ability to take on form comparable to the human body and become visible and palpable.

These evil angels, the sons of gods, took on human bodies, and cohabited with human females. These fallen evil angels were fascinated by human females and sex. The offspring of these mixed marriages between human females and evil angels were called “nephilim.” “Nephilim” is a derivative of the Hebrew cognate verb “naphal” which means to fall. The sons of gods are fallen angels. The product of their inappropriate and unnatural union and unholy cohabitation with human females are humanoids. They were giants. They were hybrid humans or transhumans. They were men of renown. They were mighty men. They were evil men. Men of formidable stature and physique and superhuman intelligence. They were wicked and evil. Because of their presence, evil was increased on Earth in those days. So, the nephilim were characterized by superhuman intelligence, superhuman physical powers and abilities, and extraordinary cruelty and wickedness.

God ordained a distinction between men and angels, as He did between male and female humans, but Satan wants to obliterate those distinctions. Satan was not just a rascal up to some mischief just for the fun of it.  It was a calculated attempt by Satan to subvert God’s plan for the redemption of mankind by hybridizing the whole human race in order to prevent the birth of the Messiah from a pure human female. God preserved Noah and his family from the contamination of the Satanic hybridization programme. The sentence in Hebrew rendered “Noah was righteous in his generation”, is better translated “Noah was pure in his descendants”(Gen. 2:9). In order words Noah and his ancestors and descendants were not affected by the Satanic hybridization exercise. The rest of humanity in the days of Noah were hybridized.

This is exactly the same thing that Satan and his acolytes are doing today with the gene based(mRNA and rDNA) covid vaccines. A pilot programme is going on in Ghana to test the efficacy of mRNA malaria vaccines. Africans are the Guinea pigs of this new experiment. They will certainly bring it to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation to kill people and render the survivors infertile humanoids. They are testing mRNA vaccines on humans for the treatment of cancers and autoimmune disorders. Apart from genetically hybridizing humans, these vaccines contain alien nanotechnology that turns humans into cyborgs and patented electronic devices visible by Bluetooth, GPS and QR code.

Hybrid humans could not be redeemed. Little wonder therefore that Noah preached for 120 years that God was going to destroy the world that then was with water without the benefit of winning a single convert.  Rather they mocked him while he builded the Ark: that it had not rained before and was not going to rain. After a hundred and twenty years of fruitless preaching amongst the atedeluvian earth-dwellers, the same day Noah entered the Ark, it began to rain. The rest of humanity were wiped out by God in the deluge. God demonstrated to us that hybrid humans can never be saved. You can preach for eternity but they will never believe and will never be saved because they are beyond penitence.

God never covenanted with Adam to redeem humanoids, but pure humans made in His image and likeness. Not righteous men: for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God(Rom.3:23). Redemption is after its kind. Jesus did not take on Him the nature of angels, but became the seed of Abraham, a pure human, in order that He might be a merciful and a faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God in order to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”(Hebrews 2:16-18 KJV).

Brethren, have you ever asked yourself why Noah preached for 120 years, and had no converts except for immediate members of his family? The answer to this question is found in Gen.6:9: “Noah was a just man and righteous ✅ in his generation.”

The KJV is not accurate here. The phrase “righteous in his generation is better rendered “pure in his descendants.” They were the only ones whose ancestry were not hybridized. Noah and his family were the only pure humans. The rest of humanity were hybridized. They could not be redeemed. Salvation is after its kind. Jesus is the kinsman redeemer, the “goel.” God convenanted with Adam to redeem man made in the image and likeness of God(Gen.3:15).

For the sam reason, Jesus took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham, in order that he may be made like unto His brethren.

Don’t let anyone deceive you by saying changing your DNA does not affect your spirit but only your body. It is our spirit that will go to Heaven, not our body. And that our genes are mutating all the time. Yes, our genes are mutating every now and then, but that’s not enough to change us from pure humans to some other hybrid creature. It is not the same as a human-mouse chimera. Hybrid humans are not pure humans. They are chimeras. They CANNOT be saved or redeemed. Redemption is after its kind. That’s exactly the reason why those who lived in Noah day could not be saved. There are hybrid hunans amongst us. There are humanoids amongst us. There are cyborgs amongst us. They are all tranhumans. They will never be saved. It is not a matter body and spirit alone. They are completely of a differet species. It is not a matter of innocence either; they are a different species. The covenant of redemption is between Adam, a pure human and his descendants and God, not human chimeras.

Remember that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the day when the Son Of Man is revealed. There will be attempts to hybridize humanity. Satan has always been the same: destroy or disqualify. The easiest way to hybridize humanity is by vaccination with gene based vaccines like mRNA and rDNA. These gene based vaccines contain alien nanotechnology that turns the recipients into not only hybrids but cyborgs who are connected to quantum computer.

As we see men and women hybridized by gene based vaccines, we know we are in the days like those of Noah, and fast approaching the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel.

The evil angels who took part in this satanic assault on humanity and their humanoid offspring were imprisoned by God in the abyss, under darkness, waiting for the judgment of the great day of the Lord(Jud.1:6). Satan’s counterstrategy is very simple, disqualify and destroy the whole human race, and thereby defeat God’s plan to reclaim rulership and physical possession of the Earth.

In this day and age, the “nephilim” are here again. Not everyone we see on the planet Earth today is a pure human. There are humanized demons and demonized humans. Scientists of satanic persuasion are busy in the laboratory trying to produce humans with superhuman abilities. Through genetic engineering, they hope to produce human beings with the characteristics of some extinct and extant animals and plants. Through computer and bioengineering, they want to programme these abilities into men by introducing plant and animal genes into the human genome.

Without overcoming Sin, they want to overcome Death. They want to bypass Sin, and overcome sickness and disease and death. Without dealing with the issue of Sin, they want to evercome sickness, disease and death. Aubrey De Gray, the British biologist with a formidable beard, has a seven-point plan to overcome death. Raymond Kurzweil, an American Jewish scientist, the author of ” Singularity Is Near,”and the director of technology at Google, wants to recall his father to life, and programme his own soul to live as a software in a computer for ever. There is a Singularity University where they are pursuing these goals.

This would have been laughable were it not that these men are so serious and determined to achieve their aims and objectives. This is not unlike the Tower of Babel. With unity of purpose, fallen man has the divine and inert ability to accomplish anything it sets its heart on. The reason why God confounded human language was to stop man from building a tower that would reach up to heaven. Man in his fallen state and sinful body wanted to enter heaven in defiance to God. If God did not stop man, he would have accomplished that purpose even in  his fallen state. Today, fallen man wants to bypass repentance and sanctification and live for ever in a sinful body. Never for once think it impossible for man to accomplish his purpose. If men conceive and imagine it, it is achievable. Left alone by God, it would be a matter of  time, perhaps several generations before man breaks through to his humanistic utopia. It was for this reason that God chased fallen Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, and stationed Cherubim with flaming sword to Guard the tree of life, lest they eat of it and live for ever in a sinful body.

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life(Gen.3:22-24).

While a piece of metal placed on water sinks, man has built ocean going vessels that weigh thousands of tons with both crew and cargo. Man overcame gravity to put aeroplanes on air that carry tons of cargo and crew. Man broke through gravity and overcame weightlessness to put man on the Moon. Man has sent unmanned aerial vehicles to Mars. Within 25 to 50 years of the modern world, human presence on Mars and other planets would be a reality. It would be foolhardy for anyone to think that fallen man cannot accomplish any goal he sets for himself. It will be utter foolishness for anyone to think that fallen humanity cannot overcome sickness, disease and death, and live for ever in a sinful body. If unstopered by God,  they could accomplish their goal and do immeasurable damage to the human soul. It would be a horrible tragedy for humanity if fallen, sinful man is trapped in a sinful body for eternity. But as in the days of Noah, just before man accomplishes his purpose to live for ever in sin in this wretched body of ours, God will intervene to save humanity from satanic machinations and destruction.

Hybrid humans, with or without the mark of the Beast are unacceptable to God.  Therefore they cannot be allowed by Christ to enter the Millennium and repopulate the Earth. No hybrid human will enter Heaven or taste the millennial reign of Christ. In other words, none of this people can be saved. They are doomed for time and eternity. Sometimes, we do not know who they are. Because the wheat and the tares are growing together, they are most times indistinguishable from the lot. I warn all believers everywhere to be careful who they marry, both clergy and lay, lest one’s offspring and spouse be disqualified from entry into heaven, lest they be betrayed by their own spouses and children. I warn believers to be careful who they make their confidant lest they be betrayed by their supposedly bosom friends and confidants.

Every true believer in Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The essence of His presence in our lives is primarily, amongst other things, to guide us into the divine will in every aspect of our lives. As believers in Christ, we should be able to make the right choices in life. At whatever instance we come to a fork in the road, the Holy Spirit indwelling our spirit, will point us in the right direction: “this is the way, walk ye in it.” Should we choose the wrong direction, the inward witness will indicate we have made the wrong choice. Therefore, we should jettison it. This is not an article on the leading of the Holy Spirit, but because of the primacy of the leading of the Holy Spirit and the seriousness of the social and spiritual realities and implications of the presence of the nephilim amongst men, even in the church, both in the pulpit and pew, I have to digress to give this warning.

Besides, there are occult groups and secret societies like the illuminati, the freemasons, the black nobility, etc, who claim superiority to other humans, both by descent and some secret esoteric knowledge which they claim to possess. Some of them claim to know Jesus and dine with him, but their works are evil.  Their machinations are to subdue and subjugate other humans by all means.

Note

Of late, some of our brethren have come up with the notion that there were pure humans in Noah’s day who perished in the deluge simply because they did not believe in the warnings of God given by Prophet Noah. Although this notion was possible because unbelief is a serious offense, it was indeed far fetched simply because the righteous judgment of God would mean that pure humans and innocent children be spared divine retribution. But that was not the case.

The other possible scenario would be that there were some pure humans of the age of accountability who did not believe the warnings of prophet Noah, but were not married and therefore had no children. So, they perished in the deluge. Those of them who were married, married humanoids and their offspring were humanoids and therefore not eligible to redemption. These are possibly scenarios by which we could account for the death of everyone else except the members of Noah’s immediate family.

If there were some pure humans in Noah’s day who perished in the deluge simply because they did not believe in the warnings of God through Noah that God was going to destroy the word that then was, some of them would have been married with children. Those children would have been pure humans and innocent too, especially the infants and neonates. Why didn’t God spare those innocent children and infants and neonates? It would have been unjust of God to condemn the innocent children, infants and neonates with the wicked and unrighteous.

The implication of this statement is there were no pure humans who begat innocent children, infants and neonates who were eligible to divine mercy on grounds of innocence inasmuch as such children, infants and neonates would have been spared destruction in the deluge on grounds of innocence. The conclusion is that all adults up to and above the age of accountability were hybridized and their offspring humanoids and therefore ineligible to divine mercy on grounds of innocence. So, Noah and members of his immediate family were the only pure humans.

The words “generation,” “genealogy,” “genetic” etc are cognates and derivatives of the word “gene.” “Perfect” in Gen.6:9 was not about moral perfection. It did not mean that Noah had no sins.

“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”(Eccl.7:20; cp 2 Chron.6:36 KJV).

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”(Rom.3:23 KJV).

The fact that Noah was perfect did not relate to morals but rather biological purity. Noah was pure in his descendants and progeny. In other words, his ancestors were pure humans not human chimeras. Noah and his ancestors and descendants were pure in their genetic constitution as humankind. They were pure human species. Simply put, they were not hybrids nor humanoids.

Also the word corrupt in Gen.6 was not about morals but genetic corruption and biological impurity. Animals were also involved necessitating their destruction in the deluge as well.

(2) Indifference To, Acceptance, And Legalization Of Sexual Immoralities.

In the days of Noah, men were marrying and being given in marriage, likewise in the days of Lot.  Was this the common ordinary marriage between a man and a woman which God ordained in His infinite wisdom(Gen.1:27,28, 2:24)? Absolutely not. Were it the normal heterosexual marriages, there would been nothing special about it. Although, the Scriptures did not specifically mention homosexual and gay marriages in the days of Noah,  we can see that it was practised by the “nephilim.”

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. “(Gen.6:5).

The hybrid humans were atheists and humanists. They did not believe in God.  They did not believe in God’s moral absolutes. They did not believe in moral obligations towards their fellow man. They did not treat humanely those who were physically challenged or disabled, or socially underprivileged, or mentally challenged. Theirs was a dog eat dog society, the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest. The society gave vent to all forms of sexual perversions. Incest, homosexualism and lesbianism, pedophilia, adultery, wife swapping, bestiality and gay marriages were socially accepted. The disabled, the underprivileged and the mentally challenged were sexually exploited. They were also physically abused.

The English word sodomy and its cognate sodomite are derivatives of the Word Sodom, one of the major cities of the plain where Lot dwelt. In Sodom homosexualism was practised. It was socially acceptable. Young boys and girls were sodomised by these evil and wicked men. The men of Sodom assaulted the house of Lot in order that they may know the visitors. The Hebrew word “yada,” translated know in the KJV means to know intimately in a sexual manner. It means to have carnal knowledge. There was no law and order in the city any more. No one came to the aid and rescue of Lot and his visitors. The rulers of the city acquiesced in these things. It was a state of anomy.

Sodomy is synonymous with homosexualism. Under the law of Moses, it carried the death penalty(Lev.18:22,29). Under the new covenant we are not mandated by Heaven to kill the sex perverts. But they should and are encouraged to repent of their evil ways. The days of ignorance God had overlooked. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent(Acts 17:30). There is a just recompense of reward for these errors from God for those who engage in these acts(Rom.1:27).

In the days prior to the Day Of The Son Of Man, these social evils and wickedness and abominations shall resurface and be accepted generally and legalized. America is now the 20th nation to legalize gay marriages. In Europe and North America,  LGTBQ+s are now well accepted. One may be sued for discriminating against them. Obama, the American President travelled thousands of miles from America, to tell the government and people of Kenya, to throw away their age old social values, and legalize homosexualism, lesbianism and gay marriages. In South Africa, a man may no longer claim damages in the case of adultery. In Germany, some groups are advocating for the legalization of incest, at least, amongst siblings. In the near future in some societies, men and women may get wedded to their cows, horses, dogs, pigs or any of their pet animals. There are animal brothels in Europe where men and women practise bestiality. Pressure will be put on pastors by the powers that be to conduct these marriages. Believers who object to these things may be blackballed out of business, financially blackmailed, and rendered bankrupt by litigations and boycott and sanctions, sued, tried and found guilty of discrimination and hate speech, and imprisoned, physically assaulted and killed. Some churches and denominations may comply with these changes. Ministers amongst them who repudiate established church authority will be defrocked, excommunicated and ostracized. These groups, advocates of Gay rights are intolerant of and violent towards opposition. In some universities in the US, christian fellowships which object to accommodating gays as members or leaders are deregistered. There is organized assault on established christianity. It will not be long before churches and christian ministries shall be deregistered and their properties confiscated and impounded because of failure to comply with government directives, laws, edicts even decrees to wed homos and lesbians, men and women and their pet animals. In those days, organized christendom will be no more. Megachurches will cease to exist, and small underground cells and secret rotational fellowship units will come into existence. In those days one can only fellowship with those one trusts. Despite that, there will be betrayals and treacheries.

When these abominations become rampant, we should look up; for the Day Of The Son Of Man, the day of our redemption draws near.

 “Let no one deceive you: It is because of these things that the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience”(Eph.5:6).

(3) Indifference To, Acceptance Of, And Legalization Of Organized Criminality.

”And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He made man on the Earth, and grieved Him at His heart”(Gen.6:5,6).

In the days of Noah, evil and wickedness were increased on Earth. Men were so wicked and cruel. The imagination of man’s heart was continually evil. Organized criminality was so rampant that the society and human government were indifferent to it, powerless to do anything about it, or were part of  it.  Likewise in the days of Lot, there was  no law enforcement because either there were no legislature and judiciary or like in every corrupt society, they were part and parcel of organized criminality. If you could not beat them, you join them. In order to survive, one either acquiesced in these things or doled out huge amounts of money regularly to pay for one’s protection.

We could see an example of this in Israel in the days of the judges, at a time when there was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes(Judg.21:25). The levite from Mount Ephraim had gone to retrieve his concubine who had returned to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah due to her infidelity to her husband. As they journeyed, they came by nightfall to Gibeah of Benjamin. Although they were Israelites, there was not a single native of that city that was willing to take them in. Probably, they were aware the hoodlums in the city would demand they bring them out in the night in order that they may know them. It was only a stranger, a sourgeoner from the tribe of Ephraim that was willing to receive them into his house. At night, they were assaulted by the sons of belial in that city. They demanded to know the man. They wanted to know the levite sexually. These hoodlums were not interested in the wife of the levite, but the levite himself.  In the end they were made to do with the wife of the levite who they sexually abused and assaulted all night till the the small hours of the morning and she died.

The levite divided the dead body of his wife into twelve parts and sent them by the hand of messengers to the twelve tribes of Israel. That was a solidarity call for Israel to come together to demand justice. When Israel demanded that the hoodlums be delivered to face justice, did the elders of Benjamin comply? Their refusal to hand over the hoodlums was indicative of their acquiescence in evil and a measure of the depth of moral decay, depravity and turpitude in the city. The elders of the city and the civil authorities had no sense of moral justice any more. Their refusal to hand over the criminals to be punished led to a bitter war that lead to the death of thousands of Israelites from the other tribes and nearly wiped out the tribe of Benjamin from among the tribes of Israel(Judg.19,20,21). That sort of thing happened because there was lawlessness. There was lawlessness because of favoritism, corruption and bribery and the powers that be were unwilling to administer justice. There was lawlessness because there was no fear of God before their eyes. Where there is favouritism, justice is weakened and so dies.

It was exactly so in the days of Noah and Lot. When the angels of God visited  the city of Sodom, there was no single native of the city willing to take them in. Only Lot the stranger received them. The sons of belial in the city assaulted the house of Lot and demanded to have them that came to Lot’s house, in order that they might know them. Did the city officials come to their rescue?  Absolutely not.  It was so because they were part of the system. A city that could permit such wickedness have acquiesced in evil.

As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the day when the Son Of Man shall be revealed. In the day before the Son of Man comes, sexual perversions of all sorts will be socially acceptable and legalized. In the street where I live, an eight-year old girl is being sexually assaulted by her father, and nothing has been done about it simply because the government in Nigeria has no plans to protect children from sexual assault. There is a strip club in this town, and some of my neighbors have attended and boasted to me about it. Nudism and all forms of sexual immoralities are becoming socially acceptable, and will sometime in the future be legalized. I have witnessed group sex by a group of university students by the poolside in this city. These social evils were unthinkable in African society a short while ago. Those who kick against these social pervasions will be the ones ridiculed, ostracized, sued and jailed, and blackballed out of business, physically assaulted and lynched.

(4) Commercialism And Consumerism.

Likewise also in the days of Lot;….. They bought,  they sold,……

As we pointed out earlier, buying and selling are ordinary normal human activities. We all buy and sell at one time or the other. But there is something uncanny about the buying and selling in the days of Lot. It was not the ordinary normal human activity of buying and selling that we all engage in at one time or the other. If it were ordinary, there would have been nothing special about it that warrants comparing it to the buying and selling that will go in the days when the Son Of Man is revealed.

In heaven, there is no buying and selling at all. There is no trade by barter either. Every man produces maximally and takes what he needs. Buying and selling is of satanic origin. It was introduced after the fall as part of the Satanic system of government. Satan is the god of this age. Buying and selling are associated with idolatry. From time immemorial, markets are almost always located next to the shrine of gods. Amongst the Igbos of southeastern Nigeria, for instance, the four market days are named after deities. Every market is associated with a deity and is almost always located next to the shrine of the deity. The four market days, Eke, Orie, Afor, Nkwo are associated with deities. Every market in Igboland bears one of these four names. In ancient times, these markets were established by sacrificing human blood to the deities involved. The markets were usually administered by the priests of the deities to whom they were associated or dedicated. Things may have changed of late in some places, but in ancient times, this was how markets were established and operated in Igboland.

Beyond this, even in modern days, there is a lot of idolatry involved in buying and selling. Lots of people who buy and sell as a means of livelihood are involved in idol worship, fetishism and occultism. There are businessmen and women who will not step out of their house unless they have done some rituals and incantations. Some other will not open their shops nor talk to nor sell to any customers unless they done some rituals and incantations. Lots of big time businessmen are involved in occultism, idolatry, and are members of secret societies. In Nnewi, where I lived for thirteen years in seclusion, there are very few rich men who do not belong to one secret society or the other, even prominent members of Pentecostal Churches. To this day some sacrifice to idols in order to prosper in their businesses. Some even practise ritual killings and human sacrifice in order to attract customers.

Even in the so called civilized countries, the cutthroat competitions that rival corporations engage in is amazing. They are all missed up with one another in litigations. They always spying on one another, trying to subvert one another etc. Some of the things that the rich engage in, some poor fellows would rather remain poor than get involved in such things. It is the same old humanistic principles of self-enrichment that govern these corporations. The age old biblical moral values are not part of their company policies. Besides, they are so caught up with buying and selling that they have no time for God.  Some of them have no time for their families. Sometimes, marriages have broken up and families destroyed because spouses have no time for each other and their families while buying and selling.

The worst aspect of this buying and selling is the consumerism that has been infused into it. The western societies and Japan are already taken up by consumerism.  Of later, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and other prosperous countries of South East Asia have caught the same bug. And I dare say, that the same bug is fast infecting Africa.  Every model of car had a new make each year, so also are smartphones and other items. Almost every piece of electronics has a new version each year. Some people are so caught up with these things that they can do almost anything to get the latest version of cars, electronics and smartphones etc. In New York City, a young man was gunned down just because his assailant wanted his new iphone.  He took nothing else from his victim.

If a believer is not careful, he or she could be consumed with consumerism and commercialism like the rest of the world. Some have gone into debts in order to keep up with the latest version of cars, etc. We as believers should not allow ourselves to be squeezed into the mold of the world. This is obviously the aim of the Evil One, to squeeze us into the mold of the world, to keep us consumed with worldliness to the detriment of our souls.

“Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.”(1 Cor.15:32c KJV).

Debauchery and surfeiting will be more rampant in the last days. Epicureanism will become the philosophy and guiding principle of the lives of the majority especially the frivolous youths.

(5) Intertainment.

They did eat, they drank,…

Eating and drinking are ordinary normal human activities. We all eat and drink. If we do not eat and drink, we die.  It is that simple. But the eating and drinking that was going on in the days of Noe and Lot went beyond the ordinary eating and drinking we all engage in on a daily basis in order to sustain life. It is comparable to the kind of eating and drinking the Israelite engaged in during the apostasy in the Sinai.  It is written,

“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play”(Exod.32:6).

This kind of eating and drinking and partying are associated with and eventuate in sex orgies.  The Canaanites practised this kind of orgies which involved heavy drinking, eating and  sexual escapades as a kind of worship to their gods. The Israelites were lured into this kind of sacred prostitution when they were joined to the Midianites at Baalpeor, ate the sacrifice of their gods and engaged in sexual immoralities with Midianitish women, for which reason twenty-three thousand of them fell in one day. “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them did, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.”(1Cor.10:8).

Yearly, on Valentine’s day, men and women overeat, get drunk, do drugs, and participate in sex orgies. On that day, many young women and men lose their virginities and are possessed by Bacchus. Towards the approaches of the 70th seven, this kind of eating and drinking will be more rampant. For whatever reasons, birthdays, marriages, marriage anniversaries, end-of-year parties, etc, men and women will overeat, get drunk, do drugs, and engage in sex orgies. It is on occasions like this that many girls and young women are raped. There was a young beautiful woman involved in athletics. All the other male athletes approached her for friendship,  but she refused.  One day she got drunk and was raped by eleven of them.

The intertainment industry in the US alone runs into billions of dollars annually. This is ridiculous, considering the fact that millions of children and refugees go to bed on an empty stomach. All kinds of games have been devised by man to amuse himself, to derive joy and happiness which only God can give.

Our celebrities in sports, film industry, music, media and the arts earn billions annually while poverty rages on. But these men and women celebrate nothing other than their sexualities. In Nigeria, our musicians sing of nothing other than sex and nakedness, and are smiling to the banks. Why is there so much obscenity in music and contemporary arts, and yet the society patronize them? It is because of humanistic thinking that has pervaded every area of our society.

(6) Season Of Anomie.

Because these evils destroy the moral fabrics of the family and society, a society that permits them becomes normless. A society becomes normless because it has no moral laws. Moral laws are based on right and wrong. And God is the standard for morality. If there are no moral laws, it is because God has been legislated out of the family and society. It is not possible for a society to believe in moral justice without belief in the existence of God. Human life has worth and value to the extent to which God is seen as the creator of man in His image and likeness. Atheism teaches that there is no God. If there is no God, man is not created. If man is not created, he evolved. If he evolved, he is still evolving. If man is still evolving, he is an animal. If man is an animal, what is wrong with abortion, euthanasia, and canibalism?

If man is still evolving, there are no moral absolutes, and no moral standards. Everything is in a process of evolution. If God is the standard for morality, and there is no God, then there is no standard for morality. Everything is quicksand. There is no such thing as right or wrong, good or bad. It is only a matter of likes and dislikes, efficiency and inefficiency. You do your own thing, and I do my own thing. You cannot tell me what to do and I cannot tell you what to do. You respect my wishes and values and I respect yours. This is the kind of reasoning that produces normlessness, anarchy and utter chaos.

Evolutionist are atheist, and atheists are evolutionists. Evolutionists and atheists are normless and therefore amoral.  Moral relativism will always lead to amorality. A society that legalizes homosexualism and lesbianism and Gay marriages, incest, adultery, bestiality and other social evils has destroyed it’s moral fabrics, and is headed towards anarchy. So it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah before God intervened to arrest the onslaught on morals. And so shall it be in the day before the Son Of Man is revealed. Where there is no king with divine mandate, lawlessness reigns supreme. “In those days, there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was good in his own eyes.”(Judg.21:25).

(7) The Age Of Humanity.

When God is legislated out of the family, home and society, man reigns supreme. The rule of man is the rule of Satan; for Satan is the god of this age(2 Cor.4;4). The New Age Movement teaches that man is God. They also believe that man is evolving. They have evolved a doctrine to explain away the Rapture when it occurs.  They teach that man will evolve to a new and higher order of humans. Some will fail to evolve, the christians and their ilk. These will be whisked away by aliens from  outer space simply because they failed to evolve. They so teach, being ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God. In the day when the Rapture shall take place, the beginning of the Day Of The Son Of  Man, there will not be any man on Earth who will not come to the sudden realization of the existence of God. On that Day, all the kindred of the Earth shall wail because of Him(Rev.1:7).  In that day, the evolutionist, the atheists, the idolaters and the new agers, shall throw away their idols of gold, and of silver and bronze and wood which they had made for themselves to worship to the bats and the moles; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the top of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His Majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the Earth. They shall invite the mountains and rocks, to fall upon them, and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the Great Day Of His Wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand(Is.2:20,21; Rev.6:16,17).

They teach that they will fail to evolve because they do not believe and know that they are God. This lie is being touted by the new agers. It is not new.  It is the same old lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden Of Eden,  “in the day ye shall eat of this fruit, ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil”(Gen.3:5).

As in the days of Noah and Lot, men became law and God unto themselves, and oppressed and killed one another, so shall it be in the days when the Son Of Man is revealed. God shall send a strong delusion that they should believe the Lie that man is God(2 Thess.2:11). God will not send this delusion upon men, but will permit this delusion to come upon men, because they legislated Him out out of His world and humanity which He created to glorify Himself. Nature abhors a vacuum. Man is a temple being. Man is a created being. Man is not God. If God does not reign supreme in the spirit and heart of man, something else has to take His place. This would be Satan and his fallen evil angels. Man without God is possessed of Satan and his fallen evil angels. Man is a temple being. There is no man in his normal senses that will claim divinity. It is irrational, deceived, deluded, disillusioned, disoriented, dislocated and possessed man that will ascribe divinity to himself.

There is a slogan afloat today in the high places of the Earth, to make this century, the 21st century, the century of humanity. What does this mean? They want to remove all references to God and His vestiges from the planet Earth in this century. But God will not let man prevail. “Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight(Ps.9:19). As in the days of Noah on the whole planet Earth, and as in the days of Lot in the cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim and Adama, shortly before man prevails, God shall swoop in from His glories in the heavens unto the planet Earth to rescue the righteous and destroy the wicked humanists.

(8) No Supernatural Intervention In Human Affairs.

Because of wide spread evolutionary thinking, the people of Noah’s did not believe in God. If there is no God, then there is no supernatural being who could intervene in human affairs. So, man is not accountable to any divine being. It therefore means that there is no supernatural or divine being to whom man is accountable.

Noah spent 120 years building the Ark. As a prophet, he warned the people of his day of a coming deluge. Prior to this time, it had never rained. Every evening,  dew came from heaven and wetted the ground. The whole Earth was of one weather, subtropical. The Ark could not have been built by Noah and his three sons alone.  He probably hired men to help him build the Ark. They received wages to help him build the Ark but did not enter into the Ark. They must have mocked him while he built the Ark, and spoke of a coming deluge. They must have thought that old age was taking its toll on him, though he was not the oldest man alive in his day. Methuselah was still alive then, and died shortly before the deluge.  Had they not believed in evolution, had they believed in God, they would have believed in divine intervention: they would have believed the teachings of Noah,  and taken his warning seriously.

In the days of Noah, Evolution created the general intellectual and philosophical climate that dominated their thinking. This is also the intellectual and philosophical climate that will characterize the last days.

”Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished: but the heavens and the Earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”(2 Pet.3:3-7).

In this passage of the Scriptures, Apostle Peter gives an apt description of the theory called Scientific Uniformitarianism. Scientific Uniformitarianism teaches that all physical laws and principles- as well as psychological and sociological laws and principles after the appearance of mankind- have operated in essentially the same way throughout time.  This theory is the driving force behind modern evolutionism which is taught in all leading educational institutions worldwide. Although this is a modern scientific theory, we have shown that it is not new. It was exactly what people felt and taught in the days of Noah and Lot. It is Satan’s lie concerning the origin of mankind, in oder to hoodwink them into thinking that there is no God to whom they will be held accountable.

Apostle Paul warns us:

”For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:… “(Rom.1:18-20).

Ungodliness is wrong thoughts towards God whilst unrighteousness is wrong acts towards God. Men naturally think wrong thoughts towards God before they engage in wrong acts towards Him. God will punish men for both, because the knowledge of God is a self-evident fact in the life of every man. God has revealed Himself in nature, man inclusive. His eternal power and Godness are evident in general revelation.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttered speech, and night into night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the Earth, and their words to the end of the World. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a  bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.”(Ps.19:1-6).

There is a basic intrinsic awareness in every man of the existence of God.  Beyond this basic knowledge is the general revelation of God evident in nature. It is a denial of one’s own consciousness, self-deception of the utmost sort to deny the existence of God, because His eternal power and Godness are self-evident within man and revealed in His creation around us. Evolution is a scientific farce, a sham. There is no substitute for God’s direct creative acts(creation ex nihilo), creation out of nothing, and His indirect creative acts(creation out of what is already in existence). Evolution is an ersatz, inferior satanic substitute for God’s direct creative acts, the one area in which all men are without excuse. Human beings can and are being deceived in this area, Satan having successfully negated the one area in which God holds man accountable. This satanic negation may salve men’s conscience that they are not accountable, it changes nothing in the eyes of God, inasmuch as they are without excuse.

Scientific Uniformitarianism obviously leaves no room for divine intervention in the affairs men. But this assumption is based on ignorance of the fact the heavens and the Earth were made by the Word of God. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”(Gen.1:1).

”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.“(Jon.1:1-5).

It was by this Word that the world of Noah’s day was destroyed by water, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone. It is also by this same Word that the present heavens and Earth are reserved unto fire awaiting the judgment of the great day of the Lord. That God had intervened in the past to judge mankind is contrary to the thinking of humanistic evolutionists and scientific Uniformitarians. They consider the notion of a worldwide flood mythical and legendary. Although the geological formation of the present age are attributable to the noahic flood, humanistic evolutionist in denial of literal creation and divine intervention in human history attribute it to the billions of years of evolution.

Unfortunately there are some christian scientists who share this evolutionist view, and rationalize away the fourth commandment.

”Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days thou shall labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days God made heaven and  Earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.“(Exod.20:8-11).

Because God created the World in literal six days, He rested the seventh day and hallowed.

As we haven seen in 2 Pet.3:3-7, time is coming when men will no longer think seriously of the Christ’s Second Advent as cataclysmic, universal intervention by God in the course of human affairs. The reason aduced for this sceptical attitude is blind adherence to scientific uniformitarianism –  a theory which maintains that all natural laws and processes have never yet been interrupted(or newer or higher laws introduced) so as to bring a total destruction of human civilization through the direct intervention of God. They maintain that since there is no God and therefore no divine intervention in the past, there is no cause for fear that there shall be any in the future. In answer to the sceptics, Apostle Peter alluded to two events in the past which are not explainable on the basis of scientific uniformitarianism. The first is the creation of the heavens and the Earth by the Word of God, and the second is the destruction of that world by a worldwide flood. The world(cosmos) that then was being overflowed with water perished(apoleto). The Greek word rendered perished in kJV is “apoleto.” It means limited destruction not total annihilation. The second event, the worldwide flood serves as the basis for the comparison of the second coming of Christ and the final destruction of the cosmos to the limited destruction(apoleto) of the world of Noah’s day.

(9) Racism.

The idea of inferior and superior races has its origin in evolution. Evolution, especially of the Darwinian and Lamarckian varieties, has been used as the scientific basis of racism. Much of Hitler’s philosophy was based on Darwin’s origin of species. All the 19th century evolutionists like Darwin and Huxley were unrepentant proponents of Aryan supremacy. Adolf Hitler’s Nazism was the most vicious of the racist philosophies based on evolutionism. The background was founded on the teachings of Ernst Haeckel, Darwin’s contemporary propagandist in Germany, who probably was the most influential evolutionist in continental Europe.

According to historian, Daniel Gasman, Ernst Haeckel and his fellow social Darwinists set about to demonstrate the aristocratic and non-democratic character of the laws of nature.  Up to his death in 1919, Haeckel contributed to the special variety of German thought which served as a seed for National Socialism. He became one of Germany’s main ideologue for racism, nationalism, and imperialism. Hitler used Haeckel’s so called scientific evolution as the basis for his own racist philosophy. Hitler stressed and singled out the idea of biological evolution as the most powerful weapon against traditional religion.  He repeatedly condemned Christianity for its opposition to the teachings of evolution. Hitler believed that evolution was the hallmark of modern science and culture, and defended its veracity as tenaciously as Haeckel. Just as Richard Wagner was the musical patron of the Nazis,  Stewart Chamberlain was also their philosophical patron. He ardently supported Hitler’s biological evolution.

As we approach the 70th seven of Daniel, evolution will be the dominant scientific thought in the World. It will be used to justify racism, thus pitting the Kingdom of Satan against the observant Jews and the christians, when the antiMessiah makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, unveils himself as a dead man come back to life, and demands worship of all mortals. As Hitler used evolutionary thinking to justify his ruthless antisemitism, so will the antiChrist use his atheistic philosophy to justify his goal of wiping out Jews and Christians, and anyone else who refuses to take the mark of the beast, or worship his image. He will probably not permit blacks to live whether or not they agree to take his mark.

(10) The Deification Of Man.

The prevailing philosophy of life on Earth today is humanistic evolution. Humanistic evolution teaches that there is no God, who created man, to whom man has to one day give account. This philosophy of life leads to utter chaos. If there is no God who created man in His image and likeness, to whom man shall one day be accountable, then man evolved, and is still evolving. Besides, he is God unto himself, and therefore unaccountable and not responsible to anyone else but himself. But it is written that every man shall give account of himself to God(Rom.14:12). If there is no God, there is really no basis for law and order and human government is unsustainable.

As we have pointed out earlier, this is the same old lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden, that man is God. In almost every sphere of life, humanistic evolution reigns supreme, in our educational institutions, in the corridors of power, in commerce and industry, in entertainment, in the scientific world, most unfortunately in the citadel of religion itself.

The world is ripe for the antiChtrist’s harvest, or better still Satan’s harvest. The antiMessiah shall be the ultimate humanist. Towards the approaches of the 70th seven of Daniel, there shall appear on the world’s political stage, a superman, a consummate politician, charming, mesmerizing, a man with a superhuman intellect and memory, dissolving doubts, resolving supposedly insurmountable political issues, like the Palestinian question etc. It is this man that the mass of humanity will deify in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This shall be the ultimate Abomination Of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet(Dan.9:26; Matt.24:15).

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son Of Man. Men defied themselves. Every man was God unto oneself and was accountable to no one.  Every man did what was good in his sight. But just before Satan achieved his aim of destroying humanity in general, God intervened and saved Noah and his family in the Ark, and wiped out the rest of humanity in the deluge. As it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be in  the day when the Son Of Man is revealed. On the same day God rained fire and brimstone on the wicked dwellers of Sodom and Gomorrah, God rescued Lot and his family. In like manner also, on the same day the Saints are Raptured, God will begin to pour out His wrath on the living wicked earth-dwellers and worshippers of the antiMessiah.

Avraham Shallom.

The word millennium is derived from two Latin words, “mille” which means thousand, and “annum” which means year. Millennium therefore means one thousand years. In eschatology, the millennium refers to the one thousand -year reign of Christ which occurs at the end of the present age after the battle of Armageddon. The word millennium occurs only in chapter 20 of the Scroll of Revelation in the entire Bible. It is used six times in the first seven verses of Revelation 20. It refers to the literal one thousand-year reign of Christ. Although the reign of the Messiah was well known to the OT prophets, the length of that reign was not specified. Therefore its duration was not known to the OT prophets. They knew it would be for a long time; for the prophet Isaiah wrote: ” There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed”(Is.65:20). If a man who dies at the age of one hundred years is regarded as a child, then certainly the old shall be several hundreds of years of age.

It is part of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. A biblical mystery is something that has always been part of God’s plan which was not revealed in the OT, but was revealed in the NT, and is always known by divine revelation. We can see that the millennium has all the three characteristics of a biblical mystery. It therefore qualifies, and should be referred to as a biblical mystery; for there is no way John the revelator would have known it other than by divine revelation, inasmuch as it was not revealed to any of the OT or NT prophets who were before him. It was not even revealed to any of his contemporary apostles and prophets. Though they were aware of the Millennial Reign of the Messiah, none of them other than the Apostle John the revelator specified its duration in their writings.

God created the world in six days. On the seventh day He rested, and He hallowed it(Gen.2:1-3). After the creation of man, God leased the world to Adam. The Heaven of Heavens belong to God, but the Earth has He given to the sons of men(Ps.115:16). Adam was to be God’s representative in the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. God is a spirit being without a physical body with which to relate to the external physical environment . So, He could not rule the world directly. He could only do so by proxy. Adam became His point man. Adam was to reign over the Earth for six days, each day corresponding to a thousand years or a millennium(2 Pet.3:8). The seventh day is the Shabbat of the Lord. Man works for six days, the seventh is the Shabbat of the Lord(Exod.20:8-11). Therefore Adam’s rule over the Earth was to last six millennia. According to Jewish calendar we are in the sixth millennium. This year beginning Tishri 1 is 5776. The Jewish calendar which is lunisolar is dated from day one of the creation of Adam. At the expiry of the sixth millennium, at the commencement of the seventh millennium, the rulership of the Earth will revert back to God who is the owner and Land Lord of the Earth. “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of the heavens and the earth”(Gen.14:19).

But Adam transferred the rulership of the Earth to Satan when he transgressed the commandment of the LORD “not to eat the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”(Gen.2:16,17). Satan became the God of this Age. Satan’s rule over the Earth will expire at the end of the sixth millennium which is the end of God’s lease to Adam. Adam’s transaction with Satan was legal and binding inasmuch as Adam was God’s representative in the earthly realm of His Universal Kingdom. Adam had the legal right to transfer the lease to Satan inasmuch as he was God’s representative in the earthy domain of His Universal Kingdom, but not the moral right.

In the temptation Satan promised to hand over to Jesus the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if He would bow down and worship him(Matt.4:9; Luk.4:6,7). Jesus did not question Satan’s right to the rulership of the Earth, simply because it was a legal transaction between Satan and Adam. If it were not so, the temptation would carry no weight. As a matter of fact, Jesus addressed him as the prince of this age(Jon.14:30). He is the god of this age and the prince of the power of the air(2 Cor.4:4; Eph.2:2). Satan was seeking a subordinate role for Jesus under his rulership in the Millennium. He attempted to trick Jesus into accepting the crown without the cross. If Jesus had failed, there would have been no pure human blood with which to redeem man. There would have been no kinsman redeemer or “Goel.” If Jesus had condescended, Satan would have scored the goal he failed to score when he attempted to hybridize the whole human race in Gen.6. He very well knew that Jesus was God’s representative in the earthly realm of God’s Universal Kingdom after the fall of Adam. Satan being the trickster that he is never mentioned to Jesus the duration of his reign over the Earth. It was a limited rule based on the duration of God’s lease to Adam.

Adam never had the Title Deed of the Earth. The Earth was never sold to Adam. The Earth was leased to him. What he had was the certificate of occupancy which would be withdrawn at the expiry of the lease. The Title Deed of the Earth belongs to God who is the eternal LORD of the Earth. The Title Deed of the Earth is the Seven-sealed Scroll which is kept in storage at the Throne Room of the Temple in Heaven. Adam was not qualified to break the seven seals and to open the Scroll. No man in Heaven nor on Earth was qualified to break the seals and to open or unroll the Scroll. No angel was qualified either(Rev.5:1-3). No wonder therefore that John the revelator wept sore(Rev.5:4). But the Lion from the tribe of Judah has prevailed to break the seals and to open the Scroll(Rev.5:4-14). Man could play the role of the “goel,” but he was not sinless. The holy angels who did not ally themselves to Satan in the rebellion in Eternity Past were sinless being locked in righteousness but could not play the role of the “goel” because they were not human. The “goel” must be a human being, the kinsman redeemer. Jesus, though God, is both human and sinless. So, He has prevailed. He is the kinsman redeemer, the “goel.”

At the expiry of the sixth millennium, God will recover his rulership of the Earth. Because God the Father has no physical body, He can only rule the Earth by proxy. The first Adam failed. The second man prevailed. “The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from the heaven”(1 Cor.15:47). As the last Adam, Jesus took the whole of humanity to the cross. As the second man, He created a new species of humans. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new species of human being(2 Cor.5:17). Jesus created a new species of human beings, the 42nd generation(Matt.1:17). Jesus will be the Father’s representative here. Though He is God, He is also man. He has a physical body with which to relate to the external physical environment. Of all the three persons of the Godhead, Jesus is the only one who possesses a physical body with which to relate with external physical environment. Because He is the Son Of Man He can represent God here on Earth. In the millennium, Jesus shall reign over the Earth in the behalf of the Father.

Throughout all ages, great men have assayed to establish a kingdom on Earth that would last a thousand years. Charlemagne nursed the ambitious plan of a thousand year Holy Roman Empire. Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, referred to his empire as The Thousand-year Reich. Unfortunately it lasted for just twelve years(1933-1945). That men had toyed, romanced and grappled with the idea and notion of a thousand year kingdom on Earth is evident in history. They could not achieve it because they did not begin to fill the lofty credentials of the “Goel.” It is the prerogative of the God-Man. Jesus is the God-Man, the heavenly archetypal man.

The Millennial Reign Of Christ.

The Millennium will begin 75 days after the close of the 70th week of Daniel, 45 days after Christ physically repossesses the Earth at the end of the Battle of Armageddon. At the start of the Millennium, Satan shall be evicted from the Earth’s premises, and incarcerated in the bottomless pit throughout the entire length of one thousand year reign of Christ”(Rev.20:1-3). According to the prophet Daniel, after God recovers His rule over the Earth from Satan, The LORD GOD Almighty will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed:

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall never be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever”(Dan.2:44 ).

God Almighty shall reclaim His rule over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet. The antiChrist and his Eighth And Final Beast Empire, the kings of the East, North and South and their kingdoms shall still be in existence at that time. They shall be annihilated four weeks later at the battle of Armageddon.

Prior to the breaking of the seals, God the Father hands over the Tittle Deed of the Earth to the Son who then proceeds to break the seals. This is very significant. Adam never had the Tittle Deed of the Earth. Therefore Adam was never the sovereign ruler of the Earth. As we have pointed out, Jesus is given the Tittle Deed of the Earth. In other words, He shall be sovereign over the Earth. The Father shall give Him full authority to rule the Earth. Nevertheless He shall be subject to the Father in order that the Father may be all in all. “For He has put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”(1 Cor.15:27,28).

Although Jesus will be the absolute and sovereign ruler of the Earth in the Millennium, He shall still be subject to the Father who is the sovereign Lord of the universe.

David: The King Of Israel

This is a controversial subject. Would it be David, the king of Israel who would be resurrected to rule over the nation of Israel in the Millennium? Or would it be David’s Greater Son, our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ? We will probably never be that sure until we enter the Millennium.

On both sides of the top of elevated Mount Zion on which sits the Millennial Temple will be areas designated for the residence of David, King of Israel. The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I shall raise up unto them”(Jer.30:9). Whether this is a direct reference to David who shall be raised up to rule over Israel in the Millennium, or David’s Greater Son, Jesus, is not readily resolved. The prophet Ezekiel added his voice: “And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall have one shepherd: and they shall walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes , and do them”(Ezekiel.37:24).

The nation of Israel shall no longer be divided. They shall have one shepherd and one God, and David will be prince over them. There will be no more false gods, and idolatry shall be wiped off from the Earth. The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens(Jer.10:11). “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it”(Ezek.24:23,24 ).

Robert Van Kampen, one of my fathers in eschatology is of the opinion that whereas Christ rules over the whole earth, David shall rule over Israel. Christ shall rule over the whole Earth from His Throne Room in the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This will be the Fourth and the Millennial Temple sitting atop the summit of the renovated, expansive and elevated Mount Zion. On either side of the holy area, to the east and to the west, will be areas designated for the prince, from where David will rule over Israel. Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel shall be renovated and so also the whole land of Israel. “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the place shall remain after the manner thereof”(Jer.30:18).

The twelve Apostles of the Lamb shall be rulers over the twelve tribes of Israel. “Ye are they which have continued with Me in my temptations. And I appoint unto a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Luk.22:28-30). “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son Of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Matt.19:28).

Other Kings And Kingdoms

During the Millennium, there will still be nations. These nations will be administered by their own rulers. The resurrected saints shall have oversight over these nations. The resurrected saints shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”(Rev.20:6). The saints who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast neither his image, who refused to be beast-marked either on their foreheads or in their hands shall also be resurrected, and shall reign with Christ for a thousand years in the Millennium. “And saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”(Rev.20:4).

These other nations shall have their own governmental structure and organization under the overall rulership of Christ. During the Millennium, God’s glory shall illuminate not only Israel and her Holy City Jerusalem, but also all the other nations of the world and their cities. “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 honor into it.” Solomon, the wise, rich and opulent king of Israel is usually not spoken of as a prophet, but in Psalm 72, he prophesied about the universal reign of the Messiah over the nations and kings of the Earth. “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness(the Arab and Asian nations) shall bow before Him: and His enemies shall lick the dust. The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles(European and Asian nations) shall bring presents: the Kings of Sheba and Seba(African nations) shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him”(Ps.72:8-11).

During the Millennium, all the nations of the Earth will not only serve and glorify God, they shall also serve and honor Israel. They shall not afflict the Jewish people any more as they do in the present age. “Thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: and thou shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me”(Is.49:22,23). The final ingathering of the Jews from the diaspora at the end of the Battle of Armageddon shall be effected by the Gentile survivors of the Day Of The LORD. As they congregate to Jerusalem for the Sheep And Goat Judgment, they shall bring the Jews who survive the wrath of God in the diaspora. The Jews who survive the Day Of The LORD in diaspora shall be witnesses of these Gentiles in the Sheep and Goat judgment of the Gentile nations, either to justify or condemn them: inasmuch as these Gentiles will be judged on the bases of their treatment of the Jews during the Great Tribulation at the hands of the antiChrist. The believers then in their eternal immortal resurrection bodies shall be their witnesses as well.

These nations are the Gentile survivors of the wrath of God. “The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick dust like the serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear before Him”(Mic.7:16,17). They shall come out of their fortresses, the rocks and mountains where they were hiding during the wrath of God(Rev.12:14-17). They shall come trebling, and in fear and dread of our LORD. They shall assemble in Jerusalem for the Sheep and Goat Judgment. “when the Son Of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goat”(Matt.25:31,32). The sheep shall be justified. They shall enter the millennium and repopulate the Earth alongside their Jewish counterparts. The goats shall be liquidated and consigned to Hell.

During the Millennium, the Jew shall be revered unlike in the present age when they are denigrated, maligned, and persecuted. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you”( Zechariah.8:20-23). This should not be a surprise; for Jesus shall rule the world from His Throne Room in the Fourth And Millennial Temple on Mount Zion. People shall come from all over the world to see God in Jerusalem. In those days, it shall be fashionable to befriend a Jew in order to facilitate access. This is not bribery but seeking divine favour.

Events In The First Day Of The Millennium

There are about five specific events that occur on the first day of the Millennium. These events are recorded sequentially in Revelation 20 & 21, with the exception of Rev.20:7-15, which is parenthetic and records the The White Throne Judgment which occurs at the end of the Millennium. The parenthesis of Rev.20:7-15 is a detailed explanation of the second death which occurs at the end of the Millennium at The White Throne Judgment. The second death is the Lake Of Fire. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”(Rev.20:14,15). The Sheep and Goat Judgment which also occurs on the first day of the Millennium is not recorded in the Scroll of Revelation, but is recorded in Matt.25:31-46.

(1) Satan Chained

God gave Adam a limited control over the earthly domain of His Universal kingdom. This limited but powerful control over the Earth was usurped by Satan when Adam fell through transgression. So, Satan became the god of this age. The consequence of the fall was the corruption of the whole human race and the entire creation. Jesus came to reverse the consequences of the fall. The redemption of man and the whole creation occurs in stages. At His first advent Jesus dealt with spiritual death brought about by sin. At His second advent, He will wrest physical control of the starry heavens and the Earth from Satan. He will reclaim God’s rule over the Earth. He will receive absolute, divine and sovereign control over the Earth. Therefore Satan and his demonic hordes shall be evicted from the Dark Void and the starry heavens and from the Earth’s premises.

Precisely at the midpoint of the 70th seven, Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels were evicted from their abode in the dark void and the starry heavens. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”(Rev12:7-9).

At Armageddon, Satan’s forces under the command of the antiMessiah shall be totally annihilated. The antiChrist and the false prophet shall be cast into the lake of fire, but Satan and his fallen evil angels shall still be roaming the Earth until incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss. To eliminate his influence in the lives of the citizens of the Millennial Kingdom Of God, Satan and his evil demonic hordes must be evicted from the Earth’s premises and incarcerated in the bottomless pit.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal of upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”(Rev.20:1-3).

Christ would have none of Satan’s influence on the citizens of his millennial kingdom. Therefore he must be bound and incarcerated. Although it is not mentioned that his demons were bound, it is obvious that they too were bound with him, lest they negatively influence the citizens of the millennial kingdom of the Messiah. Because he will be bound for a thousand years, he will, of necessity be bound on the first day of the Millennium.

(2) The Sheep And Goat Judgment

With the antiChrist’s army and the armies of the others kings and kingdoms of the Earth destroyed at Armageddon, and anyone with the mark of the beast executed, all that will be left would be the ones who do not have the mark of the beast. Before any of these can enter the Millennium to repopulate the Earth, they must pass through the Sheep and Goat Judgment to determine their eligibility to enter into the millennial reign of the Messiah.

“When The Son Of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come Ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered , and ye gave me Me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, Ye have done it unto Me. Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt.25:31-46).

Jesus shall personally conduct this judgment from His Throne in the Throne Room of the newly built Fourth And Millennial Temple at the center of the Holy Area at the summit of renovated and elevated Mount Zion. It shall occur when He comes in His glory with His holy angels, just as we have pointed out after the Battle Of Armageddon(Rev.19:11-21). All nations, that is, those who survived the wrath of God and the final battle of Armageddon, shall be gathered unto Him in Jerusalem. All survivors of the day of His Wrath who were not immediately executed as a result of being beast-marked shall appear before Him in Jerusalem. None of the Gentiles who appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment shall have the mark of the beast. Any survivors of the wrath of God who bears the mark of the beast shall be immediately executed. If any man has the mark of the Beast, the wrath of God abides on him.

All His angels will be with Him. It therefore follows these survivors shall be miraculously gathered to Jerusalem, considering the devastation caused by the final wrath of God. It shall take 45 days to gather all surviving Gentiles to the land of Israel for this judgment. It is within this 45-day period, the Restoration Period of the Kingdom, that the Earth will be renovated.

Jews who survive the wrath of God would not be required to appear at this judgment, having accepted Him as their Messiah when they see His nail-pierced hands(Zech.12:10-14), shortly before the sounding of the seventh trumpet when the mystery of God is finished at the completion of the spiritual kingdom of God. Of course, Jews who survive the day of His Wrath, who are beast-marked, shall be executed instantly like all others. But the plain truth is that no one with the mark of the beast will survive the wrath of God; for the wrath of God abides on any one who is beast-marked(Rev.14:9,10). The Greek word translated nations in KJV is ethnos which could also be rendered heathen, peoples, or Gentiles. The Hebrew equivalent is Goyim which is used by Jews to refer to non-Jewish peoples. It is not a reference to independent political states. It refers to individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew. So the sheep and goat judgment is the judgment of individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew who survive the day of His wrath, rather than independent nation states. No Jew will appear or be judged at the Sheep And Goat Judgment.

God’s wrath would have destroyed anyone who has the mark of the beast(Zeph.1:17). “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name”(Rev.14:9-11).

When the first avenging angel poured his bowl into the Earth, it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon them who worshipped his image(Rev.16:2). Most probably therefore, no one with the mark of the beast shall survive the Day Of His Wrath which ends with the seventh and final bowl judgment at Armageddon. However if any man who is beast-marked is left alive after the Battle of Armageddon, the one shall be instantly executed; for no man with the mark of the beast shall appear at the sheep and goat judgment much less enter the Millennium.

Besides, those who appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment do not seem to know why they are being judged. This is not what one would expect of those who have denied Christ and were beast-marked. It is therefore obvious that it will be Gentiles who rejected the mark of the beast, who neither acknowledged the antiChrist as God, nor Christ as Messiah, who somehow survived the wrath of Satan during the Great Tribulation, and God’s wrath during the day of the Lord, who will be required to make their way to Jerusalem during the 45-day restoration period to appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment of the Gentile survivors of the wrath of God in the Day of The lord.

The basis of this judgment will be the Gentiles treatment of Jews and Christians in hiding during the great tribulation by the antiChrist. “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”(Matt.25:40). Their treatment of these Jews and Christians would be considered as their treatment of Christ Himself. “Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as Ye did it not to one of the least of these, Ye did it not to me”(Matt.25:45). The witnesses at this trial will be surviving Jews who have just been regathered from the diaspora, and perhaps resurrected saints who will reign with Christ in the Millennium. The reason why I include Christians among His brethren is because the Dragon shall make war with the remnant of the offspring of the woman who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ(Rev.12:17). Just as Jewish remnants in their mortal bodies gathered to the land of Israel from the diaspora at the end of the Battle of Armageddon shall be present to witness the Sheep And Goat Judgment, so also shall the resurrected saints in their new glorified eternal immortal resurrection resurrection bodies be present to witness; for they shall be priests of God and reign as kings with Christ for a thousand years.

“Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that Ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me there is no God formed, neither shall there be after me”(Is.43:8-10).

The Jewish witnesses will not be objects of Christ’s judgment. When the nations are gathered, the Gentiles will be permitted to present their witnesses from amongst the Jewish survivors in order that they may be justified. The surviving Jews from amongst the Gentiles are God’s witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or as the case may be His condemnation of the Gentiles. The resurrected saints shall also be witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or else condemnation of the Gentiles as the case may be. Those who have harmed Jews and Christians or otherwise refused them assistance in their time of distress shall be condemned whether or not they are beast-marked.

“Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, Ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” ( Matt.25:41). Those who befriended Jews and assisted them, the righteous Gentiles shall be spared, and go into eternal life, but those who did not shall go into everlasting punishment(Matt.25:46).

It is not enough not to take the mark of the beast. It is not enough not to harm believers. Indifference towards persecuted Jews and Christians merits one the status of a goat. Christ shall say to them, ” inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteousness into life eternal”(Matt.25:45,46). The cynical ones who believe that the fact that they are not beast-marked merits salvation shall be condemned. On the other hand, those who are not beast-marked, who lay no claim to salvation shall be justified. Although these gave drink to His thirsty brethren, fed the hungry, clothed those who were naked, visited the prisoners, invited the strangers and destitute amongst them into their homes, they did not believe it was sufficient to earn them salvation, nor did hey believe they were doing it to Jesus. They expressed wonder as to when they did all these. Salvation is by grace alone through faith, and that also the gift of God. These righteous Gentiles were also elected before the foundation of the world(Eph.1:4,5;2:8,9).

(3) The Beheaded Martyrs Resurrect

The time of resurrection of the beheaded martyrs is a controversial issue amongst biblical scholars. Were they raised from the dead at the time of the rapture of the saints, or were they raised, and given a new eternal immortal resurrection body on the first day of the Millennium? One thing is very clear, this group of martyrs may include some of those under the altar at the breaking of the fifth seal who were given a new eternal immortal resurrection body at the Rapture.

“And when He had broken the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with aloud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled”(Rev.6:9-11).

The fifth seal martyrs were told to wait until their fellow brethren who were to be killed were also martyred. There is a complement of believers to be martyred during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist. When that number is complete, God amputates the Great Tribulation with cosmic disturbances associated with the breaking of the sixth seal. At the Rapture of the church when the Shekinah appeared in the heavens, shortly before the breaking of the seventh seal, these martyrs were also raptured and received new eternal immortal resurrection bodies. If the beheaded saints were part of the fifth seal martyrs, why were they left out until the first day of the Millennium?

“And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image , neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”(Rev.20:4).

As we have pointed out earlier, when they came to life, and received their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies, earlier at the Rapture of the church or on the first day of the Millennium is a debated issue in some theological circles. Malvin J. Rosenthal and Robert Van Kampen are of the opinion that these particular souls, beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, must be given their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies on the first day of the Millennium. The Greek verb translated ‘lived’ in the KJV or ‘came to life’ in the NASV is “ezesan.” It is in the aorist active tense. Dr. Robert Gundry, the noted Greek scholar, in a private communication with Robert Van Kampen, commented:

“The parallelism of the aorist verb in this passage, for sitting, giving, living and reigning, indicate actions that take place at the same time. Naturally it is the context which determines the time referred to by these verbs, clearly at the beginning of the Millennium, because the passage in question ends with ” and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, ” thus defining exactly when the action takes place.”

They conclude therefore that the beheaded martyrs were raised from the dead on the first day of the Millennium rather than at the Rapture of the church. When they rose from the dead, at the Rapture or on the first day of the Millennium is not vital to our teaching on the end times. However, there seem not to be any reason their resurrection from the dead delayed until the first of the Millennium.

The First Resurrection

The first resurrection refers to the general resurrection of believers and saints of all ages unto life. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly(1 Cor.15:49). It is accomplished in phases.
(1) The first phase occurred when Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept rose from the dead. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”(1 Cor.15:20). When Christ rose from the dead, the OT saints and believers also rose with Him. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the city, and appeared unto many”(Matt.27:52,53). Did these dear saints re-enter their graves to await the resurrection at the Rapture? I doubt very much.

(1) The first phase occurred when Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept rose from the dead. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”(1 Cor.15:20). When Christ rose from the dead, the OT saints and believers also rose with Him. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the city, and appeared unto many”(Matt.27:52,53). Did these dear saints re-enter their graves to await the resurrection at the rapture? I doubt very much.

(2) The second phase is the resurrection of the dead in Christ which occurs at the Rapture.

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; neither corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality”(1 Cor.15:50-53).

We shall be raptured to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with Him.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rose first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”(1 Thess.4:14-18).

(3) The third phase will be the resurrection of the beheaded martyrs on the first day of the Millennium?

“And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they live and reigned with Christ a thousand years”

(4) The fourth phase of the first resurrection is the resurrection of the saints who lived in the Millennium. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures, it is logically reasonable that those who entered the Millennium in this mortal body, and repopulated the Earth will some day exchange it with a new glorified eternal immortal resurrection body; inasmuch as flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption(1 Cor.15:50).

I personally believe that the millennial saints would be the ones whose names are found in the scroll of life at the White Throne Judgment, and therefore would be justified. There are some biblical scholars who believe and teach that all those who appear at the White Throne Judgment will be condemned. Why are there the scroll of life and the scroll of works? If those whose names were not found in the scroll of life were condemned, it therefore follows that those whose names were found in the scroll of life would be justified.

If the millennial saints are not justified at the White Throne Judgment, where then are they justified? The essence of the scroll of works is to show everyone who appears at the White Throne Judgment that by works no man shall be justified. By works every man shall be condemned, because by works of the law shall no man be justified; for by the law of works is the knowledge of sin( cp Rom.3:20). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God(Gal.2:16,17; 3:11,24; 5:5:4; Rom.3:23). And again the wages of sin death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Christ(Rom.6:23)

The resurrection of Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the resurrection of the beheaded martyrs, and the resurrection of the millennial saints are all part and parcel of the first resurrection which is the resurrection unto life. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”(Rev.20:6).

The Second Resurrection: The Second Death

The second resurrection is the resurrection unto condemnation. It is the resurrection of judgment(Jon.5:29). It is the second death. It occurs at the White Throne Judgment.

” Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”(Rev.20:14).

This is in contrast to the first resurrection which is the resurrection unto life. The firstfruits of the second resurrection, the resurrection unto condemnation, will be the antiChrist and the false prophet, who shall be taken captive at the Battle of Armageddon and cast alive into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone(Rev.19:20).

The Identity Of The Beheaded Martyrs

Robert Van Kampen of blessed memory was of the opinion, though not adamantly that the beheaded martyrs of Rev.20:4, are the same as the fifth seal Martyrs under the altar. I personally do not share this view. I do have some strictures with his view. First, the fifth seal martyrs were told to wait until their fellow brethren to be killed were fulfilled. Then and only then would God avenge their death. There is a complement of believers to be martyred during the Great Tribulation by the antiMessiah. When this is number of saints to be martyred is complete, God interrupts the Great Tribulation with cosmic disturbances. And then the church shall be taken away from the scene of persecution, raptured as it were. Second, what will be the reason for leaving those beheaded martyrs behind when their fellow saints are raptured? Thirdly, it is not mentioned that the fifth seal martyrs were all beheaded. All we were told is that they were slain for the word of God and the testimony which they upheld. The way and manner in which they were martyred was not revealed. Fourthly, it is highly probable that the beheaded saints were amongst them, but is evident that not all those who were killed for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus had their heads cut off. Rev.20:4 stated unequivocally that these martyrs had their heads cut off. It therefore follows that they are a special group of saints whose testimony were particularly provocative and insulting to the antiChrist and his evil empire.

However, I do share the view with Robert Van Kampen that these martyrs who had their head cut off were Jewish believers who would bear witness of Christ in the Holy Land during the Great Tribulation. These Jewish believers do not only refuse the mark of the beast but will go about brazenly, from one city to another in the land of Israel, right under the noses of the antiChrist and the false prophet, proclaiming the gospel and persuading their fellow countrymen not to be chipped with the mark of the beast. Their behavior would be considered subversive to the government of the antiChrist. It is likely that the antiChrist would not see them as religious buffoons who are to be ignored but rather as treasonous felons. The antiChrist will view them as political rivals and anti-governmental subversives. Hence, the execution by decapitation. The Greek word is “cephalizomai” which means to cut off the head, or decapitation. This is to show the gravity of their offense, and to serve as a deterrent to other would-be subversives. They are indeed anti-governmental and subversive; for they represent the rival government of the Messiah.

We know that they would not have gone all over the cities of Israel before the Son Of Man comes(Matt.10:23). In other words their job would only be complete when the Messiah annihilates the antiChrist and his armies at Armageddon, and retakes physical possession of the earth. Therefore their number is probably not complete until the end of Armageddon. Hence, their resurrection on the first day of the Millennium 45 days after the Battle of Armageddon. So, some of them who were amongst the fifth seal martyrs would have have to wait till the first day of the Millennium to receive their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies, rather than at the Rapture of the church. Without the faithful witness of these martyrs, the remnant of Israel who would follow the Messiah into the Millennium would have died in unbelief. Because of their special witness, they shall be raised to life to reign with Christ for a thousand years. They have led many to Christ at the expense of their own lives. They shall shine like the stars for ever(Dan.12:3). Are Jewish believers the only ones who will be beheaded during the Great Tribulation? Or is it only in the land of Israel that Christians will be headed during the Great Tribulation? The answer is emphatically no. The fifth seal martyrs are from nations and tongues. It is certain that some of them were beheaded for the word word of God and the testimony which they upheld. In that case therfore, it is certain that some of them were among the beheaded saints mentioned Rev.20:4.

(4) The New Heaven And New Earth

Before the Millennium begins, the present heavens and Earth have to be cleansed from the defilement of sin. The wars, the famines, the pestilences and earthquakes, the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist, the cosmic disturbances asssociated with the breaking of the sixth seal, the seventh seal and its attendant trumpet and bowl judgments and the final Battle of Armageddon will cause a lot of devastation on the Earth and its environs and the atmospheric and starry heavens. Therefore the Earth and its environs, the atmospheric and starry heavens shall be renovated to make the Earth habitable again before the millennial reign of Christ begins. As touching this, the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come mind. But be ye glad and rejoice in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy”(Is.65:17,18).

The destruction of the present heaven and Earth shall be a limited destruction not total annihilation. Apostle Peter in mockery of the scientific uniformintarians who deny that God ever intervened in human affairs in the past nor shall intervene in the future called attention to the Noahic flood.

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willing are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heaven were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the present heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness”(2 Pet3:3-13).

As the world of Noah perished in the waters of the deluge and had to be renovated, even so shall the present heavens and Earth perish in the fires of the Day Of His Wrath, and shall be renovated to make it habitable again. It is also comparable to the kind of devastation that occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain, Zeboim and Adama when they were destroyed with fire, brimstone and sulfur from heaven. Except for the Jewish and Gentile remnants protected by God, the entire Earth shall be filled with death and destruction. The destruction caused by the Day Of The LORD, shall be a limited one, not total annihilation. So the new heavens and new earth shall not be entirely new but refurbished heavens and Earth. The Greek word translated new here is not “naos” but “kainos,” which refers to something old but renewed or refurbished. So this is not creation ex nihilo, creation out of nothing, which is a primary creative act. It is not a direct creative act. It is an indirect or secondary creative act, that is, creation out of what is already in existence. It does not refer to something entirely new, which has not exited before, but rather the renewal of something that has existed before.

The renovation of the heavens and the earth shall begin on the first day of the 45-day Restoration Period and completed by the first day of the Millennium. It is difficult to imagine how Jesus will renovate the heavens and the Earth. The survivors of the wrath of God, and the Sheep and Goat Judgment shall still be in their mortal bodies. They shall repopulate the Earth.

The eternal fires shall burn in Edom throughout the Millennium as a momorial of His indignation towards antisemism.

“Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at the plague thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD , no man shall abide there, neither shall the son of man dwell in it”(Jer. 49:17,18).

It will take seven months to bury the dead at Armageddon, and seven years to dispose of the wreckages of war.

“Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of the graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. And they shall severe out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. The passengers that pass through the land, when they seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land”(Ezek.39: 8-16).

There will be a restoration of the edenic relationship between heaven and Earth. It will be new heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness(3 Pet.3:13). The evil consequences of the fall of Adam shall be removed. There will be no more erratic weather patterns, no excessive monsoon rains, no hurricanes and tropical storms. There will be no more swelling of the oceans, no more flooding. There shall be no more oceans in the first. There shall be seas or perhaps big rivers. Animals will be restored to their pristine edenic state. There will be no more carnivores. All animals will be herbivorous. The lion will eat straw like the ox. A toddler shall put its finger in the den of the cockatrice. There shall be no hurt and destruction in the Holy Mount of the Lord. There shall be no more poisonous serpents. All animals will be tamed by the glory of God that fills the Earth as the waters cover the sea.

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the spirit of counsel and mighty, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reigns. 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 fatling together; and the little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice 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”(Is.11:1-9).

We see here that all creatures shall revert to their pristine pre-fall estate. The rule of the jungle will no more apply. It shall be no more be dog-eat-dog society, the survival of the fittest. All creatures will be tamed. Men will no more be mugged by wild beasts; for there shall be no wide beasts at all. All animals whether domestic or living in the forest shall be tame. There shall be no more poisonous snakes. All snakes shall lose their venom. There shall be no more snake bites let alone envenomation. The rattle snake, the spitting cobra, the constrictor boa and the anaconda, the grizzly bear, the lion, the tiger and the leopard, the rhinoceros, the chimpanzee, the gorillas, the buffalo, and all other animals and creatures shall be at peace with one another and with man.

There shall be no poisonous lizards and insects. There shall be no more blood sucking insects. All mosquitos shall feed on fruit juice. All insects shall feed on fruit juice and vegetations. The vampire bat shall no more suck blood either of animals or of humans.

There shall be no more poisonous sea snakes. All fishes shall be at peace with one another. The shark shall become herbivorous, so also the whale, and all other sea creatures. They shall not hurt no devour in My holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

The deserts of the Earth shall be reclaimed. The whole Earth will be of one weather, subtropical. There shall be no more torrential downpours. The Earth shall be wetted by the dew of the heavens every morning and evening. The Canadian and Siberian permafrost shall be reclaimed. So also the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans shall varnish freeing huge expanse of land for farming and human habitation. In this age scientists tell us that one-fourth of the ice-free surface of the earth can support a population of 40 billion people. Food does not go round because of human greed. In the Millennium the curse on the Earth shall be lifted. The Earth shall yield her increase. There shall be no more drought and no more famines and dearth. There shall be no pestilences, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, and no volcanic eruptions. Mountains shall no more spew hot ash and larva. There will be plenty to eat and drink. The Earth shall yield her increase. Human greed and corruption shall be things of the past. There shall be no more hoarding of commodities. Food preservation will be at the optimum level. Wastage of food, if any, shall be minimized. There shall be equitable distribution of wealth. Everyone will produce maximally and take what one needs. There shall be no competition let alone cut-throat competition.

There shall be no more insect vectors of diseases. There shall be no more parasites. All bacteria, viruses, rickettsia and chlamidia shall be non-pathogenic. The river of life from under the Throne Room of the Lord shall water the Earth, bringing healing to the land. It will always be planting season and harvest time. There will be natural drip irrigation from the river of life from the Throne of the Messiah in the Fourth And Millennial Temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and the dew of heaven shall wet the earth morning and evening. The tree that shall grow by the banks of the river of life shall yield twelve manner of fruits for the nourishment of the body. The leaves of the tree shall be for the healing of the nations and for the maintenance of health. Citizens of the millennial kingdom shall live out their lifetime. Those who die at the age of one hundred shall be regarded as infants. They shall be no more infants of days. But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be cursed(Is.65:20).

This shall be the time the whole creation had waited and travailed for.

“For we reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are save by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it( Rom.8:19).

The whole creation alongside the redeemed of the Lord groan and travail together until the present time, waiting for the redemption of our body, when we shall receive our glorified eternal and immortal bodies, when we shall be free from the frailties and restrictions of our mortal bodies, into the glorious Liberty of the sons of God. The whole creation itself shall be freed from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Liberty of the sons of God.

It is the time of regeneration.

“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son Of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Matt.19:28).

We see here that the twelve apostles of the Lamb shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel in the Millennium.

It is the time of restoration of all things. “And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive nail the time of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began”(Acts 3:21).

Jesus must remain in heaven until the time of restitution of all things when God Almighty shall regain control of the Earth; then shall He sit upon the throne of His father David, and rule over Israel and the whole Earth.

Nations will not learn war any more; for there shall be no more wars. “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”(Is.2:4)

Hebrew shall be the universal language in the Millennium. This will ease travels and communications. Because there will be good infrastructure, it will be extremely easy to move around. Though there will be national boundaries, border crossing will be facilitated by one international language and the good intentions of the citizens of the millennial kingdom.

The Lord shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron. No murderer will be kept alive at the expense of law abiding citizens of the millennial kingdom.

The nations shall congregate to Israel to worship the Lord in His Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He teach us of 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”(Is.2:3).

There shall be no more arguments as to which is the true God; for Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels shall be evicted from the Earth’s premises and bound in the shaft of the abyss for a thousand years: thusly eliminating the corrupting influence on the citizens of Christ’s millennial kingdom. There shall be no more idols to worship. “The idols shall be abolished from the earth. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heaven”(Ps.96:5). “Their idols are silver and gold”(Ps.115:4). “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands”(Ps.135:15). “The gods that have no made the heaven and the earth, even they shall perish from under the earth, and from under these heavens”(Jer.10:11). “And the idols He shall utterly abolish”(Is.2:18). All the idols would have bee done away during the Day Of His wrath.

“And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day, a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they have made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”(Is.2:19-22).

Men shall no more practice witchcraft. There shall be no more observers of times nor necromancers nor star gazers. There shall be no more secret societies nor false religions. With Satan and his fallen evil angels bound in the bottomless pit, the antiChrist and the false prophet cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone, and all the idols and graven images destroyed during the Day Of His Wrath, there shall be no more sacrilege. This shall be the state of affairs throughout the Millennium until Satan is paroled at the end of the Millennium, when he shall deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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”(Rev.20:7,8).

With the curse on humanity greatly reduced, Satan and his fallen evil angels incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss, the antiMessiah and the false prophet cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone, and the idols utterly abolished from the Earth, God, man, and His angels shall have unbounded fellowship and communion. It will be heaven on Earth. The heavens and the Earth shall be in holy union and embrace.

The New And Heavenly Jerusalem

There are some biblical scholars, especially of the pretribulation persuasion that teach that the new and heavenly Jerusalem shall appear at the end of the Mellennium as part of the New Heaven And New Earth. How long this new heavens and earth will last is not specified. Beyond this, according to them is the eternal state. But a careful examination of the Scriptures will reveal that the new heavens and new Earth is synonymous with the millennial reign of Christ. And the new and heavenly Jerusalem and the conjoint Fourth And Millennial temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion is the focal point of the millennial reign of Christ. After the Millennium and the subsequent White Throne Judgment is the Eternal State. Whatever the eternities future would look like, we are not told. The secret things are for God; but the things which are revealed are for us and our children, to the end we may keeps the words of the instruction(Deut.29:29). Therefore we shall be content with what is revealed, and not venture to thinker and speculate with divine secrets of the future.

Jesus promised His disciples that after the Rapture, He will never again be separated from them.

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again , and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”(Jon.14:1-3).

After the Rapture we shall never be separated from Christ again.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the archange, and with the trump of God: and the dead inChrist shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”(1 Thess.4:13-18).

As we can see, it is explicitly clear that the church will never again be separated from Christ after the Rapture. And in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established(1 Cor.13:1; Numb.35:30). This is indeed so because after the Rapture of the church, after the end of the 70th of Daniel, during the 30-day reclamation period, while the forces of God are pounding the antiChrist and his evil kingdom here on Earth, the Bema Seat Judgment of the believers at which the saints are rewarded and bejeweled and the Marriage Of The Lamb to His decorated bride will take place in Heaven. The bride who now becomes the wife, will never again be separated from her husband. The new Jerusalem which is now in construction in Heaven will descend from Heaven to rest on summit of the renovated and elevated mount Zion. At the summit of mount Zion is The Fourth And Millennial Temple described by the prophet Ezekiel(Ezek. 40-43), built by Christ Himself during the 45-day restoration period of the kingdom. The new and heavenly Jerusalem shall be the residence of the resurrected saints, the wife of Christ and the OT saints and the angels of God during the Millennial Reign Of Christ.

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for husband. 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. 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. And He that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 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. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”( Rev.21:2-7).

Here the new and heavenly Jerusalem is referred to as a bride adorned for her husband. This is a metaphor. It is no more the bride of Christ as the house of the newly wed is the wife of the man. The house of the newly married man is the bride to extent that the wife dwells in that house. When he is home, he sees the wife who welcomes him. She is the center of attraction and the joy of the husband, and vice versa. The just decorated church at the bema seat judgment, newly wed at the marriage of the Lamb now abides with Him in the new and heavenly Jerusalem descended from God out of Heaven. It is the tabernacle of God amongst men. It is hollow at the base and merges with the Throne Room of The Fourth And Millennial Temple at the summit of Mount Zion. This city has no temple, God and Christ are the temple of it(Rev.21:22). In reality the city does not need another temple. It is conjoint and contiguous at the base with The Fourth And Millennial Temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion, probably the highest point on Earth in the Millennium. The Fourth And Millennial Temple projects upwards in the center of the city.

The inhabitants of this city shall not need the light of the sun, moon, and stars to get by. The dwellers of this city are God, His angels and the resurrected saints of both the OT and MT. God and his angels have no physical bodies. Jesus and the resurrected saints have glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. Neither God and his angels nor Christ and the resurrected saints require the physical light of the sun , moon and stars. They have the life of God, “Zoe eioneis,” in themselves. The life of God in them is the light. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”(Jon.1:4). The Lamb is the light thereof(Rev.21:23). The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not(Jon.1:4,5). The light source of the believer is in his spirit. It is the new life in Christ. In this age, it is eclipsed by the mortal body. But in the regeneration, it shall be unhindered, unhamperd, and unimpeded by the new and glorified eternal immortal resurrection body. The resurrected body is both transparent and translucent. In the resurrection there are no secrets. Everyone sees through everyone and knows what the other person is thinking. Thoughts are loud and transparent. There shall be no natural nights in this city. Therefore, It shall be always 12 noon.

In that city, there shall be no death, no ache, no pain, no sorrow, therefore there shall be no crying. The former things of pain, sickness, disease, death are passed away. These are the consequences of sin. When sin is eliminated, so are its consequences. The nations of them that serve Him shall walk in the light of it: and the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it(Rev.21:23). These are not earthly kings in their mortal bodies. The risen and glorified saints shall reign with Christ. They are the kings and priests of Christ. They shall be given rulership over nations, peoples, and tongues. They are the ones who shall bring the glories of the nations of the earth in the Millennium into the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

Men in their mortal bodies cannot approach this city. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incoruuption(1 Cor.15:50). The mortal body cannot tolerate the light of this city. It shall literally melt away. Anyone who ministers in the anointing of the Holy Spirit knows that it wears out the physical body. There is a level of the anointing that this mortal body of ours cannot tolerate. “There shall in wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s scroll of life”(Rev.21:27). The unglorified saints living in their mortal bodies here on Earth in the Millennium cannot approach this city. They have not experienced consummative sanctification or glorification. There are still intrinsic imperfections and impurities in these souls in their mortal bodies. Therefore they cannot approach this city. They can worship in the temple in some designated areas but they cannot enter into the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

In contrast to the Earth in the Millennium, though minimized, because Christ shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron(Ps.2:9; Rev.12:5; 19:5), there will be pain, ache, sorrow and death. It will be so, because those who enter the Millenium and repopulate the Earth, do so in their mortal bodies. They shall still be subject to sin. They still have to come to the saving knowledge of Christ every man on his own. Some will not accept Christ as their personal Saviour. Because they sin, they shall die young. Those who die at the age of 100 years shall be regarded as babies. There shall be no more thence and infant of days, nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be acursed(Is.65: 20). There shall still be sin in the Millennium amongst those living in the mortal body. But it shall be reduced to the barest minimum due to the presence Christ, the saints, and the holy angels, and the absence of Satan and his fallen evil angels. Christ shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron. There shall be immediate and swift punishment of sin.

“And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. 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: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. 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”(Rev.22:1-5).

As we have pointed out, the new and heavenly Jerusalem which descends from God out of heaven shall be contiguous with The Fourth Temple at the summit of the renovated and elevated Mount Zion. The renovated and earthly Jerusalem shall be the capital city of the world. The temple is the center of attraction in the Millennium. It is the seat of Christ’s Government, the headquarters of His Administration. Men from all over the world shall flock to it to pray and to see God in the flesh. In this temple, the heavens and Earth are in holy union and embrace. In the temple, God, man, the resurrected as well as those in their mortal bodies, and the angels of God are in holy communion. It is the focal point of the Millennium. It is the merging of the spheres. In it, the living in their mortal bodies and the dead and resurrected in their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies are in holy communion.

The Throne Room of Christ’s Government shall be in the temple. From that Throne Room, the river of life shall flow in two directions. Upwards to the heavenly Jerusalem. Downwards to the earthly Jerusalem and the rest of the world. The river that flows downwards to the earthy Jerusalem and the rest of the world is described in Ezekiel 47. This river shall water the land of Israel and the rest of the world. It shall be teaming with fishes. It will heal the land and make it fruitful. It will make the desert blossom like the rose. It shall flow into the sea(Ezek.47:8). The seas of the world which have been polluted by human activities and the judgment of God in the day of His wrath shall be healed, and purified by the waters of this river of life. There are some that teach that there shall be no seas in the Millennium because the seas and the fresh water lakes were destroyed by the wrath of God. And there were no more sea(Rev. 21:1). But it is obvious from Ezek.47:8 that the downward flowing river shall end up in the sea. The prophet Zechariah spoke of living waters that shall flow out of Jerusalem: “And it shall be that in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be”(Zech.14:8). The prophet Joel predicted that a stream shall flow out of the house of the Lord: ” 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 rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim”(Joel 3:18).

The trees shall also bear fruits for food. The leaves thereof shall be for the healing of the nations(Ezek.47:12). The Hebrew word translated medicine here means bruises and minor ailments. That is quite understandable because sin itself and its evil effects on the human body shall be drastically minimized. We shall elaborate on this in our study of the earthly Jerusalem in the Millennium.

Here we are more interested in the river that flows upwards to the new and heavenly Jerusalem. It flows in its Broadway. On either side of the river, and in the midst of it, shall be a tree that bears twelve manner of fruits. This fruits shall be food for the dwellers of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. The leaves shall be for the healing of the nations of them that are saved. Now, do the inhabitants of this city ever get sick? No. Why do they need healing? They do not need healing. They need the leaves of this tree for the maintenance of health. Angels eat food. Manna is the food of the angels(Ps.78:24,25). When Jesus rose from the dead, He ate broiled fish(Luk.24:42). Resurrected saints also eat food. Food is for maintenance of the body. The leaves of this tree aid in the maintenance of health.

The Dimensions Of The City

“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four-square, 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 heights of it are equal. 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”(Rev.21:15-17).

One of the seven avenging angels with the seven last plagues who talked with John the revelator has a golden reed to measure the city, the wall and the gates. That one of the seven avenging angels was called to measure the city probably indicates that this is not an event that occurs at the end of the Mellennium, that is one thousand years after the wrath of God, but rather prior to it, at the beginning of the Mellennium. The city has the shape of a cube. The length, the breadth and the height of it are equal, about twelve thousand furlongs. A furlong is about one-eighth of a mile. This is about 1500 miles or 2500 km. A reed is a measuring instrument used in the ancient Near East. It is about ten and one-half feet long, about 10 meters. He measured the wall thereof, it was about 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. A cubit is the length of an average man from the tip of the middle finger to the tip of the elbow. 144 cubits is equal to 216 ft, or 72 yards, about 66 meters. This is the thickness of the wall. It is thicker than the wall of Jericho and Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. It is virtually impregnable. The wall of the city was made of glass, and the city itself of pure gold like clear glass. Do we suppose that these are earthly materials? No. This city is built of heavenly materials.

A full description of the new and heavenly Jerusalem is given in our comments on the Scroll of Revelation. In that comment, the other aspects of the city like the gates of the city, the foundations of the city, the substance of the foundations, the substance of the gates and the lights of the city are described in fine details.

The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb

The timing of this event in the millennial reign of Christ is not specified in Scripture, we know it shall take place in the early stage of the Millennium. The marriage of the Lamb to His bride has taken place in Heaven during the 30-day reclamation period after the Bema Seat Judgment of the saints at which they are bejeweled. The bride is now rewarded and decorated with crowns of gold studded with precious stones, jewelries, and gems. The Earth has been restored during the 45-day restoration period. The Earth and the heavens have been cleared of demons. Satan is bound in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. The fallen evil angels are sent to Hell. The antiChrist and the false prophet have been cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

The new and heavenly Jerusalem has descended from God out of heaven. It is merged at its base with the fourth and millennial temple built by Christ on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion. The 144,000 Jews hidden in Azel during the final wrath of God are now reunited with Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and all mankind(Zech.14:5). All Israel is now saved(Rom.11:26). The Gentiles who survived the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God, and were justified in the Sheep and goat judgement have repopulated the Earth. The new heavens and new Earth have been created. The earthly and millennial Jerusalem have been renovated, and has become the eternal capital of the Earth. Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and of all mankind has been coronated King of kings, and Lord of lords. He sits on the throne of His father David, and reigns king for ever from the throne of God and of Christ in the Throne Room on The Fourth And Millennial Temple on Mount Zion. All is now set for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The bride is united with her husband in the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

The marriage supper of the Lamb is the reception that follows the wedding or marriage of the Lamb that has taken place in Heaven earlier. On that day, Christ will drink anew the fruit of the vine with His disciples in His Father’s Kingdom. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom”(Matt.26:29). It is interesting that here Christ refers to the millennial kingdom as My Father’s Kingdom. Although He is sovereign over the Earth, He is subject to the Father who is all in all(1 Cor.15:27,28).

This will be the most glamorous wedding of all ages, with all the pomp and pageantry of the heavens. God Almighty will make a feast of wines on the lees for all nations.

“And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the LORD GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it”(Is.25:6-8).

Food and drink shall be in excess of everyone’s fill. The bride shall be resplendent in glory, and the scene stupendous. The only thing that shall be compared to it will be the marriage of the Lamb that took place earlier in Heaven.

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come , and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage super of the Lamb. And He saith unto me , These are the true sayings of God”(Rev.19:7-9).

The heavens, the galaxies will display their stupendous glories in magnificent splendor. It will be a lavish banquet unlike anything seen before. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb(Rev.19:9). The bride will be adorned for her husband, gorgeously appareled(Rev.21:2). Christ Himself shall be so glorious in appearance that the light of His countenance shall illuminate the whole universe. The marriage supper of the Lamb shall be part of the celebration of God’s victory over the kingdom of darkness, on the same footing as The Marriage Of The Lamb , and The Bema Seat Judgment of the saints.

The Bride

There are some biblical scholars who believe and teach that the bride will consists of the saints of all ages. I do not share that view for the simple fact that John the baptizer refers to himself as the friend of the bridegroom. He that has the bride is the bridegroom. Jesus is the bridegroom, that is not debatable.

“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly , and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from above is above all”(Jon.3:29-31).

John’s own testimony about himself is that he is a friend of the bridegroom. He stands by the bridegroom and hears His voice. This therefore my joy is fulfilled. He cannot be Christ friend standing by Him at the wedding and the subsequent reception, the marriage supper, and be part of the bride at the same time. My conclusion therefore is that John is Christ’s bestman.

Christ’s own testimony about John the baptizer is that: “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater that he”(Matt.11:11).

Of all those born of women, there hath not arisen any greater than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The questions are who are those born of women, and who are the least in the Kingdom of heaven. My understanding is that Christ was referring to the OT saints, and the NT saints. Of all the OT saints there was none greater than John the Baptist, but the least among the NT saints, the church, the bride of Christ, the least is greater then he. My conclusion therefore is that the OT saints are not part of the bride of Christ, inasmuch as John the baptizer who is the greatest of them all is less than the least of the NT saints, is not part of the bride but his friend or bestman at the wedding in heaven and the marriage supper, the reception on Mount Zion in the new and earthly Jerusalem.

The Attendees

At every wedding and the subsequent reception, there are invited guests. At the marriage super of the Lamb there will also be invited guests. The Father and the Holy Spirit though invisible to those in their mortal bodies will be the hosts of the wedding. The OT saints will be the there. John the baptizer will be Christ’s bestman. Some of the greats among the OT saints like fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David etc will be seated at the table. The angels of God will be there. Some of them, like the archangels Michael and Gabriel will be seated at the table. A good number of the angels will wait on the guests, inasmuch as they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation(Heb.2:14) Those in there mortal bodies who repopulate the Earth in the Millennium will be there. The 144,000 of the children of Israel who follow the Lamb wherever He goes will be there. They will most probably be part of Heaven’s security details. The Jews who survived the Great Tribulation and the wrath of God in the Day Of the Lord shall be there.

How do we know that the marriage supper of the Lamb shall take place on Earth? Because there was found there one who did not have a wedding garment( Matt.22:11-14). This is probably one of the survivors of the sheep and goat judgment. This cannot happen in Heaven. This cannot happen in heaven because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit in corruption(1 Cor.15:50).

Summary

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom as of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord , and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever”(Rev.11:15).

The celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb marks the completion of the defeat of Satan and his fallen evil angels. Satan, the supreme personality of evil, the corrupter of the Earth and all mankind has been defeated, evicted from the Earth’s premises and incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss. The antiMessiah and The False Prophet have been cast into the Lake Of Fire And Brimstone. All those who gave allegiance to Satan by capitulating to the authority of the antiMessiah have been destroyed. God Almighty has reclaimed His rule of the the Earth usurped by Satan. Christ has regained physical possession of the Earth at Armageddon. He has received the Kingdom from the Father, and crowned King of kings, and Lord of lords. He has re-established the Kingdom Of God on Earth over which He, Christ would rule for ever.

“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 “(Rev19:6).

The Jewish survivors of the Great Tribulation and the Day Of The LORD have come to the saving knowledge of Christ. The gentile survivors of the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God, and the Sheep And Goat Judgment have been brought to the saving knowledge of Christ. They have entered into the Millennium to repopulate the earth alongside the remnants of Israel. All nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues are represented. The church has been raptured, The Bema Seat Judgment at which the saints of all ages are rewarded and bejeweled have been held. The decorated bride of Christ is married to Him. The heavens and the Earth have been cleansed from the defilement of sin.

“The new heavens and Earth have been created. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind”(Is.65:17). The whole Earth is restored and renovated. The new and earthly Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel and of the whole Earth has been rebuilt. The fourth and millennial Temple have been built on the summit of Mount Zion, the highest point on the new Earth. The new and heavenly Jerusalem, the abode of the bride of Christ, all resurrected saints and the angels of God has come down from God out of heaven to merge with the the millennial temple at its base on Mount Zion. Christ is reunited with His bride never to party again.

“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. 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”(Rev.21:3,4).

From the Throne Room of God and of Christ, livings waters flow downwards towards Jerusalem and the rest of the earth, bring healing to the Earth and the seas. The waters team with fish, and there are lots of fishing activities. The tree by the banks of the river yields fruits which are food, and the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations of them who dwell on earth in their mortal bodies of bruises and minor ailments.

From the Throne Room also the river flows upwards as it were to the boardway of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. The tree which grows by the banks of the river and in the midst of it yields twelve manner of fruits. The fruits are food for the dwellers of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, some of whom are angels, and others resurrected saints in their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. The leaves of the tree also are for the sustenance of health.

From the Throne Room, Christ shall rule over the Earth with rod of iron. David or his greater son is king over Israel. The twelve apostles judge Israel. The saints reign with Christ over the nations of the Earth, and are priests of Christ, and of God. The glories and wealth of the nations are brought into the new and heavenly Jerusalem in which there is no night. It is always day. Man, angel, and God are in holy communion, union, and embrace. The heaven and Earth are in holy embrace. From year to year, all nations come to worship God in Jerusalem and to observe the yearly feast of tabernacles(Sukkot). Jerusalem and its Holy Temple are the focal point in the Millennium. The Jews are revered all over he world, and there is no more antisemism(Zech.8:23).

With this, the Earth has been restored more or less to its pristine state before the fall of Adam.

Avraham Shallom.