"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... By which also ye are saved... unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

In the beginning as we know, God created all things in six days "and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made" (Genesis 2:2). "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:6, 9). God said, "Let there be . . ." and so it was. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3). All things that were made, were not made by pre-existing materials, but by the spoken Word of God. The things which are seen did not evolve from some primeval slim billions of years ago, but God spoke, and instantaneously "it was so". Compromising evangelical scientists and theologians who are intimidated by the ungodly philosophy of evolution should be corrected, not accommodated. "Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is" (Acts 4:24). "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Psalm 139:14).

Now, we also know that it was the sixth day that "God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27), and "after [His] likeness" (Genesis 1:26), "male and female created he them." God said, "let them have dominion". "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28). God abundantly supplied all their needs and "planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed" (Genesis 2:8). How wonderfully and lovingly did God provide for man whom He created.

God's purpose for man was to multiply and subdue the earth, to have dominion, and to rule over the lower works of God. Man was created for the Lord's pleasure (Revelation 4:11). He was to have communion and fellowship with the Lord, and man was to enjoy God forever. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Psalms 73:25-26). The Lord says, "I have created him for my glory" (Isaiah 43:7). "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1Corinthians 10:31).

This was the plan of God for man in the "Kingdom of God". What a glorious place for man to be placed, in the garden that God Himself had planted. What a high position of privilege to be exalted, to have dominion under God over all that He had created. What more could man ask for? God had given to him all that could be imagined. God's regent to rule and reign under God, over the works of His hands, and to have loving communion with his Creator. Eternal bliss in the "Kingdom of Heaven".

But, was this the end of the story? Did mankind glorify God in obeying His commands, in bringing the glory which is due only to the Creator? We all know the story of what happen in the garden. Mankind failed, and transgressed the commandment of God, and sin entered into the realm of God's creation, which in the beginning, He had pronounced "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Could God bless sin and iniquity? Absolutely not!

Because of sin, mankind lost their moral purity, and became subject to death and disease. They now had to work tediously for a livelihood. They lost fellowship with God and their communion with Him was broken. They lost dominion over nature, and nature came under the curse, and man was driven from the garden of Eden. It makes you want to cry, how our first father Adam had forfeited the blessing of God, as it were, for a pot of manna. What tragedy and devastation and sorrow and turmoil and anguish and shame was brought into the world by the sin of one man.

But who was the perpetrator of it all? Well, the man blamed the woman whom God had given him, and the woman in turn blamed the serpent. But they all had their portion in it, and to all was meted out the fruit for their part. But it was the serpent, that great dragon, called the Devil, and Satan who deceived the woman through his lies and subtlety, to disobey God, and he became guilty of murderer. He is the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Today he is still the one "which decieveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9), "who walketh about seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). He was the most "subtle" of all God's creatures (Genesis 3:1), so we must be sober and vigilant "lest Satan should get advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). He is the great deceiver and seeks to turn us away from the true gospel and the true Christ. "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). He can also be "transformed into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14) and deceive us into trusting the feigned words of his false teachers (2 Peter 2:1-3), who "by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans 16:18), "by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14). Therefore we ought to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).

Now, when man fell in the garden through the deception of the serpent, was the plan of God for mankind therefore vanquished? Has the devil destroyed the plan of God through his manipulations in the Garden of Eden? Has God been defeated? Has Paradise been forever lost? Is man's end now eternal death and separation from God forever? Is this all that mankind has now to look forward to, is the grave? And sins not forgiven? May we all be moved to the place that Paul was when he said, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)

Is there an answer to this cry? Or is it just in vain and as chaff in the wind? Or shall there ever be a deliverer? Who might redeem us from our iniquity and our bondage to sin and corruption? And cleanse us from our sin? Shall there be for us, or ever will there be a Saviour to deliver us from so great a death? Or is man forever decreed to bear eternally that which he has sowed? The wages of sin is death, the Bible says. Is this the end? What sorrow and misery if this be so.

But there is good news come down to us from heaven. There is a Deliverer, "who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Timmothy 2:6), and thereby has delivered us from going down to the pit, and His name is Jesus Christ. And the price He paid for our redemption was His own blood. It was God's own Well-Beloved Son, who made such wonderful provision for man. Now if any will "acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God" (Jeremiah 3:13), "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . . . [for]. . . the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:9, 7). Even as David, who said, "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin" (Psalm 32:5). May we all be able to sing with the redeemed:

I am not my own, I was bought with a price,
I was purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
All my debts were paid by His sacrifice,
Hallelujah to the Lamb who Redeemed my life.

From the very beginning there was the promise of the Seed who should come to redeem and rule over mankind, and that "through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15). He would "destroy the works of the Devil" (1 John 3:8), as it is written, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

The Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, would crush the head of the serpent, and the serpent would bruise His heel. It was in the infinite wisdom of God that redemption would be brought to mankind in this manner, "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

It is the thesis of this study to trace the lineage of the promised Seed from the garden, to the cross, and to the restoration of the promised Kingdom and His eternal reign, and to see what is our Christian destiny and our "hope of eternal life . . . which was given us in Jesus Christ . . . which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2, 2 Timmothy 1:9).

G.N.C.

The Seed of the Woman

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

When the serpent beguiled the woman to disobey God, and the man harkened unto his wife, and willfully sinned by transgressing the commandment of God, mankind fell from the state of grace and blessing that he possessed. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).

But God promised a Redeemer to come, who would be the "seed of the woman". "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1Corinthians 15:22). When Adam sinned, all of mankind was "in Adam" and fell with him and were infected with the dreadful disease of sin. But the promise is, that all who are "in Christ" shall be made alive again. The Scriptures testify that "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5).

From the beginning, "The Seed" was said to be of a woman, and not of man, but of a virgin, as was foretold, and thus was the incarnation, for before the woman was with a man, "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 1:18). The angel Gabriel appeared to her and said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). To her husband the angel said, "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 1:20) And thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14).

The "Word was made flesh" (John 1:14), He was "made of a woman", and partook of flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14). This was totally supernatural, something that had never been done before, as it is written, "a body hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:5). "The LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man" (Jeremiah 31:22). Not like the first man, Adam, who was miraculously formed from the dust of the ground, but "a woman shall compass a man", the "last Adam", who is the "Lord from heaven" (1 Corinthians 13:45-49), who was, and is, and ever shall be the eternal God. He humbled himself and He came in the "likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3), "yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

The woman was told, "Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). This was all according to the "promise of life which is in Christ Jesus . . . which God,that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (2 Timothy 1:1, 9, Titus 1:2).

The Seed of Abraham

"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3). ["in thy seed" (Genesis 22:18)].

In chapter five of Genesis we have the "book of the generations of Adam" which is the genealogical record and lineage of "The Seed" up until the Flood. It was through the Flood of Noah that "the world that was then being overflowed with water perished" (2 Peter 3:6), that is, all but Noah and his three son's and their wives. In chapter ten of Genesis we have "the generations of the sons of Noah". This chapter may be called the "table of nations" (v. 5, 20, 31 and 32) for we see how the children of Noah were divided "after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations."

In chapter eleven, after the Babel account, and the scattering of the nations upon the face of all the earth, we have the continuation of the lineage of Christ after the Flood, that is, "the generations of Shem", the second son of Noah, from whose loins came Abraham, the father of the faithful. Abraham was also first called an Hebrew (Genesis 14:13), and with him God made an unconditional covenant, with many promises as follows:

Unconditional Promises and Covenant to Abraham, his seed, and the nations.

 1.   I'll make thee a great nation. (12:2, 17:7) (Israel)
 2.   I'll bless thee. (12:2)
 3.   I'll make thy name great. (12:2) (Among Jews, Christians, Arabs)
 4.   Thou shalt be a blessing. (12:2)
 5.   In him (Abraham's Seed) would all nations be blessed. (12:3, 22:18) (By Christ)
 6.   Promise of the land to him and his seed forever. (13:15, 15:18, 17:8) (Future)
 7.   Multiply thy seed as the dust and stars. (13:16, 15:5, 17:2)
 8.   He would die at an old age. (15:15)
 9.   He would be a father of many nations. (17:4-5) (Through his Natural seed)
 10. Kings would descend from him. (17:6) (Saul, David, Solomon, Christ)

Abraham was given many promises, but in regards to his seed, he was told that, in his "seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18, 26:4). He was also told that his seed would be as the dust of the earth (earthly people), and as the stars of heaven (heavenly people). He would also be the father of many nations, and kings would descend from him. From this we must understand Abraham's seed in the following way:

Abraham's Seed

1.  Natural Seed: Offspring of Sarah and concubines Hagar and Keturah. (Father of many nations: 17:4-5)
2.  National Seed: Israel - Believing and unbelieving. (12:2) Earthly People. (The great nation as the "dust of the earth" and the "sand of the sea")
3.  Ruling Seed: The lineage that leads to Christ, from the tribe of Judah. (Kings would descend from him:  17:6)
4.  The Seed:  Jesus Christ - The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (In whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed)
5.  Spiritual Seed: The Church - Those in Christ. Heavenly People. (Those of the like faith as Abraham) (As the stars of heaven)

Abraham would have many offspring that would descend from his loins through Hagar and Keturah, his concubines, and thereby would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4-5), but the Lord also promised Abraham that he would make him a great nation. This was the nation of Israel which came through his wife Sarah, who bore Isaac, who begot Jacob, who begot the twelve patriarchs of Israel. From within that nation would come the "Ruling Seed", of the tribe of Judah, and from Judah would come the Messiah, the promised Redeemer and Ruler, "The Seed" in whom shall "all the nations of the earth be blessed."

This was the gospel that God preached to Abraham. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8). When Abraham believed God "it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Galatians 3:6). But what precisely did Abraham believe? What did Abraham understand when the Lord told him "In thee shall all nations be blessed."?

May I say, that God preached the gospel to Abraham in a figure. God had promised Abraham that he would have an exceedingly great number of offspring, and that he would be the father of many nations. But both he and Sarah, by this time, were of great age, whose bodies were beyond the natural capability of reproducing life. But Abraham, being strong in faith, considered not their bodies dead, but believed God, giving glory to Him (Romans 4:17-22). Abraham was convinced that what God had said, He was able to perform, and to raise from the deadness of Sarah's womb, a seed to bring to pass that which He had promised.

The birth of Isaac was miraculous. Sarah's womb was dead and as a tomb, but God raised up Isaac from there. It was life from the dead. It was in type a resurrection from the dead. "Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable" (Hebrews 11:12).

Some thirty years later, God again preached the gospel to Abraham in a figure, when He told him to offer up his only son Isaac as a burnt offering (Genesis 22). But prior to this God had told him "in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12). Now, let us think about this for a moment. Abraham was promised by God to have an innumerable offspring, and that Messiah should proceed from his own loins. Furthermore, the Lord clarified that it would be through Isaac that Abraham's seed should be called.

So, what did Abraham do? The Scriptures tell us, he obeyed God, and went to the place that God had told him to offer up the son whom he loved. Abraham reasoned, that if God had promised his seed to be as the sand of the sea, and as the stars of heaven, and that from his loins should spring forth Messiah, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, then he would offer up Isaac, for God was certainly able to perform that which He promised, and to raise Isaac, even from the dead, as He brought him forth from the deadness of Sarah's womb.

So we have recorded in Scripture for us "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure" (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham knew that the Seed of promise was to proceed from his loins, and by faith he looked ahead to a future time, when on Mount Moriah, God would "provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:8), the Lamb who would take away the sin of the world, who would die "in the stead of his son" (Genesis 22:13). Not in the place of his son only, but for the whole world. Wherefore he received Isaac "in a figure", or type, of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews of His day, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). Abraham looked ahead to Calvary and did see the grace and mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. "I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy . . . And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation" (Psalm 31:7, 35:9).

The Seed of Isaac

"And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him" (Genesis 17:19).

After the death of Sarah, Abraham had many sons from his second wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-4). Also, from Sarah's handmaid Hagar was born Ishmael, who was the firstborn of Abraham, but the Lord told Abraham "as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year" (Genesis 17:20-21). To Ishmael would be born many offspring, but he was the product of the flesh, and unbelief of both Sarah and Abraham. But Isaac was the child of promise, even the promise of God, who would carry the seed of the promised Messiah, "for in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12).

The apostle Paul likened this situation to an allegory. "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman" (Galatians 4:22). He would say that Ishmael, who was born of the bond maid Hagar, was born after the flesh, whereas Isaac, who was born of the free woman, Sarah, was "by promise" (v. 23), or "born after the Spirit" (v. 29). The first was the product of man, or the natural, the second was wholly of God according to His promise, whose birth was supernatural, where life was brought forth from the dead. This corresponds to the Bible believing Christian who was once dead in his sins, but has now been made alive in Christ Jesus. "Even you hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead in tresspasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). Paul would say, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise . . . we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free" (v. 28, 31), who "were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" ((John 1:13).

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Romans 9:8). The flesh will in no wise be an heir with those who are born of the Spirit, for "what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman" (Galatians 4:30). "And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac" (Genesis 25:5). What a wonderful picture this is of our inheritance that we have in Christ Jesus. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Through the new birth, we become an "heir of the righteousness which is by faith" (Hebrews 11:7). "Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17).

"Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:7). Now that we have become children of promise, even of the Spirit, and have been set free from bondage of the law, sin, and death, Paul admonishes us to "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).

The Seed of Jacob

"And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of" (Genesis 28:10-15).

Again God, reiterated his promise to the seed of Abraham. This time to Jacob, who was the son of Isaac. God said, "Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land" (Genesis 35:10-12). Jacob had twelve sons who made up the twelve tribes of the nation Israel (Genesis 29-30, 35:16-20). His sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin and Judah.

From Jacob would proceed God's earthly people, the nation Israel, who would be as the "dust of the earth". To them was given the unconditional promise of the land "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18).

The Seed of Judah

"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:8-10).

Here we have one of the most remarkable prophecies of the coming Messiah given to Jacob 1700 years before the coming of the Saviour. As we have seen, the covenant and promises that God had made with Abraham, was reconfirmed with Isaac and then Jacob.

Now one of the twelve sons of Jacob needed to be designated as His progenitor. Jacob did not choose his first son Reuben, nor his favorite son, Joseph, nor the son of his favorite wife, Benjamin. Instead he chose Judah, his fourth son by divine direction.

It was yet six hundred years although, before Judah gained ascendancy over the twelve tribes. The greatest of leaders were from other tribes. Moses and Samuel were from Levi, Joshua from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, and Samson from Dan.

Nevertheless, of all Jacob's sons, none was more fitting as a type of Christ than Judah. If we would recall the marvellous story from Genesis, Joseph was rejected by his brethren and sold as a slave into Egypt. It was here, unbeknownst to his brothers that he ascended to be the right hand of Pharoah. When a great famine in the land the children of Jacob had to go into Egypt to buy food. It was here that such an amazing story is played out, not only for Joseph but for Judah as he portrayed Christ like attributes when dealing with his younger brother Benjamine.

To be brief, Benjamine was condemned as a thief when the bag he held was found to contain Pharoah's cup. Therefore it was decreed that Benjamine was to be made a slave forever to Pharoah. Judah knowing that his father could not bear the agony of the loss of Benjamine, especially after he had lost Joseph, thought it possible fthat he might bear Benjamine's punishment in substitution, that he would take Benjamine's bag, and Judah would take his.

Though Judah was innocent of this crime, he sought for Benjamine to be spared for his father's sake, and was willing to be pronounced guilty in the stead of Benjamine. His willingness to give his own life in the place of his brother, for the sake of his father, became a most beautiful type of Christ. His willingness to sacrifice himself, the innocent for the guilty, so the lad could go up to be with his father. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1Peter 3:18). "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

However, when it came time for a king to arise from the tribe of Judah, what did Israel do? They chose Saul who was a Benjamite. But according to the prophecy, it would not be a Benjamite who would hold the scepter, but one from the tribe of Judah. Saul's heart turned from the Lord and did not keep the commandment of God, so the Lord "sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people" (1 Samuel 13:4). This was David, the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. David said, "the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel" (1 Chronicles 28:4).

The scepter was then held by Judah for one thousand years until Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus' parents were both from the tribe of Judah giving him the legal and spiritual right to the throne of David. But seventy years after the birth of Christ, the scepter departed from Judah with the worldwide dispersion of Israel according to the prophecy of Jacob. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come". Shiloh is recognized as a name for the Messiah, and since Shiloh has already come, the scepter has departed from Judah, that is, the rule of Judah over the twelve tribes of Israel. The fulfillment of this prophecy proves that the Messiah has already come. Christ still holds the scepter, and when he returns, then "unto Him shall the gathering of the people be", and He shall rule over all the earth with a scepter of iron.

Today, it would be impossible to identify the Messiah genealogically, for all the genealogical records, which were stored in Herod's Temple, were destroyed in AD 70, when the Romans burned Herod's Temple. If one arose today of the nation Israel claiming to be the Messiah, there could only be uncertainty as to which tribe he belonged.

A poll was recently asked of many Jews in the land of Israel, How then, would they recognize the Messiah? The answer was unanimous, they said that He would bring peace. But to their terror they will accept one who "shall come in peacably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries" (Daniel 11:21). He will confirm a covenant with many for seven years (Daniel 9:27), but "by peace shall destroy many" (Daniel 8:25). Jesus said, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43).

The Seed of David

"Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Samuel 7:8-16).

God had made an unconditional covenant with David (Jeremiah 33:15-26), that of the seed of his loins would one rise up to sit upon his throne and rule over the seed of Jacob forever. In the Psalms the Lord tells us "I have exalted one chosen out of the people . . . I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. . . . My covenant will I not break, not alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as the faithful witness in heaven" (Psalm 89:19, 27-29, 34-37).

You might ask, how could this be, that one man would rule forever seeing that all men die? How could any rule from the grave? He might rule for a season, but then he would go back to the dust, and another would succeed him. Is this not the observable evidence that we have seen down through the centuries? Yet we are told that this "exalted one" would have a house, and a kingdom, and a throne that will be established forever. Therefore, he would need to have an endless life. Is there such an one from the seed of David? or would one rise from the dead to sit upon his throne? Certainly this could be the only way that one might reign forever.

David foretold this in the Psalms, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:10). Peter quoted this verse on the Day of Pentecost to the people Israel saying "God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:30-32). That day 3000 souls believed the gospel and were saved when Peter preached through Jesus Christ the resurrection from the dead.

Not only would Christ be forever the King of Glory upon His throne, but "he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" (Zechariah 6:13). David also foretold in the Psalms "The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4). Again, how could one be a priest forever when all men die? Could any of the High Priests of the Aaronic order claim this? Is one yet standing in his office today? No! This is why "they were truly many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death" (Hebrews 7:23). But Jesus Christ was made an priest "after the power of an endless life" (Hebrews 7:23). "Because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood . . . who is consecrated for evermore." (Hebrews 7:24, 28)

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's, for this he did once, when he offered up himself" (Hebrews 7:25-27).

The Seed of Mary

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshdow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:30-35).

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

The father of John the Baptist prophesied, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham" (Luke 1:68-73). This he spake concerning Jesus, who was spoken of by the prophets since the world began, who was the seed promised to Abraham.

If we can refer back to the first mention of the coming seed, we will recall that the seed was to be of the woman. This woman was a daughter of David, and we will find her genealogy mentioned in the book of Luke, which goes all the way back to God. In the book of Matthew we will find the genealogy of her husband Joseph, which goes back only as far as Abraham. Her husband Joseph was only the step-father of Jesus, for Mary was a virgin when she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Jesus was the Son of God, the "child of the Holy Ghost", who is fully God. He is also fully man, being born of a woman, called "the Son of Man".

When we look at the two genealogies mentioned in Matthew and Luke, we will find that there are discrepancies between the two records beginning with the offspring of David (Matthew 1:6, and Luke 3:31). The reason being, is that Matthew records the genealogy of Joseph, while Luke records the genealogy of Mary. While both are descendants from David, Joseph was a descendant of Solomon, whereas Mary was a descendant of Nathan, who were both the sons of David (2 Samuel 5:13-14). From that point the genealogies are different, and branch off to their respective descendants. But we will find that Solomon's line, of whom Joseph was a descendant would be cut off from having an heir to sit on the throne forever.

On the deathbed of David, he charged his son Solomon to walk in the way of the Lord, and to keep His statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies. The Lord told David, "If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel" (1 Kings 2:1-4). Again, David said that the Lord had chosen Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom and that he would build a house for the Lord. The Lord told David, "I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my judgments, as at this day. . . but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever" (1 Chronicles 28:5-10).

The promise of God to David was sure and unconditional, that of his loins, would one be established to rule from his throne forever. But it was not so for Solomon. His offer was conditional, for it included an "if". And what is the tragic account that we find of Solomon? "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods" (1 Kings 11:1-8).

Solomon's "heart was turned from the Lord", and "he kept not that which the Lord commanded" in going after other gods. "Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant" (1 Kings 11:11). This led to the division of the kingdom (North and South), and in time, the carrying away of the northern kingdom (Ephraim or Israel) into captivity by the Chaldeans, and some one hundred and twenty-five years later, the carrying away of the southern kingdom (Judah) by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

Preceding the time of the Babylonian captivity, Judah had sunk into the depths apostasy. Jehoiakim was king over Judah at that time. We read in the genealogy of Joseph, who was a descendant of Solomon, "And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon" (Matthew 1:11). The genealogy mentioned in the OT is that "Josias begat Jehoiakim, who begat Jechonias" (1 Chronicles 3:15-18). In Matthew's genealogical record, we find Jehoiakim stricken from the genealogy perhaps because of his terrible apostasy, even burning the scroll of Jeremiah the prophet. Because of Jehoiakim's terrible apostasy, the Lord pronounced, "thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost" (Jeremiah 36:30).

Jehoiakim's son Jechonias (otherwise known as Jehoiachin or Jechoniah or Coniah) was none the better, who turned from the Lord God to pagan idolatry. Because of Jechonias' (Coniah) apostasy he was judged by the Lord. "As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence . . . And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. . . Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? . . . Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah" (Jeremiah 22:24-30).

Thus it is clear to see that the line of Solomon was disqualified to have an heir upon the throne of David forever. Joseph was a descendant of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, who was a descendant of Solomon (Matthew 1:6,11-12, 16). When Jesus was born, Joseph had no part in his birth. "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:22-23). Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, who was a daughter of David, through David's son Nathan.

Jesus The Seed

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" (Galatians 3:16).

If there was ever any question as to whom the promised Seed is, from the above verse, we can rest assured that it is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. To Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He is the One who was promised from the foundation of the world, to redeem man from sin and it's consequences, and to restore the kingdom that was lost because of sin, and reign over all the earth. In the second Psalm, the Father speaking to the Son, says, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psalm 2:8). Jesus Christ shall reign from sea to sea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, but there is more wonderful news, and it is that the saints of the Most High God shall partake of His reign with Him.

So, before we press on towards the coming kingdom, we must consider what may be called the "Spiritual Seed" of Abraham, that is, those who are in Christ Jesus, who inherit all the promises with Christ. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" (Daniel 7:27).

Spiritual Seed

"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29).

The promises were made to Abraham and his seed, and we too receive the blessing of Abraham through faith in Christ. When we have believed the Gospel, we received the "Spirit of Christ" and are imputed with His righteousness. "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. . . .That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:6-9, 14).

Men are saved today the same way that Abraham was saved. In the New Testament, we are told "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). And how was Abraham saved? He believed God, he put his faith and trust in the Word of God. He believed in the promise of God, that he should have a seed, and a very numerous one. He believed that the Messiah would spring from his seed. He believed in him as his Saviour and Redeemer. He believed in him for righteousness, and he believed in his righteousness as justifying him before God.

In the book of Genesis we have written, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (Genesis 15:1). That same Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Now the Scriptures tell us that Abraham "believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). Abraham's act of faith was not imputed to him for righteousness, neither the promise that he believed, but what was promised, and that which was promised, that his faith received, even Christ and his righteousness. Saving faith always has an object, and this was imputed to Abraham without works.

Time and again we are admonished from the Scriptures to "be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philipians 3:9). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us . . . Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5-6). In Jesus Christ was manifest "the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man" (Titus 3:4). "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7). But for the most part, the religious are "ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4).

The "word of the Lord" said to Abraham, "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." My dear reader, if you are not behind the shield of the Almighty God you are without hope, and will surely perish. There is no protection for you outside of God. You may hold up your feeble little righteousness which you think you have, but it is just as chaff on the summer threshing floors, which will be blown away with the breath of the Almighty, and there you will be left naked. Will you not trust God to save you through the Lord Jesus Christ?

The righteousness of Jesus Christ is our only shield against the wrath of the Most Holy God against sin and unrighteousness. When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ and the object of our faith is nothing less than His blood and righteousness, He becomes our exceeding great reward, and our portion forever. We become children of God. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). The promise to Abraham and his seed, that he should be heir of the world was not through the law, "but through the righteousness of faith" (Romans 4:13). "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16).

All the covenantal promises were to Abraham and his seed which is Christ, and in Christ, we too become partakers of his promises. "The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Galatians 3:22). We who were "strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12), through faith become "partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). There is nothing that can render void "the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ" (Galatians 3:17), for "God gave it to Abraham by Promise" (Galatians 3:18).

The Gospel of the Kingdom

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Matthew 3:1-3).

What a wonderful sound this must have been to the ears of those believing Jews who were waiting for the consolation of Israel. The promise od God was that the Messiah would come to redeem and rule over the nation Israel and all the earth. They must have wondered after so many centuries, Could this be the time of our visitation and the coming of the Messiah? Could this be the fullness of time when God would send forth his Son to restore the kingdom back to Israel? This was the message of John the Baptist, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." His mission was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. John's ministry lasted until the baptism of Jesus, then he was imprisoned, and subsequently beheaded by Herod.

"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). The time was fulfilled that all the prophets of Israel had previously spoken of, that Christ should come. And as He went forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom, He shewed forth many signs and wonders, healing all manner of sickness and disease (Matthew 4:23-25), to authenticate His message, that was before preached by John the Baptist, and great multitudes of people followed Him.

John bore witness unto the truth. "He was a burning and a shining light" that the nation Israel was willing for a season to rejoice in, but Jesus said "I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me" (John 5:36). And through his signs and miracles all people were amazed and questioned, "Is not this the son of David?" (Matthew 12:23) "And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?" (John 7:31). Jesus not only gave the "character of the kingdom" and the "constitution of the kingdom", in His "sermon on the mount" (Matthew 5-7), but gave a foretaste of the kingdom blessings through those miracles which He did.

Jesus also sent forth his disciples with power, to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and to confirm their word with signs following. (Mark 16:20, Matthew 10:1-8, Luke 10:1-20, Hebrews 2:3-4) When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples to ask Him, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" "Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me" (Matthew 11:3-6). Surely Jesus was the Christ who should come.

Sometime later, Jesus asked of his disciples a question after they had gone preaching the gospel of the kingdom throughout Israel. He asked them "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" Although the apostles knew and believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, the response of the nation Israel was sad. "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets" (Matthew 16:13-19). Nationally speaking, Israel did not recognize her Messiah. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:10-11). "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (Isaiah 1:2-3). As Christ's rejection became more apparent, Jesus started speaking about how he would be betrayed, and that he would be delivered into the hands of the Scribes and Pharisees, to be persecuted and killed and should rise again the third day.

The prophet Zechariah said, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. . . and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth" (Zechariah 9:9-10). But when Christ came in fulfillment of that prophecy, did Israel crown Him as King? Nay, but said "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15), and four days later they crowned him with thorns. When Christ entered the temple did they worship him as Lord? Nay, they "consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him" (Matthew 26:4). When Christ came to his own, did they bend the knee and confess him as Lord? Nay, but said "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14). When Christ came before Pilate did they give him a throne? Nay, "But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. . . And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst" (John 19:15-18).

The King of Glory had come to His own, and the kingdom was offered to Israel in the person of Jesus Christ, but he was despised and rejected of men. He came unto his own but his own recieved him not, and they nailed Him to the tree. Jesus foretold all of this in two of his parables, The Wicked Husbandman (Matthew 21:33-44), and The Marriage of the Kings Son (Matthew 22:1-10). Because they did not recognize the time of their visitation, they were told "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:43). Jesus said their house of worship would be left desolate, and they would not see him again until they say "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:39).

However sad this news may sound, and indeed it was sad news for the nation Israel, for through their rejection of the King they lost the kingdom they so earnestly desired. But through their rejection of Christ and His crucifixion, the Good News of salvation was brought to the whole world, for Jesus Christ "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). He became the sin offering to satisfy the just demands of a Holy God against sin. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all . . . he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5-6). His soul was made "an offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10), and when God did see the travail of his soul, He was "satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11). By His shed blood the ransom price was paid to redeem us from all our iniquities and the bondage of death.

Through His death, burial and resurrection, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, and risen from the dead might be proclaimed to a lost world. Now, "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Through faith in His vicarious death "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), the recipient of Christ is washed from their "sins in His own blood" (Revelation 1:6). He is justified by faith, and has peace with God (Romans 5:1) through the cross of Christ. Now as many as will receive Him, will be delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of his dear Son. In Him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Hallelujah!

Howbeit, what of the kingdom? And when would it be? After Christ's death burial and resurrection "he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God . . . When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:3, 6). The Lord's response to them was "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8). The kingdom would be postponed. But for a very good reason, that Christ might be "a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47), and "take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14).

God had now started a whole new program consisting of called out ones, "eklesia" (Gr.), or "the church". Israel was to be set aside "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25), and the Bride of Christ formed. This period is called "the dispensation of the grace of God" (Ephesians 3:2), or the "dispensation of the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:7), or by many the Day of Grace, where whosoever (Jew or Gentile) will believe the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour by faith alone, will be saved from the wrath to come.

When we receive Jesus Christ we receive the gift of righteousness, that is, the righteousness of Christ. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). May we "be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philipians 3:9). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us . . . through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7). So, for the time being, Israel has been set aside until the time and season that God has put in his own power.

What Comes Next?

The prophet Daniel was told in his most wonderful prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:24-27), that 490 years (70x7=490) were determined upon the nation Israel and the Holy city, Jerusalem, "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." In short, redemption and the kingdom would come to Israel through the Messiah after the allotted time (490 years). But it also says that after 483 years "shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself" (v. 26). This is what happen to the exact day when Israel's Messiah was rejected and crucified after His presentation to Israel.

The start of the 490 years was "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem" (v. 25). This command was given by Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2), and is dated Nisan, 445 BC. From that time to the cutting off of the Messiah was 483 years. This left seven years hanging in the balance. Before everlasting righteousness would be brought in for Israel, they must go through the period known as "Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), the "Great Tribulation" (Matthew 24:21), or the "time of trouble" (Daniel 12:1), which we know as Daniel's Seventieth Week.

But for now, as we have mentioned, God has a new program called the Church, and has set aside the nation Israel until the appointed time. We now stand in the gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy. We are between verses five and six of chapter twelve in the book of the Revelation. The church in the OT period was a mystery "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:5-6, 2:11-18).

This program will continue until the rapture of the church, which is the next event to take place on God's prophetic timetable. "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 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" (1Thessalonians 4:16-18). The phrase "shall be caught up" comes from the Greek word "harpazo". This is were we get our English word "harpoon", and the thought behind it is that of a great whale being snatched out of the sea. The church will be snatched out of this world, and this will bring to an end God's program on the earth for the Church. This event will usher in the "Great Tribulation", the time of "Jacob's Trouble" (remember Jacob's name was changed to Israel), the period where God will be dealing once again with the nation Israel and Jerusalem, to complete the 490 years determined.

The Great Tribulation

The sequence of events according to the Scriptures is thus:
1. The Rapture
2. The Great Tribulation (seven years)
3. Christ's Returns to the earth to set up His Kingdom.

During the Age of Grace, the church was to be a witness for Jesus Christ unto the ends of the world (Acts 1:8), but after the rapture of the church, and the Body of Christ is taken out of the world to be with the Lord, the question arises, who will now be a witness for God? Jesus said, "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). With all the true believers gone, who will preach the gospel? The Lord even said that "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come" (Matthew 10:23). There is yet seven years after the rapture before Christ comes, so, who will complete the task of evangelizing the whole world, and to go over the cities of Israel?

We are told "that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:25-26). After the fullness of the Gentiles come in, the nation Israel will receive her sight, and shall be saved out of that period called the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). The Lord will once again turn His eyes upon Israel, and bring them back from their captivity, and restore them as a nation. "And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this[after God takes out of the Gentiles a people for His name] I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things" (Acts 15:15-17).

So the question remains, How shall Israel be saved, now that all the true Bible believing witnesses have vanished off the face of the earth? The Bible tells us "by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8), and that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). If this "faith comes by hearing the word", Who will preach the gospel that they might believe? "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (Romans 10:14-15). After the rapture, the church will not be there to preach the Word, but, the Scriptures are clear, the Lord never leaves Himself without a witness (Acts 14:17).

Under the Jewish economy (and during the tribulation, God will be dealing primarily with the Jews) at least two witnesses were required to establish a matter (Deuteronomy 19:15, John 8:17, Matthew 18:16). When Christ sent forth the apostles to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6), he sent "them forth by two and two" (Mark 6:7) to preach the gospel of the kingdom. When Christ appointed the Seventy, He also "sent them two and two" (Luke 10:1), preaching "The kingdom of God is come nigh" (Luke 10:9). Jesus would testify "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me" (Luke 10:16). These were witnesses for Him, and He sent them forth with authority and power.

The apostles did not follow "cunningly devised fables" but were "eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). They were eyewitnesses to His death, burial and resurrection (Luke 24:46-48). After the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father in heaven, they brought to a lost world, the good news of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile, beginning at Jerusalem. They commanded those who received Christ to continue this task of evangelizing the world (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:2).

But now, during the Tribulation, who could testify as a witness, in a Jewish sense, to the nation of Israel, who requires two eye witnesses to establish a matter? Would God bring someone back from the dead for such a task? Would the Lord resurrect a few of the apostles or prophets to bring such testimony to the lost nation of Israel? In fact, how else could it be, for the death and resurrection of Christ was an historical happening that took place two thousand years ago?

My Two Witnesses

In the book of the Revelation we find two such witnesses. "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth" (Revelation 11:3).

Who might these two be? Who witness for the first three and one half years of the Great Tribulation? We are told "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth" (Revelation 11:4). We have mention of these in the book of Zechariah in chapter four. They are Joshua, the high priest, and Zerrubable, the governor of Israel. These were the two leaders of Israel, who when they were come back from the Babylonian Captivity, "builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon" (Ezra 3:2), to establish true worship in Jerusalem once again after their seventy year exile from the land of Israel.

Are the two witnesses in the Revelation actually Joshua and Zerrubable? I do not believe so, but certainly Joshua and Zerrubable, and the circumstances surrounding them, are a type of those two in the Revelation.

Firstly, as the nation Israel was gathered back to their land after the Babylonian captivity, so too, in the latter days, the Lord God said that he would gather Israel out of the four corners of the world and bring them back into their homeland once again. The prophet Hosea tells us that "the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:4-5).

The prophet Isaiah proclaimed "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:11-12).

Secondly, in the Revelation John said, "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" (Revelation 11:1). True worship will once again take place in Israel, under the Jewish economy, and the children of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and worship Him. This I believe will be the result of the ministry of the two witnesses, which we have pictured for us in the Old Testament, for when "the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem" (Not as Israel and Judah), Joshua and Zerrubable "builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon . . . for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries" (Ezra 3:1-3). Even today, we can see how the hostility of the nations is mounting up against Israel. This growing tension, I believe will also lead them to sign a peace treaty with antichrist (Daniel 9:27), which will be a "covenant with death" (Isaiah 28:15).

Although Joshua and Zerrubable may be a type of the two witnesses in the Revelation, we still must ask, Who then are these two witnesses? The last book of the Old Testament tells us, "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" (Malachi 4:4-6). Was it just a coincidence that these two men, Moses and Elijah, were seen with Christ when He was transfigured before Peter, James and John. "And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." (Luke 9:30-31).

I believe these two, who came to speak to Christ of his decease which He should accomplish, are the same two men who bore witness to His death, burial and resurrection. When Mary Magdalene and the other women went on the first day of the week to anoint the body of Christ "they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again" (Luke 24:2-7).

I believe that it was these same two men who also bore witness to the ascension of Christ, and gave testimony of His coming again. After Christ had given the apostles their commission, "he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:9-11). I ask the question, Who else could bear witness to the fact of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ during the Great Tribulation, and of His soon return to set up His kingdom? None other than these "two men".

Some may protest saying that these "two men" were angels, for in John's account, he mentions "two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain" (John 20:12), and that is O.K., but, we must remember, that while the Greek word "aggelos", is usually translated as angel, it is also translated as messenger, which is the primary meaning of the word, whether the messenger be an angel or man. John says it was two angels, but Luke says that it was two men, and this would not be a contradiction of terms. Even John the Baptist was called an angel ("my messenger", Gr. aggelos). (Note: To see where "aggelos" refers to men, look to Luke 7:24, 27, 9:52, Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, James 2:25, etc.)

This I believe will be the testimony of the two witnesses, Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead, who has ascended up on high and is soon to return and set up his kingdom. Their message will be the same as John the Baptist who came "in the spirit and power of Elias" (Luke 1:17), "saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), and testifying, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). Neither is there salvation in any other. This message will be preached with power and will be authenticated with divine manifestations from heaven. "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" (Revelation 11:5-6).

I believe that it will be them who will establish true worship back to Israel through their prophetic teaching ministry, which takes place during the first three and one half years of the tribulation. The fruit of their ministry will result in the conversion of 144,000 Jews (Revelation 7:1-8), who "were redeemed from the earth . . . which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth . . . being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb" (Revelation 14:3-4).

These in turn will extend the gospel of Christ to the ends of the world, to be a witness to all nations, whereby "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (Rev. 7:9) are saved, having "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14). During the Tribulation many will be "slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Revelation 6:9), but these overcome the devil "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" for they "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:11, 17).

The prophet Joel foretold of "those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem" (Joel 3:1), saying "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. . . And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call" (Joel 2:28-29, 32).

Salvation in our Lord shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness unto all nations beginning with the "two witnesses". Israel will find repentance through the ministry of these two. Then the "hundred and forty four thousand Jews" will bring the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the world. They will have accomplished in seven years what the church could not do in two thousand years.

Some have placed the two witnesses as Elijah and Enoch. The main reason for this is that both Enoch and Elijah were translated to heaven without dieing. The Bible tells us that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27), and so given that they did not yet die, they two could be these witnesses. Moses on the other hand died and was buried in a sepulchur before entering the promised land, and therefore, since he had died once, could not die again as these "two witnesses" are slain after their three and one half year ministry.

However, apart from that, Moses does seem to be a better fit. The miracles that these two are similar to the miracles that Moses did in Egypt. Also, Elijah is mentioned alongside Moses at the end of the Old Testament which speaks of Elijah's coming at the end of the age. Furthermore, there are exceptions in the Bible as to the dieing "once". There is a generation that will never die, but will be raptured and their bodies translated into glorified bodies when Christ returns. Also, there were some who were raised from the dead such as Lazarus, who was four days in the grave and his body already decayed, whom Christ raised in an immortal body and yet died again, as well as others. So because Moses had died once already would not necessarily disqualify him as one of the two witnesses.

It is also stated that Enoch will be a witness to the gentile nations while Elijah will be the minister to the nation of Israel. However, as stated earlier, the witness of the 144,000 Jews will stretch across the world to the gentile nations, so Enoch is not required to minister to the gentile nations. It was Israel whom God had chosen to be a witness to God and a light to the gentiles, and now, where they failed in the past, will have this glorious opportunity to fulfill their mission during the last ingathering of the saints in the last days.

Daniel's Seventieth Week

Daniel's Seventieth Week (seven years) is divided up into two, three and one half year divisions, consisting of 42 months each, or 1260 days. As we have said, all true believers or witnesses were taken out of the world prior to the Seventieth Week, so God sends forth His "Two Witnesses" to bring the good news to the yet unregenerate nation of Israel.

They will set up an altar and begin making sacrifices on the Temple Mount. These sacrifices will likely be used as an instructional and disciplinary instrument for the nation Israel by the two witnesses, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. These sacrifices will not take away sin, "for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4), neither could they purge the "conscience" (Hebrews 9:9, 14). They will have nothing to do with eternal salvation which only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood once for all on Calvary's cross.

It was possible however, in the Old Testament economy, as it will be in the future, for the "the blood of bulls and of goats . . . [to] sanctify to the purifying of the flesh" (Hebrews 9:13), and to purge "the vessels of the ministry" (Hebrews 9:18-22). Christ did not shed his blood for the cleansing of any physical altar, or vessels of the sanctuary, but those future sacrifices will be used for ceremonial cleansing (Hebrews 9:13, 21-22), and outward sanctification of the Israelite priests, and of the vessels, according to the Israelite form of worship, which will continue into the millennium (Isaiah 56:6-7, 66:19-20, Ezekiel 40:38-43, 42:13, 43:18-27, 45:15-25, 46:2-25, 46:20-24, etc.) during the reign of Christ, when the glory of God will return to the temple (Ezekiel 10:4, 18, 11:23, 43:4-5), and the divine presence of God will once again be in the land.

The nation Israel has not yet been able to set up an altar due to the political and religious circumstances that now revolves around the Temple Mount. But these two witnesses will make it possible for Israel to establish a place of worship on the Temple Mount once again according to the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-37, 33:15-26). They will receive power from above to authenticate their ministry and testimony, and if any try to come against them, they will devour their enemies with fire that proceeds out of their mouth. They also "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" (Revelation 11:6). Through their testimony, during the first half of the tribulation, the nation Israel will be converted and restored back to God.

"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" (Revelation 11:7). Jesus made an interesting statement saying "it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" (Luke 13:33). This would further establish the fact that these two witnesses are Moses and Elijah, for they both were never in Jerusalem before this time.

It is during the last half of the seven years (1260 days) that the beast (antichrist) is given power (Daniel 7:25, Revelation 13:5) to continue. After the antichrist slays the two witnesses, the world "worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation 13:4). With these two taken out of the way, "in the midst of the week he (antichrist) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Daniel 9:27), which the two witnesses established on the Temple Mount, and the beast sets up the abomination that makes desolate in the holy place (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 7:25, 11:31, 12:11, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-13), likely an idol of himself (Revelation 13:15).

From the midst of the tribulation, the beast begins to make war with the saints and the remnant of Israel (Revelation 13:7, 12:13-17), and "them which be in Judaea" are told to flee to the mountains. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:16, 21). While Daniel's Seventieth Week as a whole is known as the "tribulation", the latter half is known as the "Great Tribulation", or "the great and dreadful day of the LORD", when Satan will conspire to gather all the nations of the earth to destroy the remnant of Israel. But at that time, the Lord shall return in all His Glory with His saints, and He will seek to destroy all those nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:8-10, 14:1-5, Joel 3, Revelation 19, Jeremiah 30)

In that day shall all Israel be saved, for the Lord "will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zechariah 12:10). "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 12:1). "And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (Daniel 12:1).

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.

E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy wounds supplied for me,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall for ever be.
 
 

When Christ Returns

Several things will take place upon the return of Christ. The wicked are slain at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14, 16, 19:19, 21 ). The beast and the false prophet are "cast alive into the lake of fire" (Revelation 19:20). Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3, Isaiah 24:19-23), during the millennial reign of Christ. Those who were saved and died during the tribulation, both of the nation Israel and of the gentile nations, will partake in the first resurrection as did the church seven years earlier (Daniel 12:1-2).

Christ shall sit upon the throne of His glory, and all the nations which are left from the battle of Armageddon shall be gathered together before Him to be judged. Here the sheep and goat nations shall be divided. To those on the right he will say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). But those on the left "shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46, 13:30, 41-42, 49). The judgment of the nations will likely take seventy five days (Daniel 12:12, 1335 - 1260=75).

Thirty days (1290-1260=30, Daniel 12:11) shall be spent cleansing and sanctifying the temple (2 Chronicles 29-30). Seven months shall be spent cleansing the land from the battle of Armageddon (Ezekiel 39:11-16). Seven years shall be spent burning all the implements of war (Ezekiel 39:8-10). The land of Egypt will be made desolate for forty years for her treatment of Israel (Ezekiel 29:11-16).

At the beginning of the tribulation, all believers were removed from the earth. Contrary to this, all unbelievers will be removed at the beginning of the Millennium. Therefore, only born again believers, who endure to the end of the tribulation shall enter into the blessing of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. The marriage of the Lamb will have taken place in heaven, and now the marriage supper will take place on the earth (Revelation 19:7-9, Matthew 25:1-13, 26:29, Luke 13:28-29, Psalm 45).

Christ will sit upon the throne of His father David (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:32), and His reign shall be from sea to sea (Zechariah 9:9-10). He will rule with a rod of iron and will put down all evil (Psalm 2, 110). Crime, corruption and war will all be eliminated. Glorified men will reign with Christ, and serve as kings and Melchizedekian-type priests under His rule (Revelation 1:6, 2:26-27, 3:21, 5:10, 20:4-6).

Israel shall come under the promises and blessings of the covenants (Genesis 12:1-3, Deuteronlmy 30:1-6, Genesis 13:14-17, Psalm 89, 2 Samuel 7), and Israel shall be the head of the nations (Deuteronomy 28:13, Isaiah 60). Gods Word shall go forth from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3, Zechariah 8:20-23), and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). All the nations of the earth shall go up year to year on the feast of tabernacles to worship the King (Zechariah 14:16-21, (Ezekiel 45:25).

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 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 will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:2-4).

During the millennium there will be Edenic type conditions (Ezekiel 36:34-35, Isaiah 35, 51:3, 27:6), and life will be greatly prolonged (Isaiah 65:20-25). Those who entered into the millennial kingdom did so in non-glorified bodies, and will repopulate the earth. There will be a great population explosion (Genesis 13:16), for sickness and disease will be vanquished (Isaiah 33:24, 35:5-6, Jeremiah 30:17, 33:6). But those who are born during the millennium, like today, will need to be born again.

While there might be outward conformity during the reign of Christ, as today, many of the hearts will not have been changed and there will once again be a great rebellion by untold billions when Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit for a little season (Revelation 20:7-10) at the end of the millennium.

The terrible tragedy for those who have witnessed untold blessings under the reign of Christ, and follow Satan's lead, will be fire from heaven to devour them, and they shall not escape. Perhaps the thousand years that Satan is bound will be to answer Eve's reply when she sinned, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12). Satan will be no longer around to "deceive the nations" (Revelation 20:3) during the Millenium, and it will be shown that the heart of the problem of mankind is just that, the heart, which is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).

The Final Judgment

Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire that burns with brimstone and he shall be tormented forever, night and day (Revelation 20:10). The Great White Throne judgment will then take place where the unrighteous of all ages will be resurrected to stand before the righteous Judge whom God has appointed. Those who are not found written in the Lamb's book of life will be cast into the lake of fire, which will be their portion for all eternity. Finally death (abode of the body) and hell (abode of the spirit) are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death (Revelation 20:11-15).

What a bitter end this will be for those who now look with contempt upon the Bible. There is probably no doctrine of the Bible more hated by unbelievers than the doctrine of everlasting punishment. Hell is ever bit as real as heaven. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh" (Isaiah 66:24). Jesus warned, "it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where. . . the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). Christ will say to the goats on his left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels . . . these shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:41, 46). Paul also warned that those "who obey not the gospel . . . shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). For those who have rejected or ignored God’s infinite grace and Christ’s infinite love in dying for their sins, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrewa 10:26, 27). Everlasting contempt, everlasting fire, everlasting destruction, and everlasting punishment await all those who reject God and His Christ through the Word.

The Eternal Kingdom

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 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 upon 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" (Revelation 21:1-7).

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17).

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).