The Bride of Christ in the Last Days - Part Two

Chapter 10

Leading Up to the Bridegroom’s Return for His Bride

Everything in its season. “The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away” (Song of Solomon 2:13). The time is ripe. When the bridegroom’s father was satisfied that the bridegroom had properly prepared the addition to his house for his bride and that all was prepared properly, then comes the time for the bridegroom to leave his father’s house to retrieve his bride and bring her back with him:

Jesus promised His Church this would happen:

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

A bride was always to be watching and looking for the day of her husband’s return for her, with eagerness and expectation. No one but the bridegroom’s father knew the day this would happen, and so for the bridegroom and the bride it was an unexpected. A dutiful bride would not want to be caught unaware and unprepared and she would always be ready for him. In like manner, the Church must be so minded:

“so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:10-14).

“Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13).

“Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6).

Like a Jewish bride, every generation of the Church has eagerly expected Christ’s return for her, hoping, longing, and expecting that it would happen in their lifetime. And so they should, if they are devoted to Him – this is nothing surprising and should not cause us discomfort to see Believers a thousand years ago hoping Jesus would return in their day, for so the Bride ought always to be doing. And it would be well if the Church does not grow weary in these last days of longing and waiting for Him:

“But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth” (Luke 21:34-35).

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (Matthew 24:42-44).

In some ways, I take comfort in the fact that many in the Church today have grown weary of waiting for Jesus’ return, scoffing even at the idea of the rapture. The rapture has been so hyped in the 20th centuries in movies and books and popular Christian culture, that many younger generations have abandoned the doctrine. Perhaps that means we are closer to the end than we think, because many do not think He will come today.

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

33 “Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. 34 It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep.” (Mark 13:26-36).

Notice that just as the Jewish father of the groom alone knows the date when the bridegroom will be released to go and get his wife for the wedding, so we see only our Heavenly Father knows when He will send His Son to retrieve His Church.

The Bride would do well to devote herself to her wedding garment:

(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) (Revelation 16:15).

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:14-18).

The Bride must not only be watching and expectant, but also eager for her Husband’s return and not fear that day or be apprehensive about it:

“Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28-29).

“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 ‘For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one will live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ 39 But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith for the safekeeping of the soul” (Hebrews 10:35-39).

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

The Church will not shrink back at the return of Jesus – we must eagerly desire it!

What does Scripture teach us that the state of the world will be like as we near our Bridegroom’s return for us? Let’s see:

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39).

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

“Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. 12 And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13).

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But as for you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal up the book until the end of time; many will roam about, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:1-4).

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

“I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” (Jude 17-21).

Chapter 10

The Return of the Bridegroom for His Bride

The day has arrived! The Father has given His Son leave to fetch His bride!

Just as the bridegroom would make a commotion with shouts to alert the bride that he was ready to take her away, so:

“the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

It should not be missed that the Jewish Bridegroom came to bring his bride away to the “elevation”. How fitting that the Church will be elevated to meet Jesus in the air and from there proceed to be elevated with Him into Heaven itself where the feast will take place in due time.

In order for us to be compatible with Him, a change must happen in us – our perishable bodies of sin must put on immortality. At this moment, comes the glorification of our present bodies to be like Him.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

26 Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:16-30).

The Church is predestined to be conformed (made compatible) to Jesus Christ, so that she will be made of the same stuff that He is – a glorified, eternal body, made free from slavery to corruption (sin, pain, and death).

Speaking of our change, our conformation to the image of Jesus, our being made compatible with Him (like Him), and the glorification of our bodies, which occurs in the members of the Body of Christ during this moment of Christ’ return for us, Paul says:

“Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:50-55).

“Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. 15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to our God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is clear that this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

29 For otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 30 Why are we also in danger every hour? 31 I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily. 32 If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Sober up morally and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” The last Adam was a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. 48 As is the earthy one, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:12-49)

The author of Hebrews says that Believers in the Church age “have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:4b-5). This means that all the ACTS of the apostles and disciples of Christ were but a taste of the powers they would have during the Millennium. We see in Scripture that those in Christ could speak any language (Acts 2:6), heal physical trauma (Acts 20:10), repair bodies broken from birth (Acts 3:8), heal sickness and disease (Luke 10:9), had power over spirits that manipulate/possess people (Acts 16:18), could perform great wonders (Acts 6:8), bring dead people back to life (Acts 9:40), see the future (Acts 11:28), punish the ungodly (Acts 13:11), suffer no harm from dangerous animals (Acts 28:3-6), and much more. “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3)

At the moment the call goes forth, “The bridegroom has come, may the bride make herself ready!”, our bodies will cease being the bodies of death that are of earth, and they will be made the bodies of life like Jesus. John says, “Beloved, now we are children of God [the Father], and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He [God the Son, Jesus] appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). John is not saying we do not know if we will be His Church or His Bride at His coming, but rather that as a chaste virgin who has not tried to “know” Him before the time, we cannot now know exactly what it will be like. No betrothed bride can. So, it is impossible to say exactly what the Church will look like in the Resurrection. However, there is much we can discern from what John is saying here. I think it is safe to say that our resurrected bodies will be like Jesus’ resurrected body, and that the things He did here on earth are things we will do with Him.

In His resurrected body, Jesus could appear and disappear, eat food, “teleport”, ascend to Heaven among other things, which we will explore later.

As we are changed to be like Him, the Church will be united with Christ and ALWAYS be with the Lord from that moment on. In the same way, the earthly bridegroom would take his veiled bride, dressed in her wedding garment back to his father’s house where they would celebrate the Marriage Supper and then enter their closed chambers and consummate their marriage, so we see that during the Tribulation on earth, the angels declare, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride [wife] has made herself ready.’ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8).

There are Believers who think it strange that there are “two” comings of Jesus in the futurist or premillennialist understanding of the Scriptures, but the Jewish marriage ceremony makes sense of that when included in the coronation of a king. For the first “coming” of Jesus in 1 Thessalonians is made sense of with the husband’s retrieval of his wife from her father’s house to take her back to his father’s house where the wedding feast is and the prepared room for the consummation of their love. This is perfectly in harmony with the Scriptures, for Jesus does not step on the earth, but meets us in the air, exactly how in the Jewish tradition the bridegroom does not enter his wife’s father’s house when he comes to take her away, but stand outside and she is to leave her father’s house with her wedding garment and meet him outside and leave with him to go to the marriage supper at his father’s house. The harmony is beautifully striking. We’ll look at the actual coming of the Son of Man on the earth next, for as Revelation points out, this return happens after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But until then:

Chapter 11

The Seven Day Honeymoon

You could insert the entire Song of Solomon here, but we won’t: “Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. [ Others ] We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you” (Song of Solomon 1:4).

In the human example, as soon as the bride and bridegroom returned to his father’s house, they were hidden from the world in their chamber for seven days, enjoying their union, while their friends and guests celebrated for them outside. This could very well correspond to the seven-year Tribulation period on earth while the Church is “hidden” in Heaven with Christ:

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,“Hallelujah! For the Lord our Godthe Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’ – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:6-8).

Chapter 12

Meanwhile, Tribulation on Earth

While the Church is with her Lord in Heaven, the Man of Lawlessness has been revealed on Earth. It is widely believed among Bible scholars and Believers that the Man of Lawlessness cannot be revealed while the Holy Spirit is in the world. Below, Paul describes the Holy Spirit as “He” who restrains the Man of Lawlessness. And Paul states that the Holy Spirit must be removed before the Man of Lawlessness can be revealed:

“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God...And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8).

The Man of Lawlessness will be revealed when the Restrainer (the Holy Spirit) is removed from earth. The Holy Spirit is what has “sealed” Believers. It is our pledge as Christ’s Bride that He is coming for us. It is impossible that the Holy Spirit would be removed and the Birde remain. This must, then coincide with the return of Jesus to take away His Bride:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

The removal of the Holy Spirit easily coincides with the removal of the Church from earth, which sets off the Great Tribulation and judgment of earth.

The Great Tribulation of Earth

As the one true King, installed by God the Father Himself, only Jesus is found worthy in Heaven to break the seals of judgement and set them in motion. These are basically “sanctions” against earth, leading up to invasion because they will not repent:

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth’” (Revelation 5:9-10).

These seals are judgements that come upon the earth. Now that Christ has “receiving a kingdom” from His Father, the “grace period” to make peace with Him has come to an end.

In ancient times, when new Kings were coronated, all provinces and nations under his rule had to acknowledge him and offer obedience. A famous example occurred in Scotland when the Macdonald Clan’s acknowledgment of the new king was delayed in arriving and when the “grace period” to get right with the king ran out and their acknowledgment hadn’t arrived yet, they were put to death.

This period of grace for the earth to repent and get right with the King is what Paul refers to in his sermon on Mars Hill:

“So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, 31 because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

And it is the warning of Psalm 2 (a prophetic Psalm about Jesus, the Messiah):

“Why are the nations restless

And the peoples plotting in vain?

2 The kings of the earth take their stand

And the rulers conspire together

Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

3 ‘Let’s tear their shackles apart

And throw their ropes away from us!’

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,

The Lord scoffs at them.

5 Then He will speak to them in His anger

And terrify them in His fury, saying,

6 ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain.’

7 I will announce the decree of the Lord:

He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,

Today I have fathered You.

8 Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance,

And the ends of the earth as Your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron,

You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

10 Now then, you kings, use insight;

Let yourselves be instructed, you judges of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with reverence

And rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son [offering obeisance to the King], that He not be angry and you perish on the way,

For His wrath may be kindled quickly.

How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

That day when the grace-period ends, God’s judgement of the world through His Son has finally come, just as we will see in Jesus’ parable of the nobleman’s return after receiving a kingdom.

The Parable of the Nobleman

This period of grace when the king is absent, followed by his arrival for judgement of everyone not reconciled to him, harmonizes well with the parable of the Nobleman in reference to Jesus and His period of absence from the scene until the day of judgement arrives (corresponding to the bridegroom’s absence during the Period of Sanctification).

In this parable, Jesus “said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return…14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to reign over us.” 15 When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made by the business they had done…27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them in my presence”’” (Luke 19:13-27).

This going away “to a distant country” corresponds to the “going away” of the bridegroom to his father’s house, only in the story of Jesus, it fits even better for although He is a husband to the Church, he is also to receive the Kingdom from His Father, an inheritance that will come once He is married to His Bride.

This makes perfect sense, Scripturally, because a father would traditionally give the inheritance to his son when his son got married. It makes sense because in marrying a woman, a man leaves being his father as his dependent and joins with his wife: “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

Likewise, Jesus receives His inheritance from His father after the marriage supper of the Lamb and leaves Heaven with His Bride to conquer and rule the nations of earth, for these are His inheritance promised by His Father: “I will announce the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have fathered You. 8 Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession.” (Psalm 2:8).

And as His queen, the Church will rule over the nations with her Lord: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 25:34).

Now, judgment commences on those citizens who did not want the legitimate king to rule over them. Now is the judgement of satan’s illegitimate rule of the earth through the Beast.

Desolation of the Tribulation

During the Tribulation, God’s wrath will be poured out upon the natural order, but man will also be heavily involved in making the earth a desolation under the influence of the Beast (the Antichrist, the Man of Lawlessness, the Man of Destruction): “The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth” (Revelation 11:18).

This is no surprise as satan has always been linked to desolation. In Isaiah 14, we see the King of Babylon being compared to Lucifer who in his rebellion against God sought to make himself like God. After he’s cast into the pit, “Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’” (Isaiah 14:16-17 ESV)

During the Tribulation, we see that man and his “savior,” the Man of Destruction will cause desolation on the earth: “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains…For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:15-16; 21-22 NASB).

“And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Daniel 12:1b).

Unless God ended the rebellion on earth, no life (human, animal, or plant) would survive the desolation during the Tribulation (part God’s wrath, part man’s self-destructive works). Desolation is not God’s desire, “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited)” (Isaiah 45:18a).

“And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, On account of the fruit of their deeds” (Micah 7:13).

It seems a contrast is being made in Revelation between the Marriage that is happening in Heaven and the judgement of Babylon the Great (the kingdom of the Beast):

“‘Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.’ 21 Then a strong angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again. 22 And the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; 23 and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth’” (Revelation 18:20-24).

This voice is, perhaps, the witness of Christ (the light of the world) and His betrothed Bride who has been bearing Christ’s light to the nations while He is away. But now in Babylon’s judgment, the Church is no longer found among them, for she has been called away by her Bridegroom to the marriage supper in Heaven, and her witness is no longer on the earth for now is the time of judgement.

This is also a good picture of ambassadorship, for while the Bride is in the world, waiting for her Husband to come and take her away, she is the closest thing to His representative and is a witness or ambassador for Him.

“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

Ambassadors have a ministry of peaceful reconciliation, trying to reconcile foreign governments to the king of their homeland. Their ministry is a ministry of peace, not war. And when negotiations fall through and war must decide the outcome, ambassadors are recalled to their home countries, their work is done. In just the same way, the Church will be recalled when the judgement of Babylon comes and she will no longer be found in it. The ministry of the Bridegroom and His Bride is over and now the wrath of God has come upon the enemies of the King. War must decide the outcome.

Chapter 13

The Marriage Feast

After their honeymoon, the bridegroom would emerge with his bride for the marriage feast with all the guests. This was the first time that the guests saw husband and wife together, and the bride was seen unveiled in all her beauty beside her husband. In the same way, Paul cheers us with these words: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). The Church will no longer be veiled, but will be seen sharing the glory of her Lord and Savior! “Then he said to me, ‘Write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God’” (Revelation 19:9).

Just like a virgin in Jewish society, the Church does not know what this time will look like exactly. But we know that it will be beyond anything we can possibly imagine:

“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. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9b-10 KJV).

I think what Paul is saying here, is that the beautiful reality of the Church’s relationship and future with the Messiah has been revealed, which was incredible news to the Jews. But certainly not all the details of what things God has prepared for the Bride of Christ have been revealed. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us and making us one spirit with Christ, is a “first installment” or “pledge”, which reveals to us God’s wonderful intent for us to be fully united with Christ in spirit and in body one day. What exactly that looks like in all its fullness is still a mystery, as it should be.

We will share in Jesus’ glory, just as He prayed, looking ahead with longing to this day in heaven when He would be reunited with His Bride:

“The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them [disciples], so that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:22-24).

The wedding and the marriage feast occur in Revelation just before before Jesus returns to earth to end the seven-year “sanctions” of the Tribulation period with an invasion that has been happening on earth while Jesus has been with His Church in Heaven.

Chapter 14

The Church Enters into Christ’s Inheritance

After the feast, the new husband and wife begin life together as one. In similar fashion, the Church sets out to rule beside her King of Kings, Lord of Lord, Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel marriage story, Jesus is now married, but His occupation is King. He is a conquering King, and He will set out to conquer the earth.

We know that the Church accompanies Jesus in His invasion of earth to end the Tribulation and initiate His Millennial reign: “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses” (Revelation 19:14). The Greek word for “armies” here is “strateuma”, which means: “an expedition, an army, a company of soldiers” (Strongs). “Expedition” works really well here as describing the Church accompanying Jesus, and as these “armies” do no battle, perhaps that meaning would be more appropriate to the context for determining who these “armies” are.

Helpful to understanding the identity of these “armies” here is what they are wearing, for John just defined who is wearing “fine linen, white and pure” a few paragraphs above in the same chapter: “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8).

In addition, this day is surely the day prophesied by Enoch: “It was also about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones [“saints” in KJV], 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (Jude 14-15). Daniel in his parallel prophecy about this last day says, “Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will serve and obey Him’” (Daniel 7:27).

Although described as an “army” in Revelation, the Saints (or Holy ones of God) are Christ’s new wife, the Church, and just like any queen on the field of battle, she is not there to help her King win the battle – rather, she is there to witness her King’s victory singlehandedly, and this is what we see – the “armies of Heaven” do nothing, for “from His [Jesus] mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:15-16). The Church is there to rule with her Lord, so “armies” may refer to more of an “expeditionary force that is taking up rule” aspect of the Church’s presence there.

Now, remember what Jude said: “It was also about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones [“saints” in KJV], 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (Jude 14-15).

“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:27).

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect [Israel] from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven” (Mark 13:24-27).

The Church’s Share in Christ’s Inheritance

The Church shares in her Husband’s inheritance. This inheritance is not earned by us, for it belongs to Jesus, Who has given Himself to us, hence our share in it: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

As was stated, this inheritance is not separate from Christ, but it is the shared inheritance of the Bride in Christ. Jesus repeatedly said salvation did not come through His showing or giving people the way, the truth, the life, and the resurrection, but that He Himself was the way, the truth, the life, the light, and the resurrection.

Even Martha made this mistake: “Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he [Lazarus] will rise in the resurrection on the last day.’ 25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:24-26). Resurrection is not some magic ceremony Jesus does on the last day as if it exists apart from Him – He is the resurrection and the life – resurrection and life is in Him and in order to have resurrection and life, we must be united to Him as one spirit and one body (in Him). And if the Church and Christ are now united in Spirit, the Church has the pledge that she will also be united with Him in body when He returns from Heaven for her.

Therefore, it is in uniting as one with Him in spirit and in resurrected body that we are saved in body and spirit, having been fully united as one with the way, the truth, the life, the light, and the resurrection.

And it is in our union to the King of Kings as His queen, that we share in His inheritance of the nations and rule with Him, for “he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father” (Revelation 2:26-27). “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17).

Yes, the Church is to share in the persecution of her husband’s name in her “father’s house” (the world), for it is her name now also and as they hated Him, so they will hate her for joining in spirit with Him and even more so at the knowledge that He has pledged to join her in body also and they will become one and He will be King and she will rule with Him in His name.

Therefore, the call to the Bride during the Period of Sanctification (Church Age) is to prepare herself for this life and live her life now in anticipation of these days: “Walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12).

Paul wants to prepare the Church for entering God’s household, by instructing them how they should behave as the wife of Christ. A man’s household was composed of his wife, and then children when they came along. The Church is going to be the household of Christ, in the household of God the Father:

“I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

In this world today, we are away from our Lord and we are tempted and treated badly. But “since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13).

Chapter 15

The Second Coming of the King

Because of man’s rebellion and the desolation that man brings upon earth, Jesus will lay waste to the world of satan’s government at His return in preparation for His restoration. Of that day, He says, “I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained Myself. Now like a woman in labor I will groan, I will both gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills And wither all their vegetation; I will make the rivers into coastlands And dry up the ponds. I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone” (Isaiah 42:14-16).

Note, see Appendix B for a discussion of how to understand what the Prophets are talking about.

“Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left” (Isaiah 24:1-6).

We see this same event detailed in Revelation:

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (Revelation 6:12-17 ESV)

“Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley” (Zechariah 14:3-4b).

“On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (Zechariah 12:8-11).

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS’” (Revelation 19:11-16).

“‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:1-3).

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries round about. His lightnings lit up the world; The earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory” (Psalm 97:1-6).

So we see that the earth is going to be in a bad way when Jesus returns, but Jesus will set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem with His Bride and begin to repair the damage.

Satan Bound

At this point, satan is bound so that he will not be able to deceive, tempt, or seduce the peoples of the world (this is likely the scene depicted in Isaiah of people marveling over his powerlessness in the abyss). Revelation puts it thus: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:1-6).

Chapter 16

The Church in the Millennium

The thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ with His Church on the Earth has commenced.

The New Testament does not give us a lot of direct information about what the Church and Christ will be doing during this time, aside from ruling the nations and executing justice for the peoples. And this is as it should be. The Bride should really be focused on her wedding dress and her devotion to her Husband during The Period of her Sanctification and not obsessing too much about what will be in the future.

It is good to long for those marriage days ahead of us, so long as they do not distract us from the task before us now. But God has given just the amount of information we need and not more. It wouldn’t do to instruct a betrothed bride on trimesters of pregnancy and what she should expect in each month heading up to labor with great detail spent on each week and the different supplies she’ll need. Nor would providing her with detailed child-rearing materials to read be of any service but to distract her during her time of betrothal. This would be the proverbial cart getting ahead of the horse.

So, we should not wonder why God has not revealed more to us about what we will be doing after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and what we will be in the ages to come, while ruling with Christ. Whatever Christ has in store for His Bride, it will be truly wonderful and amazing. “Just as it is written: ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the human heart, All that God has prepared for those who love Him’” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

We know this much:

“He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star” (Revelation 2:26-28).

As we have already seen, Christ’s Bride will be ruling with Him. And He will be destroying His enemies during His reign.

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth” (Revelation 11:17-18).

And the Twelve Apostles will be given authority over the nation of Israel:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28).

“You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-31).

We see here that the twelve Jewish Disciples will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel. It is not unlikely that each member of the Body of Christ will be ruling over the places and regions from which they came – gentile Believers ruling gentile nations. While not explicitly explained in Scripture, it does make some sense in light of the above passages.

The author of Hebrews says that Believers in the Church age “have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:4b-5). This means that all the ACTS of the apostles and disciples of Christ were but a taste of the powers they would have during the Millennium. We see in Scripture that those in Christ could speak any language (Acts 2:6), heal physical trauma (Acts 20:10), repair bodies broken from birth (Acts 3:8), heal sickness and disease (Luke 10:9), had power over spirits that manipulate/possess people (Acts 16:18), could perform great wonders (Acts 6:8), bring dead people back to life (Acts 9:40), see the future (Acts 11:28), punish the ungodly (Acts 13:11), suffer no harm from dangerous animals (Acts 28:3-6), and much more. “Do you not know that we will judgeangels? How much more matters of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3)

During the Millennium, the Church will be like Jesus – not meaning that the Church will be Jesus, but will be made like Jesus.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).

The Scriptures are clear that our corrupted flesh must be changed to be in accord with Jesus’ glorified body in order for us to be united to Him:

“Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:50-55).

In this way, it is safe to assume that the Church, in being made like Christ, will have a body like His. “But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming…So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; 42-44).

We can look to the characteristics of Jesus’ resurrected, glorified body to get a sense for how the Bride will be made like Him:

In His resurrected body, Jesus could appear and disappear, eat food, “teleport”, ascend to Heaven among other things.

At His first appearance after His resurrection, Jesus met Mary Magdalene. Of note n our present context, He stated that He had not ascended to His Father yet, and asked Mary not to touch Him yet:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me [“touch me not” KJV], for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God”’” (John 20:17).

But when He appeared later to His disciples, He allows Thomas to touch Him. Clearly, He had ascended to Heaven between these two events:

“Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be to you.’ 27 Then He said to Thomas, ‘Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.’ 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed’” (John 20:26-29).

From this, we learn that Jesus could transit, in His body from earth and Heaven, and did so quite frequently, “appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3b). He came and went until His final ascension where He left the Church for her Period of Sanctification:

“So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 But He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.’ 9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, 11 and they said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:6-11).

So, the glorified body is admissible to Heaven and can transit between Heaven and Earth. And as His body is acceptable to Heaven, our resurrected bodies will be also. We will be like Jesus in this. Also, we learn that Jesus’ body is capable of materializing and dematerializing:

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19).

“And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them. 31 And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30-31).

Jesus also demonstrated that he could eat food and was not a spirit or ghost, despite His glorified body having remarkable “unnatural” abilities:

“Now while they were telling these things, Jesus Himself suddenly stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ 37 But they were startled and frightened, and thought that they were looking at a spirit. 38 And He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your hearts? 39 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you plainly see that I have.’ 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and astonishment, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ 42 They served Him a piece of broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it in front of them” (Luke 24:36-43).

We should also note that Mary Magdalene did not recognize Him at first and neither did the disciples who walked with Him on the road to Emmaus. My personal view on this is that prior to His resurrection, Jesus’ appearance was marred in some way as the Prophets says of the first coming of the Messiah as the “suffering servant”:

“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we would look at Him, nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. 3 He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of great pain and familiar with sickness; and like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

“Just as many were appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred beyond that of a man, And His form beyond the sons of mankind” (Isaiah 52:14).

In His resurrection, Jesus was glorified into the beauty of the King (as Scripture describes) and so this would help explain why He was not initially recognized by His disciples.

“Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a distant land” (Isaiah 33:17).

We can see that our physical defects will be healed in the resurrection – we will be recognized, by those who know us, but with the added reality that we have been glorified.

Also, we know that as the Son of God, Jesus had power over nature, sickness, and death – many of these abilities, Jesus promised His Church would also possess, as we discussed above. We do not know to what extent the Church will have these abilities, but we must understand that there is a line of demarcation that we cannot cross, in that He is God and we are not.

This is an important distinction. The Church is not going to be made God. There are some doctrines out there, one of which is “theosis”, which state that the purpose of God’s salvation is to incorporate humanity into God the Father or make us like the Father, thus humanity becomes “God” in nature.

This is not Biblical. God’s nature defines Him and sets Him apart from all His creation. He is omnipotent, omniscient, timeless – without beginning or end, uncreated, etc. None of His creation from angels to humans has this nature – they are all created and had a beginning, originating from God. It distinguishes them from Him.

Scripture always keeps a clear distinction between the uncreated God and His creation except for one unique case. Jesus is the singularity – the point where God and creation meet – God takes on the nature of flesh – He inhabits a human body of His creation to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sins, offer a way of escape from judgement to all who believe on Him, and unite Himself to His creation in the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride.

“Therefore, when He [Jesus] comes into the world, He says, ‘You have not desired sacrifice and offering, But You have prepared a body for Me; 6 You have not taken pleasure in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come (It is written of Me in the scroll of the book) to do Your will, O God”’” (Hebrews 10:5-7).

There is no reverse process in Scripture of flesh becoming God by nature. Remember, the Church is to be united to the Godhead through Jesus, but that is not through incorporation of us into His nature or making us have His nature. Humanity’s union to God is through marriage. Christ’ Bride is one spirit to Him and will be one flesh with Him.

Scripture is very clear that the Church does not become Jesus. Just as in a Jewish marriage, there are different roles between a husband and wife, there are aspects of Jesus’s nature that we cannot become. Jesus will always different, in that He is God, but God in glorified flesh – God entering His space-time creation.

Let’s take some time to examine who Jesus is? Because if we are going to be united to Him, we need to know about that relationship. Let’s first establish whether or not Jesus is God, as this is very important to understand for the Bride, in her relationship to Him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:1; 14-18).

“For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Jesus is not the Father, but as the New Testament explains, Jesus is representing the Father in nature – having the same nature, being His true Son – this nature is Godhood.

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10)

So why is there a distinction made at times in Christ’s nature, where He is referred to as a man and not God?

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22)

“But the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many” (Romans 5:15).

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5)

How do we reconcile these things? Simply because He is both God, the eternal, uncreated Word, and He inhabited a body specially created by God so that God could enter His creation of space-time. Sometimes Scripture emphasizes His Eternal God nature and sometimes Scripture emphasizes His created nature that made union with humanity possible in driving home the humanity of Him and the uncreated nature of God that He is.

We are not to worship any created being. So, seeing as Jesus is both created and uncreated united in one, what do we do? Are we to worship Jesus as God? Let’s examine this:

The First Commandment of the Law to Israel is very clear. We are only to worship the Creator, not the creation:

“Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them” (Deuteronomy 11:16).

“Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:1-6).

“Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.” (Exodus 23:13).

Jesus affirms this truth:

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go away, Satan! For it is written: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only”’” (Matthew 4:10).

In the Law of God, the penalty for an Israelite worshipping anyone other than God is death:

“If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by violating His covenant, 3 and that person has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly lights, which I have commanded not to do, 4 and if it is reported to you and you have heard about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly. And if it is true and the report is trustworthy that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you are to bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil deed, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death” (Deuteronomy 17:2-5).

Do not worship any “creature” (i.e. any created thing)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures” (Romans 1:18-23).

“For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:25).

JESUS IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS HAVING THE SAME NATURE AS GOD

In many places, Jesus identifies Himself as having the same nature as His Heavenly Father. And when the Jews complain that He is claiming equality with God, Jesus does not correct them or deny it, but reinforces that truth:

“But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way” (John 5:17-19).

“So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’ 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple grounds” (John 8:57-59).

“‘My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.’ 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him” (John 10:29-31)

JESUS IS WORSHIPPED WITHOUT CORRECTION

The following verses are key in the context of Jesus’ earlier assertion:

In Jesus’ own words: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”’”

“Then He said to Thomas, ‘Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.’ 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed’” (John 20:27-29).

Jesus did not correct or rebuke Thomas for what is the worst blasphemy a person can make, if it wasn’t true. Instead, Jesus affirms Thomas’ statement. Here are some more examples or acceptable worship of Jesus Christ, which would be a gross violation of the 1st commandment if Jesus was a created being and not the Creator:

The wisemen said: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2).

“And he [Herod] sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him’” (Matthew 2:8).

“And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11)

“And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are truly God’s Son!’” Matthew 14:33

“And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Rejoice!’ And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him” (Matthew 28:9).

“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me’” (Matthew 28:16-18).

“While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising God” (Luke 24:51-53).

“Jesus heard that they had put him out, and upon finding him, He said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ 36 He answered by saying, ‘And who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?’ 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.’ 38 And he said, ‘I believe, Lord.’ And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind’” (John 9:35-39).

IN CONTRAST, DO NOT WORSHIP GREAT MEN OR POWERFUL SPIRITUAL BEINGS

There are many examples in Scripture of men and angels correcting people who tried to worship them. Why? Because to worship a created being is a violation of the first and greatest commandment. It is blasphemy and idolatry and was punishable by death in the Old Covenant.

“On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter helped him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I, too, am just a man’” (Acts 10:24-26).

“Then he said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’ 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’” (Revelation 19:9-10).

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!’” (Revelation 22:8-9)

So, what does all this mean? It means Jesus is God and He is also man. We worship His divinity, not His body, when we worship Him. The Church will not be made “God” in nature (as this is impossible – we cannot be made an uncreated being, since we are created beings), but we will be made in the image of His body (united in it) and be united as one spirit to His spirit. This is how Scripture teaches that man becomes united to God. There is always a very clear demarcation between the Creator and His creation – a line that the creation cannot pass over. But in Jesus, we (God’s creation) are united to God in marriage and become one.

Chapter 17

Israel in the Period of Restoration

As stated, the New Testament does not give us a detailed account of what the Church’s doings will be during the Millennium. But we can go back to the Old Testament Prophets and learn some things about the nature of the Millennium on the Earth from the perspective of Israel and the survivors of the Great Tribulation (all un-resurrected, unchanged flesh).

The perspective of the Church is not often included in these prophecies, since they were written to Israel to comfort Israel, concerning Israel’s eternal future with God and God’s fulfillment of His promises to Israel given to the Patriarchs (as we shall see shortly).

It is important to understand at this juncture that God has not forsaken Israel. Israel will be restored and ruled directly by Jesus during the Millennial reign. This is to fulfill the promises God gave the Patriarchs, but most importantly to bring God His glory as He fulfills this for them.

First of all, some context: Jesus reigns from Jerusalem during the Millennium until all his enemies under his feet, then He hands the Kingdom over to His Father and then death will be done away with. We know death is not done away with until the end of the Millennial reign on earth when God makes a new Heaven and a new Earth:

“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to our God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death” (1 Corinthians 15:23-26).

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ 5 And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true”” (Revelation 21:1-4).

So, it seems very clear that during the Millennium, Jesus will be rooting out all His enemies on earth with His Bride at His side. Enemies including the fallen, corrupted nature, itself – we see from Isaiah’s prophecies about this future time:

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,

And He will not judge by what His eyes see,

Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;

4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,

And decide with fairness for the humble of the earth;

And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

5 Also righteousness will be the belt around His hips,

And faithfulness the belt around His waist.

6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,

And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,

And the calf and the young lion and the fattened steer will be together;

And a little boy will lead them.

7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,

Their young will lie down together,

And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,

And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.

9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

As the waters cover the sea.

10 Then on that day

The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,

Who will stand as a signal flag for the peoples;

And His resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:1-10).

As we see, nature itself will be repaired in many ways while Jesus is reigning, working towards defeating the bondage of corruption on the still-fallen earth. Death is not yet conquered in these prophecies, but the trajectory is sure, heading to the end of the Millennium when Jesus hands over the Kingdom to His Father and death is finally defeated in the New Creation of Revelation 21.

We see from the New Testament that the Church may have a part to play in this restoration:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Romans 8:18-25).

The fallen creation eagerly waits for the Church’s redemption of its body, just as the Church also eagerly longs for this as she is still subject to sin and death and decay, and it appears from the text that creation’s physical redemption seems intertwined with the Church.

If we will be like Jesus, does that mean we too will be given authority by Him over natural elements, demons, angels, disease, injury, etc.? “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). It seems possible.

Let’s look at some more information from Scripture about this future time when the Church will rule with her Lord:

“And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13b-14).

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” (Acts 3:19-21).

This Period of Restoration is the Millennium when the Bride is with her Lord, as related to us in the Prophets:

“In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; He will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain” (Isaiah 4:2-6 ESV).

Perhaps this canopy over Mount Zion is protection from the awful environmental state of the desolate earth at the beginning of the Millennium period – caused by the “destroyers who destroy the earth” and the judgements of the “wrath of God.”

As we saw earlier, Jesus will restore all things in the natural world on His Holy Mountain:

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:1-10 NASB).

Jesus will restore nature on His Holy Mountain and abolish war for Israel (survivors of the Tribulation):

“In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety. I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord” (Hosea 2:18-20).

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, declares the Lord God. And you are My sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 34:25-31).

The Church appears to have a part in freeing creation from futility and corruption through the governance that Jesus will give us: “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21).

The Church will be with King Jesus when He personally restores Israel:

“Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody” (Isaiah 51:3).

“Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain’” (Zechariah 8:3).

“‘In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will assemble the lame And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever” (Micah 4:6-7).

God’s promise to Israel at this time (survivors of the Tribulation):

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; They will go up with acceptance on My altar, And I shall glorify My glorious house. Who are these who fly like a cloud And like the doves to their lattices? Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you. Your gates will be open continually; They will not be closed day or night, So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, With their kings led in procession. For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined. The glory of Lebanon will come to you, The juniper, the box tree and the cypress together, To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I shall make the place of My feet glorious. The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation. You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, And instead of iron I will bring silver, And instead of wood, bronze, And instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your administrators And righteousness your overseers. Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. [Here, in typical Old Testament fashion, Isaiah jumps from prophetic “peak-to-peak”, which he cannot clearly discern separation between from his perspective in time. Here he transitions from the Millennium to Eternity with the New Heaven and New Earth described at the end of the Millennium] No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. The smallest one will become a clan, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time” (Isaiah 60).

“‘But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, And their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 65:18-25).

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. ‘Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?’ says the Lord. ‘Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?’ says your God. ‘Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.’ Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, And your bones will flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, But He will be indignant toward His enemies. For behold, the Lord will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the Lord will be many. ‘Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, Will come to an end altogether,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the Lord, ‘just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:7-21).

Jesus will build up Jerusalem with His Bride: “For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory” (Psalm 102:16). The gentile survivors of the Great Tribulation will stream to Jerusalem:

“Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

It is important to note that under Jesus’ rule, violence and war will be done away with and true peace will come upon the earth. This is a clue to the literal meaning of the text and that it cannot be “symbolically” dismissed into past fulfillment. Also, it keys the timing of the prophecy as yet unfulfilled in the future since there has never been a time in Earth’s history when war was ceased. That is why the Prophet writes it as a unique and extraordinary thing.

Another interesting point to see is that there is still sin among the survivors of the Great Tribulation during Jesus’ rule. Willful sinners cannot dwell in the presence of the beautiful King Jesus:

“‘You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.’ Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. ‘Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?’ He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land. Your heart will meditate on terror: ‘Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?’ You will no longer see a fierce people […]Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart” (Isaiah 33:13-20).

We know this is speaking of the unfulfilled future as Jerusalem has been “pulled up” a number of times since Isaiah wrote these words. The last time it was “pulled up” was 70 AD, and it was not rebuilt until the mid-20th century. It is one of the miracles of God that a dead nation has come back to life, as God promised it would. But Jerusalem of today does not dwell in peace. It is one of the least peaceful cities on earth with rocket attacks and terrorists constantly trying to uproot it. Clearly, this prophecy is speaking of the yet-to-come Messiah’s rule when He returns with His Bride.

“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. For You have made a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is a city no more, It will never be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will glorify You; Cities of ruthless nations will revere You. For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, ‘Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.’ For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, And Moab will be trodden down in his place As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile. And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands. The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust” (Isaiah 25).

Here Isaiah details the destruction of the strong fortresses of the enemies that harassed them. God will destroy them and they will never again be built. And Jesus will establish peace, justice, and plenty on earth from the Holy Mountain (Jerusalem), culminating in defeating the final enemy, death when He hands the kingdom over to His Father at the end of the Millennium and all things are made new.

“‘Therefore wait for Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal. For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings. In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain. But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they will feed and lie down With no one to make them tremble.’ Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. ‘I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them. Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,’ Says the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:8-10).

“Then the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.”’ Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another. But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’ For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the Lord...Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.” So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you”’” (Zachariah 8).

Suffice it to say, this will be an amazing time when the Church will be doing wonderful works on this earth alongside her Husband, the King of Glory. How different it will be to work and not be resisted by the powers, kings, and great men of the earth!

Chapter 18

End of the Millennium

The Thousand-year reign of Jesus and His Church on earth comes to an end in Revelation with another rebellion of natural humanity. Perhaps one reason for all this is to prove to witnesses in heaven and on earth that rebellion is a heart issue. For even with perfect justice, plenty, and peace on earth, mankind will still be led into rebellion against Christ, thus putting to rest the popular modern belief that our bad behavior is a product of our experiences and not our fallen nature. Even with perfect experiences on earth, mankind will still rebel against God if given the chance, because man’s heart is desperately wicked.

“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:7-10).

Judgement of the Wicked

Now comes the great judgement of all the dead rebels who opposed God the beginning of time:

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

Chapter 19

The New Heaven and Earth

At this point, Jesus hands the Kingdom over to His Father, and the Father makes all things new:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4).

This is not spoken directly to the Church, since she is one with her Lord, and no longer experiences death and pain because of the Resurrection and the glorified bodies they are given. This is spoken to the nations and to Israel. We find parallel passages in Prophets:

“No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor will the moon give you light for brightness; But you will have the Lord as an everlasting light, And your God as your glory. 20 Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the Lord as an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. 21 Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. 22 The smallest one will become a thousand, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will bring it about quickly in its time” (Isaiah 60:19-22)

“And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever. 6 And he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true’; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place” (Revelation 22:1-6).

And this beginning of Eternity concludes our study of the Bride of Christ, but it does not conclude her eternal union to Jesus Christ our Lord.

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost….He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:17; 20).

APPENDIX A

THE HARMONY IN SCRIPTURE OF SONSHIP AND THE BRIDE

On a first look, there seems to be a discontinuity between the ideas of adoption/sonship and the bride relationship that we see the Believer is described as having in Scripture with God. And this “discontinuity” often results in us deciding that these two ideas are saying the same thing, but with different metaphors to help us understand what we are to God. And thus the specific beauty of the ideas is blunted because they are merely allegorical and not real.

However, a deeper, more patient dive into the topic reveals that God created a beautiful harmony and these two separate realities are both true at the same time.

Scripture is very careful. It never says Believers are sons of Jesus or children of Christ. Scripture makes a clear distinction that Believers are sons of the Father, or children of the Heavenly Father. Similarly, Scripture never teaches that Believers are betrothed to God the Father or are the Bride of the Heavenly Father. It keeps the distinction and weaves a beautiful reality out of it.

In a quick summary, God redeemed us from the elemental spirits of the world and our bondage to sin through the atonement of His Son, Whom He sent to rescue us. We are adopted by the Father as His children and are sons of God.

At the same time, the atonement of His Son was the Bride price.

We receive an inheritance as brothers to Jesus – we share in His inheritance. It is then revealed that Jesus is our inheritance, for when the Church is fully married to Him, we will share in His inheritance as His wife, for He is our inheritance. Our inheritance is not something given to us apart from Christ by the Father, but our inheritance is Christ and always has been, for He gave Himself for us and to us and He inherits all things.

We are adopted to God the Father and are His children, and we are betrothed to His Son, Jesus Christ as His wife. Thus, we learn our precious relationship to God the Father and our precious and intimate relationship to God the Son, Jesus Christ.

APPENDIX B

PARABLES OF MARRIAGE

In the Gospels, Jesus and John the Baptist regularly invoke the Jewish Marriage tradition in their discussions with the Jews and Jewish leadership. One thing we note is that they never address the Bride in these situations, and it isn’t until John 14 that we see Jesus actually address his disciples as the Bride.

Why did Jesus and John draw attention to the wedding guests, friend of the bridegroom, attendants.

“John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ 19 And Jesus said to them, ‘While the groom is with them, the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day” (Mark 2:18-20).

“You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:28-30).

Here, Jesus and John are addressing people posturing for power, or who are in power, in the Jewish religion, and the point is first to set them straight on who the Bride belongs. The Bride belongs to the Bridegroom, Jesus, not the Pharisees or the disciples or Jewish leaders. And their role is to support the Bridegroom and help ensure the marriage happens, not stand in the way and bicker over power.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; 4 but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps. 5 Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 However, the prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:1-13).

APPENDIX C

HOW TO READ THE PROPHETS

Should we read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the Prophets’ apocalyptic prophecies and discussions of Israel’s restoration as symbolic or literal, having happened already or still to happen in the future?

There are those who argue for a purely symbolic fulfillment of these prophecies – that they have already been accomplished, just in symbolic form. But a literal interpretation is always the safest and most responsible approach to God’s Word, first order. Only if you have a “key” provided in Scripture, should you entertain a symbolic approach. For example, Daniel uses “beast” symbology and we know it is symbolic because he explains what each beast represents, literally. This then becomes a key to understanding Revelation’s similar use of symbolism. But we only do this because it is explained in Scripture.

In the case of Isaiah and Jeremiah, where they refer to the return of the Lord and the judgement of the world and the future glory of Israel in the restoration, we must read these as literal and still unfulfilled, as there is no evidence to say otherwise.

The way to understand the Prophets is to see that they are constantly addressing their present times and the literal judgment that is going to come upon Israel in their lifetime, then they contrast that literal dark and unsettling situation with the literal future judgement of God on all their enemies and the literal future glory God will reveal in Israel when He returns as the conquering King to rule them.

Isaiah and Jeremiah are constantly looking from their present circumstances (which are very dark), to the hope and glory that God will accomplish in the end of history, when the Messiah returns as conquering King and will make all things right and will fulfill all His promises to Israel. This switch back and forth from present darkness to future glory can happen in the same chapter or from chapter to chapter throughout the whole books of the Prophets. This is a reminder to the people that God is not utterly destroying them, but there is this glorious hope that God will accomplish in the end.