The final battle (which turned out to be not a ‘battle’ at all) of Armageddon1 has left nations behind, still in existence. The devil has been locked up so that he can no longer deceive the nations.2 Christ does not come to rule over a planet that has been emptied. He accepts the Kingship over the kingdoms of this world.3 Daniel’s last and final kingdom is also a worldly kingdom, a realm encompassing the earth.4 Will Christ reign on earth or from Heaven? Scripture is silent on this matter. Does He go back to Heaven after the Battle of Armageddon? Will He regularly cross over from the Heavenly Jerusalem to the earthly Jerusalem? We do not know. Will we do the same? We do not know. He will rule over the nations and guard them as a Good Shepherd (Psalm 23; John 10) and we shall do so together with Him.5 Ruling with an iron sceptre is different to bludgeoning with an iron club. In Paradise God gave the dominion over Creation to man. God said in Genesis 1:28 NLT “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” In ESV translation: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the Heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Having ‘dominion’, ‘govern’, ‘subdue’, ‘reign over’ or ‘guarding’ means: culture. The Latin translation of the word culture is derived from: ‘colĕre’. “Colĕre’ means: to till, farm, cultivate; worship. ‘Guarding’ means governing and providing, taking good care of. Even in the sense of ‘worship’ – meaning full of respect for the Creator. ‘Reigning’, ‘having dominion over’ is not only judging, deciding what is ‘right or wrong’ but also putting right. The earth is in ruins and the nations are totally at their wits’ ends. Christ is going to put everything right. He will do what Adam after the Fall did not do. What mankind since then did not do. Perfect justice will not only apply in Heaven, but also on earth; societies, nations which have never seen or felt righteousness will enjoy it now. Many texts in the Old Testament speak about this.6 Revelation provides no further details about Christ’s rule on earth. The Old Testament prophets do, however. Nature will be restored; the desert will then become a garden and the garden like a forest; justice will dwell in the desert.7 Wild animals will be removed from the land, the rains will come on time; rains bring blessing so that the orchards and the land will bring forth their fruits.8 There will be peace, so that the swords can and will be beaten into ploughshares.9 Life expectancies will rise, so that people will be as old as they were before the Flood, but there will still be death. There will no longer be any infants who only live a few days (i.e. no infant mortality), and every greybeard will live to a ripe old age. If people die when they are a hundred years old, they will be called ‘young’ people; even sinners will only be struck with a curse when they are aged a century. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of My people.10 There will be peace in the animal kingdom as well.11
It will be an ideal world, although not yet perfect. There will be sin and death. Government will be heavy-handed and justice enforced. There will be unbelievers.12 Justice will be rendered on behalf of the afflicted.13 There will still be conflicts between nations, but no war and the Lord – not the International Court at The Hague or the UN in America – will pronounce justice.14 The New Heavens and the New Earth are still in the future. The nations will undergo a learning process, so that they will learn how to serve the Lord perfectly.15 Israel will play a pivotal role. The Messiah’s Kingship is inseparably linked to His Kingship of Israel.16 Jerusalem will be the centre of the world. David’s great Son reigns.17 Is it any wonder that the ‘priestly kings’ who take part in the government, who share in the first resurrection, are pronounced redeemed and holy (set apart and perfected)? Would anyone not want to be part of this? You know then for sure that the second death will have no effect on you. The first death is when your body dies on earth. The second death is being cast into Gehenna, the lake of fire. Scripture speaks scantily of the impressive, awesome and beautiful future in human society under Christ. There is no room for speculation. Nor are there any ‘carnal’ expectations, as if it were to be a kind of Germanic Valhalla with carousing and women, or as in Islam a paradise with 70 virgins. It will be good and there will be peace—a foretaste of what will be perfected when the New Heavens and the New Earth will ultimately have come.
• The ‘end of the old world’ is not by the third World War, not by nuclear bombs or any other of the (A)tomic, (B)acteriological or (C)hemical weapons. Not total destruction by direct hits of asteroids. Not extinction, not total pollution, not Babylon and the realm of the anti-Christ.
• Those are only painful birth pangs, which will usher in a new world: the Kingdom of the Lord and His Anointed. The suffering of the birth pangs will then quickly be forgotten!
Bible References:
1.Revelation 16:16 2.Revelation 20:3 3.Revelation 11:15, 12:9–10, 19:6 4.Daniel 2:35 5.Revelation 2:26–28; Psalm 2:6–12 6.Psalm 22:28–29, 46:10–11, 47:2–10, 67, 96, 98, 138, 145:13–21; Isaiah 9:4–6, 11:1–10, 29:17–24; Micah 4:1–3; Zephaniah 3:9–20; Zechariah 9:10, 14:9; Revelation 5:9–10 7.Isaiah 32:15 8.Ezekiel 34:25–27 9.Isaiah 2:2–4 10.Isaiah 65:19–25 11.Isaiah 11:6–9, 65:25 12.Psalm 101:8 13.Psalm 72 14.Isaiah 2:4 15.Micah 4:1–3 16.Luke 1:33 17.Hosea 3:4–5; Ezekiel 37:15–28
