Teaching the Nations

Forty-one times in the gospels the Lord Jesus Christ is called “Teacher,” the Greek word didaskalos. The Lord acted throughout His ministry as a Teacher, teaching His disciples, the crowds, and even the religious leaders who would listen. Yet the Lord acting as a Teacher did not end with His ministry. It will continue in the Kingdom of God to come. Micah 4:2 (New King James Version throughout) tells us that the nations will yet look to the Lord to teach them His ways. “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

Detailed Start of the Kingdom

I received the following comments and questions:

You suggested there will be two rebuildings (of the temple)? The city Jerusalem in the future. – one at the beginning of the pre-millennial kingdom and one later on – as it will need to be made bigger.

Which building did you say you thought Cyrus would be doing?

I think Cyrus will be involved in the initial building, which is Jerusalem and the temple together. The later rebuilding will just involve Jerusalem.

Is Heaven Boring?

Quite a few of the Christian singles I know have expressed to me the following sentiment: “I would like to get married before the rapture happens.” These young people believe that there will be no marriage in the life to come, and they apparently are hoping for such marital bliss in this life that it would make them wish to postpone experiencing the joy they hope to find in heaven in order to experience it.

Ignoring their belief in the rapture, it is clear that the mental picture these young people have of what awaits them in heaven is not as real or compelling to them as the picture of what they hope to experience in married life. The same attitude can extend far beyond single people. Married people too might wish to raise their children first, or retire, or see their grandchildren. And no wonder, when one considers the picture that is commonly painted of heaven. It is pictured as a colorless place where everything is black and white (with a little gold mixed in). People in heaven wear simple white robes and sit around on clouds playing harps. No wonder anything that seems exciting or compelling in this life, like marriage, might seem like a good reason to postpone such a colorless and uninteresting future.

Questions About Kingdom Life

I received the following questions:

I have a question for you: At the Epipheneia (blazing forth) that ushers in the KOG I understand that many of the patriarchs including David will be resurrected to live therein. Suppose this event occurs tomorrow, will it mean that those of us who are living and are close followers of our Lord Jesus will be given incorruptible bodies?

I was made to understand that the KOG does not come with observation but with a pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all flesh so all will have a God awareness, is that correct? – that we might expect gradual changes to the order and way of life we are now experiencing.

Will life (instead of death) be working in all people then? What about the ungodly at the time? Will they be purged out by death if found unfit to dwell in the kingdom?

I remember reading somewhere that wars will cease and hospitals would be abolished and all evil will be done away with, is this correct?

Could you enlighten me on the transition from today to tomorrow’s Kingdom rule and all the implications of it, please?

Thanks, Nathan!

Yes, we will receive incorruptible bodies. I believe the passage in I Corinthians 15:51-54, though it was originally written to Acts period believers, tells us the truth of what will happen to those of us who happen to be alive and in Christ when the kingdom of God starts. We will not have to go through death to get what I would usually call a “resurrection body,” but will instantaneously and painlessly be transferred into it. Our old bodies will be gone in an instant, and we will be in our new, glorious bodies. The dispensation of grace did not change this. That is what will happen to those of us (and I say “us” just because I am currently alive, not because I know I will still be alive then) who are alive when the great announcement of the kingdom happens.

Premillennial Kingdom Testing

I received the following question:

Hey Nathan, I hope you are doing well. I have a couple questions regarding the Kingdom (and future dispensations) and believers from our dispensation compared to others who will be raised. First, regarding someone who was born before the dispensation of Grace. It is very apparent that people will be raised to live in the Kingdom due to fearing God and working righteousness instead of through faith by believing. Will these people still have to go through testing such as the Tribulation? Can they sin and be cut out of the Kingdom? I know you have mentioned how sin is possible, but will be the exception and not the norm.

As far as believers from the dispensation of Grace, I believe you have stated that we will not have to go through further testing. Am I correct on that? Is it possible for believers to sin and be cut out of the Kingdom? I know Ananias and Sapphira were put to death by the Holy Spirit in Acts, but I also understand the Kingdom was only in part at that time. Then, concerning the Parousia and the New Heavens and New Earth, are believers in our dispensation promised a place in both of these dispensations? From what I have read and what the Bible states I believe this to be true, but just wanted to ask.

Thanks so much for your time.

People who are allowed into the kingdom because they feared God and worked righteousness may have to be tested afterwards, yes. Fearing God and working righteousness is not the same thing as having faith in the word of God. Those who get in on this basis may be tested regarding faith later. What tests those will be, and what will be the reward for passing or the punishment for failing, will all be up to God. But you are correct that those tests might well take place during the tribulation period. I also believe there might be some limited testing during the early stages of the premillennial kingdom, as everything is being set up for God’s kingdom. But the most likely time for testing would be the tribulation period.

Mountains: Literal or Symbolic?

I received the following question:

I have noticed you often translate “mountain” to mean “government”. Micah 4:2 or Isaiah 2:3 for example. My question is why do you do this? Why not interpret it to mean a literal mountain?

Here is my current understanding: In the millennium every mountain will be made low and every valley will be lifted up (Isaiah 40:4). The earth will be a flat plain except the area of Jerusalem. (Perhaps this will be the result of the huge earthquake mentioned) Jerusalem (or a part of it) will be elevated. Jesus will physically rule and reign from a mountain of some type. (Mount Sinai being a picture of this)

Thoughts?

Thanks for all your help!!

I would not say I “translate” mountain to mean “government,” but rather I interpret it that way. (I agree with translating it “mountain.”) The Hebrew word har clearly means a mountain, and is often used that way literally. But what does a “mountain” symbolize when it is used figuratively? The first seven times we see har it seems to be literal. But in the song of Moses and the sons of Israel in Exodus 15:17, we see something else. This passage says of Jehovah’s people:
“You will bring them in and plant them
In the mountain of Your inheritance,
In the place, O LORD, which You have made
For Your own dwelling,
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.”
We of course recognize that the entire land of Israel is not one giant mountain. Besides, it is called a dwelling and a sanctuary. We can see how a land could be called a dwelling and a sanctuary, but how a mountain? Clearly there is a figurative meaning here.

The Appearing Even the Kingdom

II Timothy 4

New King James Version 1. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

The Resultant Version 1. I charge you therefore before God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall make a determination (or “determine what is right”) concerning the living and the dead in harmony with His blazing forth, even His kingdom.

Paul now gives Timothy a charge. However, we have to ask ourselves: is this charge before two people, God and the Lord Jesus Christ, or is it before a single Being? An examination of the Greek should clear this up for us. The word translated “and” in the New King James Version is the Greek kai. The Greek word kai was used in ways our English word “and” generally is not. It was often used between two words that mean the same thing. This may be called the “kai appositional principle,” when kai defines the previous word by attaching a second word that clarifies the meaning of both. In other words, instead of joining two separate things, kai can be used between two words that mean the same thing.

In many places, our translators recognize this aspect of the word kai. For example, in Romans 15:6 this meaning is clear.

Kingdom Impacts in the Dispensation of Grace

As we have considered the wonderful reality of the kingdom of God on earth, we have seen all the stupendous things God has planned for Adam’s race and for this earth in His amazing future. Yet having studied all these things, there is one question we might ask. The glorious truth of God’s coming eons is a wonderful thing to know, but to really put it to use it must impact us and our lives in our day. We live in the dispensation of grace. How does the kingdom impact us living at this time?

As I said, I believe that the time we live in is the dispensation of the grace of God. As we discussed in “Foreshadowing the Kingdom,” the initial, blade stage of the kingdom took place in the book of Acts. That blade stage continued throughout the Acts period until it was interrupted at Acts 28:28. At that time, the kingdom work of the Acts period was brought to an end by Paul’s momentous declaration, given here in The Resultant Version.

The Final Stages Part 3: The New Heaven and the New Earth – The Final (?) Time

The last stage of the final stages of God’s plan that the Bible reveals to us is the stage called “The New Heavens and the New Earth.” Yet in my title for this message I have put a question mark after “Final,” not because I think I know of another period after this, but only because the Bible does not tell us for certain that this is the final time. This is simply the last time we have revealed to us in the revelation we have been given. If there are further periods and advances after this, we are unaware of them. I cannot say one way or the other, of course. Ultimately, I do not think God will ever run out of plans and purposes.

The record of this period, the New Heavens and the New Earth, can be found in the next chapter of Revelation after the “Little Season” which is revealed in Revelation 20. Thus to study this period we will consider what is said about it in Revelation 21.

The Final Stages Part 2: The Little Season

In considering the reality of the coming kingdom of God on earth, we have in previous messages examined the first stages of the kingdom of God: the Acts Period, the Premillennial Kingdom, and the Revolt Against the Kingdom. Yet three stages remain. In our last message, we considered the first of these: the Thousand Year Parousia of Jesus Christ. We considered how it differs from the premillennial kingdom that precedes it, and what marks its character. Now, we will consider what comes after the thousand years, and the brief  period that follows it which bridges the gap from the Parousia to the New Heavens and the New Earth.

The Little Season

The next time period after the Parousia of Jesus Christ that we read of in Revelation is called “The Little Season.” A “season” as we would think of it is about ninety days, so we might wonder what a “little season” would be? The phrase in Greek is mikron chronon, which means literally “a little time,” so it may have nothing to do with a “season.” However, we would think that the time is shorter than a year, and perhaps even shorter than a season.