THE COMING KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH

The Government of God on Earth

God’s government is coming to this earth soon! How will it affect you? What is the real future for which you should be preparing?

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV).
“This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men” (Daniel 4:17).
“For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
God will “send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:20–21).
“times of restoration,” when our Creator will intervene to save humanity from its own foolishness! He will literally save us from destroying ourselves (Matthew 24:22)
In Revelation 11:15, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
“And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15).
“And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (v. 16).
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever” (Isaiah 9:6–7).

As we saw in Revelation 11:15, Christ will be King over all the nations of this earth. He will occupy a definite throne upon the earth when He returns. Before His human birth, an angel prophesied:

“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

“the heir of the world” (Romans 4:13).

Yes, God will reward Abraham for his faith by giving him a position of service over the whole earth!

In Ezekiel 37:15–28, God shows that He will reunite Israel and Judah. Regarding these two nations,

He says: “And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again” (v. 22).

“David my servant shall be king over them’ and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes and do them” (v. 24).

“But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit

on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28–30).

“ruler over the whole province of Babylon” (Daniel 2:48)

the “head of gold” (v. 38).

“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron’” (Revelation 2:26–27).

And we find that Christ has “made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10).

“Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17).

To the man who was zealous enough to gain five minas, Jesus said: “You also be over five

cities” (v. 19).

“Many people 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 shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

“He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (v. 4).

(Acts 10:34), this is only an example—a “type”—of what God will do, in principle, for all nations as they serve and obey Christ.

Foretelling the final regathering of the United States, Britain and the other modern descendants of ancient Israel, God says:

“‘I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,’ says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:14–15).

Future prophesied captivity? In a passage written more than a hundred years after ancient Israel was taken into captivity, God prophesied through Jeremiah that there will be a future captivity of Israel, but that after this captivity the peoples of Israel would be restored back to their ancient homeland, in and around Jerusalem, after Christ’s return (Jeremiah 30:1–11).

Study this prophecy carefully! Notice that it predicts a coming punishment and restoration of both “Israel and Judah” (v. 4).

“‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘That I will break his yoke [the yoke of our captivity] from your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave them. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them’” (vv. 8–9).

“‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD, ‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid’” (v. 10).

Referring to the entire prophecy, God says: “In the latter days you will consider it” (v. 24).

Jeremiah 31 continues with the same prophecy (v. 1), and God tells of His blessings to Israel at that time:

“Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food” (Jeremiah 31:4–5).

“They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them” (v. 9).

Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow” (vv. 12–13).:

“He shall not judge by the sight of his eyes” (v. 3)

He will judge the poor and downtrodden “with righteousness” and will punish the wicked with the death penalty, which will put fear into the hearts of those plotting evil (v. 4).

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (v. 6).

Even the snakes will be tame: “The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den” (v. 8).

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9).

“the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21).

“For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land [Jerusalem and the surrounding territory]. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors” (Isaiah 14:1–2).

As Lord of lords, Christ will begin to convert and save the entire world during His reign. To do this He will need to strip aside the blindness that has come on all people of the earth as a result of Satan’s deceptions (Revelation 12:9).

Isaiah writes: “And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever…” (Isaiah 25:7–8).

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the LORD gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:19–21).

shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:5–6).

“The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (v. 7).

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (v. 10).

“Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:16–17).

“Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).

As we have seen, even the nature of wild animals will be turned to peacefulness. At last, people will learn that it really is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

All their frustrations and guilt complexes will at last disappear. Then they will come to know “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

This is what the happy, joyous Millennium will be like!

How and Why This World Jumped “Off the Track!”

Now, let us review why our war-torn world is the way it is, and why

and how the Millennium will be so much better!

Very few people fully grasp that this is definitely not God’s world.

When I grew up in a “mainstream” church, I was taught in Sunday

school to sing, “This is my Father’s world.” However, if we will let God’s

inspired word tell us the Truth, we will find an entirely different explanation! For God inspired the Apostle John to describe Satan the Devil

being cast back to this earth in Revelation 12:9, “So the great dragon was

cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives

the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out

with him.”

Do you, personally, believe that the “whole world” is deceived, as the

Bible clearly explains again and again? It is vital that you prove this to

yourself by studying this topic in God’s word. For it is stated in many

different ways. If we are to believe the Bible, we

must come to know that this is indeed a deceived world under the direct influence of

Satan the Devil. For Satan is called the “god”

of this world.

Notice: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it

is veiled to those who are perishing, whose

minds the god of this age has blinded, who do

not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the

glory of Christ, who is the image of God,

should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

So Satan is the invisible spirit being who, in

fact, is the “god” over the nations of the earth

in this age—this particular 6,000-year period leading up to Christ’s Second Coming as King of kings. The great God, the Creator, has allowed

this to happen to “test” human beings and also to help us learn through

human suffering that man’s ways will not bring the desired result. Then,

when Christ intervenes, mankind can more fully appreciate how wonderful God’s ways are by comparison!

However, during this present age, Satan the Devil is “broadcasting”

wrong attitudes and he influences people to take wrong actions continually. The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians of Ephesus that they

had “once walked according to the course of this world, according to the

prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of

disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

So, Satan the Devil is busy. He

“works” continually—turning

mankind away from God and

God’s true ways. He is the source

of much of the suffering and

evil—the wars, rapes, tortures

and various other abominations

occurring in today’s world.

God makes it clear that in

the Millennium, Satan will be banished. God describes in the book of

Revelation how—after Christ’s return—He will send a great angel to

deal with Satan, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid

hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and

bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless

pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the

nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these

things he must be released for a little while” (Revelation 20:1–3).

It is clear from the above passage that Satan has been the one to

“deceive the nations.” In order for the world to have genuine peace and

joy, he must be “bound” for the entire thousand years of Christ’s rule

over the earth (Revelation 20:1–3). So this will be done!

Then, after the Millennium, he will be loosed for a comparatively short

period of time (Revelation 20:7–8). At that point, it is amazing to see how

quickly, apparently, Satan will be able to “deceive the nations which are in

the four corners of the earth!” Human beings, it seems, are very susceptible to being led away by Satan and his demons and also wrongly influenced through his false ministers. For genuine peace and joy to be restored

during Christ’s rule, Satan and all his demons must be put away!

The TRUTH Must Be Restored

The Apostle Paul warned the Christians of his day: “For I know

this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not

sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn

everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:29–31).

For your own sake, please consider whether you are truly following

the “whole counsel of God,” to which Paul had just referred (v. 27)! Certainly most of you may understand part of the Bible, part of Christ’s true

teachings—and perhaps a little bit regarding prophecy and the awesome

purpose for which God created you. However, just “accepting Jesus,”

joining some church down the street, and hoping to “float off to heaven”

when you die is not what true Christianity is all about! Most who call

themselves “Christians” have never been taught the full purpose of

human existence! It is vital that you come to fully understand and follow the “whole counsel” of Almighty God (Job 15:8; Acts 20:27).

We have just read Paul’s warning that “savage wolves” would come in

and “draw away” many from the Truth of God. Paul also urgently warned