BIBLE TOPICS

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". Ps 119:105

Subjects

WHAT WILL GOD'S KINGDOM BE LIKE?

War And Strife

The world now is full of violence and unrest, each day almost, we hear of more wars or acts of violence in the news, this state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely. We read in Daniel of King Nebuchadnezzar who had a dream of a huge statue of a man. This image Daniel said, represented the Kingdom of men in it's many forms throughout the ages. The image was struck and toppled by a stone that ground it to powder, the stone then growing to fill the whole earth. That stone represented the Kingdom of God. Christ upon his return will irresistibly establish the Kingdom of God and totally destroy the kingdoms of men.

The nations will try to resist him, but in vain. We read in the Psalms:

"The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying; I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill"....v9..."You will rule them with an iron sceptre, you will dash them to pieces like pottery". Psalm 2v4

We see the nation of Israel once again in existence in their own land. They are still in ignorance of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. The day is coming when once again Israel will be overrun and half the city taken as Zechariah prophesied:

" A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city." Zechariah 14v1-2

It will be as Paul spoke, a time of trouble such as has never been nor will be again. But the Lord will at that time send the Lord Jesus to save his people. Zechariah prophesied saying "On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." Zech 12v3. We read Zechariah goes on to say:

"Then the Lord go out and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving north and half moving south." ...."Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light. no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime - a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light". Zechariah 14v3-7

Zechariah also says:

"On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem." Zechariah 12v6-9.

Just as God provided judges and Kings to save his people in the past, so we see Jesus, the one from the house of David, the true King and Messiah, going before his people to save them. Then at last the Jews will realise Christ indeed is their long awaited Messiah. They will at last accept him for we read:

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives." Zechariah 12v10-14

Finally then there will be a peace such as has never been. Although the Kingdom age will be brought in by much destruction of all those who oppose God, Christ is indeed the "Prince of Peace". Having overcome all opposition the Kingdom shall be established, then this troubled earth shall at last have true and lasting peace. The prophet Isaiah records:

"Many people will come and say, come let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war anymore." Isaiah 2v3-4

What wonderful changes that will bring in the earth. Just think of all the money the nations spend on armaments and the time spent on destruction. The Lord promises through the prophet Micah:

"Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord almighty has spoken." and Isaiah 32v18 says "My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."........."How blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free." Micah 4v4

Agriculture And Nature