Ruling and Reigning with Jesus Isaiah 11
I think we often try to imagine what Heaven might be like. Revelation 21&22 gives some good images of what it will be like, but imagine Earth with perfect peace, joy and abundance. To think of it seems to bring a sense of unlikelihood. We are used to wars, poverty, disease, corruption, death, etc. What would a true picture of Heaven on Earth look like? Is it even profitable to think about? Is it something that will, in any measure, happen in the future with life on Earth? Or is it just a pipedream and something that will always live in the realms of fantasy and imagination?
Many books like Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation unfortunately have large parts relegated to mere allegory and symbolism; as such their impact and power and therefore the message of the Gospel is greatly compromised. I believe today’s passage is among those passages that if there is not a direct literal understanding then the whole ministry of this One we read about last Sunday, who is called Immanuel, whose other titles are Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father…the One who has the Government of the Universe on His shoulders, loses the transforming power that the Gospel is supposed to effect. A literal understanding of this passage is the only one that makes sense.
Christ prayed for this scene. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That prayer has not yet been fulfilled. The gospel is certainly transformative, especially in times of renewal: crime rates drop, people live in peace, godly laws are passed that elevate life. There is a lot done on this earth that is not part of the moral will of God. His will is not yet being done on the earth. Isaiah said that will change in the Millennial kingdom.
This will involve the ministry of this One who Isaiah said is “a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” Remember, we said last week that when Jesus got up to speak in the synagogue in Nazareth, at the start of His ministry, He said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor….”, etc. (Luke 4:2-4, quoting Isa 61:1-4)
What will this kingdom look like? Isaiah also said that in Immanuel’s kingdom, Jerusalem will know peace. In Isaiah 65:18-25: “for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress... The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the LORD.” This is unlike anything in this world.
Israel’s enemies destroyed – allowing true world peace. “Ephraim shall not envy Judah… Judah shall not harass Ephraim: In the reign of the Messiah, the nations will not go to war any more. Conflicts will be justly and swiftly settled by the Messiah and His government. Disobedient nations (here, described as the Philistines and Edom and Moab and the people of Ammon: traditional enemies of Israel) will be punished. These areas are modern day Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Gaza. With the horror that is going on in Gaza today, we know that these days will end, but there will be an account to be brought against Israel in the future. (Ezekiel 38:16, 17)
None of these things has happened. We know Jerusalem will continue to know struggle right up until the Lord Jesus returns, when He places His foot on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) and divides the city, where literal living water will flow from under the temple mount down to the Dead Sea, bringing life to it. It is certainly still dead today.
Unless a literal understanding is given to these verses, large parts of the scriptures are silenced, or just don’t make sense. God is not the author of confusion, but Satan certainly is.
How do we know that the creation on this earth will be restored? Are there other scriptures that say creation will be restored? Yes, because of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:19-24. “For the creation waits with eager longing 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 will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God...” A restored creation is part of the hope of our salvation, not just eternity in Heaven.
Creation is waiting for those who are marked for salvation to be revealed; why? Because it’s then that redemption happens. Currently the creation groans. It is afflicted by disease, plagues, weather extremes, the effects of sin – all creation dies. This is true of the universe as well: winding down, dying. This is a result of the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. How is creation restored? The more we preach the Gospel, the more the Sons of God are revealed, the closer is the Kingdom of God to being fulfilled on the earth. That’s Paul’s point and what Isaiah was speaking about in Isaiah 11.
John spoke of it when Christ’s return and the 1000 years is mentioned 6 times in Revelation 20.
This is when Christ will fulfill all the Old Testament promises to Israel. Many promises at the moment still remain unfulfilled. The land is divided, many Jews are outside Israel, although there are more inside Israel then elsewhere in the world; the tipping point was 2017. Ezekiel’s temple will finally be built and the Millennial reign of Christ, as described by John in Revelation 20, will begin.
This period on Earth will be like Eden in many ways. This is the hope of all the earth: a reversal of many of the effects of sin, but not all, because death will still be a part of the Millennial kingdom. This is the power of the Gospel; this is the power of Christ’s shed blood; this is the power of an empty tomb, confirming Christ’s defeat over sin and death. Every time we take communion, as we did last week, Paul also said we are proclaiming the Lord’s return. Talking about and living out the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit brings this Kingdom forward.
The return of the Lord Jesus Christ is the reset that Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Paul and John all spoke about regarding this earth. But more than that, Jesus spoke about this period of reign on the earth.
Are you speaking about it? This is the hope of the Gospel. This is His kingdom come on earth. We need to hear and read this often. Why? Because we have so many other messages that need filtering through the Word of God; not the other way around. May our Lord’s desire for His Kingdom to come on earth be our desire as well.