Aliens and the Antichrist: Unveiling the End Times Deception (38 page)

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The Millennial Reign of Christ

In the Bible, heaven and Earth are always distinguished from each other. In the future, however, Earth will become more and more like the highest heaven until eventually it
becomes
the highest heaven, with the capital of the universe (New Jerusalem) relocated from its current planet to Earth, and set down in Israel, on the top of Mount Zion. But before the arrival of New Jerusalem, Jesus will reign on Earth in the natural Earth city ofJerusalem for one thousand years. This reign will commence immediately after Satan is apprehended and chained up in the bowels of Earth (Revelation 20:1-3).

Revelation 20:1-3

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

During the millennial reign of Christ, many things on Earth will be the same,
but different.

1. Earth Will Be the Same

As far as things being the same, the nature ofEarth—the mountains, sky, plant and animal life—will all still be present. Earth will be the same real, physical place that it is now. People will continue to eat food as they do now because of the celebration of various feasts (feasts of Passover and unleavened bread—Ezekiel 45:21; first fruits—Ezekiel 44:30; Pentecost or Weeks—Ezekiel 46:9; trumpets—Ezekiel 44:5; day of atonement—Ezekiel 45-46; and tabernacles—Ezekiel 45:25, Zechariah 14:16-21). Because of the existence of food, agriculture will be one of the jobs people will have. Natural generations of people will have jobs just as they do now (agriculture and building are mentioned specifically—Isaiah 65:21-25). People will also tithe their incomes, since this has always been God’s standard for a financial system. (Tithing was used before the law—Genesis 14:20, 28:22; under the law—Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21; Nehemiah 10:37, 13:10-12; Proverbs 3:9-10; and after the fulfillment of the law through Jesus—Matthew 23:23; Romans 2:22; 1 Corinthians 9:7-18,16:1-3; Hebrews 7.)

Isaiah 65:21-25

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Government waste and corporate greed will no longer exist, and the many taxes people are forced to pay now will be replaced with a simple system of giving. In addition, many expenses will exist no longer (military, medicine, hospitals, cosmetics, crime prevention, and unhealthy addictive products such as drugs, tobacco, and alcohol). Earth will be filled with universal prosperity for all (Isaiah 65:21-24; Ezekiel 34:26; Micah 4:1-5; Zechariah 8:11-12, 9:16-17), but the same basic elements of society, including governmental structure and an economy, will still exist.

Ezekiel 34:26

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Zechariah 8:12

For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

I suspect artistic occupations will probably be much more prevalent in the kingdom of heaven, judging from the exquisite ornamentation included in every description of this realm. People will eventually find their natural gifts and skills and assume occupations that match their interests.

As previously stated, there will be cities with houses and streets (Revelation 21; John 14:1-3) and even public transportation, because the Bible speaks of highways that are traveled (Isaiah 11:16, 19:23-25, 35:7-8), and people making annual trips to the city of God (Isaiah 2:2-4, 52:7; Zechariah 8:20-23). Natural people probably won’t have supernatural powers like those of the glorified saints, so it makes sense that they will use technology to supplement their needs. Considering all these facts, many things will be the same, and nearly every hobby and activity there is on Earth now will probably be available in those days as well (subtracting sinful elements, of course).

Isaiah 11:16
(bold emphasis added)

And there shall be an highway
for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 19:23-25
(bold emphasis added)

In that day shall there be
a highway out of Egypt to Assyria,
and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Zechariah 8:20-23
(bold emphasis added)

Thus says the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

There will be natural generations of people on Earth for all eternity; people will have families and children forever. Initially they will begin as the survivors of the great tribulation. Following the battle of Armageddon, one of the first assignments of the glorified saints will be to go out into the world and notify all the people of the world of the new kingdom of Christ on Earth (Isaiah 2:2-4, 52:7; Zechariah 8:23). The inhabitants of the kingdom of Christ on Earth, referenced in Matthew 5:5 and Revelation 21:1-22:6, will contain glorified saints (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:52), but natural generations of people are specifically mentioned as well (Isaiah 11:6-7, 65:20, 65:25).

Isaiah 2:3
(bold emphasis added)

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for
out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

1 Thessalonians 4:17—these are glorified saints

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:52—these are glorified saints

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Isaiah 11:6-9—these children are from natural generations of people
(bold emphasis added)

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and
a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
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.

It won’t be until after the millennial reign of Christ that death won’t exist anymore (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 20:14).

Isaiah 25:8

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

1 Corinthians 15:26-28

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excluded, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, so that God may be all in all.

The people of Earth will continue to advance in love and prosperity forever, become more technologically advanced with each passing generation, and eventually spread out into the cosmos in search of new territory. They will be in the kingdom of Christ, which shall increase forever, so naturally they will eventually need to spread to other planets (Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:13-14; Micah 4:1-3; Zechariah 9:10, 14:1-21; Revelation 11:15).

Isaiah 9:6-71
(bold emphasis added)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

*An Earth full of immortal people who continue to reproduce will eventually

become populated to the point that expansion beyond Earth will become necessary. This is especially the case concerning a kingdom that increases forever, as the scripture
above
states.

Daniel 7:13–14 (bold emphasis added)

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:
His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

In essence, the way many non-Christian futurists perceive the future of the world is exactly the way it will be, provided one has the most optimistic outlook and confidence in the achievements of humanity one could possibly have. The humanistic psychology view of the future, as advocated in
Star Trek,
is very close to what the future on Earth will be like, with one huge exception—Gene Rod- denberry didn’t mention Jesus, the one who will make it all possible!

2. Earth Will Be Different

Everything will be the same, but at the same time, everything will be very different. After the millennial reign, there will be mountains on Earth, but Mount Zion will be unlike any mountain that anyone has ever seen. It will be 1,500 miles high (Revelation 21:16), and with the atmosphere as clean and crisp as it will be, this mountain will probably be visible from hundreds of miles away. Even more intriguing is the fact the atmosphere of Earth will have to be altered to accommodate this mountain, because if such a mountain were on Earth nowadays, satellites would be colliding with it starting at the 200 mile mark, less than one-seventh of the way up!
¹

Also concerning changes in the natural realm of Earth, there will still be days and nights forever (though nighttime will not be perceived within the city of New Jerusalem when it comes), but everything will be seven times brighter than it currently is during the day (Isaiah 30:26; 60:18-22). As stated earlier, the sun being larger in the first heaven might have something to do with this.

Isaiah 30:26

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day