Thinking
ahead to what will occur
after the return of
Christ, and some few years
into the millennium, it is
my purpose to write this
time about some of the
major problems of mankind
that Christ will begin
dealing with even though
the veil of spiritual
darkness will have been
removed once Satan is
isolated for 1000 years.
Writing
of that time, Isaiah wrote:
"And
He will destroy in this
mountain (Mount Zion) the
surface of the covering cast
over all nations"
(Isaiah 25:7).
Though
Jesus Christ will destroy
the covering of deception
cast over all nations there
will yet be the big problems
with Gentile nations that
will take some years for
them to begin dealing with
their own human nature in a
collective and individual
manner.
Mr.
Armstrong has said, and the
Scriptures support him, that
it will take two or three
decades or more into the
millennium to bring mankind
into subjection to God and
His way of life.
To
grasp with understanding of
what will take place, and why
– it is necessary for the
reader to ingest the quotes
I have taken from a book Mr.
Armstrong wrote about the
coming new world.
****************************************
TOMORROW
... WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE,
Mr. Armstrong, page 27
"What
is the cause of wars? The
answer is — human nature.
Why do people steal, murder,
commit adultery or
fornication, covet what is
not theirs? Human nature.
We
shall never have Utopia on
earth until human nature is
changed. But, you say —
‘Man can’t change human
nature.’ Oh, But God can!
And
that’s precisely what the
living Christ is going to
do, when He returns to rule
all the nations of the
earth.
Just
what is human nature? I
define it as vanity, lust,
and greed toward self —
and as jealousy, envy,
hostility and resentment of
authority against others.
The Bible defines it thus: The
heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately
wicked. ... (Jeremiah
17:9) — and ... the
carnal [natural] mind
is enmity [hostile] against
God; for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither
can be (Romans 8:7).
How
God Will Change Human Nature
(same book, pages 31-32)
"I
have said that we shall
never have real utopia on
earth until human nature is
changed, and that human
nature is the villain cause
of all the world’s evils.
And I also have said that
although man can’t change
his human nature, God can
— and will. That is
precisely what the glorified
world-ruling Christ is going
to do when He returns to
earth in Divine power and
glory.
Now
we can begin to understand.
First,
consider how the living
Christ, as our High Priest,
changes this human nature in
those whom God calls to
salvation in this present
day of man.
Each
individual is a free moral
agent, and God won’t
change that prerogative!
Each must be brought, of his
own free will, to repentance
and to faith in Jesus
Christ. Those are the
conditions. Those do not
change human nature. Those
are the conditions God
requires of us. But when we,
of our own free choice, do
yield to those two
conditions, then God starts
the changing process.
God
doesn’t abolish human
nature – not as long as we
are in the human flesh. But
He does, upon real
repentance and faith, give
the precious gift of His
Holy Spirit, which enters
into the mind of the
individual. And this is the
Divine Nature. It is not
human nature — it is
God’s Nature. Yet is does
not drive out or eliminate
human nature. ...
How
Utopia Will Come (same book,
page 33)
"But
now let’s be specific.
Let’s see just how
tomorrow’s Utopia is to be
ushered in. Remember, this
wonderful world-state will
not be achieved all at once.
Every
major step of these
soon-coming events is laid
bare before our eyes in
Biblical prophecy. ...
Satan
Removed At Last (same book,
page 38)
"...
The day of man, swayed,
deceived, misled by Satan
for 6,000 years, will be
over. No longer will Satan
be able to broadcast through
the air into the spirit in
man. No longer shall he be
able to inject into
unsuspecting humans his
satanic nature – which
some have been misled into
calling ‘human nature.’
Human
Nature Not to Disappear at
Once (same book, pages
38-39)
"But
that does not mean that the
acquired satanic attitude
will disappear from human
minds immediately. The
multiplied millions shall
have acquired it. And even
though Satan will then be
restrained from continuing
to broadcast it, what has
been acquired as habit will
not be automatically be
removed.
Yet
God has made us free moral
agents. He has given us
control over our own minds,
except as we may be blinded
by Satan’s pull of evil by
deception.
But
no longer will earth’s
mortal beings be deceived.
Now the all-Powerful Christ,
and the immortal saints
under Him, WILL BEGIN
removing the scales that
have blinded human minds.
This
is why I say complete utopia
CANNOT be ushered in all at
once. Multiple millions WILL
STILL HOLD TO THE ATTITUDE
OF REBELLION – of vanity,
lust and greed. But with
Christ’s coming SHALL
BEGIN the process of
re-education — of OPENING
deceived minds — of undeceiving
minds, and bringing them to
voluntary repentance. ...
[my emphasis throughout up
to here with capitalized
letters]
Christ
will begin calling all
mortal on earth to
repentance and spiritual
salvation! God’s Holy
Spirit shall flow out from
Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8).
What
glory! A new day shall have
dawned. Peace shall soon
come. Men shall turn from
the way of ‘get’ to the
way of ‘give’ —
God’s way of love.
A
NEW CIVILIZATION shall now
grip the earth!"
[END
OF THE QUOTES FROM MR.
ARMSTRONG]
********************************************
God
through His prophet Isaiah
reveals a beautiful picture
of what the His new world
will begin to be like after
He once returns and
establishes His government
and reign on this earth.
In
the 11th chapter
we find a running flow of
what will begin to take
place. For my purpose I will
lift only one verse from
that setting:
"They
shall not hurt nor destroy
in all My holy mountain. For
the earth shall [come to be]
full of the knowledge of the
LORD as the waters cover the
sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Mount
Zion is where Jesus Christ
will place His throne and
from where He will rule the
world.
God
First Will Work With The
Survivors of Israel
Scripture
reveals God will first begin
working with His own chosen
people, the surviving
Israelites, whom He will
gather from where they will
be enslaved in the various
Gentile nations during the
Great Tribulation period of
time (Jeremiah 30;31, etc).
They
will be returned to their
original inheritance that
was allotted to the
individual tribes of Israel
after entering the Promised
Land at the conclusion of
their 40-year exodus from
Egypt.
"Behold,
I will bring them from the
north country, and gather
them from the ends of the
earth, among them the blind
and the lame, the woman with
child and the one who labors
with child together; a great
throng shall return there.
The shall come with weeping,
and with supplications I
will lead them. ...
Therefore they shall come
and sing in the height of
Zion streaming (flowing) to
the goodness of the LORD —
for wheat and new wine and
oil, for the young of the
flock and the herd; their
souls shall be like a
well-watered garden, and
they shall sorrow no
more" (Jeremiah 8-9,
12).
Scripture
also reveals the great
blessings that will begin to
be given to them from God
due to their repentance and
acceptance of God the Father
and Jesus Christ and
beginning to walk in Their
Holy and righteous laws as
their new way of life:
"Behold,
the days are coming. Says
the LORD, that I will sow
the house of Israel and the
house of Judah with the seed
of man and the seed of
beast. And it shall come to
pass, that as I have watched
over them to pluck up, to
break down, to throw down,
to destroy, and to afflict,
so I will watch over them to
build and to plant, says the
LORD. ... No more shall
every man teach his
neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, ‘Know the
LORD,’ for they all shall
know Me from the least of
them to the greatest of
them, says the LORD. For I
will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will
remember no more"
(Jeremiah 31:27-28, 34).
Gentile
Nations of Europe and Arab
Nations
The
implication from Scripture
is that some little time
later God will then begin to
branch out from Mount Zion,
and His focus on His own
people Israel, to begin
working with the Gentile
nations of Europe and Egypt,
and possibly all the Arab
nations (Zechariah 14.16-19;
Isaiah 19:21-25).
When
we consider God’s original
intention of how He would
have used Israel had they
been obedient to Him, it
would seem that His purpose
will yet be carried out
during this future time
after having returned to God
with mind and heart.
With
this in mind consider what
God told Moses to tell
Israel:
"Now
therefore, if you will
indeed obey My voice and
keep My covenant, then you
shall be a special treasure
to Me above all people; for
all the earth is Mine. And
you shall be to Me A KINGDOM
OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY
NATION. These are the words
which you shall speak to the
children of Israel"
(Exodus 19:5-6).
In
addition to the immortal
saints working with Christ
in a very direct way with
Israel, prophecy implies the
primary purpose that He will
have to focus first on
His own chosen nation will
be to prepare leaders
from them to be used as
go-between priests and
teachers to these nations
– first with Europe, and
then with the Arab nations
while naming Egypt as the
leader and type of them.
Does
Armageddon End The Wars?
Instead
of United Europe being the
final source of the problems
that will come upon this
country and the other tribes
of Israel that will result
in the Great Tribulation, it
is believed by some
ministers in the Protestant
Religion that Russia will be
the leader of a
conglomeration of nations to
attack the United States
prior to Christ’s return.
They
are in error due to a wrong
understanding of what God
led His prophet Ezekiel to
write about them.
To
Be Continued
It
will be my purpose to write
next time about this
misunderstood assumption and
explain the truth of what
will really take place in
that coming time, and the
approximate timing of it.
Please
be advised that to really
have the correct
understanding of those
Scriptures that will be
given in the next writing it
will be necessary for the
reader to keep a copy of
this one at hand and
review it just before
reading the next one.
Brethren,
it is important that we keep
focused on the coming new
world in which we have been
promised a wonderful future
with new and growing
responsibilities for they
will be always exciting and
leaving us with the inner
pleasure of real achievement
while working to help others
to come to be a part of the
blessings we are now being
so richly graced during this
time of our calling and
selection.
It
is my hope that this will
prove to be not only a very
interesting review of all
that we have been taught but
possibly adding some things to
areas that we already know
about but have not
given much thought or known
before.
Always
keep in mind that the
Wonderful World Tomorrow is
to be our future and we
should always be highly
interested in what God makes
known to us in His
prophecies of that future
time.
An
Aside: I
have at least one more
writing regarding the
parallels of the 3 Elijahs
that I plan on getting back
to in the near future.
Take
good care each one of you
for our struggle against
Satan continues along with
other problems that are
almost always before us;
problems that would take
away the future God holds
forth for each one of us
unless we are very careful
and remain close to our
father and Jesus Christ.
Our
love and continued prayers,
Don
Billingsley
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