Standing in front of the
United Nations headquarters in Manhattan is the famous sculpture of a naked man
beating a sword into a plowshare. On the base of the work, donated in 1960 by
the people of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
is an altered version of Isaiah 2:4 that reads,
ÒWe shall beat our swords into plowshares."
WhatÕs funny is this verse in
Isaiah actually refers to the future 1,000-year Millennial kingdom reign of
Jesus Christ in a rebuilt Jerusalem. During this time of unparalleled peace and
prosperity in the earth following the Second Coming, Christ will rule with a
Òrod of ironÓ as the nation Israel goes out and controls the government of all
the nations.
For this same 1,000-year
span, Satan will be held bound in the bottomless pit with no ability to tempt
man or deceive the nations. Amazingly, though, there will still be many people who
choose in their hearts to rebel against God.
Jordan explains, ÒAt the end
of this 1,000 years of enforced righteousness—of absolute, instant
capital punishment—SatanÕs let out of the bottomless pit and instantly
gets followers, demonstrating thereÕs a whole bunch of people who, in spite of
Jesus Christ personally sitting on the throne, are led by their sin nature.
ÒYou hear people all the
time talk about wanting peace and a perfect world—a perfect environment,
perfect social justice, everybody having plenty of food, no strife, no
war—and theyÕll have it then, but still the sinful heart of man ainÕt
right.Ó
As Rev. 20 foretells it, ÒAnd
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
[8] And shall go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
[9] And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
[10] And the devil that deceived
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the
false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.Ó
Jordan explains, ÒGod just
wipes all that out, sets up the Great White Throne judgment and the lost wind
up down in the lake of fire. And you talk about making a fire, man! ThatÕs
hydrogen!
ÒSo, the present world that
now is—the arrangement thatÕs here today—will continue until the
Millennium, and at the end of the Millennium will be destroyed and replaced by
the Ônew heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.Õ (II Peter 3:13)
ÒAnd the sea wonÕt be there.
The deep will be gone because the Enemy the deep is designed to
contain—and hold and seal up and put bounds around—will be gone,
and will be down in the place that was prepared for him.Ó
*****
The rebuilt Jerusalem of the
Millennium is not to be confused with the New Jerusalem defined in Revelation
21. In this New Jerusalem, which will be the command center of the redeemed
universe, God the Father actually comes down and joins His Son, both of them dwelling
with men.
This is the Òdispensation of
the fullness of timeÓ (Eph. 1:10) in its fullness, and the eternal kingdom of
God begun with the 1,000-year transition period is never-ending.
Psalm 104 actually tells
us that the pillars for the foundation of this New Jerusalem are already laid
in Palestine!
ÒAbrahamÕs looking for a city
that God built and there it is—HeÕs gonna build it on the earth,Ó says
Jordan.
At this time, the saints in
heaven will be able to visit the earth. Jordan explains, ÒOur job and our home
(as saints) is going to be out there in the heavens, but there wonÕt be the
bondage of time; the limitations of time and space and that kind of stuff that we
experience now. I mean, HeÕs going to change the structure.
ÒIf Jesus Christ can leave
Planet Earth, go into the third heaven to God the Father, and come back in less
than a two-hour time span in the Book of John, youÕre not going to have any
trouble. YouÕre going to have a body just like His. You wonÕt need a GPS system
to keep from getting lost and all that kind of stuff.Ó