NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.

The Bible talks about “the world to come” but it does not talk about the “World Tomorrow” which is an expression that was used by Mr. Armstrong and which was also the title of a television program hosted by Mr. Armstrong which provided Bible information to the general population.

Mr. Armstrong wrote a booklet called “The World Tomorrow — What Will it be Like?” and most everyone that ever became a member of God’s Church in the days of Mr. Armstrong read it.

The booklet describes the world after Christ’s 2^nd Coming as being the World Tomorrow which corresponds to the time period known as the Millennium i.e., that 1,000 year period when Satan will be bound, placed in the bottomless pit and a seal put upon him that he may no longer be able to deceive the nations.

The Feast of Tabernacles was said to anticipate and prefigure the coming millennial reign of Christ over the nations. In the days of ancient Israel the feast was a memorial of the days when Israel had to live in booths or tabernacles (places of temporary residence) when they left Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years before coming into the Promised Land. Lastly, the Feast was said to symbolize the coming of a time on earth where there would be peace and abundance all over the world and when the nations would convert and all become part of God’s nation.

This indeed would be a very desirable and beautiful time for mankind. However it may be, let’s determine what conditions will exist during the Millennium according to the Scriptures and make sure our understanding of this period of time is correct.

As Mr. Armstrong often explained, the Bible is written in such a way as to not be understood by the world and even those who have God’s Holy Spirit need to take care to ensure that what they understand is fully supported by the Bible which does not contradict itself.

Mr. Armstrong learned the truth bit by bit and piece by piece as God led him as he studied the Bible after his calling. Throughout his long ministry, at times, he has had to revise some of his teachings as new understanding made it evident that they were not in agreement with the Bible though at the time they seemed to be. One such correction was regarding which day is the correct day on which to celebrate Pentecost. For many years the Church celebrated Pentecost on a Saturday; Mr. Armstrong could not bring himself to believe that it could be on the day of the Sun, Sunday even if the Scriptures made it plain that it was.

Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath [Sunday]the priest shall wave it.

Mr. Armstrong always said not to rely on any man and if he was ever found to be in error on a given matter that we were to follow the Bible and not men including himself.

Mr. Armstrong has been dead for more than 30 years and even though some of his teachings were in error by his own admission, it remains that the bulk of his teachings are correct and constitute the restoration of the foundational truth of the Church taught by Christ to His disciples. He was the end-time Elijah that was to restore all things i.e., the foundational truth given the Church by Christ that was lost over the centuries of persecution that came upon the true Church.

Paul wrote that the foundation which he and the other apostles gave the first century Church is something that Church members were to build on (1 Cor 3:10-15). They were to build on this foundation while being careful not to undo any of it though Paul explained that some findings that seemed right to us and which appeared to fit on the foundation i.e., they did not undo one or more the truth of the foundation, could nonetheless be wrong but that this would not cause anyone to lose their salvation. God commands us all to study so as to have continuous growth in knowledge and understanding all through our natural lives. Having commanded growth, God has left truth to be discovered in the Bible by His elect through their personal studies which all are to do. This truth is what God calls “meat” (Heb 5:12-14) which only those who are drawn from the breasts (Isa 28:9) that is, those who have mastered the foundational truths, can discover.

With these thoughts in mind, let’s examine what the Bible says about the world to come and the Millennium.

Basic Principles

There are a number of principles that are constant throughout the Bible and which need to be kept in mind when we read the Bible and which are the following:

The Bible speaks only about and to Israel and not to the nations of the world; the nations of the world are mentioned only incidentally as they come into contact with Israel. The Bible is first and foremost a book about the nation of Israel, physically and spiritually.
God gives man a choice between life and death; His wish is that man chooses life but He will not force him to do so; He will allow him to choose death if this is his choice. God has given man absolute free moral agency which is to say that there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force man to choose something contrary to his will or to believe something contrary to his will. You can brutalize him so that he chooses something contrary to his will but his mind has not been changed; he would still act the same way if free to do so and he still believes the same thing.
Unconverted men are not nor can they be the slaves of Satan because of the absolute free moral agency granted mankind by God. Satan’s only power is to influence men’s minds; he cannot force any man to obey him. And yes, Satan does deceive the world as to what is the correct difference between good and evil but he cannot compel man to do evil.
God gave men mind power, the ability to think and make decisions on their own based on their personal evaluation of a given situation. This mind power was given mankind to make possible individuality and personality. Without mind power, men would be like robots fully controlled by their programming and incapable of spontaneously originating a thought. God would still be alone in the universe and would not be able to reproduce Himself through beings that have no independence of thought and decision making capabilities.
The human mind broadly speaking can be broken down into a logical and a non-logical or emotional component. God has emotions as revealed in the Bible (anger, joy, frustration, vengeance, disappointment); man was created after God’s image; he has the same mind but with less power; the human mind is capable of emotions because God’s mind has emotions. Emotions can and do cause us to make bad decisions at times unless we keep them under control.
Salvation is possible only through the voluntary assent of the person in whom it is to occur. In other words, God will not force anyone to be saved; God’s spirit only ever leads; God will not compel anyone to follow the truth against their will (absolute, free moral agency of man is the reason).
Lucifer, the angels and mankind were not created evil; rather they were created neutral i.e., they were not in opposition to God from the day of their creation. They had to demonstrate whether or not they would choose to freely and willingly obey God when tempted not to do so. Lucifer and the angels on the earth with him were given a commission to fulfill; that was the choice of obedience they had to make when tempted not to do so by their own lust. Adam and Eve were ordered not to take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; that was the choice of obedience they had to make under temptation of Satan and their own lust.
Temptation does not come from Satan but from our own lust (James 1:13-15). Lust is having an excessive desire for something. Many things are pleasurable and desirable and when used within the limits of God’s law, are beneficial and profitable. Eating and drinking are a good thing if not done to excess.
Mankind is able to lust because of the mind power and free will given it. The disadvantage of having absolute freedom to choose is that this power to choose also makes it possible for man to make bad choices but without mind power and freewill, no individuality and no personality are possible. For God to be able to reproduce Himself through mankind it is necessary that man be given mind power and the power to choose. God knew full well that in doing so He was taking the chance that this power could and would be used for evil rather than good.

Let’s start off this study by looking at those verses where the term “world to come” is used.

The World to Come

Mar 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Mar 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

The “world to come” is an expression that refers to God’s Kingdom and not the Millennium or the Last Great Day as is made clear by these verses. In the “world to come” men receive eternal life which is something that does not occur during the Millennium.

Mr. Armstrong (HWA) spoke of the World Tomorrow in reference to the Millennium. The “World Tomorrow” is a term not found in the Bible. Mr. Armstrong uses the expression “World Tomorrow” to mean the Millennium which he thought would be a time where Christ and His Bride would reign directly over the nations (Dan 7:18; 27) (See Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium ) and there would be a massive conversion of the nations with Christ’s Bride, God’s saints throughout the ages who become glorified spirit beings, acting as teachers to the nations that would massively convert. HWA taught that the reason for the existence of the Church is to train the teachers that will be needed during the Millennium because of the great number of conversions that would occur as God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh.

Will there be a massive conversion of the nations following Christ’s 2^nd Coming, the binding and sealing of Satan and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28 where God says He will pour His Spirit out upon all flesh?

On Being Called and Chosen

Mr. Armstrong always taught that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still i.e., unless an individual wants to learn it is impossible to teach him anything. This is the absolute free will given man by God; no one can be forced to believe something against his will. Free will is essential for individuality and personality to exist; without it people’s minds are essentially under the control of a superior being with themselves having no capability to think and act independently.

It is true that all will be called during the Millennium but being called is not the same thing as being converted. The calling out of the individual is the first step of the process of conversion and it does not result in the sure conversion of all those called. What does Christ say about the calling out process?

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Christ Himself here in a plain and simple verse that needs no interpretation is talking about how men would react to being called and He plainly tells us that many are called to come out of this present evil world; to abandon its ways and to live in newness of life but that few are chosen i.e., after having been given sufficient knowledge and understanding to be able to make an informed decision, they decide to stay in the world and consequently are not chosen by God to become a member of His Kingdom at the time when it will be set up by committing themselves to obey Him in all things and living a life of continuing spiritual growth through regular, attentive and detailed studies of the Scriptures until the end of their natural lives.

When called, men use the absolute free will given them to make a decision that will determine their eternal fate and God, as He has said He would, lets them choose death, eternal death if indeed this is the choice they make. And, unfortunately, not by any of God’s doing but by their own decision, men for the most part will choose not to follow their calling preferring to remain in the world. This verse is plain and simple and easy to understand if we will not let ourselves be blinded by our prejudices and try to give it some other meaning than what it very plainly says to bring it in agreement with our preferred way of thinking on the matter. There is no other possible meaning than that it is the few that are chosen. It is sad and somewhat disheartening to realize that many are called but prefer the immediate gratifications of this present world to the eternal life being offered them but which they will not receive right away but God leaves them free to do so and it is something that they will have freely chosen.

What about those that are chosen? What does Christ have to say about those who make the decision to follow their calling and are entering God’s Church?

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The first major hurdle on the way to eternal life is to make the decision to come out of the world. The next one is an even bigger one. The chosen one must seek to enter into God’s kingdom using the strait gate and to remain on the narrow way their whole natural life. In other words, the chosen one must make the decision to enter into God’s Kingdom God’s way and not their way which is the broad way.

What is the broad way? This is an expression that has been often used but never really explained to the best of my recollection by the ministry of God’s Church when it existed.

If we go back to what happened in the first century Church which is a type of what would happen in God’s Church throughout the ages we can understand what it is that Christ meant by the term “broad way.”

First century Church congregations were made up of Jews or Israelites and of people from the Gentile nations. These people came in from different religious backgrounds; the Jews had Judaism which is not the same as the truth given Israel by God through Moses and there were the different pagan religions of the day which consisted in worshiping idols and various sets of false beliefs. At first, new converts were very eager to learn and follow the truth taught them by the apostles and the ministers they appointed but as time went by they began to want to introduce into the true Church some of their pagan beliefs and practices which they thought were not all that bad after all.

The Jews and the Gentiles wanted their cherished beliefs added to the Church’s doctrines. They wanted to be able to do both and still be told that they were on the way to inheriting salvation. They didn’t want to fully abandon their previous lives in the world and their past religious beliefs; they sought to make their worldly customs and religious traditions acceptable to God’s Church. They wanted to follow the broad way into God’s Kingdom; they didn’t want to be limited to the doctrines of the Church; to forsake all those things in their former lives which were contrary to God’s law; they wanted to be able to do both and still be told that they were on the road to salvation.

Christ clearly stated that it would be the many that would choose the broad way not wanting to fully abandon their previous lives in the world and that it would be the few that would choose to try to the best of their abilities to live their lives in accordance with every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord; to forsake completely their previous beliefs and walk in newness of life.

The many would be like Lot’s wife who didn’t think that Sodom and Gomorrah were all that bad and looked longingly back as she was being led out of it and lost her physical life as a result which is a type of the loss of eternal life that will befall all those of God’s Church who look back and try to serve two masters. The Scriptures are clear that it is not possible to do so; you will come to hate one or the other; in the case of those coming into God’s Church who continue to love the world, they will in time revert to living the way of the world as they did before while still attending church services thinking they will be saved anyway. Christ says it is the many that will choose the broad way because the strait and narrow way demands too much time, effort and forsaking of past practices, beliefs and customs to do so. These people haven’t lost their love of the world and don’t want to have to abandon it.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Of those who are coming into God’s Church, Christ tells us very clearly that it is the “few” that will find and remain on the strait and narrow way that leads to life.

Letting go of our pre-conversion cherished false beliefs, religious and worldly, which are contrary to God’s truth is the scourging that all new Christians have to endure.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

It is the great test of obedience that all have to go through and it is a difficult one. It is so difficult that God likens it to being scourged which is an extremely painful whipping. Of course, God does not and will not subject any Christians to a real scourging; this is talking about Christians having to forsake their past beliefs some of which are very important to them and to which they were greatly attached, as it becomes clear to them that they are contrary to God’s law as they grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s law. At first, a new convert only has but a small amount of knowledge of the truth but as growth occurs in knowledge, he finds more and more beliefs and practices in his life that have to be changed or abandoned.

God’s correction is through growth in knowledge and understanding of His truth and the convert has to accept to be corrected by the truth as it becomes known to him. As previously stated, it is a very difficult thing to admit that some of our most cherished beliefs are false and have to be forsaken. This is why it is the few that enter through the strait gate and remain on the narrow way that leads to life. That is why the many choose the broad way where they allow themselves to keep some of their past beliefs and practices which they now know to be contrary to God’s law and keep on attending Sabbath day services and celebrating the annual holy days thinking that acting this way will not prevent them from becoming part of God’s Kingdom.

It is the unfortunate and sad reality that it is the many that choose the broad way. Notice that they choose it; God has given man absolute free moral agency, it is not something forced upon them by either God or Satan or that occurs unknowingly to them; they know what they are doing and God holds them responsible; they lose their salvation.

Teaching in the World Tomorrow

As was just explained, being called is not the same thing as being chosen and once chosen there is no certainty of remaining chosen; it all depends on what the individual does after coming into God’s Church.

During the Millennium which Mr. Armstrong calls the World Tomorrow, mankind will continue to have absolute free moral agency or free will and mind power which makes it possible for them to make their own decisions and not merely be under the irresistible control of a higher power whether of God or of Satan. In other words, the decision to be teachable or not will continue to wholly belong to man. Men cannot be taught against their will; they cannot be forced to believe something against their will.

Christ says it is the “few” of the “many” that are called that will be chosen. They will not be chosen because they decide not to follow their calling which means that their decision is to refuse to be taught the truth of God and to be bound by it in the way they live their lives. And God has decreed that the decision is entirely theirs to make even if it means their eternal death (Deu 30:19).

Knowing this and accepting this clear Scripture, it becomes evident that during the Millennium even with the binding and sealing up of Satan and the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon all flesh, there will be no massive conversion of the nations of the world. And, given the free, moral agency given man by God, it is also clear that it will not be possible to undertake a worldwide reeducation of the nations which would require a large number of teachers as an intermediate step in bringing the nations to conversion. Men cannot be taught against their will; the many called are not chosen because they do not follow their calling and it is impossible to teach them against their will.

Conversion begins with God’s calling and the freely made decision by the called out one to follow or not his calling. If the individual refuses God’s calling, that individual is not teachable; no one can teach him God’s truth against his will. Of the many called only the few will follow their calling, so says Christ Himself.

The world during the Millennium will continue to be very much the way we presently know it. Men will continue to have free moral agency and mind power and will be free to make up their own minds as to what they want to do when called. What will be different are the changes that God will make to the natural environment and to the nature of animal but men will continue as they were before the beginning of the Millennium i.e., they will continue to have absolute free moral agency which means that they will continue to be completely free to accept or refuse God’s calling as it has been the case since the beginning; most of them will not and will be unteachable.

Christ in Heaven until the Time of the Restoration of all Things

In the booklet, “The Wonderful World Tomorrow — What will it be like?” Mr. Armstrong says that it will be Christ and the resurrected saints (His Bride) ruling over the nations and that Christ is remaining in heaven until the time of the restoration of all things.

Let’s start by examining what is involved in the “restoration of all things.”

Whenever the ministry spoke of Christ coming back to restore all things, it was said that Christ was coming back to restore God’s government to the earth which had been taken away when Lucifer rebelled.

However, it is clear in the Bible that God’s intention is not to rule over men by force or to bring him to repentance by force. It is also clear that conversion is an individual and not a group process and the process of conversion can only occur with the free and willing assent of the one in which it is to occur. God will not force anyone to come to conversion; they must want it after God has allowed them to see the truth to which they were before completely blind.

Therefore, the only persons over whom God’s government or rulership can be exercised is over those who after having come to the knowledge of the truth, freely and willingly choose to submit themselves to Him in all things. God’s government exists on the earth but it exists only in His Church; it cannot exist in the world; God will not rule by force over mankind. Christ is not coming to restore God’s government to the world. As an aside, it should be noted that God’s government has existed in all His creation since the creation of the material universe through the unbreakable laws that govern the mode and manner of existence of matter. The only beings created in which it does not exist is in mankind who has been given mind power which gives him the freedom to choose, a freedom which is absolute. No man or spirit being created by God can force men to believe something they have not chosen to believe.

What then will Christ restore and to whom will He restore it to?

After Christ’s 2^nd Coming and the resurrection of God’s saints to glorified spirit life, there will be no flesh-and-blood humans left on the earth who know the truth Christ taught His disciples at his First Coming. There will however remain individuals here and there around the world with whom God had been working but who are not yet converted and who will not be part of the resurrection of God’s saints. They will only have a very limited knowledge and understanding of the truth as we all had when we were first called.

The foundational truth of the Church taught by Christ to the disciples will have been lost because of the resurrection of the saints who are the ones who had the knowledge given the Church by Christ and restored to the Philadelphia Era Church by God’s end time Elijah and there will again be a need to restore this knowledge to those that will become God’s Church during the Millennium.

Christ came the first time to the children of Israel to set up His Church and He is coming the Second time, to finish His ministry with Israel which was to last one week but which was cut off in the middle of the week. In prophetic fulfillment, a week with a year for a day principle becomes 7 years. Christ’s first ministry to Israel lasted 3 ½ years; it was cut off in the middle of the week.

Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Num 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

There is therefore another 3 ½ year ministry that Christ must fulfill with Israel. Christ is the Logos or the Spokesman and it is through Him that God has been speaking to His called out ones since the day of Pentecost (Heb 1:1-2). Christ will be the one teaching Israel returned from its end time captivity as He is the one who is God’s Spokesman to mankind and there is none other.

In the end-time we know that the modern-day nations constituting Israel will have been militarily conquered and be in captivity at the time of Christ’s 2^nd Coming. One of the first things Christ does after the end of the events of the Day of the Lord is to gather Israel from all the nations in which it had been scattered and bring it back to the Promised Land.

Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Eze 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Eze 20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

Eze 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Eze 11:18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Eze 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

And once back in the Promised Land, Christ says that He will make a New Covenant with Israel.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

This new covenant that is to be made with Israel means that all of Israel will be called and have God’s Spirit with them opening their minds to God’s truth which is otherwise impossible to know and understand. Israel will be called and will be taught God’s truth for a 3 ½ year period by the returned Christ (Dan 9:27) and at the end of this time period, the New Covenant will be made with all those of Israel who have accepted to be taught the truth and who have chosen to submit themselves to God. That will be the time of Israel’s calling (Rom 11). Not all of them will accept their calling (Matt 22:14) and of those accepting it and entering the Church it will be the few that will enter through the strait gate and choose the narrow way that leads to life (Matt 7: 13-14). That same process will continue until the end of the Last Great Day.

Of all Israel that is called, there will be a few, of the many called and chosen, that will make the New Covenant with Christ i.e., that will commit themselves to obeying God in all things to the best of their abilities for the rest of their natural human life. In doing so, they become God’s Church which is simply individuals who can sometimes be a group or congregation which is made of up of only those whose attitude is to obey God in all things.

All other physical Israelites that do not become converted will not be part of spiritual Israel i.e., they will not be part of those who make the New Covenant. How do we know?

Zec 14:20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

Zec 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

After the making of the New Covenant, Israel becomes God’s Church which is God’s temple and all those in whom God’s Holy Spirit does not dwell will be excluded from spiritual Israel which is God’s Church and this is just like it always has been. In God’s Church the unconverted were not allowed to congregate with the converted; they could not attend Sabbath day services and God’s feasts. Spiritual Israel will be God’s Holy nation which means that those making up this nation will have God’s Spirit dwelling in them so as to be holy and if one is a Canaanite i.e., one who will not submit to God when called, he then cannot be part of spiritual Israel or God’s Church.

There will be a physical and unconverted nation of Israel that will exist during the Millennium living on the territory of the Promised Land but they will not be part of God’s Church or spiritual Israel which will be only consist of those Israelites that entered into the New Covenant.

Please take note of the following very critical understanding that you need to keep in mind as you read the Scriptures. Although the spiritual nation of Israel during the Millennium will start off with the end-time remnant of Israel returned to the Promised Land following its captivity among the Gentile nations, the spiritual nation of Israel will not exist as a group living in a specific geographical location of the world to which all converts wherever they may be in the world will migrate and in this way be an organization and community of believers specific to a city and a country. In other words, the physical nation of Israel and the physical city of Jerusalem will not ever become or be the world’s center of true religion and worship during the Millennium or during the Last Great Day.

God’s nation of Israel in NT times is a spiritual one and consists of those who have been called and chosen wherever they may live in the world (John 17:15). The holy spirit being called the Word teaches them all things (John 14:17-18,26) and God speaks to His Church through the Holy Bible which is Christ in writing (Heb 1:1-2), the Word of God. There was no headquarters Church in Jerusalem in the days of the apostles nor any building called a church nor a holy city to which all converts went to upon their conversion; they stayed where their conversion occurred.

The making of the New Covenant with Israel returned from captivity will be a fulfillment of the mission God gave ancient Israel and which they were never ever able to perform.

Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

They were to be God’s holy nation (they would have God’s holiness in them which is what makes them holy) and a kingdom of priests (their function would be to teach the foundational truth of God’s Church to those who would be called and chosen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day). During the Millennium and the Last Great Day, spiritual Israel will be God’s human level instrument through which He will teach individuals from the nations of the world that convert following their calling. Those Israelites which do not enter into the New Covenant will constitute physical Israel which will also live in the Promised Land. In the days of ancient Israel, the tribe of Levi and Aaron and his sons who were the priests lived on the same territory as the other tribes which were not priests.

A point of importance to keep in mind is that since the day of Pentecost God has a spiritual nation made up of individuals called from the nations of the world and who have followed their calling. They are not from a specific nation living in a certain geographical location. God’s spiritual nation or God’s Church is first and foremost a spiritual organism existing all over the world in those individuals that have been called and chosen. It also does not become a group of individuals who upon their calling and conversion leave their homeland and travel to Jerusalem to be with other converts also coming from all over the world to form a congregation which will progressively get larger and become a village, a town, a province, a nation and a kingdom as more people come to conversion.

One last important consideration is that though God’s Church during the Millennium will start with the remnant of the modern-day physical nations constituting Israel after their return from captivity, their resettlement in the Promised Land and Christ’s 3 ½ year ministry to them, God’s Church is not only those of the physical nation of Israel that will enter the New Covenant. It starts with them but the process is then extended to the nations of the world when God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh.

Also, the physical nation of Israel and Jerusalem will not be the world’s center of true religion to which the newly converted will travel to worship God nor will it be the place from which the truth of God will go out to the world. God’s Church starts off with Israel in fulfillment of Ex 19:7 but converted end-time Israel will only be a part of God’s Church which will be worldwide and include members from all nations. Israel nor Jerusalem are or will become the world’s worship center of the true God as true Christians’ spiritual teachers are the holy spirit being God the Father, who calls men and the holy spirit being, the Word who teaches them all things once they become converted. God and the Word dwell in all truly converted Christians. There is no need to go to any nation or city such as Jerusalem to worship God or be instructed by Him.

Understanding this is of the greatest importance in correctly understanding verses that seem to say that Jerusalem will be the world’s centre of true religion and that the nations will eagerly go there to pray and worship God.

Lord of Lords and King of Kings

In the book of Revelation we read that Christ upon His 2^nd Coming will be the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

The time when God will intervene in the affairs of mankind will be during the Day of the Lord which is God’s wrath upon humanity. It will be a time of gloom and doom and great destruction which will come upon mankind from God but it will not be as a means to shock mankind into repentance as is widely believed by so many. God will not by any mean force men to repent. Men must rather choose repentance when God gives them the opportunity to do so which is at the time of their being called by God.

BUT and here is the big BUT; the result of God intervening in the affairs of mankind will not be for Christ to assume rulership over any pagan government or nation during the Millennium or the Last Great Day. Christ is not coming a second time to forcefully rule over mankind; to become the King of human kings and the Lord of human lords. God’s rule is only by the assent of the ruled (Rom 8:14) and this is in accordance with God’s plan of salvation. Man must have free moral agency and self-willingly choose God’s way when it is revealed to him. Free moral agency is required to make individuality and personality possible; otherwise, those converted would simply be like robots with no mind capability, independence of thought, individuality and personality. God would not be able to reproduce Himself through them. There could be millions of mind-controlled individuals in His Kingdom but He would be like a man living with animals that have no mind power and to which he can only relate in a very limited way. God, like the man surrounded with mindless animals, would still be alone in the universe with the Word; there would still be no other beings like him except Christ.

During the time of the Day of the Lord, which is the time of God’s wrath over the nations, God will punish mankind and also prevent the mighty nations of the world, who at that time will be competing for world domination, from exterminating all life on the earth by nuclear war.

There will be an all out effort to bring down the world’s last superpower, Manasseh or the United States, and according to prophecy it will succeed (Ez 5) and when it does, the remaining nations of the world will begin to fight among themselves to the point of risking self-extermination by engaging in nuclear war to determine who will be the new superpower that will rule the physical world. It is only because of Christ’s 2^nd Coming that their nuclear confrontation doesn’t continue to the point where nuclear war would destroy mankind.

At the end of the Day of the Lord, which occurs with the pouring out of the last 7 vial plagues, God’s wrath with mankind is filled up and man’s government by man will continue. At that point in time, there is still 1,000 years of God plan that has not yet been fulfilled. God will not rule directly over mankind as in order to do so, He would have to use force and it is not His will or purpose to rule over mankind by force; rather, God’s wish is that man choose to obey Him self-willingly using the mind power and the free moral agency (absolute power to choose) given him to do so (Deu 30:19).

And this lies at the very heart of the God’s plan of salvation for mankind. In order for God to be able to reproduce Himself through men, converted men must keep their mind power and free will and consequently, their personality and individuality in this life. These human characteristics will be written in the spirit in man which God will use to resurrect man at the appointed time and, in this spirit record of all the man has been, there will be his mind, his personality, his individuality which will continue when he becomes a glorified spirit being in the resurrection. Those becoming part of God’s family, nation and kingdom will be beings with their own minds, individualities and personalities and their attitude of obedience to God while human will become permanent in the resurrection ensuring their eternal submission and obedience to God. In this way, God’s Kingdom will be filled with a very great variety and diversity of individuals with mind power, intelligence, differences in likes and dislikes, etc. or in other words with different and interesting personalities with which God can fully interact at the same level as He does with the Word. None other than God beings like themselves can become part of God’s kingdom. God cannot have a kingdom that would be made up of beings without minds and self-will who would be like robots controlled by the programming placed in them by their builders. God would not be able to use such beings to have a family, a nation and a kingdom.

God’s church during the Millennium and the Last Great Day will live from the tithes and offerings of the faithful as it always has throughout the ages whenever the church became a visible, organized corporate body and at the start of the Millennium, it will be located within Israel as the Levites and Aaron and his sons were living with the other tribes of Israel who had no priestly function. However, in time, the members of God’s Church will be found all over the world and they will remain where they have been called and in the state in which they were called.

1Co 7:18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

1Co 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

1Co 7:20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

1Co 7:21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

1Co 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.

1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

1Co 7:24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

They will not migrate to Israel to become part of the original congregation of God’s Church that will be there any more than there was a requirement for all First Century converts in the days of the apostles to leave their homes and migrate to Jerusalem.

Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

The kings and lords over whom Christ will rule are those that will exist in God’s Kingdom. Christ had told the disciples there were many mansions (John 14:2) or offices of responsibility or positions with different levels of authority and rulership responsibilities which would be lesser or greater depending on the works (Matt 25; Luke 19) of the individual in this life. There will be many kings and lords (different offices/positions with different levels of authority such as kings and lords) in God’s kingdom and Christ will rule over all of them as King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ will not rule over the unconverted nations of the world during the Millennium anymore than He does now; God will only rule over those who voluntarily and self-willingly without any coercion of any kind either physical or mental, accept to be ruled by Him.

Christ’s 2^nd Coming Not Understood by the World

The idea that there will be a massive conversion of the nations, in part, comes from the fact that Christ’s 2^nd Coming will be seen across the world when the heavenly signs occur.

Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Christ’s 2^nd Coming will also be like lightning flashing across the sky.

Luk 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

When end-time events and Christ’s 2^nd Coming occur, mankind which is unconverted will not know or understand what is happening. They will not know that the signs in the heavens and the catastrophes occurring leading up to Christ’s 2^nd Coming are from God. They will think the earth is being invaded by aliens from outer space that want to conquer it and enslave mankind, they will be very fearful and call on the mountain to fall on them and hide them from the faces they see in the sky.

This is why when the Millennium begins, the world will not be chastened and seek the Lord as they will not understand the great physical catastrophes that have occurred as being from God nor why they came upon the world. They will just be glad they have come to an end and will be eager to get back to rebuilding their lives, their cities and their system of government.

The Millennium, but for the changed climatic conditions and changes in the nature of animals, will not be different from the way the world presently exists.

Men will continue to have the ability to lust and their freewill which will continue to require that they knowingly choose between good and evil when they will be called as they are required to do when called today.

The physical remnant of end-time Israel, those of them that convert, will become the foundation of God’s millennial church. It will be a 2^nd founding so-to-speak of God’s church which will be the human level instrument which God will use to teach individuals from the nations as they convert; not all individuals of all nations will convert; the few will, the many will not. Old Testament saints and those of God’s New Testament Church will have been resurrected at Christ’s 2nd Coming and will be in heaven as the Bride of Christ.

Christ is coming back to Israel — not to the world — to establish His Church as He did the first time but this time with the remnant of the end-time physical nations constituting Israel (Ex 19:6). But, there is nothing in the Bible to the effect that Christ or His Bride will rule directly over the nations; they will rule over God’s Church; it will be Christ ruling over His Church as the Head of the Church with the Bride assisting Him. Christ will be on the earth for the 3 ½ year period during which He will complete His ministry with Israel but Christ will not remain on the earth during the Millennium and the Last Great Day to teach His Millennial church or those that will come to conversion when mankind as a whole is given access to God’s Spirit. Also, though the New Covenant is to be made with Israel, God’s Church will be worldwide with the original congregation in Israel being but one of many smaller or greater congregations that will come to exist in the word. God’s Church is not and will not be specific to Israel. Remember God’s church is a spiritual organism not a physical organization to be found in a given building, in a specific city and country and there is no headquarters church.

It will be as at the time of His First Coming where after His ascension to heaven Christ taught true Christians by dwelling in them (John 14:17-18).

God works in a duality principle and He will establish His Millennial Church in the same way He established the first century Church and it will be His human level instrument for teaching those individuals from the different nations as they are called and chosen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. The First Century church is a type of the end-time Church of God that will be founded with the remnant of end-time physical Israel after its return from captivity and following its conversion which is the making of the New Covenant where those that convert become God’s Church. Not all of them will enter the New Covenant; it will be the few (Matt 22:14).

Christ is coming back to teach those that will make up His Millennial Church but He will not be staying on the earth to rule directly over the nations or His Church. As He did at the time of His First Coming, after having fulfilled His ministry with Israel He will return to heaven to His Bride and await the time of the 3^rd resurrections (the Great White Throne Judgment) when all those that are saved will become spirit beings and the others are to perish forever. God the Father will rule over His Church in the same way He does now and He will teach those called and chosen in the same way He did with the First century Church, through the holy spirit being, the Word who became Jesus the Christ.

Attendance to Feast Enforced

The belief that all nations would convert during the Millennium was also supported by these verses of Zechariah.

Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

The ministry used to explain that it would only be the representatives of the nations that would have to attend the Feast as of course it would not be physically possible to have all the nations attend the Feast. It was thought by the ministry that the reason why representatives of the nations were made to go to the Feast was so they would learn God’s way and become converted.

The Scriptures do indicate that God will force representatives of the pagan nations to attend the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem and there is nothing that can prevent God from doing so if He so wishes but what has to be clear in our minds here is that these people’s attendance to the feast will not result in their conversion nor in them getting an understanding of God’s truth as all this is done through God’s Spirit working in the minds of men; not by force. The truth of God to them will be like listening to someone speaking in a foreign language they do not understand; a very dull and uninteresting affair which is one of the reason why God will have to force attendance with the main one being that they are not converted. Just attending the Feast will not result in the conversion of those forced to attend it as they do not have the mind to understand God’s truth and there is no indication in the Scriptures that God by forcing attendance to the Feast is doing so to bring about their conversion.

It is a false pagan religious belief to think that one only needs to expose the unconverted to the truth and they will become curious and start trying to find out what it is all about and eventually make their way to becoming converted. The conversion process starts in the mind with God’s Holy Spirit the Word making spiritual truth understandable which before had always been rejected and it is God who chooses who is to be called and when (John 6:44).

Those going to God’s feast do so because they are converted; people don’t go to the feast to become converted. Mr. Armstrong often used to ask at the Feast “Why are you here?” And the answer is “because you were called, chosen and are being faithful” NOT because God is forcing you to be here.

Also, it should be noted that the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder of God’s punishment on Israel when it was made to wander 40 years in the desert until that generation that refused to believe God was able to take them into the Promised Land had died. It was not something over which one could rejoice and celebrate. It was a yearly reminder of their unfaithfulness and disbelief of God and of the very severe punishment that came upon them. It is like having a yearly reminder of having been scourged. It is rather something one would want to forget and certainly not something over which one could rejoice. The Feast of Tabernacles for ancient Israel was a yearly reminder of their disobedience and of their punishment by God; not a happy time. This feast was for a carnal-minded, fully unconverted and never converted unto this day physical nation of ancient Israel who could not understand any of God’s spiritual truth. The purpose of God forcing their attendance will not be to forcefully bring to conversion nations that have not yet converted or that are refusing, rejecting, fighting against becoming converted in a world were supposedly many nations are already converted.

God will not force anyone to become converted so why would He force representatives of the pagan nations to attend the feast?

On coming to the feast each year, the representatives of the nations will walk through the Valley of Hamongog (Ez 39:11) and be reminded of their swift and total destruction by an unknown force which is protecting Israel and they will be deterred from going to war against Israel or among themselves to be sure they too are not suddenly destroyed as the armies of Gog and Magog were. The nations will greatly fear this never before seen and unknown great force which destroyed the hordes of Gog so swiftly and so completely and they will no longer learn the ways of war knowing were they to engage in war they would attract such swift and complete destruction upon themselves.

Israel without any visible army will be the ruling superpower during the Millennium that will make peace possible during the whole Millennium. All that have come up against Jerusalem have been suddenly destroyed (Armageddon, Gog and Magog) and Israel will be a much feared and greatly respected nation around the world and this will be the reason why there will be no warring during the Millennium against Jerusalem/Israel and among the nations.

The nations will be forced to attend the feast of tabernacles during the Millennium as a reminder of the sudden and total destruction that came upon them which the unconverted nations will assume was Israel’s doing. They will greatly fear Israel and this is the reason there will be no war during the Millennium not because everybody has become converted and are eagerly obeying God.

Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem

In Zechariah 14 we read that everyone that is left of the nations shall go up from year to year to worship the King and keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 8:22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

Zec 8:23 Thus saith 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.

These verses of Zechariah seem to indicate that Christ will rule over the nations as a king and that the nations will come to Jerusalem to be instructed and to attend the feast of tabernacles as this will be the main feast site from year to year.

It would also appear that God’s Church will teach the nations and the nations will want to be taught as they will be celebrating the feast of tabernacles every year either forcefully or willingly.

So what is the correct explanation of Zechariah 8:22-23?

The only time when God had a physical temple and a physical nation and priesthood that all could see was during the Old Testament. And this is the only time when men from other nations could say let’s go to Jerusalem to worship God, etc. These verses are probably talking about the time when Judah returned from its captivity under the Persian Empire, rebuilt Jerusalem and built a second temple. They would then be a physical presence visible to the world. For a time, Jerusalem and Israel enjoyed peace and prosperity as a vassal state under the Roman Empire. When Zechariah wrote these verses, this time of physical prosperity and safety for Israel (Judah returned from captivity) was yet in their future and it did come to pass in OT times. Zech 14 cannot be describing how Jerusalem will exist during the Millennium and the Last Great Day where God’s church is a spiritual organism, invisible to the world and scattered all over it; where men need to be called and cannot decide on their own to become part of God’s Church; where there is no physical temple and God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth; where the church is not to be found in a specific nation and city and where the Church is not a visible, physical organization of men. The OT is physical and material and the NT is spiritual.

These verses of Zech 8 are about Israel and Jerusalem when Israel (Judah) came back from its first captivity and rebuilt Jerusalem and God’s temple.

Now let’s examine Zech 14:16-19.

God’s Spiritual Nation of Israel

Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

These verses are talking about the nations having to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts or they will be punished by drought.

In Old Testament times, God had a physical nation of which one became a member by being born into it. It was also a nation that never was converted as the Old Covenant did not include God’s spirit dwelling in their minds to give them understanding of His spiritual truth. There was then a physical temple and a priesthood who served in the temple, taught the law and administered it over the people.

In New Testament times, God’s nation is a spirit-begotten nation made up of individuals from all nations. They are the temple in which God and the Word dwell, they are all converted and have God’s spirit dwelling in them. They live among the unconverted nations of the world; they do not reside in a specific city in a specific country. There is no physical temple nor is there any requirement for a physical temple to exist; the members are the temple. They are to remain in the world and in the state in which they were when they were called (1Co 7:20; 24). They are to live in the world but not be part of it i.e., its ways of thinking and behaving (John 17:15-16).

There is no bright and shining city on a hill physically speaking to which all are to congregate to worship God. There is no large and incredibly beautiful temple building where members are to go to worship God. Nor is there any need for such a building to exist as God the Father and Christ dwell in all true Christians who are God’s temple.

God’s holy mountain, God’s holy Zion, God’s house, God’s Church, God’s Jerusalem are all spiritual and are all things which cannot be seen or known by the unconverted and during the Millennium the many will be unconverted though all will have been called.

Another important point to consider is that God does not dwell in houses made by the hands of men.

Mar 14:58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Act 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Conversion is something that occurs in the mind of individuals and the process is a personal one, not a group process. Nations are not converted but individuals, on a one-to-one basis, are converted within nations. There is no requirement to go to a given city in a given country to get salvation. Conversions occur all over the world and individuals on becoming converted remain geographically speaking, right where they were converted. Of course, they can move if they so desire but it would not be in order to go to a specific place where all converted are to congregate and live in order to pray to God and worship Him. There is no such requirement.

God’s nation is a spiritual body made up of members spread all over the world with no requirement for people to go to a specific city in a given country upon becoming converted i.e., Jerusalem.

Therefore, it follows that Scriptures like Zechariah 14: 16-19 and Zech 8: 22-23 cannot be talking about the need for the unconverted to go to Jerusalem to seek the Lord, to be taught the truth, and to pray and worship the Lord.

The only ones among the peoples of the world in New Testament times that are going to God’s holy nation, that are a part of God’s house, that are part of God’s holy mountain and holy Zion are those who are converted and are spiritually, not physically, going to God’s holy mountain. All those called and chosen are on their way, spiritually speaking, to God’s Holy mountain, to the heavenly Jerusalem (not a physical one), to God’s Holy Zion which they will finally fully reach in the resurrection.

With the 2^nd Coming of Christ, there is no need for truly converted Christians to go to a specific physical location such as a city in a given country to worship God and pray before the Lord. God and the Word, from the moment of their conversion, dwell in them.

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

It will be exactly the same thing during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. God will not be reverting to OT physical, manual and laborious rituals, ceremonies and practices and, to having a physical temple during the Millennium.

Conversion is by God’s Spirit working in the minds of men who are being called out and this process continues once they are converted. And, in New Testament time, God is not worshiped by performing physical rituals and ceremonies or in a specific physical place in a given city and nation.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh,[it came on the day of Pentecost] and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Nations Flowing to God’s Mountain

Now, let’s look at Micah 4 where a similar message to that of Zech 14:16-19 is given.

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Mic 4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

A first point to consider is when do the “last days” mentioned in Mic 4:1 begin and how long do they last.

In many people’s minds it is the time of the Millennium but is this accurate?

God has a 7,000 year plan of salvation for mankind where mankind will exist and be given an opportunity for salvation according to a time order determined by God. Not all men are to be called at the same time.

In Heb 1:2, Paul tells us that in the days he was living, “in these last days” that God has “spoken unto us” the apostles and truly converted Christians by “His Son”.

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Therefore, the last days cover a much greater period of time than the Millennium and would include events that occurred way before the arrival of the Millennium which is still yet in our own future. So, when Micah says that in the last days the mountain of the house of Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and that many nations shall go up to the mountain of the Lord and He will teach us his ways and walk in his paths, etc. this could only have occurred when Judah came back from captivity and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. God then had a visible, physical nation living in a specific geographical location that men could go to and a visible physical temple that men could see.

In the book of Acts we read that in Jerusalem there were dwelling Jews, devout men out of every nation.

Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

These were the days when Israel still existed as a physical nation with a physical temple which men could see and a city, Jerusalem, to which men could go to. On the day of Pentecost, there were many conversions (about 3,000 according to Act 2:41). For a time, Jerusalem and Israel became the place to go to become converted and to worship God. It stood out in the world that existed in the days of the apostles. For a short time, Jerusalem, was exalted and people flowed to it, God’s law went out of Zion or Israel (Micah 4:2) through the work of the apostles who preached the Gospel to the world that then existed as commissioned by Christ (Matt 28:19-20). This state of affairs however, lasted only until the death of the apostles and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies.

There then ceased to be a physical nation which people could see and go to and from which God’s law could go forth. For a short time, after Christ’s ascension to His Father, the OT physical nation of Israel existed side-by-side with God new spiritual nation of Israel. The old and new administration of God’s plan of salvation existed in parallel for a short time in a way similar to the Passover having been kept by Jesus as it was by ancient Israel and then having introduced the new way of keeping it. For a time the two ways continued together. The OT portion of the administration of God’s plan of salvation ended with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies and the dissolution of Israel as a visible nation in the world. From that time on, God’s Church became invisible and unknown to the world. It was not to be found in a given city in a given country but would be all over the world with no visible, central headquarters church organization.

In Mic 4:3-5, the narrative jumps ahead to the time of Millennium which is also a period of time that is part of the “last days.”

God will judge and rebuke nations during the Millennium when he forces them to attend the Feast of Tabernacles under penalty of drought.

Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

It is also during the Millennium that Israel will have been restored to the original Promised Land and be living there as a safe and prosperous nation.

Jer 33:7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. [as at the time when they first entered the Promised Land and became a rich and prospering nation reaching its peak under Solomon.]

Now, continuing with Micah 4:5.

Mic 4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

The Millennium is also the time when everyone will walk in the name of his god and that “we” God’s called and chosen ones, will walk in the name of the LORD. This clearly goes to show that that not everyone will become converted or stay converted: “For all people will walk in the name of his god” not in the name of the Lord as will do those that are truly converted. The Bible is clear that it will be the many that will not become or stay converted.

After the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the nation of Israel as a separate, sovereign, physical and visible nation in the world there ceased to be a physical temple, city and nation which men can see and go to. God’s spiritual nation composed of converted individuals spread all over the world and taught by the Word dwelling in their minds as they study the Holy Bible, from that point on becomes and to a very large extent, will remain invisible to the world.

God’s Church or spiritual nation has no physical temple (the members are the temple in which God the Father and Christ dwell) and it has no headquarters church occupying a large, expensive building of great beauty located in a city in a specific country. Micah 4:1-2 cannot be talking about or be applied to the Millennium where the church is invisible. The conditions described in those verses are only possible during that relatively short period of time following Pentecost and the ministry of the original apostles. It is not unusual and it should be expected that there is no continuous time flow in most chapters of the Bible and sometimes, even in the same verse. There are many jumps in time both forward and backward and we have to know the overall story flow or big picture story of the Bible to correctly sort things out.

Thy Teachers

Isa 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

This verse was said by the ministry to mean that during the Millennium and the Last Great Day, the resurrected saints making up the Bride of Christ would appear to physical human beings for the purpose of teaching them God’s truth. Yet, Christ says that after His ascension to His Father, it is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the converted that would teach the disciples and true Christians all things; not spirit beings appearing to human beings.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

But who is that Comforter?

Joh 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Christ in other words in John 14:28 says to His disciples to comfort them that look: I have told you before that I, Jesus who has been with you for the last 3 ½ years, will go away and also, that I will come again to you.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

This Comforter, Christ returned to His Father, will be with them forever i.e., in this life and in God’s Kingdom.

Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Comforter is the spirit of truth whose existence the unconverted world cannot accept because it is impossible for them to confirm its existence with their 5 physical senses. But you my disciples, and those that are to be called and chosen, do know who is the spirit of truth.

How do they know him? Please notice that Christ calls the spirit of truth “him.” The spirit of truth is not an “it” or a “thing” it is a person.

What person is it?

You disciples know him, the Spirit of truth because he now dwells with you. It is I, Jesus, dwelling with you who is God’s Spokesman, who is the Word who in the beginning was with God and who was God (John 1:1). I am the Spirit of truth now dwelling with you and I am the Spirit of truth that will be in you and be with you forever (John 14:16).

Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Christ says very plainly here that I, Christ, a person, not a thing, will come to you, my disciples and all those that will be called out and chosen throughout the centuries.

God the Father’s holy spirit of truth —the Word, the Logos, God’s Spokesman— that lived as a flesh-and-blood human being with the disciples for 3 ½ years is the Comforter and spirit of truth that will be in them and all true believers forever (John 14:16) after his glorification.

Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

A very important point to understand from John 7:39 is that the Holy Spirit could not be given to truly converted Christians until Jesus was glorified. Which means that Jesus once glorified by His Father is the holy spirit which existed forever with God (another holy spirit) who would be the spirit working in the minds of the truly converted and teaching them all things.

Now what about the teachers that will no longer be put away in a corner and that their eyes shall see.

Isa 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Isa 30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

Isa 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Starting with Isaiah 30:18, God is talking about the time after the conversion of Israel following its return from captivity under the Assyrians (Isa 30:31). Assyria is the rod of God’s anger (Isa 10:5) i.e., it is the nation that He will use to punish end-time Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh). A remnant will survive and go back to Israel and Jerusalem as stated in Isa 10:21-22 and many other Scriptures.

At that time, Israel will be both a physical nation and a spiritual nation. Those Israelites who following Christ’s 3 ½ year ministry to them (Dan 9:27) enter the New Covenant will become spiritual Israel or God’s holy nation and kingdom of priests (Ex19:6) which is the purpose for which God had chosen them. God’s holy nation and kingdom of priests is in other words, God’s Church. Those who do not enter the New Covenant will be the physical nation of Israel that will exist during the Millennium.

End-time physical Israel returned from captivity will again have their teachers among them who, while Israel was in captivity, were physically isolated from the people by their captors. But, these flesh-and-blood, physical teachers of Israel will not be teaching God’s truth to the physical nation of Israel returned from captivity. They will be teaching what Jesus called the commandments of men as they were doing when He came among them at His First Coming.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Physical Israel returned from captivity will see its teachers but the spiritual truth of God is taught by God’s spirit which is invisible and God`s truth can only be taught to God’s spiritual nation of Israel as only its members have God’s holy spirit the Word teaching them all things. From the day of Pentecost when God’s nation became a spirit-begotten nation made up of people from the nations of the world, its teachers became God through the Word, God’s Spokesman (Heb 11:2).

However, God also uses men to teach the truly converted. The reason for the existence of God’s church is to teach, as the apostles had done, the fundamental truth (1Co 3:10) given them by Christ at His First Coming to newcomers to the faith. God the Father, not men, calls individuals to salvation (John 6:44; 65; 18:9) and the Word teaches them all things (John 14:17; 14:26). The church teaches knowledge but the spiritual understanding of this knowledge is by God’s spirit (1Co 3:6). And the only knowledge the ministry can teach are the foundational truths given to the disciples directly from the mouth of Christ. This knowledge was restored to God’s Church by God’s promised end-time Elijah. It provides Christians with the means, the tools, the overall picture of the Bible story which makes it possible for them to study their Bible and have God reveal to them truth which Paul calls the “meat” of the word. There’s a lot to be said and explained about this and I have already done so in the following study Are You Spiritually Mature?

Now, let’s return our focus to who are the teachers who will no longer be hidden in a corner and when will they be among Israel. As we have been seeing, there is a major part of Israel returned from its end-time captivity that will not enter the New Covenant. They will be the physical and unconverted nation of Israel that will exist following Christ’s 2^nd Coming and throughout the Millennium. They will again see their teachers, not God’s teacher who is the Word dwelling in the mind of the converted who will be from all over the world. The teachers of physical Israel while Israel was in captivity were put in a corner i.e., they were not free to teach. Once returned to the Promised Land in the Second Exodus that will occur after Christ’s 2^nd Coming, physical Israel (the unconverted Israel) will continue the religion it had before going into captivity which is Judaism which Christ called the traditions of men. Those of Israel who enter the New Covenant will be God’s spiritual nation of Israel whose teacher will be Christ in them who is holy and a spirit which is invisible to flesh-and-blood men; they will not see Him.

Isa 30:21 says that men will hear a voice behind them telling them to remain on the way, not to stray to the right or the left. God’s truth is in the minds of the converted, it is not something that comes from other men whether converted or not. It is God working in their minds just as Satan works in the minds of the children of disobedience (Eph 2:2). The voice that is heard in the truly converted is that of the Word, the holy spirit being working in their minds not that of physical men whether they be truly converted or not.

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

As it has been previously mentioned, God speaks to the truly converted by the Word.

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

God the Father in OT times spoke to His physical nations by prophets but in NT times, God the Father speaks to His called and chosen ones, by His Son who is the spirit of truth who dwells in truly converted Christians and teaches them all things (John 14:17; 14:26).

God’s Resurrected Saints Teaching the Nations during the Millennium

The ministry of the Worldwide Church of God in the days of Mr. Armstrong taught that God’s First Resurrection saints would take over the governments of this world and conduct vast reeducation campaigns to teach the nations of the world the true values by which they should conduct their lives. God’s church was understood as being a teachers’ college preparing men to become teachers of the nations during the Millennium. This was in part the reason for the existence of a “spokesman” club in the Church. It was also thought that God’s glorified saints would be able to appear in a physical and non-scary way, to men to teach them. The reasoning was that since Christ appeared to His disciples after His resurrection so would it be possible for God’s resurrected saints to also do so.

What is the truth of all these things?

There is no indication in the Bible that God will teach those coming to conversion after Christ’s 2nd Coming using the saints of God’s Church who will have become glorified spirit beings in the First Resurrection. Christ appeared to His disciples and others for a very important purpose directly related to the administration of God’s plan of salvation. Jesus’ resurrection was the only sign given the Pharisees that He Jesus, was the promised Messiah they had all been waiting for. Several eyewitnesses of His resurrection were needed and the disciples once they became apostles on the day of Pentecost, were to be witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Only the apostles can be witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection and others to whom Christ showed Himself after His resurrection. Only they are and were eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. If you are not an eyewitness then you cannot be a witness and this should not be all that difficult to understand. Lastly, more than one eyewitness is required to establish the truth of a matter and this is why Christ after His resurrection showed Himself to His disciples.

God’s glorified saints will be the Bride of Christ but only the Word is God’s Spokesman i.e., the means by which He communicated to truly converted Christians. No one else has that role (Heb 1:1-2). There is a lot to be said about this topic which has already been covered in the following studies that I recommend you read: Massive Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium? When are God’s Millennial saints resurrected. The administration of God’s Plan of Salvation during the Millennium.

It should be realized that for most of the Church’s existence, there did not exist a visible corporate organization visible to the world. Those undergoing conversion did not have any other teachers but God’s Holy Spirit and the Bible as their reference point. During the 1260 years of persecution that came upon Gods’ true church this was the situation that existed but there were conversions occurring just the same and people were being saved.

The Father calls men and the Word teaches them. Exceptionally men (the ministry) teach knowledge to new converts but Christ is the one that gives them the spiritual understanding of it.

Now, one last point of importance before we move on to the next section of this study. One of the important reason, seldom if ever mentioned by the ministry, as to why God has a Church is Eph 4:14 and I quote starting with Eph 4:11.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

The role of the ministry is to make the babes-in-Christ or, the newly-converted that come into God’s Church, spiritually mature adults who are no more children in understanding of the truth who can easily be deceived by the cunning craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive them. Men, many men, are waiting for the opportunity to deceive God’s saints through the clever manipulation of words. The many false churches of God in existence today clearly show the truth of Eph 4:14. And, this is why the purpose of the ministry of God’s Church is to make new converts spiritual adults whose criterion of truth is the Bible and not men, not even themselves.

The purpose for the existence of God’s Church is not teach men to become teachers of other men. God teaches His begotten sons by the Word who teaches them all things.

A Pure Language

The term “pure language” is found only once in the whole Bible and it is part of the following verses.

Zep 3:1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!

Zep 3:2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. [This is talking about Jerusalem as a type of all ancient Israel to which Christ came the first time.]

Zep 3:3 Her princes within her [Jerusalem; ancient Israel] are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Zep 3:4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Zep 3:5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof [this is the time when Christ first came among Israel and Jerusalem]; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

Zep 3:6 I have cut off the nations:[end-time nations making up prophetic Israel are conquered during time of Great Tribulation] their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their citives are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. [Great Tribulation events]

Zep 3:7 I said, Surely thou [Israel] wilt fear[obey] me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings. [Ancient Israel never obeyed.]

Zep 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, [Israel has not been obeying God but God says for Israel to wait for the day is coming when He will pour his indignation on all nations] until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. [Events of the Day of the Lord]

Zep 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. [Fulfillment of Joel 2:28] [Please notice that this verse is not talking about a “new” pure language but rather that God will turn to the people a pure language; one that already exists but which they have not had before and this language is given to the nations of the world.]

Zep 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. [This is end time Israel after its conversion.]

Zep 3:11 In that day shalt thou [daughter of the dispersed] not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.

Zep 3:12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, [To this man will I look, he who is of a poor and contrite spirit (Isaiah 66:2)] and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. [End-time spiritual Israel to be only made up of converted people; will be God’s Holy Nation.]

Zep 3:13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. [Will only be made up of those who become converted; other members of the end-time remnant who do not convert will not be part of it; they will be the physical and unconverted nation of Israel that will exist during the Millennium.]

Zep 3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. [This is end-time Jerusalem.]

Zep 3:15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. [Christ is in His Church as He has always been and will be until the time of the completion of the 2^nd resurrection.]

Zep 3:16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.

Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Zep 3:18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

Zep 3:19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

Zep 3:20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

The turning of the people to a pure language is a fulfillment of Joel 2:28 and it will be God making available His Holy Spirit to all of mankind for the first time since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. It will be a time when humanity is called and all are given a chance at salvation and God will do so by giving the nations access or turning them to a pure language which has always been there but to which they had not before been given to know. It is not a “new” pure language; it is the pure language of God’s spirit which teaches all things to new converts i.e., God’s spiritual truth which is otherwise impossible to know. Before having access to this language, God’s truth was foolishness to us, we were hostile to it and could not follow it (Rom 8:7).

The World to Come — What and When?

We are back at the question posed at the beginning of this study. As we have just seen, there are many Scriptures that could lead one to believe that the world will quickly convert during the Millennium and that it will be a time of great joy, happiness, peace, security and prosperity. However, as we have also seen, to get the right meaning from these Scriptures, it is necessary to take into account basic Biblical teachings that are constant throughout the Bible and which allows us to see these Scriptures (we have covered most of them) in a different light.

Though Satan will be bound, man’s ability to sin will not be neutralized; even when Satan is not bound, his only power is to influence men’s minds; he cannot force them to sin against their will. The main source of sin is in man himself and that is because of the freewill and mind power given him which allows him to choose good or evil with no power on earth or in heaven being able to force him to make a decision one way or the other. He can choose to satisfy his fleshly appetites and the passions of his mind while remaining within the constraints of God’s law or he can do so in a way that is excessive and which the Bible calls lust and which is sin.

The Millennium and the Last Great Day will not be a time of general, massive and rapid conversion of the nations that will have come to the knowledge of the truth, fall in love with it and be filled with great zeal and enthusiasm to follow it and live it to the best of their ability until the end of their natural lives. Indeed, all will be called but being called is only the first step on the road to conversion; to be called is not the same thing as to be converted. The many will be called but as Christ says, it is the few that will be chosen i.e., who repent and believe and get on the road to conversion as much as we would wish that it would be the many BUT the Scriptures plainly says in Christ’s own words that it is the few that are chosen. Men will prefer to follow their lusts and the immediate satisfaction they get from doing so than to exert self-control and await the much greater and incomparable reward of eternal life in God’s Kingdom but which is not to be had in this life.

The Millennium and the Last Great Day but for the physical conditions on the earth that will be changed such as the nature of animals and the restoration of the environment to a state similar to that which existed in the Garden of Eden will not be all that different from the current system of government men have developed in separation from God. Men will continue to have free will and they will continue to a great extent to be unconverted and to govern themselves.

There is no indication that God’s Church will be a civil government over the nations of the world; it will have no authority over education, law administration, the legislative system, the judicial system, etc. It will continue to be a spiritual organism first and foremost and which will mostly be invisible to the world. It will not have any civil government responsibilities over the unconverted nations. No large number of teachers will be needed to teach the nations as a preliminary step leading to their being called or simply as a means to facilitate a better and more orderly society based on moral standards. The unconverted cannot be taught God’s truth (Rom 8:7).

Many called, few chosen, and of those chosen few find the strait and narrow way that leads to life. Most people will not become and/or stay converted. The many will remain unconverted worldwide and will continue with the system of government of men by men cut off from God which is the product of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and of the pride of life (1John 2:15-16).

Men can only be taught if they want to be taught; God will not force them to learn His truth or to stay with it. The many will not stay with the truth. Again we are back to the little flock; it is not the many that will be saved and this by their own choosing. They refuse to exercise self-control over their minds and choose to deceive themselves that despite the evil that they do, they are basically good people and will be part of God’s Kingdom.

The absolute free moral agency given man and, mind power with its capacity for emotion give mankind the ability to choose to delude itself that they can simultaneously obey God and remain in the world. The time of universal peace, safety, security and, abundance will not ever occur on this planet while man governs man and, man will continue to govern himself until the time of the 3rd resurrection. The world to come will not be all that different but for its physical conditions than this present evil world. The evil in it is not Satan’s but men’s own lust and men will continue to exist until the time of the 3^rd resurrection.

One could wish that there would be this worldwide conversion of the nations but the Scriptures do not bear this out and I am sure there are many reading this study who will refuse to believe the many plain and clear Scriptures which show that it is the few and not the many that will follow their calling, repent and believe, become converted and remain converted until the end of their natural physical lives. They will refuse to believe it because it goes against their personal beliefs that are so very important to them. They will not accept to be corrected by God’s truth (Heb 12:5-8).

Will we allow ourselves to be guided and accept the plain Scriptures that clearly show that it will only be the few among the many that have been called, chosen; who have entered the Church of God and who will remain faithful?

Will we allow ourselves to be instructed by the sure Word of God or will we refuse to accept the truth because if goes squarely against our own belief that all but a few will be saved because this is what we want to happen; because we cannot bear the thought of some of our good friends, parents, relatives and others we have known who have left the Church and gone back into the world not being saved?

God through Christ tells us in plain and easy to understand Scriptures that it is the few that are called that are chosen, and of those chosen, it is the few that remain on the strait and narrow way that leads to life.

It is a test of obedience and submission to God’s will to accept the truth of the Bible even if it is not what we wanted it to be. It is a test of the sincerity of our commitment to obey God in all things; something which is not always easy to do and which God says can hurt as much as being scourged.

It is not easy and the choice as always is entirely left up to us with life for obedience and death for disobedience.

I do not rejoice at the thought that there are so many that will lose their salvation and, how I wish like everybody else that it would be the few that would not be saved but it is beyond my ability to change what will occur.

I have no choice but to believe the Scriptures and hopefully, all of you will also.

Finally

The world to come or the “World Tomorrow” as Mr. Armstrong called it will not be the Millennium. As we have seen, in the World to Come the faithful receive eternal life something that does not occur in our present world. The true World to Come is the world or system of government or civilization that will exist in God’s Kingdom when a new world, based on a perfect law, administered by God over subjects that have self-willingly and freely committed to obey God will result in a perfect world where there will be only peace and great joy as the glorified saints become Gods with the powers of God but under God’s government will spend eternity in projects of beautification and embellishment of the new earth and of the new heaven that God will create after the Great White Throne Judgment and the wicked perishing in the Lake of Fire. It is created for His new family, nation and kingdom as their playground so-to-speak. Great, unending personal satisfaction and joy will be obtained from the performance of works of creation under the guidance and direction of God and this forever.