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 ministry of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in the days when the human leader of the Church was Mr. Herbert W Armstrong (HWA) taught that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom that was going to rule over flesh-and-blood human beings and that this would occur following the 2nd Coming of Christ. According to them, it is God’s direct rule over mankind that would bring about the wonderful living conditions of the World Tomorrow. The human political leaders of this world, the systems of government, the law and its administration would all be replaced by God’s glorified saints administering God’s perfect law over the nations of the world. Universal peace would reign, the nations would be taught the right way to live and mankind would know a thousand years of amazing prosperity, peace, and joy such as it has never known nor could ever have provided for itself by their own means. It will take God’s government and perfect law administered over them by a perfect government for these results to become a reality and this all throughout the Millennium.
This all sounds very good and one can only fervently hope that this is what the future holds for mankind but as true Christians who are to prove all things to make sure that what we have been taught can be effectively supported by the Bible, we need to ensure this vision of the future can be demonstrated using the Scriptures. Let’s examine the Scriptures together and prove as it is our responsibility whether these things be true like the Bereans did (Acts 17:10-11) and were complimented by God through Paul for doing so. As Mr. Armstrong always said and which very few have heeded and here I paraphrase “Don’t believe me, always check out what I say with your Bible, and if the Bible does not support what I say, do not believe me; believe your Bible.”
The basis for what we believe cannot be Mr. Armstrong or any other ministers or persons no matter how highly we think of them, how much confidence we have in them or how much we like them. The one and only sure criterion of truth is the Bible. Mr. Armstrong taught us how to read the Bible; not simply what to believe but how to prove it out with our Bible which is the infallible word of truth of God. The Scriptures tell us not to rely on men (Isa 2:22) but on God and God speaks to us today through the Bible (Heb 1:2, the Bible is Christ in writing). Mr. Armstrong was the promised end-time Elijah that would restore all things i.e., the fundamental truth given the Church by Christ to His disciples who taught it to the congregations of God’s Church of their days which they raised up after they became apostles. Paul in 1 Corn’s 3:10-15 explains how he has laid the foundation for others to build on; the foundation of truth taught him and the disciples directly by Christ; however, these truths are not the only ones that can be known. Paul says that true Christians are to build on the foundation of truth given them by Christ through the apostles and restored in the end-time to God’s Church by God’s Elijah. If the truth given by Christ to God’s Church was all the truth that Christians could ever know Paul would not have characterized them as being a “foundation” if in fact it was the whole, complete building.
Mr. Armstrong was the first one to say that he did not know it all and that God had given him truth all along his many years of ministry which at times had required that he change some of his past teachings as new truth he had been given showed that they were in error and had to be changed. Mr. Armstrong said that in only the true church as opposed to all the false churches of this world, do we find doctrine being corrected when errors in understanding are uncovered. All the world’s churches teachings are frozen in time and are never to be changed no matter how much they are proven to be wrong. They must then be accepted on blind faith as mysteries from the mind of God that transcend the abilities of human beings to understand.
But is it not to be so with God’s true Church. What is believed is not based on blind, uncomprehending faith but on the individual Christian being able to himself prove from the pages of the Bible what it is they believe, why they believe it and how the Scriptures fully support what they believe.
So, put on your thinking cap, rein in your emotions and keep them in check, have an open mind and have the patience to read through this fully Bible-based study and make up your own mind whether what it says is true or not.
All of those since the death of Mr. Armstrong who say they are holding on to the truth, have ceased to grow in knowledge and understanding as commanded by God. Any new understanding offered them is immediately rejected, condemned and totally ignored. Christ Himself could come to one of their little groups as a young man of some thirty years and bring them indisputably correct and, fully and clearly proven truth from the Bible and He would be thrown out of their meetings without anyone bothering to verify the truth of what He was saying just like the Pharisees and Sadducees did. He was not one of them, He had not been trained by them and the things He said were not what they who had the truth, taught. They could not allow Him to continue upsetting the people and putting in peril their authority and prestige. Today, their spiritual descendants, the Jews, are still teaching the same erroneous doctrines as in those days. They are impervious, immune and, totally closed off to any new information that would enable them to grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures. Christ says the following to those who say they have it all and know it all and there is nothing new to be learnt or who say God doesn’t want them to know everything. See what Christ says to you.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
This is being said to Laodicean Church Era true Christians but here I am not saying that you are Laodicean. God says here that these individuals say they need nothing; they know all that needs to be known and are of the opinion there is no need for them to know anything else. The majority of true Christians in a given Era of God’s Church have the spiritual attitude of the Era in which they have been called but in each Era we find all Era spiritual attitudes in the different members of the Church. Attitudes can be changed and if after reviewing our own situation we find that our attitude has not been what it should be, we have the ability to change it for the better. If this were not so, God would not say what He says in the following verses.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
So what is God’s advice to those who say they know it all. He says get back to studying (“buy of me gold tried in the fire” — this gold is new and pure truth without impurities which God wants to give to His saints — ) so as to have growth in knowledge and understanding which is the life blood keeping you alive and growing as a spiritual embryo that can be born again at Christ’s 2nd Coming. Keep on studying — that’s how you “buy” the “gold” — that you may really be rich as more knowledge and understanding are added to you and buy “white raiment” (Rev. 19:8) which is to say change your attitude to one of obedience to God in all things that you may have Christ’s perfect holy righteous character imputed to you which is the righteousness of the saints and the fine white linen (Rev 19:8) they will wear at Christ’s wedding supper. And, finally, God tells those who say they know it all, to put some ointment on their eyes so they will no longer be shut but open. In other words, they have closed their eyes or their mind we would say today and refuse to learn anything new thinking they already know it all. “Hey, the Elijah came and restored all things; we have it all, are rich and don’t need anything else.” But that is not so, and Christ is telling YOU now that it isn’t so. And the reason why Christ is telling you is because of the following:
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Christ tells you that He is correcting you out of love and His great concern for your spiritual well-being. You need to change (repent of) your “I-know-it-all and I don’t need to keep on studying attitude” and open your eyes (do not be close-minded); study to show yourself approved of God rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15); hunger for truth and thirst for righteousness as all true Christians are commanded to do:
Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Christ stands outside your door and knocks. He is standing at the door of true Christians who have closed their minds to learning anything new thinking they know it all. Christ tells those who have that attitude of mind that though they think they are rich and increased with goods (the truth received from God’s Elijah) they don’t know it all and in fact, they are poor in terms of the knowledge they could have if they were to keep the door of their minds open. Christ says if “any man” which is here referring to true Christians, hears his voice (rebuking and chastening him) AND opens the door; this is something you must do — Christ will not crash it down to get to you; God’s Spirit only ever leads; the responsibility is yours and yours alone to make the decision and effort to follow or not Christ’s lead — then Christ will give you truth which you did not know before. Please note, He will not appear to you in person or in a vision to give you more truth; He will do it as He as always done it and how is that?
God works through men; men wrote the Bible under inspiration of God’s Spirit; the Logos or Spokesman became a man for among other things to train His disciples, Christ used men to teach His Church i.e., the disciples who became apostles and; Christ used a man who was a type of Elijah to restore to the Church the foundational truth He taught His disciples. No matter how much distrust you have of men and fear being misled you have no choice but to keep an open mind and use the Bible to determine the truth or falsity of information coming your way through your own continuing study of the Bible and spiritual fellowship with other true Christians.
As Christ says so Himself; the foundational truth restored to the Church is not the end of the story, there’s more and, for those who accept to be rebuked and chastened by Christ, they can come to know it if they keep their minds open and are hungering and thirsting for truth and righteousness as they are commanded to do. It is a lifelong process and not a one time thing or period of time after which you can can say “That’s it, I know everything I need to know; I am rich with knowledge and don’t need any more.” God says you do and must keep on growing in knowledge and understanding; there is no fixed end point which you can reach and say “That’s it, I’ve met the goal, I can sit back and relax and wait for things to start happening.”
The men that God uses are never the great of this world; they are men who typically are of no reputation and are looked down upon by others as the little inconsequential people of this world. Simply spend a little bit of time reading in your Bible and notice who God used as prophets and apostles and you will see the great men of influence in this world, the great celebrities, the successful professionals, the highly respected and revered people of the world were not those whom God typically used as His messengers.
In more recent times, we have Mr. Armstrong who was not a religious man and whose goal in life was to become rich and socialize with the greats of this world. He had not been trained by one of the well-known and highly-respected mainstream religious groups of this world. He had not been part of the administration of God’s Church and did not rise up through the ranks of such a church to become one of its great and respected leader. He was a nobody to the religious world including the Church of God. He had been looking for where the true Church might be as Christ said it would never die out so it had to exist somewhere. He found the remnant of God’s Sardis era church in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and he tried to show them some of the fully Bible proven new understandings He had been given. And to his great astonishment, they refused to hear him out and rejected everything he tried to explain to them. It was not what they were teaching and it was impossible for God to use anyone else but them as the source of any new and true understanding of the Bible. Today, many years after Mr. Armstrong’s death, they are still teaching the same limited truth they then had and their understanding and knowledge of the Bible is frozen in time.
True Christians are to grow in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures and in the grace of Christ all through their human lives. Endlessly and mechanically going over and over the same teachings without proving them out but simply accepting them because we have faith in the man who gave them to us, will not result in any growth but in spiritual stagnation. Spiritual embryos which have no growth are dead embryos.
So, it is all up to you as it has always been. You can decide that unless Mr. Armstrong wrote it or said it, you will immediately ignore and reject it or you will have the character to step out of your comfort zone and make an effort to verify whether new information coming your way is true or not using your Bible as the final criterion in doing so; NOT men.
Are you grounded well enough in the truth and not such a wobbly Christian that you fear being misled should you ever look at anything else but what Mr. Armstrong wrote?
Are you who is a long term member of God’s Church still at the children level of understanding of the Scriptures as when you were a newcomer to the faith who was still trying to determine what the Bible is all about or are you an Eph 4:14 Christian who can rightly discern truth from error having learnt how to read the Bible and prove things out for yourself?
Are you like the servant in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19) who was so afraid of losing what he had been given that he put it away in a safe place and had not made it grow by trading which involved some risk of loss but also of gain?
When the nobleman returned did he congratulate him for having been a cautious and prudent caretaker of the one pound he had received and having had no growth?
Read it for yourself; the nobleman, Christ, expected growth not stagnation.
Luk 19:20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Luk 19:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
Luk 19:23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from
True Christians are to have growth which in addition to continually studying the Scriptures, NOT books written by men who are not true Christians about the Bible, involves having to take the time and make the effort to carefully scrutinize new information coming their way, reviewing it with an open and critical mind against the Scriptures to determine whether what is said aligns with the Scriptures or not and only then, making the decision to accept or reject it.
Taking your pound and hiding it for fear of losing it and being without growth in knowledge and understanding is not what Christ wants you to do.
Worldwide Church of God (WCG) Teachings on the Kingdom of God
Let’s look at many of the Scriptures used by the ministry of the WCG to support their understanding of the Kingdom of God and of the coming rulership of Christ over the nations of this world during the Millennium. Hereunder I quote integrally from lesson 20 of the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course (32 lessons). The following excerpts are all from lesson 20.
Through experience I have found it is necessary to state what the ministry taught to those reading these studies as in several cases they don’t remember all that well if at all the teachings they have been given. It then is very difficult if not impossible for them to see the difference between what they were taught and the information provided in these studies.
Here is what we find in lesson 20 of the AC BCC 32 lesson course.
“In training For RULERSHIP
Jesus Christ will soon return as Supreme Ruler to establish the world-ruling Kingdom of God.
But what about YOU?
Will you be one of Christ’s assistants in the World Tomorrow? How can one be TRAINED to rule with Him?
THE SAVIOR of mankind came to earth over 1,900 years ago with a message—the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. We call that message the “Gospel”— an old English word that meant “good news.”
The Kingdom of God will rule over all nations, and the Supreme Ruler on earth will be Jesus Christ Himself.
But Christ will not rule over thousands of millions of people all by Himself while Spirit-born Christians take an eternal vacation.
The Bible shows they will rule the earth with Him!”
“The Kingdom of God, with Christ as King (Rev. 11:15; 19:16), will rule over all mortals on earth (Rev. 5:10). And the law by which Christ and the immortal saints will rule is the law that expresses the loving nature and character of God–the Ten Commandments!”
“1.When the Kingdom of God is established on earth, will it take over the governments of this world? Rev. 11:15. Who will become king over all the earth? Same verse; Zech. 14:9; Rev. 19:16. How long will He reign? Rev. 11:15. Did Christ clearly state that He was born to be a king? John 18:37.
- COMMENT: These scriptures reveal that God is Supreme Ruler, and that the government of God will take over the governments of this world at Christ’s return. The Bible tells us in the plainest of language that Jesus Christ was born to be King of the earth. He will rule all nations and His government will last forever!”
Hereunder are the Scriptures mentioned in the above quotation from Lesson 20.
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. [Satan is now the ruler of this world and how does his rulership manifest itself presently; is it something we can see, touch, smell, etc. Can it be seen by human beings? Christ is coming to replace Satan on the throne of the earth and when He does He will be one Lord as before there was one Satan ruling; there cannnot be two rulers of the same rank at the same time.]
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
- “When Jesus Christ is ruling from Jerusalem, what will the world be like under His government? Micah 4:1-4; Isa. 11:6-9.
COMMENT: When the Kingdom of God takes over the governments of this earth and the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ begins (commonly called the Millennium), His rule will bring peace, happiness and joy to all mankind.”
Hereunder are the Scriptures mentioned in the above quotation from Lesson 20.
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.
Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. ?
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
- “Exactly what will Spirit-born Sons of God do for a thousand years? Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 5:10; 20:4, last part; Dan. 7:27. Will many be mayors over cities? Luke 9:16-19.”
Hereunder are the Scriptures mentioned in the above quotation from Lesson 20.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
“3. In addition to being rulers, will the Sons of God also be priests?
Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6. What is the function of a priest? Mal. 2:7.”
Hereunder are the Scriptures mentioned in the above quotation from Lesson 20.
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
- “What will Christ bring with Him when He returns? Rev. 22:12. Who will be rewarded then? Rev. 11:18. Will the reward be according to each person’s works? Rev. 22:12; Matt. 16:27; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21.
COMMENT: When the glorified Christ returns to earth to rule all nations as King of kings, He will assign positions of authority in His government (the “reward”) to those who are freely “saved” by His grace–those who have, through grace, received God’s gift of eternal life by a resurrection or change to immortality at His Second Coming.”
Hereunder are the Scriptures mentioned in the above quotation from Lesson 20.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
These are the main Scriptures used by the ministry of the WCG in support of the idea that Christ and the resurrected saints will rule directly over the nations of the world as well as teach them the true values by which they should live which will eventually bring about the wonderful world of peace and safety where there will be no more war and nations will live in peace with each other.
There is reason to believe upon reading those Scriptures that indeed Christ and the resurrected saints will rule over the nations of the earth. However, in establishing the correct meaning of any Scripture we must be sure whatever we determine to be the intended meaning does not undo other Scriptures. The Bible does not contradict itself or it is not true.
In order to get the correct meaning of a given verse, sentence or word it is necessary to look at it in context of either the whole sentence, the chapter, the book in which it is located and sometimes in context of the total message of the Bible.
Basically, the Bible is one fully integrated whole with none of its parts being in contradiction with any other parts; all the parts of the edifice of truth fit perfectly together with no parts left over which don’t seem to fit anywhere.
Whatever was taught us by the ministry or whatever new understanding we get from studying the Bible on our own cannot undo any other clearly established truths of the Bible. If they do, it means there is something of importance we are failing to understand or we are letting our personal beliefs, ideas and preconceptions lead us into force fitting our beliefs into certain verses or to ignore verses that contradict what we want to believe or what we have determined should be the truth.
So let’s starts off this study by examining what is the kingdom of God according to the Bible.
The Kingdom of God
In the book of John, chapter 3 we read of Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews who came to see Jesus by night so as not to become the victim of the anger of his fellows for his talking to Jesus whom they despised.
Christ tells him the following about the Kingdom of God.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Clearly and plainly, Jesus tells Nicodemus and us today that God’s Kingdom cannot be seen unless a man is born again i.e.,unless he becomes a glorified spirit being by a resurrection from the dead. Flesh-and-blood human beings including truly converted Christians cannot see the Kingdom of God. During the Millennium and the Last Great Day flesh-and-blood human beings will not be able to see with their eyes or know with any of their physical senses, the existence of Kingdom of God because it is entirely made up of spirit beings and spirit is invisible and unknowable to physical-material human beings.
And again in Luke, we have Christ telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God is not something that they can see; it is not a physical/material thing perceivable by men’s physical senses.
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Christ added and rightfully so, though it is something the Pharisees could not understand and that is that “….the kingdom of god is within you….” which just made things all that more enigmatic for them.
Christ pursues with His answer to the Pharisees saying that since it is something that cannot be seen, then they were not to pay any attention — them in their days and mankind through the ages including during the Millennium and the Last Great Day — to those who say, and here I am using modern language for greater clarity and effect, “Hey!!! Look here!!! Look there!!! I see the kingdom of God.”
The kingdom of God is something that exists within the person i.e., it dwells in the mind of the person. It is their attitude of obedience to God in all things to the best of their abilities. When that occurs and is a state of mind that is maintained, God the Father and Jesus dwells in that person and God and Jesus are presently the kingdom of God.
In human beings who have been called, chosen and who are remaining faithful, we find God the Father and Jesus dwelling in them, the Kingdom of God.
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
The kingdom of God is within true believers; those called out, chosen and who are remaining faithful. And, those who are to be ruled by God must freely choose God’s rule; God will not rule by force over anyone; He will only rule over individuals of character i.e., those who in this life willingly submit to Him without anything or anyone forcing them to do so and who are trying to the best of their abilities to resist all sin in their lives and this until the end of their natural human life.
They are the ones who endure being tried.
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
It is difficult and wearing to have to steadfastly resist any and all sin in our lives and to continue asking for God’s forgiveness for certain sins with which we have a continuing struggle. It can all seem hopeless after a while and we can stop resisting or begin to reason our way around the Scriptures to justify our sinfulness as not being sin as we are exhausted from having to over and over again ask God’s forgiveness and despairing with our not being able to overcome one or more of these persistent sin or sins in our lives.
This is the struggle that can never end in the life of a Christian and in which the true Christian must endure. That what it means to endure temptation which will try us as long as we live; we have to keep on admitting or confessing our sins no matter how hard it may come to do so. We can never compromise with the sin in our lives nor attempt to justify it by reasoning around the Scriptures in order to do so and to get relief from the pressure of having to continue to struggle against sin. If we ever do, we lose our salvation.
Now going back to the main focus of this section i.e., what is the Kingdom of God?
Given that the kingdom of God is not something that can be seen unless born again would it then be possible for men during the Millennium to see the kingdom of God being implemented on the earth with spirit beings administering God’s law over town, cities and countries and others leading a vast program of re-education of the masses in the true values of life which progressively would lead to the conversion of the masses and the Wonderful World Tomorrow of peace, safety, security and abundance?
Will Christ be ruling over the earth visible for all to see with His First Resurrection saints and administering God’s government over mankind which is what will finally bring humanity the joy, happiness and freedom from war which they have always sought for themselves but have never been able to obtain? Is Christ coming back a second time in power and glory to visibly rule over the nations of this world with the help of His Bride who are the First Resurrection saints?
The Scriptures seem to indicate that this is what will happen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. But God’s Kingdom or rule extends only to those who have been born again by a resurrection from the dead; they are spirit beings who as a part of their character have an unchangeable attitude of obedience to God in all things and who are invisible to flesh-and-blood human beings. God’s Kingdom is not something that can be seen by flesh-and-blood human beings if we will allow ourselves to believe Christ Himself; it does not come by observation. It is as invisible to humans now as it will be during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. God’s first resurrection saints will be with God as part of His Kingdom and as the Bride of Christ in the third heaven.
God’s Kingdom cannot be seen by flesh-and-blood human beings. It is a kingdom composed of spirit beings invisible to physical human beings.
Will God through Christ rule directly over physical men which would involve God having to use force to make the unconverted masses of the world obey Him as well as making Himself and first resurrection saints visible to men; in other words, by God’s Kingdom becoming visible to flesh-and-blood human beings all throughout the world so as to be able to take over the governments of men and begin instituting God’s rule?
If not, why not?
Absolute Free Moral Agency of Man
This is not something on which the ministry spent a lot of time but which is of the very greatest importance for us to correctly understand a great many Scriptures bearing on what will happen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. It is a concept that provides us with the the context needed for us to correctly understand Scriptures about Christ’s Second Coming and over whom He will rule.
God has created man with absolute free moral agency which is to say that there is no power in heaven or on earth that can force him to believe something against his will. Mr. Armstrong in an effort to have the members understand what is absolute free moral agency used to quote the following saying: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” The applicable Bible verse is the following:
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Very clearly God strongly commands man to “choose.” For this command to be made it has to be possible for man to choose. For man to be free to choose there must be no higher power than can force man to choose something against his will. If there is such a power then man is not free to choose as the only choices that are possible are those with which the higher power agrees. In other word, they are under the control of a higher power.
God created man with absolute free, moral agency which is to say that there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force man to believe something against his will. It is necessary for man to be free to choose in order for God’s master plan of salvation for mankind to be accomplished. If men are not free to choose but are under the irresistible influence of a higher power then they cannot be held responsible for the decisions they make as these decisions are not theirs but those of the higher power which dominates them. In other words they cannot be judged by God as they are not responsible for their actions; they are those of the higher power working through them.
Since man has the power to choose and that this means that there is no higher power than can impose its will on them then it also means that God will not and cannot rule by force over them. If God could fulfill the requirements of His master plan of salvation for mankind by forcing men to choose His way of life then He would have been using force from the beginning starting with Adam and Eve whose sin He would have prevented by forcing them not to choose Satan’s offer. And, there would never have been any rebellion on the part of Lucifer and his angels, God could have forcefully prevented it. God did not rule by force then, He doesn’t rule by force now nor will He rule by force during the Millennium and the Last Great Day and this simply because of the absolute free moral agency given man by God at His creation.
As long as mankind continues to exist, God will not force men to obey Him or to remain obedient to Him. The only ones that can ultimately become part of God’s Kingdom are those who after having been given to come to the knowledge of the truth freely and self-willingly choose to submit themselves to God’s law. God will not force them to do so by physical or mental trials and God will respect their decision to no longer be in submission to Him if this is what they later on choose to do. Salvation is possible only in those who voluntarily and without being forced to do so choose God’s way and endure in it until the end of their natural physical lives.
It has to be their decision freely and self-willingly taken; if a higher power can impose its will on mankind then it is no longer men’s decisions and they cannot be held responsible for abiding by it or not as it was not their decision. God would then not be able to judge them; it has to be their own decision taken without physical or mental pressure being applied to force a decision one way or the other. This is what it means to have absolute free moral agency.
God will not rule by force over mankind; He will only provide leadership which men are free to follow or not.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Let’s now turn our mind to examining how the conversion process will go during the Millennium and by extension during the Last Great Day as the spiritual conditions will then be the same as during the Millennium.
Massive Conversion of the World’s Population during the Millennium?
According to the teachings of the WCG, the Millennium and the Last Great Day would be a time where the world would become converted as God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh but can this comprehension of what will happen in those days be reconciled with what Christ said about the calling out and conversion process?
Christ clearly stated, if we will believe Him, that of the many that are called, it is the few that are chosen (Matt 22:14) and of those who are chosen and are entering into the Church, Christ says it is the few that remain converted (Matt 7:13-14).
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen
They are not chosen because they refuse their calling and opt to stay in the world out of which they are being called preferring its more immediate pleasures to the greater reward of being in God’s Kingdom but which is not to be had in the near future or even in this life.
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.
Of the few who follow their calling and enter God’s Church, it is the many of them that take the broad way that leads to destruction. They compromise with the world’s ways and ultimately go back into the world though remaining members of God’s Church but only on the physical level. As Christ says, you cannot serve two masters, you will get to love one and to hate the other.
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
In other words, if we take the time to digest the meaning of these Scriptures, it should become clear to us that it is the great majority of the population of the earth which will remain unconverted during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. Many will be called but will not follow their calling and of the few that follow their calling, many will take the broad way that leads to destruction; they gradually go back into the world. It should be noted that shortly after the Millennium there is a group whose number is as the sand of the sea which comes up against Israel to destroy it, spiritual Gog and Magog. After 1,000 years of God pouring out of His Holy Spirit upon mankind, at the end of the Millennium the unconverted are as numerous as the sand of the sea; a great, uncountable multitude.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
How can this be if just about everybody during the Millennium supposedly had come to conversion following the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit upon all flesh, the vast reeducation program carried out by God’s glorified saints, the replacement of men’s government by God’s government with resurrected saints administering cities all over the world and Christ’s direct rule over mankind?
Did this uncountable multitude whose number is as the sand of the sea suddenly throw away their conversion the moment Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit and goes out to once again deceive the nations?
Can the truly converted be deceived by Satan?
Can we believe Christ Himself who clearly and plainly tells us that the elect, the chosen, those who have followed their calling cannot be deceived.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
If Satan can deceive truly converted Christians then He is more powerful than God who initially took away their spiritual blindness. Truly converted Christians cannot be deceived about what is the truth and if they depart from it, it is by a conscious and knowingly made decision to do so. Before conversion we are not judged because we are deceived; after our conversion God can judge us for we know the truth. If Satan can again deceive the truly converted after their spiritual blindness has been removed then God cannot judge them; they cannot be held responsible for the evil they do as they are deceived as they were before. God’s plan of salvation becomes impossible if Satan can deceive the truly converted and this would mean that Satan is more powerful than God who decreed that man must be able to choose and for that to be possible, man must not be deceived. As Mr. Armstrong used to say: “A deceived man doesn’t know he is deceived otherwise he would not be deceived.” If a man is deceived about good and evil he cannot choose between one and the other as he does not know the difference. The world is not now under judgment because it is deceived.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
During the Last Great Day, the same spiritual condition will prevail as during the Millennium with God giving access to the Holy Spirit to all those rising up in the 2nd resurrection. Knowing what happened during the Millennium where all are given access to God’s Spirit allows us to know how things will go during the Last Great Day where the same spiritual conditions will exist and where those rising up in that resurrection will also have absolute free moral agency.
Again, at that time, if we will believe Christ Himself, it will be the few and not the many that will remain converted and inherit salvation as occurred during the Millennium and this for the reasons previously given.
If it is the many that will remain unconverted during the Millennium would it be possible for glorified spirit beings to conduct a vast worldwide re-education program of the masses?
Teachability
Will those who are part of the first resurrection and who are part of God’s Kingdom show themselves at will to their flesh-and-blood families, relatives and friends following their resurrection and will they show themselves to flesh-and-blood human beings all over the world to teach them God’s truth as part of an intensive reeducation program for the masses to teach them the true value of life as a preliminary step leading to their conversion.
As many of you will recall and, as the ministry often reminded the members, God’s Church is a non-proselytizing church i.e., it does not send out missionaries across the world to teach the truth to the unconverted in the hope of bringing some to conversion as many of the churches of this world does.
WHY?
Because mankind is currently deceived as to what is the truth of God by the power of Satan the devil (Rev 12:9). It does not know the truth nor can know it but by God the Father opening their minds to it. Only then will the truth not be immediately rejected (Rom 8:7) and will the individual come to know it sufficiently well to be able to knowingly make the decision to obey God or to continue living his life according to the ways of the world.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Aha! you say but during the Millennium and the Last Great Day God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28) and all will be called and, Satan will be imprisoned and no longer able to deceive the world.
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Doesn’t that mean there will then be a massive conversion of the nations of the world?
If not, why not?
There is a marked difference between being called and becoming converted; one does follow from the other but not necessarily nor always. God will pour out of Spirit upon all flesh during the Millennium and the Last Great Day but this does not always result in the conversion of the one called. Christ says many are called but few are chosen and of those who are chosen, few endure in the faith. (Matth 22:14; 7:13). In other words, it is the few that accept their calling and of those who do accept their calling, it is the few that remain faithful. God pouring out His Spirit upon mankind during the Millennium will not result in the massive conversion of the masses. God’s Spirit only ever leads (Rom 8:14) and God leaves man completely free to choose life or death (Deu 30:19). He will not force him to choose life and He will not prevent him from choosing death if that is his choice. God created mankind with absolute free moral agency i.e., there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force him to believe something against his will; the choice is entirely his to make for good or for bad.
Essentially then, even though called, by and large the masses will remain unconverted and non-receptive to the truth.
In other words, the masses of the world will largely be unconverted and consequently, be unteachable.
All will have been given the opportunity to know the truth and to grow in it but most will refuse to change their lives in order to do so; they will remain unconverted and unteachable.
Why are the unconverted unteachable?
Because God created man with absolute free moral agency which is to say and, I repeat myself here, that there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force him to believe something against his will.
Why was it necessary for mankind to have absolute free moral agency?
Because man had to be free and able to follow the truth when revealed to him by God. Man’s actions had to be the result of his own decisions with no other higher power being able to compel him to act contrary to or against what he has decided to do. In other words, for God to be able to hold man responsible for his actions, for God to be able to judge men, it was necessary that there be no power in the universe that had the ability to force men to act against their will.
Why?
Because if there was a higher power that could compel man to act against his will then man could not be held responsible for his actions as they would be the result of the higher power working its will through man.
This is why the only man that can be taught is one who makes the decision to learn; no one can force him to learn something against his will. When one is called that person must make the decision to learn God’s ways and to live their lives accordingly. Nothing can force them to do so; they have to freely decide to do so. No amount of trials, suffering, mental or physical can force a man to believe something contrary to what he has chosen to believe and that is why God does not use physical punishment or mental torment as a means of bringing people to conversion.
Why must man have absolute freedom to choose?
Because those that are to be saved have to be beings of CHARACTER i.e., they must voluntarily and freely use their absolute freedom to choose to submit themselves to God’s law when there is nothing forcing them to do so; they voluntarily exercise self-discipline so as to try to the best of their ability to conduct their lives in accordance with the truth they have received and to patiently endure in the truth until the end of their lives refusing to compromise with the ways of the world. They willingly accept to try to control their fleshly appetites and their emotions even though it will often be mentally and physically demanding and frustrating to do so. They endure in their conversion because they have freely decided after having come to the knowledge of the truth that it is the right thing to do; not because of anything forcing them to do so or anyone compelling them to do so.
The truly converted are the only ones to whom God’s truth can be taught because they have chosen it. You will recall the old saying that “You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” The horse has to want to drink. It is the same thing with men regarding God’s truth. They either want to learn it and then can be taught or drink it in or they don’t and, if they don’t, no one can force them to learn it against their will.
Therefore, if it is only those who are called and chosen, the few of the world, that are teachable then would it be possible to conduct a vast reeducation program to teach the truth to the unconverted masses of the world and would there be any need for a great number of teachers to do so?
The answer is NO.
The unconverted are not teachable now nor will they be during the Millennium or the Last Great Day.
What about those who follow their calling, how will they be taught during the Millennium or during the Last Great Day? Will it be through glorified spirit beings making up God’s kingdom appearing to them and teaching them?
How does God now teach those called and chosen? God’s Kingdom currently exists and is made up of God the Father and Jesus-Christ as well as of an untold vast number of angels and spirit beings but as we know, it is not yet complete; others are to be added to it.
How are the few who have been called, chosen and who are remaining faithful being taught today? Is it by members of God’s Kingdom appearing to them in vision or bodily and teaching them?
God’s Church during the Millennium and the Last Great Day
Christ at His First Coming came to train men given Him by the Father to become the teachers of those whom God would call by His Spirit. God’s Church was so important to the fulfillment of His great master plan of salvation that God said though at times it would become very small, it would never die out.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
For detailed information on who will be God’s Church during the Millennium and the Last Great Day I refer you to a study available on this site And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth
God’s Church will not end at Christ’s Second Coming and will continue to exist during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. God’s Church is to exist as long as there are men alive on the earth (it was never to die out) and that would be until the time of the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of the Last Great Day and the coming of the Lake of Fire after which there would be no flesh-and-blood men left alive on the earth.
Why is it necessary for there to be a Church of God made up of flesh-and-blood human beings called out, chosen, and faithful until the end of God’s master plan of salvation for mankind?
Why did God found His Church?
God’s church exists to teach newcomers to the faith and for the perfecting the saints i.e., those flesh-and-blood individuals God the Father calls and who choose to follow their calling. That’s why God has His Church now and since it was never to die out, it would always be composed of flesh-and-blood individuals and its purpose would remain the same during the Millennium and the Last Great Day.
Flesh-and-blood men called, chosen and faithful would be used by God to teach newcomers to the faith and for the perfecting of the saints.
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:
God since the foundation of His New Testament Spirit-begotten Church teaches those whom He calls through the agency of other men who are truly converted and have been appointed to teaching positions because of their natural abilities to teach. They teach and are helpers of the faith of the saints but it is God’s Spirit that gives the converted the understanding of what the ministry teaches with the continuing obligation for them, the members, to check everything taught them by the ministry with their Bible before accepting it as God’s truth.
I think it would be good to explain something here about the role/purpose of the ministry of God’s Church which has not been talked about a great deal.
The ministry of God’s Church exists to be helpers of the faith of the true Christians but they are not there to tell Christians what to believe. Sounds a bit confusing, let me first quote the applicable Scripture before I launch into an explanation.
2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
The apostles including Paul were anointed by God i.e., they were chosen by God to teach the congregations of God’s Church. They did not choose it; God chose them for that role and purpose.
2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2Co 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
Paul had not yet come to these particular congregations in person to correct them though he had done so by his letters and in the following verse Paul says something of the greatest importance to all true Christians and which all need to thoroughly understand if they are to have any growth in the knowledge of God’s truth.
2Co 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
Paul first establishes that his authority and the role that he has been called to play in God’s Church is not of his own choosing; God requested it of him in a powerful way if we remember the circumstances of Paul’s conversion. So what Paul is saying is that and here I paraphrase: “I rightly have authority over you but, and here is the big but, that doesn’t mean that I have the authority to tell you what to believe but rather I am simply here as a helper of your joy i.e., of the truth you believe.”
Why was Paul, the other apostles, the ministry in God’s Church only helpers of true Christians’ joy? Paul gives us the answer: “….for by faith you stand.“
What truly converted Christians believe is what they have chosen to believe following their calling by God. Faith is what one believes; what the individual Christian believes is his faith. Faith here is not talking about Christ’s faith in Christians, it is talking about what individual Christians believe by having proven it out with their Bible. No man can force anyone to believe anything against his will. If a man decides not to believe what can be clearly supported by the Bible, there is nothing anyone can do to force him to believe the Bible. Paul in other words is saying that he has no power to tell them or force them to believe the truth, He can only be the means by which it is provided to them. In doing so he is the helper of their joy and their joy is knowing the truth but they have to believe it; he has no power to force them to do so; they stand by their faith, what they choose to believe. God created man with absolute free moral agency and there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force him to believe something against his will.
What the apostles did in those days and the ministry when there is one, is teach the truth to Church members but they cannot force them to believe any of it. Christians believe what they believe not because of being forced to do so by any man or as Paul states it “…Not for that we have dominion over your faith…” You believe what you believe because you have freely chosen to believe it which is fully in keeping with the absolute free moral agency given man by God.
Now just one last thing before I move on. The apostles taught the congregations of God’s Church of their days, the the truth given them by Christ but it is God through the His Spirit that makes it possible for men to understand it. The ministry teaches the congregations the truth restored to God’s Church but it is God’s Spirit that gives the comprehension of it. Individual Christians are fully and always responsible for proving the truth of what is taught them. It is God’s Spirit in them that makes it possible for them to understand spiritual truth and to prove with their Bible whether what is taught them is true or not. This is why as Paul says, the apostles in those days and the ministry today, that they do not have as their mission or purpose to impose on members what it is they should believe. Their role is to teach the truth they have received from Christ and it is the individual Christian’s responsibility to prove all things. If the ministry’s teachings are provable using the Bible then they are to be believed; the responsibility to make that proof is that of the individual Christian and then the choice is entirely his to believe it or not.
Let’s now continue looking at the reasons why the WCG ministry taught that Christ would rule directly over the nations with the resurrected saints teaching the masses and administering nations, cities and towns all over the world keeping in mind what has been explained so far.
Resurrected Saints Ruling Over Cities
The ministry used the parable of the pounds to affirm that God’s saints resurrected as glorified spirit beings would rule over cities. The parable is to be found in Luke 19:12-27. In it we find the following verses:
Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
This is a parable which Jesus spoke because those that were with him thought the Kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Luk 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Why did Jesus speak in parable to the masses that followed Him?
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Jesus spoke in parables to those that followed him so they would NOT understand. A parable always contains a message but it is not what appears to be clearly stated. In speaking this parable Christ was not attempting to explain to those following Him anything about the kingdom of God that they could understand. Christ is the nobleman in the parable and He has to go away. He gives one pound to each of his 10 servants and tells them to occupy i.e., use the pound He had given them. One of the obvious message to us who have God’s Spirit is that Christ’s Kingdom was not to appear immediately; Christ, the nobleman in the parable first had to go away and come back a second time. Did they then understand that this is what He meant? That Jesus was the nobleman who was there with them but who would have to go back to God the Father before the Kingdom could be established? No.
Christ then talks about the reward of those who put to good use the pound He had given them as well as the fate of the servant who did not use his pound but hid it. What is the lesson from the rewards given to the servants? Servants will be rewarded according to their works which is exactly what the Bible says in different places. Christ spoke about them getting authority over a different number of cities depending on how much they had grown their pound. But that did not make anything clear to those listening to Christ about when would God’s Kingdom be established or of how it would be actually administered. Christ’s intent in using parables was not to give them this kind of information so the words of the parable cannot be taken literally.
In none of the other cases when we are looking at a parable of Christ do we assign a literal meaning to the words used by Christ as Christ was not trying to clearly explain any aspect of God’s Kingdom to those who followed Him as they were not called to be His disciples.
Why should we make an exception for this parable and interpret its meaning literally i.e., that the reward of God’s faithful servants will be to rule over cities?
The plain answer is that we shouldn’t do it for this parable any more than we do it for all the other parables spoken by Christ. Their meaning is never forthright and clear.
Will God’s First Resurrection saints who have become the Bride of Christ rule over cities, regions and nations?
No they will not do so because the nations of this world as we have seen by and large will remain unconverted and not subject to God’s law AND God will not rule by force over the nations to bring them to conversion or to force them to live the right way of life.
Will they be participants in running a massive reeducation program to teach the unconverted nations the true values of life as a preliminary step to their conversion?
They will not do so because the unconverted are unteachable; they are hostile to the God’s truth and indeed cannot be subject to God’s law (Rom 8:7).
Who will teach those who during the Millennium and the Last Great Day are called and chosen? Will it be glorified spirit beings taking on a human appearance and living among human beings to teach them or will it be God’s Church which was created specifically for the purpose of teaching newcomers to the faith and for the perfecting of the saints and which will exist until the end of mankind on this earth?
For the last 2 thousand years God has been using His Church to teach newcomers to the faith and established members of God’s Church. Would He then suddenly at Christ’s 2nd Coming start using spirit beings to do so? There are no Scriptures saying that glorified spirit beings are ever to teach flesh-and-blood human beings whether converted or not.
Furthermore, would God be making a New Covenant with the physical remnant of the end-time nations constituting Israel returned from their captivity among the Gentile nations and would Christ spend 3 1/2 years confirming the covenant with them (Dan 9:27) prior to making the New Covenant with those who will accept their calling and thus be chosen and who collectively will then become God’s Church if He was going to be using glorified spirit beings to teach new converts during the Millennium and the Last Great Day? For more information see the following study: Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?
There is an abundance of clear Scriptures about what is the Church and why it exists but there are no Scriptures about glorified spirit beings teaching flesh-and-blood human beings.
But let’s continue our examination before coming to a definitive conclusion either way.
Christ’s Rule over the Nations
In the Bible we find the following Scriptures regarding Christ and the nations:
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him [Satan] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 17:14 These [the 10 kings that receive power for one hour with the Beast] shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
These verses clearly show that Christ is to rule over the nations and of that there can be no doubt. What is in question and needs to be understood is when and the manner, the way in which Christ will rule. Can we get a better comprehension of how spirit beings rule over flesh-and-blood mortals by examining a certain spirit being who is presently sitting on the throne of the earth and has been ruling over the earth since the days of Adam and Eve?
The kingdom of this spirit being over which he rules are the nations of the earth. This spirit being is Satan and his demons which will remain in positions of rulership until they are removed from power by Christ at His Second Coming.
In the telling of the great temptation of Jesus by the Devil we can see the extent of Satan’s kingdom over which he presently rules according to the Scriptures.
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Luk 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Satan is presently the god or ruler of this world.
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
How does Satan and his devils who are spirit beings which cannot be perceived by human beings exercise rule over material, flesh-and-blood human beings?
Does he or his devils appear to people to influence them to do evil?
Do the devils run schools teaching their way of life as being the better way so as to get more and more people to adopt their ways of thinking and living?
Do devils administer local, regional and national governments and in this way force human beings to live what they consider to be the right way of life which all should live.
Do devils have their churches where men go to worship Satan?
If not, then how does Satan now rule over mankind?
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Satan and his devils are spirit beings like God and Christ are spirit beings. Spirit cannot be perceived by man’s 5 physical senses yet they all exist and can exert real influence on men.
How can spirit beings that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard by physical-material men have influence over men?
How does God now rule over His called out AND chosen ones and how has He been ruling over His Church since its foundation on the Day of Pentecost. Is He appearing to them bodily or in visions to counsel with them, encourage them, strengthen them, etc. ? Yet the Scriptures say that God does all of those things for His elect.
How can spirit beings which cannot be perceived by men’s 5 physical senses be able to influence them?
If you will recall one of the foundational truth restored to God’s Church by God’s end-time Elijah then you will know how spirit beings can have contact with physical-material beings.
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
These verses if we understand them, very clearly say that the unconverted world has not known the wisdom of God which is hidden to them (1Co 2:10-11 tells us why). This wisdom cannot be perceived by the physical senses (hearing, seeing) (1Co 2:9); it can only be known by God revealing it to men by His Spirit (1Cor2:10). And in 1Co 2:11 Paul uses a comparison to explain that the reason why men know and understand the things of men is because they have in them the same spirit as other men i.e., the spirit of man. In the same way, the only way men can know and understand the things of God is that they must have the Spirit of God dwelling in them.
Non-material spirit beings which cannot be seen or heard by men can have contact with and exert influence over men by the spirit of man which gives man animal brain mind power.
This is the principal and the one and only means that can be used by spirit beings to have contact with material beings whether it be Satan and his devils or God the Father, Christ and the holy angels.
Satan and his devils now have rule over the earth and its kingdoms and the way this rulership occurs is through these spirit beings working in the minds of men to influence them to do evil rather than good. Please notice that Satan’s power is solely to influence the minds of men; he cannot compel or force men to do evil because of mankind’s absolute free moral agency which has been previously explained in this study.
How does God work in the minds of men? How can He influence them?
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Again, please NOTE the power and action of God’s spirit in the minds of His elect is to influence or provide leadership (Rom 8:14); not to compel or force obedience for the same reason the devil cannot force men to do evil; mankind’s absolute free moral agency and the critical requirement that those who are to inherit salvation have to be beings of CHARACTER. This has already been explained in this study if you need to refresh your memory.
Neither God’s nor Satan’s rule involves their having the ability to force mankind to obey them and this is in accordance with God’s master plan of salvation for mankind where man must be able to freely and voluntarily choose to obey or to disobey God when God’s truth is revealed to him which requires that there be no higher power than can forcefully control men’s minds and behavior.
So how should we understand the many Scriptures (several of which I have quoted) which say that Christ on his Second Coming will be King of kings and Lord of lords; Christ as the man child that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and; that all nations shall come and worship before the Lord.
As we have been taught, the Bible explains the Bible. And as you have just seen, using the Bible, I have explained how spirit beings can influence physical-material beings and it is not by physically appearing to them to teach them or to try to force them to think and act in certain ways.
We have Satan’s 6,000 year rule as the example of how spirit beings can influence human beings. Satan nor his devils according to the Bible have ever appeared to any human beings except Christ; he is not sitting on a physical throne in a given geographical location on the earth which is visible to men; men are not gathering around his throne to worship him and; Satan’s devils are not administering cities and nations nor are they running schools.
Yet, the Bible says he is the god of this world and has power over the kingdoms of the world which he offered to give to Christ.
God the Father and Christ are spirit beings invisible to men and their existence unknown to mankind but to truly converted Christians.
Christ is to rule over the nations with a rod of iron and be King of kings and Lord of lords. How is that to happen and by what means is that occur considering what we have just reviewed regarding how Satan and his devils who are spirit beings now rule over flesh-and-blood mankind?
Could the manner and means used by Christ to rule over the nations during the Millennium and the Last Great Day be any different than those currently in use by Satan and his devils but only for an entirely different purpose?
Will Christ’s rule over the nations be something that physical men can see as opposed to Satan’s rule which none are aware of but the truly converted?
How does God now rule over men who are truly converted? How does He teach them? Are spirit beings such as angels running schools for them to attend and be taught God’s way. Is God forcing those He calls to obey Him and keeping them obedient by the threat of their being punished for any disobedience? Are the truly converted attempting to become involved in the politics of this world to bring about a better world?
Would Christ’s rule over the nations be any different during the Millennium and the Last Great Day? Could it be done differently considering God will not forcefully rule over mankind (absolute free moral agency) as to be saved men must be beings of CHARACTER which means they must freely and willingly choose to obey God when the truth is given them?
It would not be in keeping with many Scriptures that Christ’s rule over the nations following His Second Coming would be one where He would force men to obey Him against their will to teach them the truth by forcing them to experience its good effects or the blessings that come from being in obedience to God’s law. If the Bible contradicts itself, it is not true.
Salvation is something that starts and ends in men’s minds. The means for spirit beings to influence (NOT control) men’s minds is through the spirit in man which gives man’s animal brain mind power. God’s Spirit can reveal His spiritual truth to men by the spirit essence or spirit in man that is in them and gives their animal brains mind power. From that point on, man must freely and without being forced in any way to do so, obey or not God; follow or not follow his calling and return into the world.
God’s Spirit works in the minds of men in the same way that Satan is the spirit being that works in the minds of the children of disobedience. God’s Spirit will only lead and the called out one has to follow God’s lead (Rom 8:14); God will not force any man to obey Him against his will or to keep on obeying Him now or during the Millennium and the Last Great Day.
There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that after Christ’s Second Coming God will administer His master plan of salvation in a radically different way than He has been administering it in the last 2,000 or so years since the foundation of God’s Spirit-begotten Church on the day of Pentecost.
Christ says He doesn’t change.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Moreover, the free moral agency given man and the requirement that man choose salvation (NOT have it be forcefully imposed on them) doesn’t allow for Christ to forcefully rule over mankind during the Millennium and the Last Great Day as a means for God the Father’s master plan of salvation to be carried out as designed.
So how should the numerous Scriptures about Christ’s rule during the Millennium be understood so as to not be in contradiction with the core principles and means forming the very essence of God’s master plan of salvation for mankind?
As previously stated, the Bible does not contradict itself or it is not true.
Let’s go through some of the many Scriptures having to do with Christ’s rule after His Second Coming in light of what has been explained at some length in the several previous paragraphs.
Nature and Manner of Christ’s Rule after His Second Coming
Here are many of the Scriptures used by the ministry in support of the soon coming rule of Christ and of First Resurrection saints during the Millennium. I will not go through all of them except to say that after a while you will notice that there is a pattern as to how to understand these Scriptures so as to be consistent with the critical requirements of God’s plan of salvation for mankind that man must be free to choose God’s way when revealed to him and use his power of choice to remain in the conditions established for salvation which is what it means to be a being of CHARACTER.
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
The kingdoms of this world up to that point had been the kingdoms of Satan which Satan said he could give to whoever he wanted.
Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
At Christ’s Second Coming He takes over all of these kingdoms having qualified to replace Satan on the throne of the earth by having overcome him in the great temptation described in Luke and having lived a perfect sinless life as a human being.
This significant changeover of rulership over the kingdoms of the world is occurring at the spirit being level which is something humans can’t see, hear, feel, etc. any more than they could see, hear, feel, etc. Satan’s rulership. Satan’s rule over the kingdoms of the world did not involve the ability to rule men. He could influence them through the spirit in man but he could not force them to obey him. Remember and never forget, God created man with absolute free moral agency which means he has the absolute freedom to choose and cannot be forced to choose something against his will because those who are to inherit salvation have to be beings of CHARACTER.
Having CHARACTER means to choose freely and self-willingly God’s way when revealed and to keep on doing so until the end of our natural lives and use our will power to resist to the best of our abilities actions and thoughts which the Bible calls sin and try to put into action the good that the Bible tells us that we should do and this without anything or anyone forcing us to do so.
Satan nor God, as decided by God, have the power to impose their will on men. Satan had rule over the kingdoms of the earth but his authority did not extend to forcing men to obey him.
Yes, Christ will take over Satan’s kingdoms but this does not mean that He will begin to forcefully rule over mankind so that they will begin living their lives according to God’s law any more than Satan as ruler can force men to obey him. Man has to be free to choose life or death and this requirement is at the very heart of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. Men freely choosing life when given to know the truth and maintaining their attitude of obedience to God in all things all their human life without being forced to do so will have this attitude of absolute obedience to God in all things as part of their character which is recorded in the spirit in man that goes back to God when man dies. God will use this spirit essence mold of all the man has been at the time of his resurrection to glorified spirit life and his attitude of absolute obedience to God will then become an unchangeable part of his glorified spirit being character so that God will never again have to be concerned about those to whom He has given immortality rebelling against Him. Spirit creation once complete is unchangeable.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Before Christ became king of the earth there were not two kings of the earth. God gave Lucifer to be the king of the earth; Lucifer did not appoint himself. Christ qualified to replace him on the throne of the earth at the appointed time. At any given time there is only one ruler over the earth.
The oneness of Christ mentioned in this verse is not referring to Christ becoming the only ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth — remember God leaves man free to choose and will not rule by force over him — but is rather referring the oneness that exists between Christ and God the Father; though two different and distinct beings they are one in purpose and in all things as Christ is in perfect obedience to the Father. That is why the name of the Lord or Christ or God is “one.” Before that time, Satan ruled the world and God ruled over His Kingdom composed of Christ and the holy angels; there were two rulers; one for the earth and one for God’s Kingdom. After Satan’s reign ends there will be only one ruler of both heaven and earth and on that day there shall be one Lord of heaven and earth.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Christ is to become the supreme leader after God the Father in God’s Kingdom. During the Millennium Christ will not be ruling over the kings and lords of the earth or over the presidents, prime ministers and governors of the nations of the world.
Why?
Man’s absolute free moral agency and the requirement for there to be CHARACTER in those to be saved.
When will Christ be King of kings and Lord of lords?
Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
These are those who are part of the first resurrection at Christ’s Second Coming. There are the 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel and another group which is a great multitude of all nations, kindreds, people and tongue. They are from all nations and some were kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers, administrators, lawyers, etc. They become part of God’s Kingdom and of the Bride of Christ. Christ will rule them all and in this way be King of kings and Lord of lords i.e., the supreme rulers over all other rulers that will be in God’s Kingdom and who had greater or lesser rulership power and authority on the earth.
Those saved after Christ’s 2nd Coming become the children of the kingdom and will hold different positions of authority in God’s Kingdom in which there are many mansions or offices of responsibility. They will not in most cases have the same level of authority or position of leadership in God’s Kingdom that they had while human beings. God determines how each of the members are to be set in the body.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Christ will be the supreme leader after God the Father over those in God’s kingdom that will be given different positions of authority based on their works of obedience to God in this life after their calling and election. They are the kings and the lords who come from all nations, kindreds and tongues (Rev 7:9) over which He will rule; not the flesh-and-blood kings, lords and rulers of the kingdoms of this world during the Millennium.
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.
What period of time is covered by the expression “the last days” in context of the story flow in the book of Micah.
In the 3rd chapter of the book of Micah, God is saying that because of the evils being committed in Israel, it will “be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” (Mic 3:12) We know the military conquest of modern-day Zion (the US, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the northwest democracies of Europe) will occur a few years prior to the beginning of the Millennium. The nations constituting end-time Israel are to see their countries destroyed and the survivors taken into captivity for the reasons given in Micah 3 and for their twin sins of idolatry and Sabbath breaking (Ez 20:16).
At Christ’s 2nd Coming at the blowing of the 7th trumpet during the Day of Lord, Israel scattered all over the world in captivity will be gathered by Christ and resettled in the original Promised Land where they are going to become a very rich and powerful 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.
Physical Israel is the mountain or nation of the Lord; Israel was chosen by God in the Old Testament and for a while God separated Himself from Israel because of its sinfulness. However, and this is very important, God says that He will again choose Israel (see Zec 2:12 below) and that He will then greatly bless them. (Jer 33:7). God also says that Israel will not be left altogether unpunished. (see Jer 30:11below). It will be punished by again going into captivity in the end-time during the Great Tribulation.
Zec 2:12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
Jer 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
In the last days, the mountain or nation of the house of the Lord will become the dominant nation in the world. God will rebuild it as at the first i.e., as in the days of Solomon when Israel reached the pinnacle of its glory among the nations. The mountain or nation of the house of the Lord is the end-time nation of Israel returned from its captivity, resettled in the Promised Land and which becomes the greatest nation in the world that will exist during the Millennium. It will dominate all the other nations and this is how the physical mountain or nation of the House of the Lord (Israel) will be established in the top of the mountains (of all other nations).
Eze 36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Eze 36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
Eze 36:30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Eze 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Eze 36:32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
Eze 36:33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
Eze 36:34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
Eze 36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Eze 36:36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
Eze 36:37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
Eze 36:38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Why will the nations flow to it (last past of Mic 4:1)?
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.
The nations will be amazed how after having been conquered, made slaves and reduced to a tenth of their former selves (the end-time nations constituting end-time Israel which include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the northwest democracies of Europe and Judah) will have again, in a relatively short amount of time, have regained their former world dominance and more.
They will want to know how that could ever have happened seemingly against all possibility of it ever occurring again and they will want to learn how they can also achieve similar levels of prosperity. The nations will not be flowing to Israel returned from captivity to learn about how to receive salvation; they will be wanting to know what is the secret of Israel’s come back from captivity, destitution and powerlessness. Notice here that the mountain of the house of the Lord is a physical/material nation that men can see. It is not God’s spiritual mountain of the house of the Lord (spiritual Israel or Zion) which flesh-and-blood men cannot see. If it were, it would be invisible to them and they could not flow to 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.
And here in Micah 4:2, the narrative switches to the conditions that will exist after the new heaven and the new earth come into being (2Pe 3:10-13) and the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven (Rev 21: 1-4) when God will dwell with men.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
This is also the time when there are no longer any flesh-and-blood men alive as the new earth and new heaven are created after the coming of the Lake of Fire where all those who have not become glorified spirit beings at the time of the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15) become ashes under the feet of God’s glorified saints.
Mal 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
And a most important point to notice in Rev 21:3 is that God says he will dwell with “men”. This is being said at the time when the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven i.e., after the Great White Throne Judgment when the Lake of Fire engulfs the earth ending the lives of all flesh-and-blood humans that did not become part of God’s Kingdom; and when the heavens pass away and the earth and the works therein are burned up.
Although there are no longer any flesh-and-blood men alive at the time when the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven, God refers to those that are then part of His Kingdom i.e., the former human beings that have become glorified spirit beings as being “men.”
God doing so in Rev 21:3 has led to the teaching and belief in God’s Church that the new Jerusalem and God dwelling with “men” which are at that point in time glorified spirit beings, is something that occurs during the Millennium when finally just about everyone except a few really stubborn individuals have become converted. At that particular time, there are no longer any flesh-and-blood men alive on the earth as we have just seen.
Let’s continue our analysis.
In Micah 4:2 it says that: “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.“
We know that the spiritual mountain or nation of the LORD is invisible to men and they would therefore not be able to go to it as flesh-and-blood human beings. Also, we know that God the Father calls men on an individual basis not as a group or nation. Conversion is something that goes on in the mind of the person being called with God’s spirit working in his mind in the same way that Satan is the spirit that works in the minds of the children of disobedience. (Eph 2:2). Conversion is not by going to a specific city in a given country.
Until the end of God’s plan for salvation, there is no geographical location in the current heavens and earth from which God’s word and law goes forth as God is a spirit being and the manner in which he has contact with men who are being called is through the spirit in man that gives man’s animal brain mind power. Even in the days of the apostle and the foundation of God’s New Testament Church there never has been a physical, geographical location from which God’s law and word went out to the nations of the world. Jerusalem after the foundation of God’s Church was not and did not become a world center of worship for all those coming to conversion. In other words, the people nor nations traveled to Jerusalem to be taught God’s ways and they did not become converted as a result and begin to walk in His paths.
God’s Church is a spiritual organism and those that are part of God’s Church are to worship God in spirit and in truth not by going to a specific geographical location in a given country, region, town or village.
Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Now continuing with Mic 4:3.
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.
In this verse, there is again a shift in time from the time after the Millennium when the new Jerusalem comes “….down from God out of heaven….” (Rev 21:2) to the time of the Millennium itself.
Again, as we know, God is a spirit being invisible to flesh-and-blood men. Will He make himself visible to men and personally rebuke the leaders of the nations of the world so that they no longer engage in war and turn their implements of war into agricultural tools?
Will this state of affairs be as a result of Christ’s direct intervention in the affairs of mankind as a spirit being. The answer is both yes and no. Christ will intervene as He did during the Day of the Lord where great weather upheavals caused huge damages to the earth’s environment and killed hundreds of thousands of people and possibly much more such as the 7 trumpet plagues and the 7 vial plagues. These were all interventions by God who as His means of intervention used the elements.
At the beginning of the Millennium there will be the attack of Gog and Magog on Israel resettled in the Promised Land who is prospering living in peace and with no army or walls to protect them. They give all the appearances of being an easy prey for an invader.
Eze 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
Eze 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
Eze 38:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
Eze 38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
Eze 38:12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
The hordes of Gog come up against Israel early on during the Millennium and are supernaturally destroyed by God.
Eze 38:17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
Eze 38:18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
Eze 38:19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Eze 38:20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
Eze 38:22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
Eze 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
The nations of the world will certainly be greatly impressed that a nation with no army or defenses suddenly destroyed an invading army using some unknown and very powerful weapon. Prior to that miraculous destruction of Gog there was at Christ’s Second Coming, the destruction of the Beast armies marching toward Jerusalem and Israel to destroy what seemed to them to be an extra-terrestrial being that had landed there.
They are supernaturally destroyed.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
The nations having lived through the Great Tribulation and the events of the Day of the Lord will know of this great destruction which to their mind was the result of some unknown, very powerful and highly effective weapon that Israel commands. In a relatively short period of time once the Millennial period begins, there will be a repeat performance with the armies of Gog coming to plunder Israel being also miraculously destroyed.
The nations will become very fearful of Israel and of the great power it seems to command and with which it can suddenly rain destruction on armies. They will fear engaging in any more war either against Israel or among themselves fearing sudden destruction. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and turn their attention to developing their national resources and living in peace with each other.
The result will be peace in Israel and peace in the world which will last all during the Millennium.
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.
Peace comes to the world as the result of the nations being very fearful of Israel’s power which they don’t want to put to the test. Israel will be the world’s superpower during the Millennium and the Last Great Day.
Christ’s Rulership after His Second Coming
I will not continue going through every Scriptures used in lesson 20 of AC BCC 32 by the ministry of the WCG in support of their belief that Christ and First Resurrection saints will take over the governments of this world, run schools and administer the law, towns, cities and nations.
By now, it should be possible for you to see the pattern of how God does things and most importantly, why.
God at the time of creating mankind had a master plan of salvation in readiness should mankind sin and need to be redeemed. The penalty for sin, all sin, no matter how small, is death, the second death from which no resurrection is possible.
The first created beings were angels who are immortal. They had mind power and free will and the final part of their spirit creation required that they make the decision whether to submit or not to God’s rule. Without being forced to do so and without anyone encouraging them to do so, Lucifer and the angels that chose to follow him rebelled against God and tried to replace Him as the Supreme Being of the universe.
The angels are individually created spirit beings and their creation was not such that God could reproduce Himself through them. Upon making the choice to be in submission to God or not their creation was complete and spirit once fully created cannot change. The obedient angels are now the holy angels which are part of God’s Kingdom. They are subordinate to God and Christ in authority and serve them.
God then purposed to create a being through which He could reproduce Himself. These would be beings that would first have to prove their obedience to God before being given immortal life as were the angels and who would also be created in such a way that they could could change i.e., though their initial physical creation would be complete, their spiritual creation which is unchangeable once completed was not finished at the time of their creation. These beings would also have to make the decision to submit or not to God once given the opportunity to do so. Making and maintaining that decision throughout their mortal lives would make it possible for God to make them a part of His Kingdom. Their attitude of obedience to God upon their resurrection as glorified spirit beings would be a permanent part of their spirit character and God could be sure there would never could be another rebellion in His Kingdom. Upon their resurrection these beings would become God as God is God and thus become fully part of God’s eternal family, nation and kingdom.
In order for God to be able to reproduce Himself through mankind, men had to be created with minds similar to God which included their having mind power and free will. This is why the Scriptures say man was created according to the image of God i.e., he has similar but less powerful mind powers and the absolute freedom to choose so that man could be held responsible for his decisions; the choices he would make would not be the result of a more powerful being able to impose his will on him; they would be his own decisions and they would determine his fate.
God wants beings that obey Him because they have freely chosen to do so when He reveals Himself to them. They choose it because they want it and have determined after thinking seriously about it that the effort required to do so is worth it and they resolve with determination to hold on to the truth practicing it to the best of their ability until the end of their natural lives without anyone or any power forcing them to do so.
No man from Adam and Eve to now has been forced to obey God nor will God force any man to obey Him through punishment or the fear of punishment during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. Obedience to God has to be a freely and self-willingly taken decision; it cannot be by force. Those in whom salvation is to occur must be able to freely choose God’s way when revealed to Him; God will not force anyone to choose it against their will.
For almost 6 thousand years of mankind’s existence, this is how God has been administering His great master plan of salvation for mankind. These are the conditions which God’s Old Testament and New Testament saints up to now have had to meet to inherit salvation. Would God then suddenly at Christ’s Second Coming change the basic and fundamental conditions under which mankind can inherit salvation?
Would he take away men’s absolute free moral agency and force them to obey Him regardless of their choosing to do so or not; would God’s Spirit go from only leading to forcefully compelling men to obey God?
What about the requirement for CHARACTER i.e., that those who are to be saved must live their lives to the best of their ability according to God’s law with nothing and no one forcing them to do so; when left completely free to do so or not.
How can God judge men i.e., evaluate the sincerity of their decision to obey Him if they are not responsible for the decision they make as they are not their own but that of a more powerful being imposing his will on them?
What about the spirit in man which is a spirit essence in man which records all the man has ever been and in which will be recorded the abiding self-willingly and freely taken decision by man to obey God in all things to the best of his ability? God will use this spirit essence which He gave man and which returns to Him at death in the resurrection of the man to a glorified spirit being. His attitude of obedience to God recorded in the spirit in man will then become a permanent part of his spirit being creation. God will never have to worry about another rebellion.
These are all basic and fundamental principles of God’s great master plan of salvation for mankind through which God purposed to reproduce Himself. They are the only way through which God can accomplish His goal of reproducing Himself through mankind i.e., to elevate material, mortal beings to spirit life and immortality sharing His very own nature and in whom there would be no possibility of rebellion against Him.
The many Scriptures giving the impression that Christ and His Bride will rule directly, visibly and by force over the nations of the world during the Millennium and by extension during the Last Great Day have to be considered in context of the basic and fundamental principles of God’s plan of salvation for mankind for us to get the correct understanding of these verses.
Now, let’s finally provide an answer to the question which is the title of this study.
When will God’s Government exist on the Earth?
Jesus came and taught His disciples truth which God the Father had given Him for them and their spiritual descendants. This body of truth would constitute the foundation of God’s New Testament Spirit begotten Church.
One of the truth given the disciples who after their receiving the Holy Spirit became apostles was the knowledge of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. But even for the disciples, it was not crystal clear in their minds what it was that Christ meant by the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
We see them asking Christ about when would be the time the kingdom would be restored to Israel.
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
This is just before Christ’s ascension into the heavens and back to His Father. The disciples had seen Christ be crucified and die on the stake and by the time of Act 1:6 Christ had been with them 40 days after His resurrection from the dead by God the Father. Christ had been teaching them for 3 1/2 years and now just before He was taking up into the heavens, they wanted to know when would be the time when Israel by which they meant the physical nation of Israel, would again become a stand-alone, independent and sovereign nation no longer under the authority of the Roman Empire.
The Jews thought that the Messiah would free Israel from Roman rule and restore it as a sovereign state. This is what they told Pilate and it was the main reason why Jesus was put to death by Pilate. It was not something they personally believed Jesus would do as they did not accept Him as the promised Messiah but it was useful to them in forcing the hand of Pilate to have Jesus put to death.
Joh 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
Joh 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Joh 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
Joh 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Joh 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
However, the real reason the Jewish religious elite wanted Jesus dead was because Jesus was becoming more popular than them and they were afraid that they would lose their prestige and authority over the people as well as the positions of civil authority given them by their Roman rulers. They were given positions of civil authority because of their status and influence over the people.
Joh 18:14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
The religious leaders of Israel saw Jesus as a threat to their popularity and fame among the people and they had tried repeatedly to make Him look foolish before them; to trap Him into making a ruling that would break the law, etc. but every time they were thwarted in their efforts. Jesus showed He had a greater and better understanding of the Scriptures than they did and the people who heard Him were astonished. Jesus had to be eliminated for the Jewish religious leaders to continue enjoying the praise and respect of the people as great teachers of the Scriptures.
When Pilate found Jesus guilty of nothing that would merit death or even being imprisoned, he sought to release him. The Jews then reminded Pilate that Jesus said He was a king and that there could be only one king, Caesar. Pilate then felt compelled to have Jesus put to death so as not to appear to not be taking effective action to prevent someone from attempting to lead an insurrection to establish himself as king.
So, the Jews and the disciples both thought that when Jesus was talking about restoring the kingdom to Israel that it would be Israel returning to its former glory as in the days of Solomon when it was a sovereign, rich and powerful country feared by its enemies.
They thought Jesus was talking about a physical kingdom made up of flesh-and-blood human beings which belonged to a particular nation i.e., Israel being restored to its former greatness.
However, Jesus was talking about another kind of kingdom, one where the king is God and not a man, where the law of the kingdom would be God’s law, where the subjects of this kingdom would not be flesh-and-blood men but spirit beings and where the territory of this kingdom would not be located in a certain part of the earth but would be the new heaven and the new earth that will be created shortly after the time of the 3rd resurrection i.e., the new universe. Christ preached the Gospel or good news of the coming Kingdom of God whose members would rule over the new universe (Heb 2:5-9) when God after the coming of the Lake of Fire makes all things new. God’s Kingdom is not to rule over villages, towns, cities, etc. populated by flesh-and-blood human beings. Heb 2: 5-9 makes clear that God nor His glorified saints are to rule over this present, evil world as Paul calls it.
What made it very difficult if not impossible for those listening to Christ to understand what He meant when He was talking about the gospel was that they failed to understand the difference between physical Israel (OT Israel and their physical descendants) and spiritual Israel (God’s NT Spirit-begotten Church made up of people from all nations of the world) and the fact that God’s Kingdom would consist of all those individuals from all over the world who have been called, chosen and have remained faithful until the end of their lives and who have become glorified spirit beings.
In other words, when Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God He was not talking about a kingdom that would ever exist on the current earth (this is impossible because of the absolute free will given man) but rather of a kingdom that would exist on the earth after the end of mankind, after the end of flesh-and-blood mortal individuals living on the earth. This occurs only after the third resurrection and the creation of a new heaven and of a new earth in which dwells righteousness. It will be God’s righteousness and that of each and every member of God’s Kingdom who are in perfect submission to God and who fully possess God’s perfect holy spiritual character.
God’s Kingdom will exist on the earth only after the 3rd resurrection and the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
God’s Kingdom will not rule over unconverted flesh-and-blood mortals either during the Millennium or during the Last Great Day. God’s Kingdom will not be nor can be a mixed government of spirit beings ruling over fleshly mortal beings. God’s Kingdom is invisible to flesh-and-blood men as it is wholly made up of spirit beings and spirit beings are invisible and unknowable to mankind except by revelation from God.
God’s kingdom cannot be seen by human beings nor can it be made up of human beings. It can only be made up of born again human beings who have become glorified spirit beings and who are thus invisible to flesh-and-blood mortals. And God’s government can only be exercised over glorified spirit beings whose attitude of obedience to God in all things is a permanent and unchanging part of their spiritual character.
God’s Kingdom cannot exist on the current earth populated with flesh-and-blood human beings who for the most part will not become converted and who cannot be subject to God’s law.
During the Millennium and the Last Great Day, God will not rule directly or forcefully over mankind anymore than He did in Old Testament times or in the days of His Church Era administration portion of His great master plan of salvation i.e, now.
God’s Kingdom can only exist on the earth only after the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. The inheritance of the saints is not to rule over the kingdoms of this world.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
What is the world to come?
Luk 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
These verses, especially Luke 18:30, make it clear that the world to come is God’s Kingdom for only then do those who have been called, chosen and faithful receive eternal life. And, this is the world over which God’s elect will rule as made clear by the following verses of Hebrews 2.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: [There is a time coming when men who have become glorified spirit beings in God’s Kingdom will rule over the new heaven and the new earth that God will create i.e., “….the works of thy hands…..” after the 3rd resurrection.]
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
God’s Kingdom will not rule over this present evil world. God’s Kingdom will rule over the new heaven and the new earth which God will create after the Third Resurrection; it will be the time when God’s government made up of spirit beings will be found not only on the earth but in an entire new universe.
God's Spiritual Nation 