"After the soon-coming Rapture of the Church, natural human life is going to go on throughout the Tribulation, and throughout the Millennial Kingdom Age. But after the Rapture of the Church, never again (according to my very best understanding of Scripture) shall the gift of immortality be conferred upon any (more) human beings. God shall continue to have dealings with the human race; but those dealings shall then (after the Rapture) take on a very different nature."I have been asked to show that such a perspective agrees with Scripture. In my last essay, I showed (sufficiently, I believe,) that those who shall be living on earth during the Millennial Kingdom Age shall be natural, unregenerate people. Human beings shall be born, and they also shall die, during that time period when Jesus Christ shall be (bodily) present on the earth (as I discussed in my last essay). The nations of earth shall necessarily be "ruled with a rod of iron" ~ even though Satan and his angels shall be bound in the bottomless pit, throughout the duration of the Millennial Kingdom (until a very brief time just before the end of that Dispensation). At the end of that thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth, Satan shall be loosed "for a little season," in order to test the allegiance of those then dwelling upon the earth. A vast multitude of people ("as the sand of the sea" ~ Rev. 20:8) then living will yield to Satan's temptations and will ally themselves with Satan to fight against Jesus Christ and the saints.
All of the above factors (which are not difficult to discern in Scripture) prove that the Millennial Kingdom Age shall be a time when Jesus Christ and the then-glorified saints shall rule over a world (on earth) of natural, unsaved (unregenerate) human beings. There is nothing in Scripture which suggests that any of those persons, in the Millennial Kingdom, shall have the opportunity to be "born again," or that they may receive the gift of immortality. There is not going to be another Rapture at the end of the Millennial Kingdom Age; although, there shall be a general "resurrection of the dead," at the end of that Dispensation ~ for the purpose of calling forth the unrighteous dead of all Ages, to the so-called Great White Throne Judgment.
But that does not mean that every (natural) person living in the Millennial Kingdom Age will rebel against Christ. Only, that every person who lives during that Age shall be tested, with respect to his or her allegiance to Christ. Let me explain.
In the beginning (in Eden), before Adam and Eve sinned, they had fellowship with God. God talked with them and walked among them (Genesis 3:8). Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of every tree of the garden, except, one. Importantly, the tree of life was then in the midst of the Garden of Eden. That tree is not a metaphor, but it is a real tree. When Adam and Eve sinned, God prevented them from re-entering the Garden ~ lest they should eat of the tree of life and live forever (Genesis 3:22). Yet, there is no reason at all to believe that Adam and Eve had never eaten from that tree of life. On the contrary, it is almost certain that Adam and Eve regularly or at least oftentimes ate from that tree; for, the tree of life~more so than any other plant in the Garden of Eden~is what vitalized and energized them. God himself said that if Adam and Eve should have had access to the tree of life ~ even in their sinful condition ~ they would have lived forever and not physically died. That is proof-positive that the tree of life is not a "spiritual" metaphor representing Christ, or Salvation, or any such thing. But there is something about the tree of life which is capable to renew, and to heal, and to sustain the life of the natural, earthly body.
Adam and Eve did not ever possess "immortality;" else, they would never have been capable of dying. Neither were Adam and Eve "regenerate:" Christ did not indwell them; but God daily came "down" to commune with them. Nevertheless, had Adam and Eve not sinned, they would still be alive, today ~ because, they would still be eating from the tree of life. So long as they did not rebel against God's authority, Adam and Eve could have lived in the Presence of God ~ for ever. It was their rebellion against God's authority, which brought upon themselves separation from God. Importantly, the Tempter (Satan) was present in the Garden of Eden, to tempt and to try their allegiance.
The Tempter shall not be present in the Millennial Kingdom Age ~ until a very brief time at the end of that time period. During that thousand-year Age, natural human beings (as were Adam and Eve) shall once again have the opportunity to live in the Presence of God ~ that is to say, in the (bodily) Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every rational, moral creature which God has created must be tested, to prove whether they will give their allegiance to God ~ or to Satan. Even the holy angels have (all) been tested. Many failed that test. But many more did not. God is also testing the will of every human person; albeit, the testing of human beings has entailed certain unique aspects of God's dealings with mankind. We are now in what is often called the Age of Grace. That does not mean that God winks at sin (as the apostate Church suggests). But there are two factors which must be taken into consideration, concerning this Age of Grace, namely: 1) unlike Adam and Eve, and unlike the holy angels, mankind is not privileged to live in the Presence of God at this time; and, 2) the Tempter (Satan) is present to tempt man, at this time. Under those circumstances, evidently, God is not seeking to demonstrate that he is tolerant of sin but, rather, that it is possible for human beings to resist sin and to defeat the Tempter ~ through the power of God's indwelling Word and Spirit.
The spiritual conditions of the Millennial Kingdom shall be radically different from this current Age. For, God shall then be bodily present in the Person of Jesus Christ; whereas, Satan shall not then be present to tempt anyone. Even so, every human being shall be tested ~ under the unique circumstances of the Millennial Kingdom Age; still, a very great number of those then living will fall out to Satan, at the end of the Millennium. Apparently, that shall be a kind of final "weeding out," of the unrighteous from amongst the righteous (all of whom shall be natural human beings), at the end of the Millennium.
Now, we must consider the meaning of the fact that the tree of life is going to be restored ~ during the Eternal Kingdom Age, after the Millennial Kingdom Age concludes. Here is what the Bible says about that:
"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it [New Jerusalem]: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 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." (Revelation 21:24-22:2)The above passage has reference to conditions in the Eternal Kingdom. Shall the then-glorified, immortal saints of God need any kind of "healing," in Eternity? Or shall the holy angels need healing of any kind? Richard Wurmbrand, author of the book, "Tortured for Christ," reportedly said: "The leaves of the tree of life will serve for the healing of the nations, which means that there will be in the life beyond people who need a cure for their souls." Evidently; I agree.
And what of the incomprehensibly vast Universe which God has made? God doesn't waste anything. Eternity (time without end) shall require limitless space ~ in order to accommodate God's ever-increasing Kingdom:
"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:7).How shall God's Kingdom increase for ever and ever ~ seeing, that neither the angels nor the glorified saints shall be capable of procreation (reproduction)? There must be some kind of creatures which shall be capable to reproduce and thus to populate limitless space and endless time. Those creatures shall be natural human beings: living in obedience to God; in the absence of sin and Satan; and, having access to the tree of life ~ which shall enable them to live for ever.
In Jeremiah chapter 33 is found the following passage of Scripture ~ which I have never heard any Bible preacher or teacher explain:
"As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David [type of Christ] my servant, so that I will not take any of his [David's: Christ's] seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [natural Israel]: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." (Jeremiah 33:22-26)God has chosen "two families," namely, the seed of Jacob (natural Israel), and David ~ who is a type of Christ. The above Scripture reveals that God has ordained that the "seed of David (Christ)" ~ which is represented as the "host of heaven," shall be "rulers over" the "seed of" natural Israel ~ which is represented as the "sand of the sea." In other words, there is an heavenly race (those who are in Christ), and there is an earthly race (natural Israel). That is what Jesus meant when he said, concerning John the baptist, that the very least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than even the greatest of humankind ~ of which, Jesus said, there was none greater than John the baptist (Matthew 11:11).
This subject is sufficiently complex as to warrant book-length treatment. There are still many mysteries in God, some of which have not yet even been recognized, much less solved. Nevertheless, I have for many years been thinking about the things I discussed herein. I will leave off the subject, for the time being at least, by relating a very significant encounter I had, today, with a fellow minister, a missionary who appears to have a great depth of Bible knowledge. I have only spoken with him on two other occasions. Today, for the first time, I talked with him at length concerning Bible prophecy, including, importantly, the very subject of this essay. His comment to me was essentially as follows: "I hear you; and though I don't yet see that your ideas are correct; yet, I find nothing in what you are saying that contradicts what I know of Scripture."
I do know this, that the Word of God is very deep; and, that most Christians' interest in that Word is very shallow.
But it doesn't have to remain so. God wants to move in, for, and through his people ~ by and through his Word.
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