The Millennium — Is It Utopia ?

And again He said,: "To what shall I liken the Kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened..." (Luke 13:20-21)

The Millennium has been envisioned as a utopian wonderland which overwealms the whole earth upon the coming of the Messiah. Whether to a Christian or a Jew, the idea is captured in the words of Isaiah, with the lion and the lamb dwelling together, and a little child leading them, throughout the whole earth, at the beginning of the millenium. This is not really what the Bible pictures. The age of man ends with apocalyptic horror and the devastation of war. It takes work and time to rebuild a devastated earth. It is the rule of the Messiah, with the help of His saints, and through the efforts of the Nation of Israel , the world becomes a better place. It is the work of a thousand years — a millenium — to establish a world in perfect peace.

"And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the LORD lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people. But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation," says the LORD." (Jeremiah 12:16-17 NKJV)

Quotes from Millennial Teachers

"This millennial peace, abundance and boundless joy will be the direct result of the Messiah's infinitely wise rule,.... Can we imagine a thousand years of love and peace? A thousand years of everything in abundance?" Global Church News, Vol.6 No. 4, Sept.-Oct. 1998, Utopia on Earth?, page 16.

"And there will be other rebel nations, but 'there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen [Hebrew: "nations"] that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.' (Zech. 14:18.) After one or two years of this, all will be keeping the Feast." Ambassador College Correspondence Course, 1965, Lesson 38, page 9.

There are two things to note from these quotations: one, is that it is assumed that the whole millenium will be an era of peace and abundance; the second is that it will take the Lord and His saints bu t a short time to subdue the earth and all its governments and peoples. How far from the truth.

Take a careful look at the chart of the sacrifices for the period of the Feast of Tabernacles. These will be re-instituted in the Millenium, under the Aaronic Priesthood, and done in the temple at Jerusalem. Note the continuous and steady reduction of sacrifices for sin and cleansing (the bulls). The numbers go from thirteen on the first day to seven on the seventh day of the festival. But, look at how low (one) is the number for sacrificial bulls on the Last and Great Day of the Feast. God inspired it to be performed in the temple and recorded in His Word, to foretell what the Millennium will be like.

Chart of Sacrifices for the Feast of Tabernacles :

	Bulls	Rams	Lambs	Goat
Day One	13	2	14	1
Day Two	12	2	14	1
Day Three	11	2	14	1
Day Four	10	2	14	1
Day Five	9	2	14	1
Day Six	8	2	14	1
Day Seven	7	2	14	1

	Bull	Ram	Lambs	Goat
Eighth Day	1	1	7	1

It will take time to subdue sin and bring humanity to the knowledge of salvation. It will take generations and centuries to accomplish this goal. It will take the whole millenium to bring the earth and humanity to the point where God can resurrect all those who have ever lived and never heard of salvation, back to life (The Last Great Day period). The world has to be prepared for that future resurrection, prophesied in Ezekiel 37:1-14, of the dry bones coming to life. Then they will be taught the ways of God. The fact that only one bull is used to represent the cleansing from sin, on the last and eighth day of the Feast, is indicative that they will recognize the error of their ways and be converted to the Knowledge of the Truth more easily than those who have not made the mistakes they did. Those living in the Millennium will face the pressures of a corrupt world brought to its knees. Only Israel is going to be brought to the point of repentance (Ezekiel 20:41-43). Humanity will take time to learn and appreciate the meaning of repentance toward God. Repentance is a process, for the individual and for the nations.

God is going to work through the nation of Israel, to convert the nations, one by one, if need be. It will take all of the Millennium to do it. God has prophesied it so. Again our Lord Jesus Christ said: "To what shall I liken the Kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.." Luke 13:20,21.

Do you believe Him?

The Millenium will be a time of growth of good over evil. It will take time and effort. The Lord and His saints will be there to oversee this process. The Nation of Israel will be used by God to accomplish His will, of bringing salvation to this world. It will take the pouring out of the Spirit of God to Israel to accomplish this task. What a blessed time that will be! The whole world will rejoice at the end. It will take a thousand years. After the thousand years is over and the judgment of God is complete, then will be the New Heavens and a New Earth — that will be Utopia!