The Old Testament House of the Lord: Seventeen (excerpt of The Tabernacle of the Congregation)

THE OLD TESTAMENT HOUSE OF THE LORD: SEVENTEEN (EXCERPT OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION)

Christ Will Rule on the Earth
God Available Through the Church
The Goal of the Christian Life
The Promised Land Is the Earth
Revolutionary Force
Practical Impact of the Kingdom Concept

Christ Will Rule on the Earth

Christ will rule on the earth. The mistake in concept we make concerning the coming of Christ and the Kingdom of God appears to be the reverse of the mistake in concept made by the Jews. The Jews were picturing the coming of Christ to be the advent of a powerful military-political ruler who would restore the authority and power of the kingdoms of David and Solomon.

But Christ came as a spiritual ruler over the hearts of men. The Kingdom of God has come as a Seed that is planted in the heart. At first the Seed is small. But if it is tended carefully by the diligent convert, the Seed will grow and branch out until it extends into every part of the overcoming Christian—spirit, soul, and body.

The Jews were looking for another Joshua or David or Solomon. But Christ came as Lord of the inner man of the heart.

Now we Christians, in so many instances, are looking for the return of a spiritual Christ who will carry our spirits to a spiritual existence in Heaven where departed souls float about carrying harps and doing we know not what.

In fact, Christ’s inheritance is the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. He is Lord also of the heavens and all the personages therein.

Christ is coming as a conquering warrior—God’s Commander in Chief. He is far more powerful than any Caesar! He shall assume the rulership of the present earth.

Satan held out the prize of dominion over the earth to Christ during Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. Satan knew the rulership of the earth is a permanent, strong desire of Christ, that desire having been put in His heart by the Lord God. The law of obedience in Christ prevented Him from accepting at that time.

However, God has decreed that Christ indeed shall govern this earth and all the glory of it. Christ now is waiting patiently until all who would contest His rulership are put under His feet.

Christ is coming again, and this time to exercise His lordship over the earth. As soon as the Church has been prepared to govern with Him the reign of God will extend into the politics and business of the earth.

When we Christians think of Heaven as being the focus of our efforts concerning the building of the Kingdom of God it becomes quite difficult for us to grasp much of the Scriptures. The writings of the Hebrew Prophets, as well as the text of the Book of Revelation, then will not admit to a direct, unforced interpretation.

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 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. (Revelation 2:26,27)

The authority to govern the nations of the earth has been promised to Christ and the saints—to those who keep the works of God to the end. We must overcome through Christ every obstacle to God’s will placed in our path. If we hold back we never will overcome the world, Satan, or our own fleshly nature and self-will. The reward of rulership in the earth is for the victorious saints. Satan will do all he can to prevent our wresting dominion over the earth from him.

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (Hebrews 10:38)
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. (Revelation 20:4)

In the second chapter of Isaiah we find in the last days the Christian Church, the Body of Christ, is to be “exalted above the hills.” This expression means the Church will be the strongest political power on earth. It indicates also the state of Israel is to become the greatest Christian nation on earth.

The dominion will be given to Christ and the saints at the sounding of the last trumpet, which is to say at the hour of the first resurrection—the time of the redemption of the bodies of the saints.

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. (Revelation 11:15)

We have emphasized for so long that Christians go to Heaven—and they surely do, temporarily—we may have forgotten that the plan of God is to set His Son as Ruler over the earth. The kingdoms of this world are to become the Kingdom of God and Christ. God shall rule over the earth through His beloved Son, Christ; and through the Christian Church, which is the Body of Christ.

The Kingdom of God is portrayed in Isaiah:2:3:

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain [center of government—capital city] of the Lord, to the house [dwelling place—capitol building] of the God of Jacob;

The dwelling place of the God of Jacob is Christ—Head and Body.

And he will teach us of his ways.

God will teach the peoples of the earth by ministering to them through the members of the Church, just as He does today only under surpassingly glorious conditions.

And we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion [the Body of Christ] shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Consider the converted will of earth’s peoples—a conversion brought about by the total destruction of Satan’s presence and power, the destruction that will take place at the revealing of the sons of God.

The preceding passage from the second chapter of Isaiah describes the rule of God in Christ, through the Church, over the saved peoples of the earth. It is the Kingdom of God.

Both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about the Kingdom of God that is to be set up on the earth.

And they [the mourners in Zion, the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord] shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:4)

Notice in the next verse the reverential awe in which the Church will be held by the peoples of the earth, after Christ returns:

And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. (Isaiah 61:9)

Here is the concept of the peoples of the earth being able to witness the Glory of Christ on His Body, as described in John 17:21-23. And then the response of the Christian saint upon his being glorified at the coming of the Lord Jesus:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

Followed by the promise of God concerning the Body of Christ:

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)

Let us point out a few more of the many passages that refer to the setting up of the Kingdom of God on the earth:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17)

It is wonderful to think of Christ in His Body being as the stars of the heaven (countless) and as the sand on the seashore.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. (Psalms 22:27,28)
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalms 46:10)
For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. (Psalms 47:2,3)
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. (Psalms 66:4)
Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: (Psalms 68:32)

All the earth would have worshiped and have sung to the Lord Jesus at His first appearance had not wicked men put Him to death. At His next appearance they will not find it as easy to shut His mouth and stop His hands.

The governments of the earth may not realize it as yet, but the day is coming when they will praise the Lord and meekly submit to His authority. Woe to them if they do not!

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. (Psalms 72:6-11)

The promise of the coming Day, when the Glory of God will fill the earth, appears several times in the Scripture.

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalms 82:8)

The nations of the earth are God’s gift to Christ.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. (Psalms 96:9,10)

One of the problems with human governments and rulers is that they do not judge the people “righteously.” Because of the sin and other limitations of human rulers, personal and social injustices abound. Sometimes injustices are corrected. Sometimes they are ignored or even made worse. It always shall be so with human government.

There will be little personal or social justice and righteousness until Christ becomes the ruler of the world. The Kingdom of God contains the only solutions to the bewildering problems with which the peoples of the earth are faced in the present hour.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. (Psalms 96:11-13)

“He cometh to judge the earth.”

The preceding passage describes the beneficial impact on the natural environment when the Lord returns with His saints. When Jesus was on the earth the first time, the trees, waves, storms, and fish obeyed Him. The presence of sin in the earth has had a corrupting effect on the world of nature. When sin has been removed from the earth, the creation itself will be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

In Psalms 96 the Spirit of Christ in David is exhorting all nature, and perhaps in symbolic form the peoples of the earth, to respond joyfully to the coming of Christ.

A hostile response can lead only to the destruction of the individual and the nation. Christ shall reign over the earth with a rod of iron, and it will be a period of never-ending happiness and joy for all who receive Him gladly.

In that day [the Day of the Lord—the coming of Christ] shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: (Isaiah 4:2,3)

The Lord Jesus will have “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” It will be “holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). It will be the “beautiful and glorious” branch, of Isaiah, Chapter Four.

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. (Isaiah 4:4)

Observe the terms, “spirit of judgment,” and “spirit of burning.” These refer to the baptism with fire that purges the saint. Compare Matthew 3:11,12. Anyone who has set his mind on reigning with Christ must prepare himself for the fiery trial of his motives and deeds. Are we willing to be baptized with the baptism of fire? We cannot reign with Christ apart from suffering with Christ.

And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion [the Body of Christ], and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence [the “camp of the saints” of Revelation 20:9]. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:5,6)

The above passage is interesting because it points toward the day when the Church will be established as God’s Glory in the earth but when there yet will be trouble in the earth. Note the expressions: “for upon all the glory shall be a defence”; and “a place of refuge”; and “covert from storm and from rain.”

It is our understanding that this period of simultaneous glory and trouble may be the tribulation period just preceding the return of the Lord, or possibly the Kingdom Age, the age when the Kingdom of God is further refined and perfected.

God Available Through the Church

The rulership of God through the Christian Church is the fulfillment of the words of Jesus, “Ye are the light of the world.” The Christian Church will be set up in the earth as the center of government and teaching for the redeemed nations. God will be available through the Church to the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:5)

Compare: Ye are the light of the world.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (I Peter 2:9)