Dispenational Truth - Clarence Larkin Chapter 13 Part 2 The Millennial Land Holy Oblation, a square tract on the west of Jordan, 25, 000 reeds, or 50 miles on a side. A Reed, according to Eze. 40:5, is 6 cubits long, the cubit being an ordinary cubit 18 inches long plus a hand-breadth, 3 inches, making the reed cubit 21 inches. Six of such cubits make the reed 10 1/2 feet long. South of the Holy Oblation will be the Tribes of Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon and Gad. The Holy Oblation is divided into three horizontal sections. The Northern section is 25, 000 reeds long, from East to West, and 10, 000 reeds wide. It is called the Levites Portion. South of it is the Priests Portion of equal size. South of the Priests Portion is the section for the City with its suburbs and farming sections. This section is 25, 000 reeds long, from East to West, and 5000 reeds wide. Eze. 48:15-17. In the centre of this section the City (Jerusalem) is located. This helps us to map out the whole of the Holy Oblation, as the New City- is to be located on the site of the Old. The New City, however, is to be much larger than the Old. It is to be 9 miles square, and with its suburbs, 1/2 a mile on a side, 10 miles square. It will have a wall around it with 3 gates on each side like the New Jerusalem (Eze. 48:15-17, Eze. 48:30-32), these gates being named after the 12 sons of Jacob. The Temple, or Sanctuary, will not be rebuilt in the New City, but in the midst or middle of the Holy Oblation. Eze. 48:10, Eze. 48:20, Eze. 48:21. This will locate it at or near Shiloh, where the Tabernacle rested after the Children of Israel conquered the Land, and where it remained until the Temple of Solomon was finished. A Highway shall lead from the Sanctuary to the New City. Isa. 35:8. It will be a magnificent boulevard, 12 miles long, lined with beautiful shade trees. The New Temple or Sanctuary will occupy a space of 500 reeds on a side, or nearly a mile- square. Eze. 42:15-17. The old Temple was not a mile in circuit. The Prophet Zechariah tells us (Zech. 14:8), that in That Day (the Millennial Day)- Living Waters Shall Go Out From Jerusalem, half of them toward the Former Sea (Red Sea) and half of them toward the Hinder Sea (Mediterranean) ; in summer and in winter shall it be. But those Living Waters will not have their source in Jerusalem. The life-giving spring from which they flow will be located under the Sanctuary. Ezekiel tells us how he saw in vision the New Temple or Sanctuary and how the Lord took him to the eastern door of the House or Sanctuary, where he saw the waters come forth from under the Threshold of the door, and flow past the Altar of Burnt Offering on the south side eastward until the stream was deep enough to swim in. Then said he unto me, These waters..... go down into the desert (by way of Jerusalem) and go into the sea (Dead Sea), which being brought forth into the sea, the waters (of the Dead Sea) shall be healed (lose their saltness).....And everything shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it (Dead Sea), from Engedi (on the west shore) even unto Eneglaim (on the east shore) ; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the Great Sea (Mediterranean) exceeding many. . . . And by the River upon the banks thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit according to its months, because the waters they issued out of the Sanctuary; and the Fruit thereof shall be for meat and the Leaf thereof for medicine. Eze. 47:8-10. Compare Rev. 22:1, Rev. 22:2. The size of the New City, the location of the New Sanctuary and the elevation of the Dead Sea- which is now 1200 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, call for great physical changes in the land surface of Palestine. How are these changes to come about? When Christ comes back it will be to the Mount of Olives from whence He went up. Acts 1:9-11. The Prophet Zechariah describes what will then happen. His (Christs) feet shall stand in That Day (the day of His return) upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall Cleave in the midst Thereof Toward the East and Toward the West, and There Shall Be a Very Great Valley; and Half of the Mountain Shall Remove Toward the North and Half of It Toward the South. . . . All the Land Shall Be Turned as a Plain From Geba to Rimmon South of Jerusalem; and it shall be LIFTED UP AND INHABITED. Zech. 14:4, Zech. 14:10, Zech. 14:11. These great changes will probably be brought about by earthquakes or volcanic action. Behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be Molten Under Him, and the valleys shall be Cleft as Wax Before the Fire, and as the Waters That Are Poured Down a Steep Place. Micah 1:3, Micah 1:4. These great physical changes will level the land surface of Palestine, and make room for the New City, and raise the Dead Sea, so its waters can flow into both the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Ezekiel tells us that the name of Jerusalem in that day shall be Jehovah Shamniah, the Lord Is There. Eze. 48:35. 3. The Temple and Its Worship. As we have seen the Temple or Sanctuary will be located in the centre of the Holy Oblation. A full description of the Temple and its courts is given in Eze. 40:1-3:31. No such building as Ezekiel so minutely describes has ever yet been built, and so the prophecy cannot refer to either Zerubbabels or Herods Temple, and as there is to be no Temple in the New Jerusalem, it must be a description of the Temple that is to be on the earth during the Millennium. That it does not belong to the New Earth is also clear, for the land in which it is located is bounded by the Sea, and the waters that flow from it, flow into the Sea, but in the New Earth there is no more sea. Rev. 21:1. This is still further confirmed by the Prophets mention of the desert, the River Jordan, the Mediterranean Sea, and other localities that will not be found on the New Earth after its renovation by fire. The Aaronic Priesthood will be re-established, and the sons of Zadok shall officiate and offer sacrifices. Eze. 44:15-17. The New Temple, however, will lack many things that were the features of the old Temple. There will be no Ark of the Covenant, no Pot of Manna, no Aarons Rod to bud, no Tables of the Law, no Cherubim, no Mercy Seat, no Golden Candlestick, no Shew Bread, no Altar of Incense, no Veil, no unapproachable Holy of Holies where the High Priest alone might enter, nor is there any High Priest to offer atonement for sin, or to make intercession for the people, unless a rather obscure passage in Zech. 6:12, 13 means that Christ (The Branch, Jer. 23:5, Jer. 23:6) shall be a King-Priest, and perform the duties of High Priest conjointly with His Kingly office. While the Levites as a class shall perform Temple service they shall be barred from Priestly duties for their past sins. Eze. 44:10-12. There shall be a daily morning sacrifice, but no evening sacrifice. Eze. 46:13-15. The offerings will be the Burnt, the Meal, the Drink, the Sin, the Peace (Eze. 45:17), and the Trespass offering. Eze. 42:13. Two Feasts are to be observed, The Passover, but no Passover Lamb will be offered as Jesus fulfilled that Type (Eze. 45:21-23), and the Feast of Tabernacles, Zech. 14:16, Zech. 14:19. This Feast is to be observed by all the nations under penalty of Drought or Plague. The Feast of Pentecost will be done away with on account of its fulfillment. The Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2:1-3, was only a partial fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-30. No such wonders in the heavens and the earth as blood, and fire and Pillars of smoke the Sun turned to darkness, and the Moon into blood, occurred at Pentecost. But all those things will happen before The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. The conversion of the Jewish Nation will be sealed with a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Whether this shall be universal, or only upon Israel is not clear. The original prophecy in Joel was given to Israel, and its partial fulfillment at Pentecost seems to have been limited to them. The knowledge of the Lord, however, will be world-wide, and it shall come to pass that ten men of all languages and nations shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you. Zech. 8:22, Zech. 8:23. There will be one universal religion in that day. Alalachl 1:11. The Shekinah Glory that departed from the Temple at the time of the Babylonian Captivity (Eze. 10:18-20; Eze. 11:22, Eze. 11:23), will again take up its residence in the New Temple. Ezek. 43. I-. 5. 4. The Character of the Millennium. (1.) Satan Bound. Rev. 20:1-3. That man may be without excuse God is going to subject him to a final test under the most favorable circumstances. Man has charged his fall and continuance in sin to Satan. Take him away, he cries, paralyze his power; cripple his malignant activity; bind and imprison him and deliver us from his dominating influence, and then you will see that man is radically good and virtuous and is simply the victim of an unfavorable environment. God answers it shall be done. Satan shall be bound and imprisoned so that he can no longer deceive men, and lest man shall say that sinful habits are too deeply rooted to be soon eradicated the test shall last for a Thousand Years, and man shall have during that period of probation all the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ Himself. Man has never known and therefore cannot conceive what this world would be like free from Satanic influence. It would certainly be a marvelously different world. There would be no one to stir up hate and passion, and engender strife and turmoil. True, man would still have an evil heart of unbelief to contend against, but it would be like a magazine of gunpowder without a spark to ignite it. That the evil heart of man has not been eradicated will be evident when at the close of the Millennium Satan is loosed and finds no difficulty in deceiving the nations. Rev. 20:-8. During the Millennium the Prince of the Powers of the Air will be dethroned and the Prince of Peace enthroned. When the Great Red Dragon (Satan) is cast out of the Heavenlies there will be cast out with him all the Principalities and Powers and Age Rulers of Darkness (Eph. 6:12), and the Heavens which now are not clean in His sight (job 15:15), will be cleansed of all Evil Powers. There will be no universal peace until the Lord comes back. Then the nations will beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks (Micah 4:3, Micah 4:4), and shall be no longer impoverished by the enormous tax on their revenues for the support of armies and navies and the building of Dreadnoughts. Then ships of war and armorclad vessels will rust and rot in the navy yards and guns and cannon will be recast into implements of agriculture. The great armies of earth will be disbanded, and in the pursuits of peace and the tilling of the soil, the depleted treasuries of the world will be replenished. There will be little if any political graft. Corporations and combines will not be run in restraint of trade, and there will be no entailed estates if the law of the Year of jubilee is re-established. Lev. 25:8-10. Num. 36:4. (2) The Revival of the Land of Palestine. The Land of Palestine when it was first occupied by the Children of Israel under Joshua, was a land of milk and honey and of all manner of fruits, and its soil brought forth abundantly, and this continued as long as the Children of Israel kept its Sabbaths. But God had warned them that if they did not obey Him and turned aside to worship other Gods He would shut up the heavens and the harvests would fail. Deut. 11:13-15. Palestine today has the same fertile soil it had in Joshuas time, but it lacks rain and irrigation. God has withheld the early and latter rain, but they are now becoming more frequent and copious. The early rain falls in October and November, and prepares the land for ploughing and sowing; the latter rain falls in April and May and insures a good crop. In the Millennium the Land of Palestine will be restored to its former fertility. This will be aided not only by the rains, but by numerous rivers and streams that shall flow from the New River that ii shall have its source in the Sanctuary. It shall come to pass in That Day (Millennium) that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the Rivers of Judah (where the New River will be) shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the House of the Lord, and shall water the Valley of Shittim, the country about the Dead Sea. Joel 3:18. The mountains dropping new wine, and the hills flowing with milk, are figures of speech declaring that the mountain sides will be covered with vineyards from which an abundance of wine shall be obtained, and that the pasture lands will be so productive that they will sustain vast herds of milk cattle. The harvests will be so great and abundant that the ploughman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. Amos 9:13. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. Isa. 35:1. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isa. 55:13. Then shall the earth yield her increase. Psa. 67:6. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wondrously with you; and My People (the Jews) shall never be ashamed. Joel 2:24-26. (3) There Will Be Changes in the Animal Kingdom. 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. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrices den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain (Jerusalem), for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isa. 11:6-8. We cannot spiritualize these words. This was the character of these animals in Eden before the Fall, and in the Ark. The ferocity of the brute creation is the outcome of the Fall of Man. While the context seems to imply that this change in the brute creation has reference to the Millennial Earth, where it may be partially true, yet the fact that the Edenic condition of the earth is not to be restored until the appearance of the New Earth may postpone the fulfillment of this prophecy until then. The Apostle Paul says- We know that the Whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. . . Waiting for the adoption, to wit, the Redemption of Our Body. Rom. 8:23. That is, until the human race is redeemed from the results of the Fall, and fitted to occupy the New Earth, Creation must wait for its restoration to Edenic conditions. (4.) Human Life Will Be Prolonged. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, ..... for the child shall die a hundred years old. Isa. 65:20. That is, a person dying 100 years old shall be considered only a child. Therefore a man, to be called a man, must live for several hundred years. For as the days of a Tree (oak tree) are the days of my people. Isa. 65:22. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: There shall yet Old Men and Old Women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand For Very Age. Zech. 8:4. Patriarchal Years will be restored, and men shall live as long as they did before the Flood. This may be due to some climatic or atmospheric change, or to the healing or life-giving qualities of the water of the New River that shall flow from the Sanctuary, and the leaves of the trees that line the banks of the River, which shall be for Medicine. Eze. 47:12. (5) There Will Be a Sevenfold Increase of Light. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be -SEVENFOLD as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Isa. 30:26. The atmosphere of the Millennial Earth will be of such a character as to make moonlight nights as bright as day, and the days seven times as bright. The sun shall be no more thy light by day: neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord Shall Be Unto Thee An Everlasting Light, and Thy God Thy Glory. Isa. 60:19-20. This may refer to that part of the Holy Land that shall be illuminated by the Shekirah Glory, where it will make no difference whether the sun shines or not. It will have its complete fulfillment when the nations of the New Earth shall walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem. Rev. 21:23-24. Israels Mission during the Millennial Age will be that of blessing to the Gentile nations. Of the nation of Israel, that has never as yet been a leading nation, God says- I will make thee the Head, and not the Tail. Deut. 28:13. The nations today are a Headless body. There is no Chief Nation today. In that day Israel shall be the Chief Nation, and the nation that will not serve her shall perish. Isa. 60:12. But those nations will only be kept in subjection by the Iron Rule of Christ. This is brought out in the Messianic Psalm, Psa. 2:6-8. It is very clear that during the Millennial Age the will of God will not be done on earth as it is done in heaven. The peace among the nations will be more superficial than real. It will only be feigned obedience, more the result of fear than of love. As the afternoon of that long Millennial Day draws to a close the shadows deepen. As soon as Satan is loosed from his prison in the Bottomless Pit, he will find a vast multitude ready to believe his lie, and to serve and obey him. He will gather them from the Four Quarters of the Earth to battle. They will be in number as the sand of the sea. Rev. 20:8-9. The revolt will be Worldwide, and will mean the Mobilizing of Vast Armies. Satan will conduct them across the Breadth of the Earth until they compass the Camp of the Saints (the Holy Land), and lay siege once more to the Beloved City. This time the armies of heaven are not sent to destroy the rebels, but Fire from Heaven devours the rebellious host, and Satan, who deceives them, is cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented day and night for the Ages of Ages. From this we see that the Millennial Dispensation, like all the six Dispensations before it, will end in failure. God will have tested man in Innocence, under Conscience, under Self-Government, under the Headship of the Family, under Law, under Grace, and finally under the influence of the Holy Spirit, free from Satanic influences, and under them all he will prove himself to be hopelessly, incurably and incorrigibly bad. If after a 1000 years of the Presence of the King, and of universal peace and blessing, man still persists in rebelling against his Maker, what will there be left for God to do? Humanly speaking, there will seem to he nothing for God to do but destroy the human race. To send another Flood and wipe out mankind. But this He cannot do. for He promised Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood of waters. Gen. 9:11. But do something He must, so He is going to purge the earth with Fire. 2Pet. 3:7.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 22:11:56 +0000
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