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Joseph Farah, the editor of World New Daily (WND), wrote the following:

Mankind was created to live on Earth. It was the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden that led to the fallen world in which we live today. And the good news of the Bible has always been the full restoration of the Earth in a Garden of Eden-like shared by new generations and those saved by faith in a world ruled by King Jesus from Jerusalem for a thousand years, followed by the creation of new heavens and a new Earth.

When the Earth is restored, it will once again become part of the Kingdom of Heaven – but, it’s heaven on Earth.

Doubt me?

Read the book from the beginning to the end and this restoration of Earth presided over by God is the underlying story, as Peter said in Acts 3:20-21, “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (emphasis added).

In other words, the common denominator in all the prophecies from the Creation of the world onward is this story of the restored Kingdom on Earth.

In fact, the last question the Apostles had for Jesus before He ascended into heaven after 40 days in His resurrected state on Earth was about this Kingdom, Acts 1:6-7: “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

Notice, Jesus did not tell them: “Forget about the Kingdom on Earth. Change of plan. You guys are all going to be resurrected for life in heaven now.”

No, the plan remains the same. It’s what all the prophets foretold – including Jesus throughout His earthly ministry.

Yet, why is it that we hear so little about our true destination in the future? http://www.wnd.com/2017/09/where-do-believers-go-when-they-die-2/#7yA0yMXg98K7oYdu.99

The short answer to that last question is that the world has accepted a false gospel and believes many things about the Christian religion which are simply wrong.

Satan does not want people to heed Jesus’ words to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

As far as Joseph Farah’s assertion that the prophets of old taught the Kingdom of God, this is true. Notice the following from our free booklet: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God:

Jesus’ first and last recorded sermon involved proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15; Acts 1:3).

God’s kingdom is something that the Jews of Jesus’ time should have known something about as it was mentioned in their scriptures, which we now call the Old Testament.

Daniel Taught About the Kingdom

The prophet Daniel wrote:

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. ⁴¹ Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. ⁴³ As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Daniel 2:40-44).

¹⁸ But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’ (Daniel 7:18).

²¹ “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21-22)

From Daniel, we learn that the time will come when the Kingdom of God will destroy the kingdoms of this world and will last forever. We also learn that the saints will have their part in receiving this kingdom.

Many portions of Daniel’s prophecies are for our time in the 21^st century.

Notice some passages from the New Testament:

¹² “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:12-14)

So, we see in both the Old and New Testaments the concept that there will be an end time earthly kingdom with ten parts and that God will destroy it and establish His kingdom.

Isaiah Taught About the Kingdom

God inspired Isaiah to write about the first part of the Kingdom of God, the thousand year reign known as the millennium, this way:

¹ There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. ² The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

³ His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; ⁴ But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

⁶ “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 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.

¹⁰ “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1-10)

The reason I referred to this as the first part or first phase of the Kingdom of God, is that this is a time where it will be physical (prior to the time when the holy city, New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, Revelation 21) and will last a thousand years. Isaiah confirmed the physical aspect of this phase when he continued with:

¹¹ It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

¹² He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth. ¹³ Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim. ¹⁴ But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them. ¹⁵ The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod. ¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt. (Isaiah 11:11-16)

Isaiah was also inspired to write:

² Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. ³ Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴ He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. … ¹¹ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:2-4,11)

Thus, it will be a utopian time of peace on earth. Ultimately, this will be forever, with Jesus ruling. Based upon various scriptures (Psalm 90:4; 92:1; Isaiah 2:11; Hosea 6:2), the Jewish Talmud teaches this lasts 1,000 years (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin Folio 97a).

Isaiah was inspired to also write the following:

⁶ For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Notice that Isaiah said that Jesus would come and establish a kingdom with a government. While many who profess Christ quote this passage, especially in December each year, they tend to overlook that it is prophesying more than the fact that Jesus would be born. The Bible shows that the Kingdom of God has a government with laws over subjects, and that Jesus will be over it. Isaiah, Daniel, and others prophesied it.

The laws of God are the way of love (Matthew 22:37-40; John 15:10) and the Kingdom of God will be ruled based upon those laws. Hence the Kingdom of God, despite how many in the world view it, will be based upon love.

Psalms and More

It was not just Daniel and Isaiah that God inspired to write about the coming Kingdom of God.

Ezekiel was inspired to write that those of the tribes of Israel (not just the Jews) who were scattered during the time of the Great Tribulation would be gathered together in the millennial kingdom:

¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”‘ ¹⁸ And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. ¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 11:17-21)

The descendants of the tribes of Israel will no longer be scattered, but will obey God’s statutes and stop eating abominable things (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14).

Notice the following in the Psalms about the good news of God’s kingdom:

²⁷ All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. ²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations. (Psalms 22:27-28)

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. (Psalms 45:6)

¹ Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. ² Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. ³ Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. (Psalms 96:1-3; also cf. 1 Chronicles 16:23-24)

¹⁰ All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You. ¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, ¹² To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. ¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. (Psalm 145:10-13)

Various writers in the Old Testament also wrote about aspects of the kingdom (e.g. Ezekiel 20:33; Obadiah 21; Micah 4:7).

So, when Jesus began teaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, His immediate audience had some familiarity with the basic concept.

More, including teachings of Jesus and the Apostles can be found in our free booklet: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Another reason that many do not learn the truth about the millennial Kingdom of God is that the Roman and Eastern Orthodox churches have condemned the teaching, even though their scholars will admit that many that their churches consider to be saints taught it.

Really?

Yes.

Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox scholars do realize that the apostles and early church leaders believed in a literal one thousand year reign of Christ on the Earth.

Do they admit it?

Yes, they do.

First, here is a writing from the Eastern Orthodox:

CHILIASM: Chiliasm, from the Greek word meaning “1000,” is a belief based on Revelation 20:2-7. In its classical form (which interprets the Revelation 20 verses verbatim), Chiliasm teaches that Satan will be bound by Christ for 1000 years, at which time Jesus and the Saints will reign on earth, and after which, Satan will be finally defeated and the Eternal Kingdom of God will be inaugurated. In modern times, Chiliasm has been “boiled down” to the teaching that the world will end after one thousand years (or a number of years that is a multiple of one thousand). Though some Ancient Church Fathers of the first three centuries AD had Chiliast leanings, the Orthodox Church formally denounced Chiliasm at the Second Ecumenical Council, in 381. The Church maintains that the 1000 year reign mentioned in Revelation 20 is symbolic of the era of the Christian Church’s ministry in this fallen world, which shall come to its completion at a time unknown to all but God the Father. (Orthodox Christian Beliefs and Practices. © 2006-2007 Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. http://www.uocc.ca/en-ca/faith/beliefs/ 09/24/14).

In other words, Orthodox Church scholars know that early Christian leaders, which it calls “Ancient Church Fathers”, taught chiliasm (called millenarianism in Latin), yet it CHANGED that teaching AND CONDEMNED it in a church council and now think it is somehow symbolic (note: Many Russian and American Orthodox still teach the millennium, see Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God).

Notice that the following Roman Catholic priest admitted that the Apostle John believed in a thousand year reign. First he mentions chapter 20 (XX) of the Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) as well as what he believes the Apostle John believed:

Chapter XX. relates to the expulsion of Satan from the world for 1,000 years…

In St. John’s outlook, however, the end of the world could not have been included the “hour of temptation”, because a thousand years must intervene between the days of Antichrist and the end of the world (Kramer H.B. L. The Book of Destiny. Nihil Obstat: J.S. Considine, O.P., Censor Deputatus. Imprimatur: +Joseph M. Mueller, Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, January 26, 1956. Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL), pp. 24,101).

The fact that I am unaware of any 1,000 years where Satan was gone from the world, the fact that the Bible teaches the 1,000 years, and the fact that the last living Apostle (John) believed in the 1,000 years, should be sufficient evidence to anybody who wants to believe God that the 1,000 years is literal and still to happen.

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes,

The fundamental idea of millenarianism, as understood by Christian writers, may be set forth as follows: At the end of time Christ will return in all His splendour to gather together the just, to annihilate hostile powers, and to found a glorious kingdom on earth for the enjoyment of the highest spiritual and material blessings; He Himself will reign as its king, and all the just, including the saints recalled to life, will participate in it…The duration of this glorious reign of Christ and His saints on earth, is frequently given as one thousand years. Hence it is commonly known as the “millennium”, while the belief in the future realization of the kingdom is called “millenarianism” (or “chiliasm”, from the Greek chilia, scil. ete)…

…a large number of Christians of the post-Apostolic era, particularly in Asia Minor, yielded so far to Jewish apocalyptic as to put a literal meaning into these descriptions of St. John’s Apocalypse; the result was that millenarianism spread and gained staunch advocates not only among the heretics but among the Catholic Christians as well…

Bishop Papias of Hierapolis, a disciple of St. John, appeared as an advocate of millenarianism. He claimed to have received his doctrine from contemporaries of the Apostles, and Irenaeus narrates that other “Presbyteri”, who had seen and heard the disciple John, learned from him the belief in millenarianism as part of the Lord’s doctrine. According to Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., 111, 39) Papias in his book asserted that the resurrection of the dead would be followed by one thousand years of a visible glorious earthly kingdom of Christ, and according to Irenaeus (Adv. Haereses, V, 33), he taught that the saints too would enjoy a superabundance of earthly pleasures…

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a native of Asia Minor, influenced by the companions of St. Polycarp, adopted millenarian ideas, discussing and defending them in his works against the Gnostics (Adv. Haereses, V, 32)…

A witness for the continued belief in millenarianism in the province of Asia is St. Melito, Bishop of Sardes in the second century…

Gnosticism rejected millenarianism. In Asia Minor, the principal seat of millenarian teachings, the so-called Alogi rose up against millenarianism as well as against Montanism, but they went too far in their opposition, rejecting not only the Apocalypse of St. John, alleging Cerinthus as its author, but his Gospel also…

In the West, the millenarian expectations of a glorious kingdom of Christ and His just, found adherents for a long time. The poet Commodian (Instructiones, 41, 42, 44) as well as Lactantius (Institutiones, VII) proclaim the millennial realm and describe its splendour…

Moreover, the attitude of the Church towards the secular power had undergone a change with closer connection between her and the Roman empire. There is no doubt that this turn of events did much towards weaning the Christians from the old millenarianism (Kirsch J.P. Transcribed by Donald J. Boon. Millennium and Millenarianism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Yet, even though they know that opposition to millenarianism really came from Gnostics and other Alogi heretics (the Alogi-means against the word–the word of God, that is), scholars of the Catholic Church also teach against this.

The Roman Catholic Church, in spite of the fact that it admits that many of its claimed early saints taught the millennium, now strongly condemns this belief. Notice:

676 The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism. (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 194).

It should be noted that the millennial teaching appears to be the only doctrine associated with Antichrist that is condemned in the current official Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is the first new one in hundreds of years). The one that has the imprimatur of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who is now called Pope Emeritus and was Pope Benedict XVI.

Anyway, while I have many prophetic and other doctrinal differences with Joseph Farah, he is correct that Christians should understand about the millennial Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught:

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

So, spreading the word about this Gospel of the Kingdom of God is something that Christians are supposed to do.

The Continuing Church of God has been doing this via radio, websites, personal appearances, YouTube television, magazines, and other ways (for more details, see The Final Phase of the Work).

In the Continuing Church of God, we also have a free online booklet titled: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In order to reach more of the world, that booklet has been translated into nearly 100 languages. The listing of those languages is found at www.ccog.org

Most people do not really understand the truth about the Kingdom of God. The Continuing Church of God, however, is reaching people with that message.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2018 at 12:01 am and is filed under Doctrine, Religious News.

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