What House Will You Build Me?: Three (excerpt of The Temple of God)

WHAT HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD ME?: THREE (EXCERPT OF THE TEMPLE OF GOD)

Pentecost of Pentecosts
The River of Life
Worldwide Evangelism
The Tree of Life
Release and Restoration
The Legal Basis for the Jubilee
The Day of Redemption
Redemption past and Future
A Sabbath of Sabbaths
In the Year of Jubilee

Pentecost of Pentecosts

The Year of Jubilee is associated with the Levitical convocation of the Day of Atonement in that the trumpet announcing the Jubilee was blown on the Day of Atonement.

The Year of Jubilee is associated also with the Levitical convocation of Pentecost. The Jubilee was celebrated every fiftieth year. The term Pentecost is derived from the Greek word meaning fifty. Pentecost, the feast of Weeks, was observed fifty days after the celebration of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:16).

The Book of Acts portrays the new-covenant significance of the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit being the One who is charged with bringing to pass the will of God in the Church of Christ.

Since Pentecost was celebrated once each year, on the fiftieth day after Firstfruits, and since the Year of Jubilee was observed every fiftieth year (Leviticus 25:10), we may say that Jubilee is the Pentecost of Pentecosts.

The fulfillment of the Jubilee is the climactic outpouring of the Spirit of God on the saints, to which the Scriptures refer in several passages—an outpouring of glory so extensive that the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord. The Jubilee outpouring of glory, the Pentecost of Pentecosts, will come to pass during the Kingdom Age.

One of the first references to God’s intention to fill the earth with His Spirit is found in the Book of Numbers. The occasion was the provoking of God in the wilderness and the resulting threat of God to “kill all this people as one man.”

In response to the prayer of Moses, God pardoned the complaining and rebelling of the Israelites. Then God revealed what is in His mind concerning His purpose in the earth:

“but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— (Numbers 14:21)

We find the same promise in the prayers of David:

And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. (Psalms 72:19)

Again:

So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. (Psalms 102:15,16)
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:5)
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. (Habakkuk 3:3)

Ezekiel has quite a bit to say about the Jubilee, the Pentecost of Pentecosts, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will accompany the bringing in of the thousand-year Kingdom Age.

The message of Ezekiel describing the Day of the Lord, as is generally true of the revelations of the Prophets of Israel concerning events connected with the ministry of Christ, is found in the context of teaching that had to do with the problems of the nation of Israel—a group of people living at the time of the Prophet who was speaking.

When the hour of fulfillment arrives, the Holy Spirit causes the spiritual message to shine through the admonitions of the Prophets of ancient Israel (I Peter 1:10-12).

First, Ezekiel points toward the coming of Christ at the beginning of the Kingdom Age:

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. (Ezekiel 43:2)

The next two chapters of Ezekiel describe the activities of Israel, revealing the special interest that God will show toward His people during the Kingdom Age. By “His people” we mean primarily the true Israel of God: that is, all who have received Christ as Savior whether or not they are Jewish by physical birth. Hopefully there will be millions of Jews by race added to Christ in our time and in the days to come.

As we stated previously, we believe Ezekiel is referring also to the nation of physical Jews. Ezekiel addressed both the Church and the physical nation, as we understand it.

Then Ezekiel portrays the covering of the earth by the Spirit of God and the resulting life and healing for the nations:

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. (Ezekiel 47:1)

The “door of the temple” is Christ. The “temple” is the Temple of God. The “water” of the Spirit of God always flows from the throne of God, from nowhere else. The throne of God will be located for eternity in Christ—Head and Body.

The reference to “eastward” and “east” typifies the saints who are “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (II Peter 3:12). They have their spiritual gaze focused on the dawning of the Day of the Lord. It is through these dedicated disciples of Christ that the Glory of God will come to the earth.

The River of Life

And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles.
Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist.
Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. (Ezekiel 47:3-5)

The line in the man’s hand represents the judgment of God, for it is a measuring line. The Day of Atonement is the day of God’s judgment on sin. Therefore the line in his hand is associated in meaning with the Day of Atonement, the Day of Reconciliation.

The “waters” of this passage represent the Holy Spirit of God who will be poured on the Church in connection with the exercising of God’s judgment. We can notice in Matthew, Chapter Three that Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire; not just with the Holy Spirit, but with the Holy Spirit and fire.

The Holy Spirit is the “waters” of Ezekiel, and the baptism of fire is the “line” in the man’s hand. The reason there will be so much of the Holy Spirit in the earth during the Kingdom Age is that the fires of God’s judgment will burn with unprecedented fury and thoroughness just prior to the Kingdom Age.

The “ankles,” the “knees,” and the “loins” speak of the three areas of Christian development.

The “ankles” refer to the beginning commitment of receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.

The “knees” speak of the Pentecostal blessing that brings us to the place where our “walk” increasingly comes under the control of the Spirit of God.

The “loins” represent the “death to self” conversion where our strength begins to be broken and resurrection life, the strength of God, is given us in exchange.

During the Kingdom Age the outpouring of glory will, as we understand it, bring the Israel of God through these three areas of conquest. The “waters to swim in” portray the giving over of the Christian to the will of God after he has experienced the deaths and resurrections of the “ankles,” the “knees,” and the “loins.” The Life of God in him now governs his deeds, words, motives, and imaginations. He has become the Temple of the living God. Such is the area of ministry to dead mankind.

The victorious saints will press toward this point of full consecration before the return of Christ. Fullness of dedication to God’s will is available now to whoever chooses to embrace it.

The whole Church of Christ will receive glory during the thousand-year Kingdom Age that will further the ability of every Christian (every Israelite) to walk in the Spirit of God (Malachi 4:2). We all shall grow in the knowledge of God throughout eternity.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit without measure that will occur during the thousand-year Kingdom Age will bring about the answer to the prayer of Christ recorded in John, Chapter 17. The Church will be made one (reconciled) in God in the abundance of the Glory of God, and the world will come to know that God is the One who has sent Christ and that He loves the Body of Christ with the fullness of Divine love.

Our teaching concerning the work of perfecting the Wife of the Lamb that will take place during the thousand-year Kingdom Age of atonement, a work of purification that will result in the glorious new Jerusalem, must not be interpreted to mean the believer can be careless today in the hope that he will attain in the next age what he was unwilling to grasp in the present hour.

We will not escape punishment if we neglect our present calling and opportunities for spiritual growth. We must keep in mind the terrifying judgment that fell on the lazy slave who buried his talent.

Also, there are specific character transformations and capabilities for union with God through Christ, fruitfulness, rulership, and eternal service to God that are available now but never again will be available. Today Christ is inviting us to sit with Him on His throne. Although the training for such ascension is exceedingly rigorous, yet it is possible, through Christ’s grace, for any believer to match Christ’s upward calling with a corresponding grasp of faith.

If we are not faithful in the lesser we would not be faithful in the greater.

If we will give our all to God today we will become God’s son and will inherit all things. Every aspect of our personality and life that we hold back from Christ will cost us unimaginable, incomprehensible, staggering loss in the Kingdom of God.

The wise believer will not take the chance that God will give him during the Kingdom Age what he ignored today.

The passage from Ezekiel that we are discussing portrays judgment and blessing, more judgment and more blessing, and so forth. This is the manner in which we grow in Christ now. We bear fruit. Then He prunes us and we bear more fruit. He prunes us again, cutting us down to the ground, and then we bear abundant fruit.

Has this been your experience?

Let’s go for a swim in the waters of God. Come on! The water is fine. We cannot drown, although we are not able to swim all the way across, because it is the water of eternal Life.

Ezekiel’s river is the outpouring of God’s Glory, the Pentecost of Pentecosts, the Year of Jubilee. Notice that these waters go into the desert (the dry places of the Church) and then into the sea (the peoples of the earth). This is the pattern of the Kingdom Age outpouring. First, the Church will be revived with the Holy Spirit of God (Ezekiel 37:10). Second, the Life of Christ will flow from the Church, the Temple, to the nations of the earth (Ezekiel 47:9).

Worldwide Evangelism

As soon as the Water of Life flows out to the nations of the earth they will be healed of the death caused by the bondage of sin.

Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. (Ezekiel 47:8)

The “waters” of the sea will be healed, meaning that the souls of people all over the world will be renewed in the Spirit of God. The Glory of Christ given to the Church will reach out to the peoples of the nations and they will receive a portion of eternal life. The sons of God will bring release to the physical creation.

because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)

It always is true that people who reject the rule of Christ will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Every person who receives Christ during the seasons in which he appears in His Church will be saved. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.

After the destruction of the wicked during the Battle of Armageddon, all the ends of the earth will be converted and the “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

Our teaching concerning the work of Christ during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, and the pattern of the operation of God described in the Book of Ezekiel, should reflect back on our conduct today, inviting and leading us to cease from the bondages of the flesh and to press forward to victory in Christ.

We should be preparing ourselves spiritually for the Day of Christ that even now is approaching its darkest hour as a prelude to the dawning of the day of release. If the vision of Ezekiel moves us toward faith, holiness, and service today we have received his message correctly.

The greatest evangelistic outreach of all time will follow the worldwide outpouring of the Glory of God.

“And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. (Ezekiel 47:9)

Here we see the release of the natural creation, mentioned in Romans 8:21. The “bondage of corruption” is broken and the peoples of the earth are awakened to God’s Life and are healed by His Spirit. The River of God, the Holy Spirit, will cover the earth. Every person and every thing will be touched with Divine Glory.

Notice that the word river is both plural and singular in the above verse. It is the one River of God, the Holy Spirit, but each Christian is a “river,” or “tributary” so to speak, of the one Holy Spirit.

In fact, there will be rivers (plural) flowing from each believer in whom the Divine throne has been established. There will be an abundance of Divine Life that never will cease. The Lord Jesus came that we may have life and have it in abundance.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

The Christians will go to every nation on earth. Out from the sons of God will issue the River of God. The River of God always flows from the throne of God, and the throne of God is being established in the heart of the saint.

We can see that the flowing of the River of Life from the elect will result in worldwide evangelism:

“… there shall be a very great multitude of fish,….”

The “fish,” of Ezekiel 47:9,10, will be “caught,” taught, and otherwise served by the Israel of God during the Kingdom Age. Notice the vision that Ezekiel presents showing the flowing together of the saints, exactly as Jesus prayed in John, Chapter 17, and the resulting release of the peoples of the earth from the harsh bondage of wickedness.

Isaiah had the same vision:

Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea [many people] shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles [nations] shall come to you. (Isaiah 60:5)

The above verse is an Old Testament portrayal of the answer to the prayer of Jesus in John, Chapter 17. The Glory of God will arise on the Church of Christ while gross darkness covers the peoples of the earth. At that time the Glory of God will be seen on the Body of Christ.

The nations of the saved, that is, the saved people who are not members of Israel, the Church of Christ, the Lord’s anointed, will come to the light shining from the Church. The rulers of the earth will behold and marvel at the manifestation of the Glory of God resting on the Church.

The inhabitants of the farthest reaches of our planet will stream to the Church. We Christians will behold the results of the Glory of Christ abiding on us. When we see the ends of the earth coming to us to be blessed of God we will become radiant with joy. Our heart will throb, trembling at the sight of the prisoners of the earth making their pilgrimage with their families to God who is dwelling in us.

Our personalities will be enlarged with compassion and understanding because of the opportunities for service suddenly set before us, as the nations of the earth come to us seeking God’s blessing. It will require a thousand years for the Church to minister to the needs of people—needs that can be met only by the Lord Jesus Christ ministering through His Body, the eternal Temple of God.

The act of ministering to these “fish” will work toward the perfecting of the saints themselves. By the end of the Kingdom Age the Church will be ready, for the first time, to descend from Heaven as a finished masterpiece.

The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life grows along the banks of the River of Life.

“Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” (Ezekiel 47:12)

We find in the first Psalm that the saints are the Tree of Life from whom the world may derive food and healing:

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalms 1:3)

Man cannot live by bread alone, although many people are attempting to live without God in these days. Man lives by receiving the Word of God—the daily portion of strength and wisdom that comes to him from Heaven above. The Church of Christ is becoming, through Christ, the visible expression of the continual flowing of the Glory of God. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).

The nations of the earth will eat of the “fruit of the righteous” during the thousand-year Kingdom Age and will live in the sight of God as a result. The saints will become wise in the ways of God, and this kind of wisdom will save men and women, boys and girls, from destruction.

The “fruit” of the Tree of Life is food for the peoples of the earth. The fruit is the Word of God made alive by the Spirit. It is the Substance of Christ, the living Word, because Christ Himself is the Tree of Life.

The “leaf” of the Tree of Life is for the healing of the nations of the saved. It is a medicine that will heal their hurts and illnesses. The fruit provides nourishment and life, and the leaves are restorative. Even today the Substance of Christ, His holy body and blood, is our necessary food, and His anointing brings healing to our bodies and the solution to our problems.

We Christians are becoming in our character the fruit of life for other people. Our gifts and ministries are as leaves that heal the sick. All things that pertain to life and godliness will be contained in the Church of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The nations of saved peoples of the earth will be required to come to the Church in order to receive the blessings from the Lord (Isaiah 60:12; Zechariah 14:17).

No matter how willingly the saints give of themselves while serving the needs of the peoples of the earth, their “leaf” will not wither and their “fruit” will not be consumed. They will give and give and yet have abundance to give, just as Jesus gives and gives and never is depleted.

This never-ending source of nourishment is true of our ministry today if we are working in Christ and not in our own strength. The “river of God” is “full of water” (Psalms 65:9). The River of God remains full of water no matter how much we spend and are spent. If we are planted by the rivers of water we always will be ready to bring life and healing to others.

The waters issued “out of the sanctuary,” that is, out of the Temple of God, out of the wells of eternal life that have been created in the saints. The fruit of the Tree of Life is ever new, ever nourishing, ever available because the Life that the Church offers to the world is coming from God and not from the resources of the Church itself. “His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper” (from Psalms 1:3).

Whenever the Church of Christ fails to benefit the nations of the earth it is because the “waters” are not coming “out of the sanctuary.” They are proceeding from the good intentions of the flesh, not from God.

Whatever is done by the Holy Spirit is always successful (from the Divine standpoint), always blessed, always enduring. Whenever we attempt to do the Lord’s work in our own wisdom and strength we soon find ourselves in bondage and confusion.

Release and Restoration

The Year of Jubilee, the Day of the Lord, is a season of the greatest rejoicing. It is the time of complete reconciliation to God on the part of the Church, the release of the nations of saved peoples of the earth from their servitude to wickedness, the Pentecost of Pentecosts in which the Holy Spirit flows from the saints as an ocean of glory that covers the earth, bringing the knowledge of God to each of the inhabitants thereof.

It is our understanding that the coming of Christ and the blessings of the Kingdom Age are at hand. One of the features of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will be the release of every person from “servitude” and the restoration to him of his “home and property.”

Then we shall not be required to fight against wicked spirits in order to do God’s will. It will be the greatest pleasure of all to perform God’s intention in the smallest of details. The curse will be lifted from the earth under the administration of the sons of God. The hard bondages we endure now will afflict us no longer.

People have been robbed of their birthright as the children of God because of the sin of Adam and Eve. At one time immortality was available in the Tree of Life. The beautiful Garden of Eden and the pleasures thereof; a life lived in the Presence of the Lord God without the drudgery of having to wrest from a stubborn earth enough food for survival—these are the natural rights of people by the fact of their being children of God.

During the Kingdom Age all the beauty of nature will be enhanced a thousand times. The creation will be free from thorns and thistles, destructive diseases and insects, and the other curses and catastrophes that have ruined the fairest of landscapes since the fatal day in the garden.

The proper home of mankind is an earth that is gloriously alive because of the immediate Presence of the Spirit of God. Anything other than such an environment is not proper and has come about only because God’s children chose to give their worship to the devil and to accept his rule over them. Christ and His brothers will change all that.

We humans rejoice in the beauty of natural scenes. We attempt to find peace and happiness while looking at a rural scene, a woodland display, or in feeling the spray and listening to the thunder of ocean waves breaking against the rocks of a shore.

However our enjoyment of God’s handiwork in nature is marred because of the pressures of life that always are bearing down on us. Disaster is but a breath away from us in every setting. Truly, we are attempting to live in the valley of the shadow of death.

During the thousand-year Jubilee we shall have a much more glorious environment to behold and live in, while the harassment of demons and other Divine curses that hinder us now will then be absent.

During the celebration of the Year of Jubilee that was established under the old covenant, every Hebrew who had been forced to sell his house and land was given back his property free of encumbrance. Also, if it had come to the point where he and his family had been sold as servants to a wealthy Hebrew, he and they were released from service and allowed to return home as free people. What a wise and wonderful provision from the hand of our God!

The Legal Basis for the Jubilee

‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. (Leviticus 25:10)

The legal principle on which the Jubilee is based is that the earth and its fullness belong to God.

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)
‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. (Leviticus 25:23)

The first of the above two verses informs us that the earth and all the peoples who dwell on it belong to God. The second verse points out that Israel belongs to God in a special way and is more closely identified with God than is true of the other nations of the earth.

The earth and all its resources belong to the Lord. He assigns the riches of the earth to whomever He will. This is true of every cubic inch of the earth and for all time. God created the earth and it belongs to Him. He has not sold it to anyone.

Men trade the things of earth back and forth without reference to the Spirit of God. God puts material possessions where He wants them. He always provides for His saints.

The resources of the earth belong to God, to no one else. When God appoints a piece of land to a person or gives him any other form of material wealth, it belongs to that person until he sells it or forfeits it in God’s sight. Any person or spirit who takes something from the lawful owner is a thief and comes under the judgment of God.

All wicked spirits, and people who are moved by them, are thieves because they continually are attempting to steal from God what belongs to Him. Only Christ and those who are living in Christ are free from thievery. They give back to God everything that belongs to Him.

The Kingdom-age Jubilee will be a time of restoring spiritual and material goods to the lawful owners.

If an Israelite through foolishness, difficult circumstances, laziness or some other reason, lost his freedom and his possessions, he and his family regained them during the Jubilee because they were given to him and to his descendants permanently by the God of all the earth.

Today the governments of the world utilize various devices, such as taxes, to attempt to prevent the accumulation of material wealth by individuals. God’s device, which was the Year of Jubilee, is infinitely wiser and more compassionate than is true of the inventions of men.

Notice the expression, “you are strangers and sojourners with me” (Leviticus 25:23). God’s hand is on every true Israelite because God has appointed Israel, His elect, to represent Himself among the peoples of the earth. Israel is a stranger and temporary resident of the earth, his true home being with God. Therefore, God chooses with care the worldly possessions of each of His servants.

Every member of the Body of Christ is a priest and prophet. He bears in himself or herself the name of God. He is God’s representative on the earth. Every Christian is an ambassador of the Kingdom of Christ, a living stone in the eternal Temple of God, a stranger and temporary resident of the earth.

In the time before Christ, God would permit one of His chosen to endure for a season a condition of servitude and loss of possessions. After a while his goods must be restored so the identity of his family as a priest of God would be maintained.

The Day of Redemption

The right of redemption was preserved intact for every Hebrew.

‘And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
‘Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
‘then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. (Leviticus 25:24-27)

Christ has purchased our possessions, spiritual and natural, that were stolen from us by wicked spirits. He is our Redeemer. Through Him we are receiving back all that was lost because of sin.

The Kingdom-age Jubilee is the fullness of the Day of Redemption. We Christians are being kept under the blood of Christ, having been sealed by the Holy Spirit “to the day of redemption.”

And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38)

The Jews at that time were under Roman jurisdiction. They were looking for redemption to come by the hand of Christ. Redemption would mean release from servitude to Rome and their return to their ancestral possessions.

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28)

Christ already has brought to us the beginning of the restoration of the spiritual blessings that were lost in Eden. The balance of redemption, including the redemption of our mortal body and our ability to live joyously for eternity on the earth, is yet ahead of us.

being justified [declared righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:24)

The price of our redemption from the authority and power of Satan is the blood of God’s Lamb, Christ. There is no other payment that will be accepted by the Father. The blood of Christ is the only “money” that a human being can present to God for his release from bondage.

Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

The redemption of the Christian has not been completed until the physical body has been made alive by the Holy Spirit. This part of our inheritance, our body, is still in the possession of the enemy.

When the thousand-year Jubilee arrives, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven, we shall go forth in freedom. The price of our redemption has been paid already on the cross of Calvary. However it will require the exercise of Divine force in order for us to wrest the purchased possession from the lords of darkness.

who is the guarantee [pledge] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [physical body], to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:14)

In the present hour just a part of our inheritance has been restored to us. When the trumpet of Jubilee blows (the Day of the Lord) we will receive our full inheritance in the Lord.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

The Holy Spirit has sealed us now, protecting and preserving us, identifying us as the redeemed possession of Christ until we gain full release and our full inheritance during the Day of Redemption that is coming with the return of Christ to the earth.

in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:14)

Redemption Past and Future

It may be observed that some of the passages dealing with redemption indicate that it is yet ahead of us. We have been “sealed to the day of redemption.” Other passages of Scripture state that we already possess “redemption through his blood.” We understand that redemption is ours the moment we accept Christ; and yet it still is ahead of us.

If the redemption is past but is still future, the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement is past and yet still future. This is true. Our Christian experience of the Day of Atonement and the Year of Jubilee is present with us now but is coming to an even greater extent when the Lord returns from Heaven. It is true also of the Kingdom of God that we are in it now, and yet it is coming to the earth in the future.

We can observe, while studying the feasts of the Lord (Leviticus, Chapter 23), that the Day of Atonement is sixth in a series of seven observances.

In the kingdom-wide fulfillment of the feasts of the Lord, the Day of Atonement will come after the blowing of the seventh trumpet—the trumpet of God that announces the return of the King, Christ. Yet, our traditional, customary understanding of the atonement is that the Day of Atonement was accomplished through the death of Christ on the cross two thousand years ago (Hebrews, Chapters Nine and Ten).

The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood. His blood is the atonement for our sins. He brought His blood before the Presence of God Almighty in Heaven and sprinkled His blood on the spiritual realities there.

Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; (Hebrews 9:23,24)

The above passage is the new-covenant fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement (Leviticus, Chapter 16), that is, of the sprinkling of the blood of the slain animals. This part of our redemption has been accomplished already.

The redemption that is coming in the future and that even now is working in us is the visible fruit of what was accomplished on Calvary. All that was purchased on the cross will be released into the “glorious liberty of the children of God.”

The inheritance of each believer will be restored to him. It will be the “redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:14).

We lost our inheritance and were brought into servitude by our sins. During the aspect of the Day of Atonement that is yet to come, the consequences of our sins (our sins already having been forgiven in Christ) will be removed from us. The power and effects of sin will be destroyed so God can restore to us all that was lost through the fall of Adam and Eve.

As we look about us we can see the truth of the above statements. Christ has died for our sins—of that we are certain; and we who have accepted Him possess the sure knowledge that our sins have been forgiven and that we have passed from the authority of Satan to the authority of Christ. We know of a certainty that this is so and we have the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of the additional glory that is to come in the future.

We discover also, to our dismay, that we still are bound by many chains. We do not behave in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God as we should. We fail in many ways as we attempt to reveal the Person and Glory of Christ.

We suffer sickness, in some instances, as well as confusion and unbelief. Also, the world continues to grow worse and worse in its sins and darkness until the message of the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem appears to be a cruel mockery of the prisoners of the earth.

The foulest of sins, famine, frantic unrest, nervousness, fear—all ravage the inhabitants of the earth in this hour. Where is He who is our Redeemer? Look up, children of the Highest. The fullness of the atonement made by Christ is yet to come. Lift up your heads and walk as sons of God. Your redemption is drawing near.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12)

Christ on the cross shed His blood to make an atonement for our sins before the Throne of God. The High Priest of God, Christ, has entered beyond the veil and sprinkled the blood of the new covenant before the Mercy Seat in Heaven.

The price of eternal redemption already has been paid. What remains for the Church, and for the nations of the saved of the world, is the “redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.”

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)

The above passage is a summary of the Gospel. Christ’s death was for the purpose of redeeming what was in bondage under the old covenant so each person whom God calls may regain the lost inheritance. We gather from this verse that the Year of Jubilee is one of the major Old Testament types of the Gospel of Christ.

A Sabbath of Sabbaths

In addition to being a Pentecost of Pentecosts, and the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, the thousand-year Jubilee will be a Sabbath of Sabbaths. The Jubilee represents the Lord’s Day, the period of time during which man ceases to work and enters God’s rest.

‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. (Leviticus 25:8)

The heavy emphasis on the Sabbath in relation to the Year of Jubilee signifies that the strivings of human beings will be greatly reduced during the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The second chapter of Isaiah, in describing the Day of the Lord, uses this expression: “the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”

In addition, the Jews were commanded not to work during the observance of the feasts of the Lord.

‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.
‘But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’” (Leviticus 23:7,8)
‘And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (Leviticus 23:21)

“You shall do no customary work on it.”

Man has had his opportunity to demonstrate what he can do. Now it is the Lord’s turn. During the thousand-year Kingdom Age, all the attention of the Church, and of the peoples of the earth as well, will be on Christ and His actions in the earth.

The business of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will include the perfecting of the Church, Divine judgment on sin exercised through the saints, release, restoration, and the spreading of the knowledge of God over the face of the whole earth (Isaiah 42:1; 51:16). God’s Temple will be His means of spreading His knowledge throughout the earth.

Because of the Divine curse that resulted from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the attention of the inhabitants of the earth throughout the past thousands of years has been focused on the acquisition of adequate and surplus material needs and luxuries. During the Kingdom Age, however, the acquisition of material needs and luxuries no longer will occupy first place in the thinking and striving of mankind.

The nations of saved peoples of the earth will be giving their attention to the problem of gaining reconciliation to God and to the business of building His Kingdom in the earth, just as is true of the victorious saints today. The whole world, like Mary of old, will lay aside the housework, so to speak, and sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His Word as it comes forth from the members of the Body of Christ.

The obtaining of food, drink, clothing, and the other necessities of life will not be the principal concern of mankind during the thousand-year Kingdom Age. In fact, it never has been God’s will for His children that their first attention from morning to evening should be directed toward what they will eat and what they will wear.

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)

Christ exhorts us to trust God for the items necessary for our survival on the earth and to turn our attention toward the gaining of the Kingdom of God. This does not mean, however, that we should quit our job and pray all day, accomplishing nothing constructive but going from house to house and living from the substance of people who are more conscientious.

The important issues during the Kingdom Age will be in the realm of God and His plans and purposes, just as the saints must be occupied in the present hour with the plans and purposes of the Lord. It is likely that during the thousand-year reign of Christ there will be plenty for everyone to do just to keep up with all the programs God has in mind (Isaiah, Chapter 61).

In the Year of Jubilee

‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. (Leviticus 25:13)

All of the inheritance, the dominion over the earth, the blessings and benefits that God gave to man at the time he was created, will be restored to him during the Kingdom Age. Man was created in the image of God so he may have fellowship with God and come to know God as his Father, dwelling in love and union with God. The earth and the remainder of the physical universe were designed as a suitable and enjoyable environment for the benefit of man.

All of this was stolen from mankind by the deceits of the wicked one.

The earth and its resources always have belonged to the Lord along with every creature therein. The unclean lords of darkness have deceived, robbed, and destroyed the people of the earth until it seems nature itself must rise up in revolt.

We can expect earthquakes, floods, famine, disease, and every other natural disaster to occur as the nations of the earth turn to the worship of their lusts and magnify in themselves every abominable desire of the wicked spirits which, it appears, have come into the earth in greater numbers than ever before.

The sights and sounds of the age in which we are living are becoming increasingly disgusting to the earnest Christian. The darkness and insanity of evil oppression are mounting. We know from the Scriptures that this is just the beginning of wickedness. We can expect evil to come to an unprecedented fruition until even the inhabitants of Sodom will rise up in the Day of Judgment and condemn the cities of the world of our time.

We know also evil rulers will appear and that mankind will develop a social and economic order that will allow no place for God or His elect. During this period the saints will testify of God’s Person and will with authority and power (Revelation, Chapter 11).

Finally, even this witness will cease as God removes the spiritual restraints (II Thessalonians 2:7) so the wicked spirits may become manifest through those individuals who have allowed themselves to be deceived by Satan. The maturing of wickedness (the tares) will attain the depths of foulness, demonstrating to the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth the result of rebellion against the will of God Almighty.

“We have attained peace and safety,” the unbelievers will exclaim, as they rejoice in a world whose only guidelines come from the wisdom of demon-possessed minds. Meanwhile the saints will be hidden away under the protection of God’s hand (Isaiah 26:20).

Suddenly, at the time least expected, the most powerful sound ever heard on earth will bring the world to a standstill. The Lord Jesus Christ will shout for the battle. Michael, the archangel, will echo the shout as he raises his sword at the head of the warrior angels. The seventh trumpet, the trumpet that heralds the Battle of Armageddon, the trumpet that announces the Day of the Lord, the trumpet of the Kingdom-age Jubilee, the trumpet blast that signals our transformation into immortality, will reverberate from the farthest ends of the heavens to the farthest ends of the earth.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15)

The above verse portrays the return of Christ, the Day of the Lord. Notice the statement of the twenty-four elders as they worship God, falling in reverence on their faces:

saying: “We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned. (Revelation 11:17)

At this point, the Lord God has appeared to announce the Jubilee and the destruction of all the thieves, murderers, sorcerers, and other destroyers of the earth. The hour has come for the meek to inherit the earth. It is time for the creation to be released from bondage and to enter the liberty of the children of God.

Now will Christ take to Himself His Bride so she may be made perfect in Him. Now will the nations of the earth beat their swords into plowshares and learn from the Church about the Person, will, and ways of God. Now will every one who receives Christ be able to return to his inheritance and obtain release from oppression and fear.

The nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Revelation 11:18)

The Lord Jesus will come from Heaven at the head of His army and attack the evildoers of the earth. They will resist with all their power but they will be crushed under the feet of the Church of Christ.

All of the spirits and people who resist Christ in the Day of the Lord will be destroyed from before His face. The Word of God is an all-consuming fire and no force will be able to resist the Word in the Day of Judgment.

Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit. The sons of God will move throughout the earth in the Spirit of God, throwing down every trace of resistance to the will of Christ. Nothing shall escape their onslaught (Joel 2:3).

The destruction of wickedness and rebellion will be brought to terrible finality. Not one evil spirit will remain on the earth. The judgment will be total. The oppressor will be removed. Christ and His Church will stand before the Lord God Almighty, holding the sword of the Spirit.

The earth will become quiet, still, not one voice left to bring to remembrance the spirit of an age that rejected God and His Christ.

Then the sound of a Divine stirring will be heard throughout the land. The countryside will be transformed as though nature itself is being born again, just as happens sometimes in the eyes of a newly converted Christian.

The Spirit of God will flow from the sons of God to the peoples who are left on the earth. Under the supervision of Christ and the members of His Body the work of restoring the earth will commence.

What a task of rebuilding and restoration lies ahead! Yet, there will be such glory and harmony that the thousand-year Kingdom Age will be to the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, as one symphony of praise. The wisdom and energy of God will flow in broad streams of eternal life. The saints will be at rest in God as they minister to the nations of saved peoples of the earth, singing aloud His praises as they increase daily in love, knowledge, and understanding from Christ.

The world in each of its parts will be brought under the full blessing of God. The sons of God will, as the Spirit directs them, carefully remove the Divine curse. The trees of the field will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12). The rocks and hills will sing the praises of God. The wild animals will dwell in peace with the tame animals.

The boys and girls will laugh and play in the Presence of the Lamb of God. The older people will dwell in restful happiness, secure under the blessings of the Lord.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand because of great age.
The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets.’ (Zechariah 8:4,5)

All will be engaged in useful occupations and will live out their days in tranquility.

Over this glorious realm will stand guard the sons of God, ruling with a rod of iron, ever vigilant, ever diligent, keeping the creation under absolute obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 14:11).

(“What House Will You Build Me?: Three”, 3528-1)