In this passage, Part 2, I will focus on the regathering of God’s people in their land for the Millennial Kingdom in which Jesus Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I will restate some of those terrible conditions that will come upon the world in the last days, many of which cause or are related to God’s people’s final exodus and eventual regathering in the holy land. And for each pre-regathering condition, I will then show how God removes that condition and instead provides glorious restoration for his people during Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom reign.
Worldwide conditions that I will address from which God’s people suffer, or are strongly impacted by, in the last days include:
- Accusations/slander
- Bad Shepherds
- Broken spirit/shame
- Captivity/oppression
- A corrupt anti-Christ global system
- False idols
- Famine
- Isolation/abandonment/betrayal
- Physical danger
- Plundering/pillaging
- Ravaged/desecrated homelands
- Roaming/wandering
- Spiritual famine
You will recognize most or all of these conditions, some from Part 1, and others I have referred to throughout my writings. My intent in this passage is only to briefly redress each condition, but then to spend more effort on the Millennial Kingdom’s antidote as part of God’s complete restoration of his people when they regather in their land.
I will address conditions (1-6) above in this current passage (Part 2) and then I will address conditions (7-13) in my next passage (Part 3).
1a. Accusations/slander
You have seen in a few of my prior passages how God’s people are cursed and accused by others in the last days. This is just one of the anti-Christ Chaldeans’ lying and deception tactics used to motivate their army to persecute God’s people and to (falsely) feel justified in doing so. In the prophet Ezekiel’s last days vision, God says, “They targeted and hounded you from every side so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and the object of peoples’ malicious talk and slander” (Ez. 36:3). Recall our end times ‘Jacob’ and ‘Daughter of Zion’ figures, who scripture says the Chaldeans “scoff and shake their heads at” (Lam. 2:15). Their respective struggles are a representative picture indicative of what will happen as part of a larger effort against God’s remnant people in these last days.
1b. Accusations/slander – Millennial Kingdom antidote
God will vindicate his righteous people in the last days. He will severely punish their oppressors, and truth worldwide will become known about the anti-Christ Chaldean system, which includes targeting and subsequent destruction of people by using various, illegal mafia-type activities. God will reward his people and make them a blessing and honor for all nations to witness.
- “Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.” (Zech. 8:13)
- “No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” (Ez. 36:15)
- “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.” (Ez. 36:6-7)
God will eventually turn the spiritual war between himself and his people versus the Chaldeans in his people’s favor at the time when he vindicates them.
2a. Bad shepherds
Bad shepherds in the last days include bad rulers and false prophets in many countries all over the world. So many of these, because of their level of power and influence, have been recruited or “shaken down” by the anti-Christ Chaldeans. As a result, they are corrupted shepherds end up complicit with targeting and persecuting God’s people- either knowingly or unknowingly. God ultimately has to “rescue” his people from these oppressors who only look out for themselves, as we learn in the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 34. God’s people’s shepherds failure is summarized in the following scripture:
- “My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none (of my shepherds) did search or seek after them.” (Ez. 34:6)
2b. Bad shepherds- Millennial Kingdom antidote
Most importantly, in the coming heavenly Kingdom, God’s people will finally have shepherds who are all in line as servants themselves to the one true King, Jesus Christ. A righteous ‘Davidic Prince’ will also reign. Perhaps ironically, it will be the first time since the reign of King David that both houses- Judah and Israel- are back together under one King and living in one kingdom. The following scriptures support the establishment of righteous shepherds in God’s coming Kingdom.
- ” And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jer. 3:15)
- “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.” (Ez. 34:23)
All shepherds serving at this time will be righteous and will have God’s true word written on their hearts.
3a. Broken spirit/shame
Amidst their persecution, God’s own people’s sin and wickedness will be uncovered in the last days. I am reminded of the scripture, “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad” (Luke 8:17). God’s people’s shame will be that many are found to be no better than their anti-Christ Chaldean persecutors, accompanied by all of their wickedness. They will have been tricked and deceived, which is exactly what the anti-Christ Chaldeans intended. The Chaldeans keep records of all of their members’ activities to hold them hostage and blackmailed. They are broken in spirit and many will turn back and seek the Lord, and will finally become enlightened that he is none other than Jesus Christ.
3b. Broken spirit/shame – Millennial Kingdom antidote
The root of God’s people’s shame and disgrace in the last days is that they do not know Jesus Christ as Lord, and therefore they have not obeyed his commands. In some cases, they have even been “rebellious.” God’s grace and mercy shown to his people, in light of their sinful nature, will be overwhelming. God says repeatedly that he will make atonement for, and will “cleanse,” his people; he will, “refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” (Jer 31:25).
- “I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame.” (Zeph. 3:19)
- “I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.” (Jer. 33:8)
- “For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.” (Is. 61:7)
“Shame” and “confusion” mentioned in the last verse above will come largely as a result of God’s people realizing that they were part of a group that they thought represented some form of vigilante justice and good for society but instead found out that it actually represents and supports a criminal cabal. Furthermore, the groups is aligned against and persecutes God’s people.
4a. Captivity/oppression
I have discussed God’s people’s captivity in the last days several times, including in Part 1 of this passage. In a story familiar from ancient times, we learn that Anti-Christ Chaldean army oppressors and captors “refuse to let God’s people go” (Jer. 50:33).
4b. Captivity/oppression- Millennial Kingdom antidote
God’s people will finally get to see his justice served to their oppressors. God will finally redeem and free the house of Jacob-Judah captives, and then their captors will learn the lesson of Pharaoh and Egypt all over again. In fact, God will turn the table on their oppressors; his people will now rule over them. Recall that our servant ‘Jacob’ is a key sign for the time when God will “break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds” (Jer. 30:8).
- “For the Lord will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.” (Jer. 31:11)
- “Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.” (Zech. 9:12)
- “Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And Israel will take possession of the nations and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.” (Is. 14:2)
5a. Corrupt anti-Christ Chaldean global system
In the last days, God’s people will become fugitives and refugees of a worldwide anti-Christ Chaldean system that has turned on them and persecutes them. Referring to this “system,” God says, “Come out of her my people.” It is corrupt and “incurable,” relying on a dialectic methodology of systemic lying and a web of deceit. It is a system designed for protecting those in power but in the long term leads to destruction, confusion and chaos. Last days ‘Babylon’ and ‘Babylonian’ world kingdom will be found to rest on nothing other than evil deception, sorceries and magic spells. Unfortunately, most of the world’s nations will have to awaken and realize they have also been “drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries,” and that kings of the earth have committed “adultery” with her (Rev. 18:3). As a result, ‘Babylon’ collapses suddenly with the entire world shocked as they look on and experienced the effects themselves.
5b. Corrupt anti-Christ Chaldean global system – Millennial Kingdom antidote
The initial step of God’s people’s regathering will be to have fled and to be separate from the anti-Christ Chaldean system, which has led them and the entire world astray. They “leave her” and begin to seek their one true God. As part of this, they will need to be sanctified and cleansed themselves. Unfortunately, some of God’s unrighteous people will need to be purged or separated from his righteous remnant. This will include false prophets, whom God abhors.
- “Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.” (Is. 52:11)
- “I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” (Ez. 20:35)
- “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.” (Ez. 13:9)
Nobody involved in and loyal to the anti-Christ system will escape. The country of Israel’s close-by neighbors and traditional enemies in bordering countries will also be destroyed or purged.
6a. False Idols
God’s people worldwide find out in the last days that they lived in societies that served “vile images and detestable idols.” (Modern day Asherah poles are just one of numerous examples that are publicly on display, even in the U.S.). Those who have joined the anti-Christ Chaldeans will come to understand how the many worthless idols they have been exposed to cannot save them when real troubles come. Scripture says these idols and images will be exposed in the last days and will be torn down (Ez. 6:6). We are also told, “All the idol makers will be put to shame…” (Is. 45:16).
6b. False Idols – Millennial Kingdom antidote
In the Millennial Kingdom, once God’s people finally understand that Jesus Christ is their true God and King, they will worship him, and only him. Then they will also have a heart for obeying his commands. They will clearly be repentant and remorseful about how they have broken his commands and will finally realize that the only way to enter into and live in the “land of milk and honey” is to obey God. The key here is that God will give his people a new spirit and a change of heart. As we saw earlier, God says several times that he will “cleanse” his people.
- “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!” (Ez. 14:6)
- “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ez. 11:19-20)
- “For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.” (Ez. 20:40)
God’s people will no longer be what is sometimes referred to in scripture as “double-minded.”
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In summary, we find the following themes in this passage related to God’s people’s regathering in their land for the Millennial Kingdom.
- God saves and frees them from their persecution and bondage, including that which is both physical and spiritual in nature.
- God cleanses them from their unrighteousness and gives them a new heart and new spirit for obedience and worshiping him- Jesus Christ.
These major themes will be strengthened and augmented in the upcoming, final passage of this current series (Part 3).
Grace & Peace,
Lion’s Lair (LL)
Lion's Lair 