… I pray with my whole heart that our approach has delivered at least a decent overview.
“Intellectually instructive: it had never occurred to me that Satan still doesn’t know who will be his Antichrist.”
What part of our study of Daniel has been most instructive to you personally? In other words, if a friend asked you what you’ve learned, and you could only answer in a few phrases or sentences, what would you say?
“Personally, I think the personifying of our vices and temptations as the seductive temptress Babylon; especially when studying Proverbs where there are so many warnings against adulterous women.”
Please read Isaiah 9:1-7; Isaiah 11:6-10; Isaiah 35:1-10 and record distinctive descriptions regarding the coming kingdom in the appropriate box:
| The King “a child (9:6), He will reign on David’s throne…(9:7), the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner (11:10), the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God (35:2), your God will come with vengeance (35:4)” | The People “no more gloom (9:1), honor (9:1), light (9:2), joy (9:3), the nations will rally to Him (11:10)… (35:3-6), the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads (35:10)” |
| The Earth “His kingdom (9:7), the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord (11:9), desert… wilderness… bloom (35:1&2)… (35:7-10) | The Earth’s Creatures “wolf… lamb… leopard… goat (11:6), cow… bear… lion will eat straw (11:7), [children safe with] cobra… and… viper (11:8), [animals] will neither harm nor destroy (11:9), [no ferocious animals on the Way of Holiness] (35:9) |
Have a little jump in your joy! What excites you most as you consider this view of the coming kingdom?
“I love anticipating the kingdom of heaven; I know it will be wondrous beyond anything I can imagine. I will be forever with Jesus and also with some loved ones and I hope many dogs I have loved (and a few cats, too). However, if Beth’s question is about the millennial kingdom, I don’t feel much excitement over that. I guess I’m happy for those who will get to participate, but I think Revelation 20:5 is telling us we’re not invited to that party. I think it’s only for those who missed out on the ‘wedding reception’ – the Bridal Feast of the Lamb.”
Dearest Rachel –
It’s eerie to see you comment on heaven in these notes, now that you’re presumably there (unless we all just ‘sleep’ until the day of resurrection). It continues to make me feel like things weren’t supposed to happen this way; this answer of yours, along with all the others, weren’t supposed to be found and read by me, let alone everyone looking at this over your shoulder.
But I get it; it’s a topic we’re all interested in, as we all hope or expect to be going to at some point. Death comes for us all, and heaven only to those who have accepted the invitation – which I know you had, and you know I have, but that doesn’t mean I know what it’s like, or that you can tell us. It’s a shame, I suppose, but if we could be told all the details, where would faith enter into the process at this point?
Besides, as you point out, whatever we’ll encounter there will exceed whatever expectations that we might be able to come up with down here (and given man’s abilities to imagine – and create – great structures and spectacles, that’s saying quite a lot. But after all, this is God we’re talking about; He created the entire universe, after all, vast swaths of which we have yet to be able to even see).
As for the millennial kingdom, honey, I don’t know that we’re going to feel like we’ve ‘missed out’ on anything. Sure, if we have human spirits and souls that are only capable of being in one place at a time even there, we can’t experience everything of heaven at all at once. But I dare say that there will be so much to experience that it will take all the time of eternity to take in; there won’t be time to worry about ‘missing out’ on this thing or that, even as we’ll have infinite opportunity to experience it all while at the same time, offering praise to the Father Who’s brought us along on this eternal holiday.
Letters to Rachel 