Page 160 - Eschatology - Masters revised

Atonement, covered the sins of the people for one more year, waiting for the ultimate sacrifice to be
made by Jesus Christ. This was accomplished when He shed His precious blood on the cross. When He
died, the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom
indicating that the need for the Day of Atonement was finished. People could now have a different
relationship with God.

The daily animal sacrifices simply made it possible for a Holy God to live among a sinful people. In the
wilderness, God’s localized presence resided in the cloud during the day and the pillar of fire by night. In
the Temple in Jerusalem, God’s localized presence filled the Holy of Holies. Ezekiel 43:1-12 promises and
describes God’s glory inhabiting the Millennial temple. And King Jesus will be on the throne. Once again,
animal sacrifices will be necessary to atone for the daily sins of the people so that the Holy God can live
among His sinful people.

Its End

At the end of the Millennium, the last and final revolt of man and Satan against God and His rule will
occur. The opportunity to revolt against Christ will come when Satan is loosed (Rev. 20:7-9). God then
sends fire from heaven to kill them.

Revelation 20:7–10 (NIV84)7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them
for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the
earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and
devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where
the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and
ever.

Who will rebel? Satan will once again be free to deceive people concerning the burden of having to obey
King Jesus. Those people who were born as sinners during the Millennium and who have not believed in
Jesus Christ for eternal life, may be frustrated by the limits place by King Jesus upon their ability to sin.
Satan will tempt them to rebel in order to be free. But those rebels will be killed.

Conclusion

It is sad that Christian believers today do not emphasize and anticipate the Millennial kingdom more
than they do. I am afraid it is very tempting for a large portion of the Church to selfishly desire that we,
the church, are the principal actor for the remainder of history. This leads to viewpoints like
amillennialism and postmillennialism which teach that the church has permanently replaced the Nation
of Israel. And sadly, a majority of the Church, at least in western culture today, holds to amillennialism.
In reality, the nation of Israel has been and will continue to be God’s chosen people. He often promised
never to abandon them, even though He sometimes disciplined them. God used the imagery in the Old
Testament that He had chosen the Nation of Israel for His wife, even though they were sometimes
unfaithful to Him. For the Nation of Israel, the Millennial Kingdom is the mountain top for which they
have been waiting for several thousand years.

For God, the Millennial Kingdom will be a high point of history during which time His Son will be reigning
in righteousness on earth and God will fulfill all the promises made in the Old Testament regarding this
kingdom.

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