A Critique of Amillennialism In the Light of Biblical “Forever” Promises of God
The following are ten points that I believe to be Amillennial errors resulting from the rejection of a literal interpretation of Biblical truth as revealed in God’s word. Based on these ten points of the Amillennialist belief system it is not inaccurate to state that they have created a lying god as evidenced by their belief that he has rejected Israel, so as to transfer his love and allegiance to the church. To believe and teach this necessitates the God of Scripture rescinding His multiple promises to Israel pertaining to their ultimate restoration and eternal salvation and in so doing inherently creates a god who does not keep his word – thus he is a liar. Do I believe this is the intent of any Amillennialist? Absolutely not. However, that doesn’t change the fact that, by determining humanly that portions of God’s word are symbolic, not to be taken literally, the Amillennialist inadvertently, unavoidably maligns the Holy character of God in a way that makes Him inherently a liar which stands in abject opposition to the truth of Numbers 23:19.
Numbers 23:19: 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
I say again that I do not believe that it is the intent of any Amillennialist to in any way ever believe or teach that our Sovereign Holy Heavenly Father is a liar. Nevertheless by declaring God to have rejected Israel for all eternity and now be directing His redeeming grace and love to the church inherently necessitates Him not keeping His word to Israel, thus deceiving or lying to them.
- The first and, I believe, foundational error of this system is the presumptive, arrogant belief that any human being has the authority, for any reason, to decide that God’s word is symbolic and not to be interpreted literally. If this is a legitimate approach to Bible interpretation then there are at least three significant questions that must be answered. One, who decides which passages are and are not literal? Two, on what basis do they do so? And, three, who decides the accurate interpretation?
2. The belief that there is no millennial reign of Christ (Rev 20) – Rev 20 is symbolic; the millennium has already begun; the “1000” years is just a symbol of Christ’s spiritual reign simultaneous with the church age, meaning “now”; His reign is spiritual in nature and at the end of the church age, Christ will return in final judgement, establishing a permanent reign in the New Heaven and New Earth.
3. The binding of Satan in Revelation 20 took place during Christ’s earthly ministry; “Satan was restrained by God while the good news of Christ’s salvation was announced and that that restraint is still operative today.
4. The belief that the future “great tribulation” is for all believers; this tribulation is presently operative as manifested by disasters, wars, persecutions, etc. that have already occurred throughout the church history including the present age.
5. The belief that all Revelation references to “Israel” are symbolic and actually refer to the “people of God” on earth in the present church age, God having rejected Israel, replacing it with the church – Roms 9:6-9; Gal 6:16.
6. Apocalyptic numbers represent concepts, not literal numbers or statistics.
7. The belief that God has transformed physical and national promises to Israel into spiritual promises for/to the church.
8. The denial and rejection of the chronological order of Revelation (recapitulation view of Rev) so as to facilitate their preconceived, erroneous viewing of the second coming (Rev 19) as occurring at the end of the 1,000 years of Rev 20, rather than before.
9. The belief that the Saints are already reigning in this present church age, not in a future millennial kingdom reign.
10. The belief that the first resurrection in Revelation 20:4 is spiritual and occurs at the point of salvation/regeneration. The second resurrection of Revelation 20:5 is a bodily resurrection.
Here at the outset of our study, it is worthy of noting a statement by John MacArthur on the eternal significance of adhering to a literal interpretation of Revelation 20.
MacArthur states:
“There are three main views of the duration and nature of this period: 1) Premillenialism sees this as a literal 1,000-year period during which Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of numerous prophecies (e.g., II Sam 7:12-16; Ps 2; Is 11:6-12; 24:23; Hos 3:4-5; Joel 3:9-21; Amos 9:8-15; Mic 4:1-8; Zeph 3:14-20; Zech 14:1-11; Matt 24:29-31; 36-44), reigns on the earth. Using the same general principles of interpretation for both prophetic and non-prophetic passages leads most naturally to Premillennialism. Another strong argument supporting this view is that so many Biblical prophecies have already been literally fulfilled, suggesting that future prophecies will likewise be fulfilled literally. 2) Postmillennialism understands the reference to a 1,000-year period as only symbolic of a golden age of righteousness and spiritual prosperity. It will be ushered in by the spread of the gospel during the present church age and brought to completion when Christ returns. According to this view, references to Christ’s reign on earth primarily describe His spiritual reign in the hearts of believers in the church. 3) Amillennialism understands the 1,000 years to be merely symbolic of a long period of time. This view interprets OT prophecies of a Millennium as being fulfilled spiritually now in the church (either on earth or in heaven) or as references to the eternal state. Using the same literal, historical, grammatical principles of interpretation so as to determine the normal sense of language, one is left with the inescapable conclusion that Christ will return and reign in a real kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. There is nothing in the text to render the conclusion that “a thousand years” is symbolic. Never in Scripture when “year” is used with a number is its meaning not literal (see II Pet 3:8)
The intent of this critique of these Amillennial beliefs is not to attack or demean or belittle any human being. The intent is to present passages from God’s literal word that must be altered or outright rejected in order to manufacture any/all of the supposed “symbolic meaning” of His word. In the light of a literal reading and interpretation of Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 29:16 and Revelation 22:18-19, any presumptive attitude that says that a man has the authority to alter the literal word of God by declaring it to be symbolic, instead of literal, in order to proof text his preconceived agenda is a man who is in opposition to God and may well be declared a liar by God:
Deuteronomy 12:32: 32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.
Proverbs 30:5-6: 5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.
Isaiah 29:16: You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
Revelation 22:18-19: 18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
The following is a brief response to the above 10 listed points beginning with point number one.
1. It is an eternally disastrous error that presumes to have the authority to decide what portions of God’s word are “literal” and what portions are not. To do so is to declare that God’s word is not entirely and literally true but that certain portions, as determined by uninspired, flawed human opinion, are symbolic. There is nothing “symbolic” or “figurative” about Revelation 20:2 – Ezekiel 9:3-6; I Corinthians 4:6; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19.
2. To make such a claim, that Revelation 20 is symbolic is to totally negate Biblical objectivity. The only outcome of such arrogance is confusion and error – Psalm 19:7-11; I Corinthians 14:33.
3. This is totally subjective, meaning there is not a shred of Biblical support for such. If Satan was bound during our Lord’s earthly ministry, as stated here, how does the amillennialist explain the demons running rampant everywhere during our Lord’s earthly ministry? This isn’t even rational. This is fantasizing to justify a preconceived agenda. To embrace and teach such is to abjectly deny and reject every passage of Scripture that foretells the continuing escalation of evil as we draw closer to our Lord’s glorious rapturing of His Holy bride out of this world -Matthew 24; Romans 1:18-32; II Timothy 3:1-7,13.
4. This stated belief summarily denies and casually dismisses the rapture of the church as testified to in I Thess 4:13-18 and II Cor 15:50-58 as never even happening or occurring after the “great tribulation”, both points of which are unbiblical. This sort of manipulation of God’s Holy word may well put the Amillennialist under the condemnation of Deuteronomy 12:2, Proverbs 30:5-6, and Revelation 22:18-19.
5. The belief and teaching that all references to Israel in Revelation are “symbolic” and that they actually refer to the “people of God” on this present earth, in order to validate their belief in the church age rejection of Israel requires an eisegetical (opinion) interpretation of the text so as to confirm their preconceived, subjective belief. In the light of the entirety of Scripture this belief borders on the irrational – Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 6:15-16.
6. “Apocalyptic numbers and statistics are symbolic, not literal” – Here is yet another belief and teaching that can be based on only one thing, the preconceived, subjective, imperfect human decision to label as “symbolic” any and every passage that does not conform to an already conceived belief or agenda that can be “validated” no other way. As with all nine of these beliefs, there has to be, as addressed in number 1 above, an arrogant readiness to arbitrarily reject as literal, those passages that contradict their preconceived beliefs, thus declaring certain passages “not literal” but “symbolic” – Joshua 21:45; II Corinthians 1:20; Matthew 5:37. In James 5:12, James states with no ambiguity that “your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgement.”. In light of this clear command are we then to believe, as the Amillennialist does, that God chose to violate His own command in James 5 in order to accommodate His rejection of Israel so He could embrace the church? The only way this belief that apocalyptic numbers and statistics are “concepts” and not “literal” numbers and statistics can be accurate is if God did indeed chose to violate His own Holy character and command in order to reject Israel. If true, then keep in mind that He did indeed have to set aside His promise to Abraham, which, of necessity, inherently required Him to falsify His own word as stated in Numbers 23:19:
Numbers 23:19: 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Thank God, dear believing reader, that the issue here is not the trustworthy character of our Sovereign Holy Father (Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 44:6; 42:5-9; 40:5-8; 55:8; 46:8-10), but the prideful heart of man – Romans 16:17-18.
7. The belief that God has transformed physical and national promises to Israel into spiritual promises for/to the church has absolutely no objective basis in Scripture. Again the only way such a belief can come to be is by having a preconceived “I think this is what that means”, inherently subjective belief that requires, as in this case, the rejection of Scriptures literal meaning by arbitrarily declaring certain passages to be “symbolic”. For clarity consider the meaning of the word “arbitrarily” – Oxford Dictionary: “capricious, random, inconsistent, unreasonable, unsupported, groundless, personal, and subjective”; Webster’s New Collegiate 2022 Dictionary: “on a whim rather than reasoned or methodical, based on and determined by individual preference rather than intrinsic value”; Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: “not governed by any fixed rules as an arbitrary decision”.
8. The denial and rejection of the chronological order of Revelation (recapitulation view of Rev) had to be devised to allow for the erroneous viewing of our Lord’s second coming (Rev. 19) as occurring at the end of the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, rather than before the 7 years of tribulation. To further compound this error Amillennialists claim the 1,000 years of Revelation 20 refer to this present church age as opposed to a future millennial kingdom. This recapitulation view, in denying the chronological order of Revelation, teaches that the book is a series of repeating cycles (e.g. seals, trumpet, bowls) that repeatedly tell the same story of redemptive history from different angles. This teaching is justified by claiming that it avoids “linear misinterpretations”. In other words, to quote the Amillennialist, “it resolves any confusion produced by trying to make the book a strict, linear timetable”. The arrogance inherent in this statement is manifested by the presumption that belief in a literal linear timetable is man “trying to make” it happen that way, when in realty God the Holy Spirit inspired John to record it as such because that is exactly how He has predestined it to be. It is astoundingly arrogant to presume that any confusion with a literal interpretation of the book is the result of the Holy Spirit inspiring it literally. So, in order to alleviate the conceived problem with a literal interpretation, the Amillennialist arrogantly determined to declare it symbolic, basically ignoring or even denying that the source of any confusion was/is due to the fallibility of man, not the Holy Spirit’s authoritative revelation – Psalm 50:21; Isaiah 55:8. Incidentally, I find it interesting that the Amillennialist state as one of their reasons for justifying their declaring God’s word to be symbolic, that it is because “it resolves any confusion”, even stating that those who hold to a literal interpretation are “trying to make” it happen that way, when that is exactly what they have done in declaring it to be “symbolic”. They have done so “trying to make” it happen their way – how interesting that they seem to fail to recognize their own agenda.
9. This belief, that “ the Saints are already reigning in this present church age” basically rejects every Biblical reference to the bride of Christ, the New Covenant elect of God, reigning WITH HIM for that 1,000 years. If, as the Amillennialist’s say, we are in that 1,000 years now, then where is Christ? And if, as Revelation 20:2 reveals, Satan is bound in these “present” 1,000 years, why then is sin evermore rampant, escalating continuously (Matthew 24; II Timothy 3:1-7,13) and why did the Holy Spirit inspire Peter to give the warning and command of I Peter 5:8? Why was Paul inspired to write Romans 6:12-14; I Thessalonians 4:17? Or John to write Revelation 20:4. This nineth belief inherently negates/nullifies every one of these passages of Scripture revealing, as John clearly stated, that true believers will reign “with Christ for a thousand years.”.
10. The unavoidable problem with arbitrarily interpreting a passage as symbolic rather than literal is further highlighted by this totally unwarranted (no Biblical basis at all) belief that the resurrection in Revelation 20:4 is “spiritual”, meaning that point of ones conversion in the church age; that point in ones life when, as Peter so wonderfully states in I Peter 1:3, God gloriously “caused us”, as His elect children, “to be born again”, while at the same time saying that the resurrection in Revelation 20:5 is “physical”. In proclaiming this belief, the Amillennialist has to do one of two things. At best, ignore a clear Biblical fact or, at worst totally reject said fact. The fact? The fact is that the phrase “came to life” in verse four and “come to life” in verse five are the same Greek word that means “physical”. Herein the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of John’s Revelation establishes the basis for a literal millennial, post tribulation 1,000 year Kingdom – I Corinthians 15:50-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The remainder of this critique will be focused on the authoritative promises of God to Israel and the church that testify to the literal meaning of His word related to both. Acknowledging the list of passages to be lengthy, be certain that time spent considering the literal “forever” declarations of God to Israel is worthy of serious, meditative attention. There will be, where appropriate and to a limited degree, comments intended to hopefully attest to and support the literal meaning of God’s word. The purpose is not to challenge the Amillennialist or become enmeshed in endless debate but rather to forthrightly present God’s word related to these events and let the Holy Spirit testify to its own inspired merit and defend itself before those who would presume to alter the literal meaning and veracity there of – Psalm 19:7-11; Hebrews 4:12.
Woe to the individual who presumptuously chooses to ignore & by so doing, reject the truth of Numbers 23:19.
Numbers 23:19: 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
The word “forever” appears in the NASB 349 times in 318 verses; 279 times in 269 verses in the Old Testament, leaving 70 occurrences in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the words “forever” and “Israel” appear together in the same verse 79 times in 35 verses – Genesis 13:15; Exodus 31:17; 32:13.
Genesis 13:15: 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
Exodus 31:17: 17 “It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
Exodus 32:13: 13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'”
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Every “bold” word or phrase indicates the word of God to Israel pertaining to His eternal covenant promise to and love for them and His faithfulness to honor that covenant. As you consider His word, be careful that you not respond with “I think this means”’. It doesn’t matter what you or I think. What matters is what God means as revealed in His literal word – Numbers 23:19.
Genesis 15:18: 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
Numbers 25:8: 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. (meaning Gods wrath ceased)
Deuteronomy 7:5-6: 5 “But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. 6 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
II Samuel 21:14: 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land.
II Samuel 24:14,25b: 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”…………25 David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
I Kings 9:3: 3 The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually
I Chronicles 17:22: 22 “For Your people Israel You made Your own people forever, and You, O LORD, became their God.
I Chronicles 21:26-27: 26 Then David built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the LORD and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. 27 The LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath.
I Chronicles 29:10-11: 10 So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
II Chronicles 7:16: 16 “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
Psalm 14:7: 7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
Psalm 18:50: 50 He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.
Psalm 47:4: 4 He chooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.
Psalm 53:6: 6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Psalm 89:28-37: 28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. 29 “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. 30 “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, 32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. 33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. 34 “My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. 35 ” Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 “His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. 37 “It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah. (If, as the Amillennialists declare, God has cast Israel aside in rejection so as to extend His favor and love to the church, then the promise of God to Israel here in Psalm 89:33-37 is not true. Suffice it to say, only a fool would say or do anything to even imply that God is not the God of truth – Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 44:6; 55:8,9-11.)
Psalm 94:14: 14 For the LORD will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
Psalm 105:8-10: 8 He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, 9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. 10 Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Psalm 106:44-45: 44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry; 45 And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
Psalm 111:5-9: 5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. 6 He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.
Psalm 115:9-18: 9 O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the LORD, The small together with the great. 14 May the LORD give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 125: 1 “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say, 2 “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; 5 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.” 6 Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 130: 1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
Psalm 135:4: 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.
Proverbs 12:5,17: 5 The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful…….17 He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.
Isaiah 27: 1 In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea. 2 In that day, “A vineyard of wine, sing of it! 3 “I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it every moment. So that no one will damage it, I guard it night and day. 4 “I have no wrath. Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle, Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely. 5 “Or let him rely on My protection, Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.” 6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the whole world with fruit. 7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain? 8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away. With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind. 9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven; And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones; When Asherim and incense altars will not stand. 10 For the fortified city is isolated, A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert; There the calf will graze, And there it will lie down and feed on its branches. 11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; Women come and make a fire with them, For they are not a people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to them. 12 In that day the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 30: 1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin; 2 Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! 3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation. 4 “For their princes are at Zoan And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes. 5 “Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them, Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.” 6 The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev. Through a land of distress and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent, They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys And their treasures on camels’ humps, To a people who cannot profit them; 7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “Rahab who has been exterminated.” 8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever. 9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; 10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. 11 “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” 12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them, 13 Therefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, 14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a sherd will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.” 15 For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, 16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. 17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill. 18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. 19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!” 23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted. 27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire; 28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin. 29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones. 31 For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the rod. 32 And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them. 33 For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.
Isaiah 41:9b: 9b ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Isaiah 44:6,21-28: 6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me……. 21 “Remember these things, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. 22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” 23 Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the LORD has redeemed Jacob And in Israel He shows forth His glory.
24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone, 25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back And turning their knowledge into foolishness, 26 Confirming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’ And I will raise up her ruins again. 27 “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’ And I will make your rivers dry. 28 ” It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.'”
Isaiah 49:26: 26 “I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Isaiah 52:7-10: 7 How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the LORD restores Zion. 9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.
Isaiah 54: 1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs. 3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities. 4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. 6 “For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. 8 “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer. 9 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you. 10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you. 11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. 12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones. 13 “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. 14 “In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you. 15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. 16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin. 17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
Isaiah 55:13: 13 “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be a memorial to the LORD, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”
Isaiah 59:1-8,9-20,21: 1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth. 6 Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace. 9 Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. 11 All of us growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: 13 Transgressing and denying the LORD, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words. 14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter. 15 Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. 16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. 17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 18 According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. 19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. 20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD. 21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”
Isaiah 60: 1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. 3 “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 “Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. 5 “Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you. 6 “A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And will bear good news of the praises of the LORD. 7 “All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; They will go up with acceptance on My altar, And I shall glorify My glorious house. 8 “Who are these who fly like a cloud And like the doves to their lattices? 9 “Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the LORD your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. 10 “Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you. 11 “Your gates will be open continually; They will not be closed day or night, So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, With their kings led in procession. 12 “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined. 13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, The juniper, the box tree and the cypress together, To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I shall make the place of My feet glorious. 14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation. 16 “You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 “Instead of bronze I will bring gold, And instead of iron I will bring silver, And instead of wood, bronze, And instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your administrators And righteousness your overseers. 18 “Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. 19 “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. 20 “Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. 21 “Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. 22 “The smallest one will become a clan, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time.”
Isaiah 61:6-11: 6 But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed. 10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.
Jeremiah 2:3: 3 “Israel was holy to the LORD, The first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; Evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.'”
Jeremiah 23:5: 5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.
Jeremiah 30:21-22: 21 ‘Their leader shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the LORD. 22 ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.'”
Jeremiah 31:3,33-34,35-36: 3 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness……. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
Jeremiah 32:38-39,40,42-44: 38 “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me…….42 “For thus says the LORD, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 ‘Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 ‘Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 33: Restoration Promised
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, 3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ 4 “For thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword, 5 ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: 6 ‘Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. 7 ‘I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. 8 ‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 ‘ It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’ 10 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting“; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD. 12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. 13 ‘In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the LORD. The Davidic Kingdom 14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’ 17 “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.'” 19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'” 23 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. 25 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.‘”
Lamentation 3:31-32: 31 For the Lord will not reject forever, 32 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness.
Ezekiel 16:8: 8 “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 20:40-42: 40 “For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. 41 “As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. 42 “And you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers.
Ezekiel 34:15,30: 15 “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD……. 30 “Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord GOD. 31 “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 37: 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ 5 “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”‘” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. The Vision Explained 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 “Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'” Reunion of Judah and Israel 15 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 “Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 “When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”‘ 20 “The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. The Davidic Kingdom 24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”‘”
Ezekiel 38: Prophecy about Gog and Future Invasion of Israel
1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4 “I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmal from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. 7 “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 “After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. 9 “You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” 10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, 11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, 12 to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ 13 “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?'”‘ 14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15 “You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.” 17 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18 “It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “that My fury will mount up in My anger. 19 “In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 “The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 “I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 “With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23 “I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.”‘
Ezekiel 39:7-8,25-29: 7 “My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. 8 “Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” declares the Lord GOD. “That is the day of which I have spoken……. Israel Restored 25 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26 “They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 “When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28 “Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29 “I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 44:5: 5 The LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the LORD and concerning all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary.
Daniel 9: 1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 11 “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. 14 “Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. 15 “And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 “O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. 17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Gabriel Brings an Answer 20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. Seventy Weeks and the Messiah 24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Acts 5:31: 31 “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins
Romans 11:25-36: 25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” 27 “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” 28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Hebrews 8: 1 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
A New Covenant 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
Revelation 21:10-16: 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.”
If the Amillennial belief and teaching that God has discarded Israel for the church is correct, then how does the Amillennialist explain why there will be engraved on the 12 gates of God’s New Jerusalem, the names of the 12 tribes of the Sons of Israel (Revelation 21:12). For what reason would God engrave, on the gates of His glorious New Jerusalem, the names of the 12 tribes of a rebellious nation He had rejected? Based on the Amillennialists belief that God has discarded Israel and embraced the church instead, it is unavoidably clear that this verse of John’s inspired Revelation must be a grievous mistake. However, woe to anyone who would tamper with and alter God’s Holy word so as to make it appear to be in error, when in reality it is man who is in error and danger of God’s judgement – ‘Deuteronomy 4:12; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19
In the final Biblical analysis of the Amillennial system it is unavoidably clear that to assume this position on God’s supposed rejection of Israel is to nullify every “forever” promise of God to Israel. That being true, it is equally unavoidably true that doing so in essence makes God a liar – He made extensive repeated promises of “forever” love and favor for Israel but in the final analysis, He broke those promises which, as just stated, inherently makes Him a liar. That in turn, denies and rejects the truth of Numbers 23:19 and Titus 1:1-2.
Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Titus 1:1-2: 1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,