9. THE FUTURE
"The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God.

God will make all things new and will be glorified forever."

That statement is intended to allow a variety of "End Times" interpretations. In years gone by, our understanding of prophecy was a matter of disagreement on "non-essentials" while we were united on the Gospel.

Since 1948 there has been an ever increasing momentum for the view that Israel's return to the promised land is a sign that we are in the "last days" and therefore that the present generation is the last generation before the return of the Lord Jesus. Many evangelicals accept the scenario described in the "Left Behind" books & films by La Haye & Jenkins. They expect a "rapture" when believers are removed from earth to heaven, followed by seven years of tribulation, the rise of antichrist and his destruction at Armageddon. The "millennium" is said to follow, when Jesus rules in person & from Jerusalem, & Israel is first among nations.

The basis for this teaching is prophecy concerning Israel in the Old Covenant Scriptures. Prophecy in the New Covenant Scriptures is seen in the light of Old Covenant prophecy. Israel thus becomes the focus of prophecy, and support for the nation of Israel is demanded by evangelicals with that understanding. The enemies of Israel are seen as God's enemies. The present wars in the Middle East are seen by the Islamic countries as crusading wars with Christians & Jews united against Islam. The war against terrorism is in effect a war against Muslims. Indigenous Christians in Muslim countries are seen as enemies allied to the Christian nations and suffer accordingly.

All this, I believe, is the outworking of a serious misunderstanding of Scripture prophecy. I am not intending to discuss the details of the "Left Behind" scenario but to take a fresh look at Scripture prophecy.

Another popular understanding of prophecy is "amillennialism" in which the present Gospel age is understood to be the millennium, and the return of Christ comes after the rise of antichrist & the tribulation. His coming ushers in the resurrection & the last judgement. The New Heaven & New Earth follow immediately.

In both lines of interpretation the Olivet prophecies (Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21) are given a dual significance applying first to the generation that rejected their Messiah & suffered the destruction of Jerusalem & the temple in AD 70, and also the "end times". The events of the present time are seen to indicate that the Lord's return is imminent, and that many alive today will see their Lord's return.

Many very specific prophecies have been made by evangelical Christians & sects. All have failed, yet none of these "false prophets" give up. They recalculate, & publish revised dates.

It is the contention of the writer that prophecy relates primarily to the coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem, & the present Gospel age, rather than a future scenario.

Scripture quotations are from "Young's Literal Translation" unless otherwise stated, to avoid translators' interpretative bias. Word studies employ the "Blue Letter Bible" on the Internet. This gives easy access to Strong's numbering system thus allowing the Hebrew & Greek to be consulted. Quotations from Scripture are in italics.

Young is not easy reading, so it is recommended you also read the quotations in a trusted translation, bearing in mind there is some interpretation of the literal text in every translation.

The Holy Bible is the progressive revelation of God's purposes for the redemption of man, following the fall of Adam. Some aspects of that revelation are simple history, religious ritual, regulations for the conduct of society. The writer of the letter to the "Hebrews" teaches that all this is typical of the perfect revelation of the Son of God, Jesus.

Much of Old Covenant Scripture is prophecy, and we can see the fulfilment of much of that prophecy in the subsequent revelation. The prophecy under discussion is that prophecy the fulfilment of which is not specifically recorded in Scripture.

We need to ask, "Should we be guided by the New Covenant Scripture writers in our understanding of prophecy in the Old Covenant Scriptures, or do those prophecies stand apart from the New Testament and have a fulfilment that is yet future? A future that we are living in and is taking place in our day.

Specifically, there are prophecies of a glorious future gathering of Israel as "my people." Typical prophecies are:

24 And I have taken you out of the nations, And have gathered you out of all the lands, And I have brought you in unto your land,

It is significant that Jeremiah's "New Covenant" prophecy in chapter 31 is quoted in Hebrews & applied to Christian believers. Speaking of Jesus, the writer declares:

Paul makes it clear in Galatians that all believers in Jesus are Abraham's descendants through the Gospel. The promises to Abraham are fulfilled.

If we stress the promises of God in the Old Covenant Scriptures we see Israel today as the fulfilment of prophecy, whereas if we stress a Gospel fulfilment we will see the church as the Israel of prophecy. Believing Jew and Gentile are one people of God in Christ. The prophesied regathering of Israel into the promised land is then seen as the gathering of the redeemed people of God by the Gospel out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. (Revelation 5:9) Believing Jews of the dispersion do not need to return to the land to be gathered to Christ.

This question is often seen as a conflict between a literal understanding of Scripture and a spiritual interpretation. Do we read Scripture in the plain sense as it is written or do we "spiritualise" Scripture? The answer is not that simple. We all interpret the plain text of Scripture.

There is a huge amount of Scripture to address, so I can only give guidelines for prophetic interpretation.

(Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)

Jesus has just prophesied the total destruction of the temple. He answers three questions from the disciples in one discourse.

They are asking about the destruction, and Jesus gives many warning signs. The signs are so clear that 3 years before the final siege & destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the Christians recognised the danger and fled the city. He states during that prophecy:

Jesus goes on to say:

Those words are the basis for the title of this paper.

Is the full end of the age the end of the world yet future, or of the Old Covenant age? A literal reading in context makes it plain that Jesus is warning the generation that rejected him. He has earlier warned the Jewish leaders:

Some translations indicate in the footnotes that "generation" (Greek genea, Note 1) can mean "race" & imply that the Jewish race will therefore be preserved until Christ returns. Reference to the Strong numbering facility in the Blue Letter Bible indicates that this is not a valid interpretation. "This generation" (genea) denotes a single lifetime and is not used of a race.

Related words are used in other contexts but their usage is clear from the context. These quotes are from the Authorised Version (1611, KJV) which is the basic text used for the Blue Letter Bible.

There are a number of arguments used to reject the AD 70 interpretation of the Olivet prophecy. The first is the double question: what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? We naturally understand these as relating to the second coming of the Lord, but the AV translation is misleading. We should read: `Tell us, when shall these be? and what [is] the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?' (YTL)

Why should AD 70 be the "coming" of Jesus? He has previously warned the Jewish leaders that he will come specifically to judge them for rejecting him.

41 They say to him, `Evil men -- he will evilly destroy them, and the vineyard will give out to other husbandmen, who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.'

We can understand that he came in AD 70 to destroy the generation that rejected him. He explicitly prophesied that. He came veiled by the clouds of heaven. They would "see" him by the signs he had given them.

During those forty years, the Jerusalem temple was still the centre for worship. Paul was arrested when he entered the temple for worship. (Acts 21:26ff) Ultimately the Gospel was no longer centred on Israel & Jerusalem, but on Christ himself. He explained to the Samaritan woman:

23 but, there cometh an hour, and it now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also doth seek such to worship him;

When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem he cursed a fig tree with the words: `No more from thee may fruit be -- to the age;' and forthwith the fig-tree withered. (Matthew 21:19)

This is understood to be a curse on the nation Israel, as a consequence of her failure to recognise her Messiah. Is that curse to be lifted so that Israel will be restored & the fig tree blossom at the time of the end? The Olivet prophecy concludes:

The prophecy thus concludes with the warning that just as the leaves on the fig tree are a sure sign that summer is coming, so the signs Jesus has already given are signs that "this generation" will see the destruction of Jerusalem & the temple. Luke confirms this understanding. `See the fig-tree, and all the trees, (21:29 )

The Lord Jesus reveals from the outset that the Revelation is for the first readers, & its fulfilment is imminent.

A mistranslation in the AV moves the great announcement of 1:7 to the second coming, & away from the AD 70 judgement.

Those who pierced him were the generation that rejected him. John records the fulfilment of Zechariah 12:10. John 19:37 and again another Writing saith, `They shall look to him whom they did pierce.' Many did in fact look to him for salvation, but those who continued to reject him suffered judgement. That Scripture does not apply to a future generation of Jews.

"All kindreds of the earth" (AV) is properly translated " all the tribes of the land." The word for kindreds/tribes is phule. It is translated "tribe" or "kindred" but in every case, tribe, meaning tribes of Israel is the natural meaning. See note 5.

The word for "earth" is ge which when defined by the context refers to a specific territory such as a tribal area or district. See note 6. E.g.

Specific territory: Matthew 2:6 And thou, Beth-Lehem, the land of Judah,

Non-specific: Matthew 6:10 `Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth.

Our Lord in his Olivet prophecy uses the same terms as he does in Revelation 1:7.

He even warns his accusers in the same terms:

They recognised his claim, and accused him of blasphemy, but we know that his claim to be the prophesied Son of man was true:

Daniel prophesied Jesus' ascension, and through the witness of Stephen the Jewish leaders saw & rejected the ascended Lord Jesus. They suffered his coming in judgement.

The seven seals (Revelation 5-8)

The vision of the seven seals is commonly understood as a prophecy of tribulation or the great tribulation. Amillennial interpreters see it as a prophecy for the Gospel age, where believers suffer tribulation for their faith and are finally vindicated when the Lord returns. (See 2 Thessalonians 1.) Others see it as a prophecy of the end times "great tribulation." We read:

14 and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb;

We need an overview of the seals vision before we examine the detail. Many of John's visions are similar to the visions of Zechariah. John sees four horsemen & Zechariah sees four horsemen and four chariots with different coloured horses. Zechariah's horsemen & charioteers are angelic beings serving the Lord. We should therefore be cautious about seeing the Revelation horsemen as evil empires.

John sees Jesus as Lion & Lamb, King & Priest. Zechariah sees the High Priest Joshua (Greek Jesus) crowned as King. No king of Israel could ever hold the office of priest. Only Melchizedek held such a dual office, and he was the pre-incarnate Christ. Zechariah prophesies the coming & work of Jesus as priest and king.

All the focus, all the praise, is centred on the throne, God & the triumphant Lamb. John eagerly desires to know the contents of the scroll, & none but the Lamb is worthy to open the seals. What are God's plans? What is the great mystery the seals hold? There is a tremendous build-up to the opening. Why is the triumph of the Lamb a necessary precursor to that revelation?

There are many interpretations of the seven seals vision. None that I have seen take account of that tremendous Christ-centred build-up to their opening. If God is revealing the coming of the antichrist, bringing times of trouble 2,000 years hence it is not relevant to the first century church. We need to examine the prophecy in its first century context before we look for a possible "end times" interpretation.

Our translations obscure a key word in 5:5 & 6:2. The Greek "nike" is variously translated, but Young is consistent, using "overcome":

The crown given the white horseman is the Greek stephanos - the same word used in the Greek translation of the Hebrew (the Septuagint LXX) for the crown given to Joshua in Zechariah 6:11. We are seeing the overcoming, triumphant Lamb, not the antichrist. The counter argument that the white horseman in Revelation 19 (clearly Christ) wears "many diadems" rather than a stephanos does not follow. Diadems are gold plated or jewelled head bands as worn by the high priest. (Exodus 29:6) Many diadems can be worn, but many crowns present an obvious problem.

The other three horsemen should be seen as God's angelic agents as in Zechariah. There was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land. (Revelation 6:8) In Matthew 24 Jesus prophesies similar troubles. The fifth seal reveals the martyrs predicted by Jesus.

Note that the end is not yet and all these [are] the beginning of sorrows. We are quick to take these things as signs of 21^st century "end times" but Jesus specifically says they are not. They happened in the first century with increasing intensity as the judgement on that generation approached. The occurrence of such events down the centuries has repeatedly been taken as a sign of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. Always wrongly.

We can see what the seals are revealing when the sixth seal is opened.

We can examine these signs in terms of judgements in Old Covenant times. Joseph saw the sun, moon & stars as his parents & brothers bowing down to him. Now the leaders of Israel meet their doom. The prophet Habakkuk sees the entry of the children of Israel into the promised land in similar terms, and goes on to see the Babylonian judgement in the same way. (Habakkuk 3) Psalm 97 gives a key to understanding the imagery.

Jesus on the road to the cross warned the women of Jerusalem in terms of Isaiah's prophecy. (Isaiah 2:18ff)

The revelation of the sixth seal continues with the sealing of the 144,000 and the appearance of the great multitude of the redeemed around the throne, and the wonderful blessings prepared for us. That multitude comprises the redeemed out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues. As we have seen, "tribes" refers to the tribes of Israel. God's purposes revealed by the opening of the seals shows the triumph of the Lamb in his judgement of those who rejected him, and the salvation & blessing of all those he has redeemed.

The great question of the transition from the Old Covenant to the New was asked by Paul. "Did God cast away His people?" (Romans 11:1) The sealing of the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel before the four winds blow on the land shows the complete symbolic number of the tribes of Israel protected and delivered before the AD 70 judgement. They are then numbered with the great multitude. We can understand them as including the Christian Jews delivered from Jerusalem before the final siege.

When we see them again in Revelation 14 they are shown to follow the Lamb, & sing a new song that none but the redeemed know. The believing Jews are gathered as these 144,000, and immediately the Gospel goes out to all the earth, including the tribes who no longer have a separate status. Believing Israel and the church are one body in Christ.

There is no indication in the New Testament that national Israel will have a separate political future & be returned to the land. Believing Jews have a glorious future shared with all Christians.

I hope I have shown that the first century prophecies primarily relate to the judgement of the generation that rejected the Messiah, Jesus. We look in vain in the New Testament for clear prophecies of a restored earthly kingdom of Israel. Jesus did not answer in a positive way the disciples' question:

His answer was that in the power of the Holy Spirit they would be his witnesses to all the earth.

8 but ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.'

There is no reason to believe that the present generation of Jews in Israel are the people of God. They are there in unbelief. Certainly God can save them, bringing them to repentance & faith in their Messiah, Jesus. There is no other way. The Old Covenant effectively ended with the cross, and the temple, the sign of God's presence in the land (Exodus 25:8) was totally destroyed. God now lives by his Spirit with his people wherever they are.

The controversial wall is an extraordinary rejection of prophecy.

After detailing the signs of the judgement of Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus specifically said that we could not know the date of his final coming. His command was to serve him faithfully, to watch and pray.

After declaring that all the preceding signs would fall on that generation, Jesus speaks of the passing of heaven and earth.

Mark underlines the message in Matthew as it applies to us.

The millennium is specifically taught once in Scripture, in Revelation 20. Revelation is from the outset declared to be "signified" so we need to understand the symbolic language used.

Jesus refers to the binding of Satan in John 12.

Previously he declared:

It is therefore the Lord's saving work on the cross that binds Satan, so the redeemed believers of the nations & Israel can be set free. This echoes the great purpose of God revealed through the seals. The redeemed are out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues.

During those 1,000 years of captivity, Satan still exerts his evil influence over the wicked.

John sees the souls of the martyrs (& by implication all dead believers) and they did live and reign with Christ the thousand years.

The wicked dead are reserved as the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19) for fiery judgement when Christ returns for resurrection & judgement. (2 Thessalonians 1.)

John sees that the first resurrection secures the believers against hell - the second death.

Only the Gospel can give such security. Jesus taught two resurrections in John 5. First a spiritual resurrection by faith, and then a bodily resurrection

25 `Verily, verily, I say to you -- There cometh an hour, and it now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those having heard shall live;

When Satan is briefly released from the abyss at the end of the millennium, he gathers the nations to make war. We understand from Paul that believers are citizens of heavenly Jerusalem. (Galatians 4) We can therefore understand this as meaning intensified persecution of believers wherever they are in the world. This war against Christ & Christians as described in chapter 17.

The Lord's return ends all opposition & brings about vindication of the saints & fiery judgement for Satan & those deceived by him.

The millennium is the present Gospel age, and at its close we can expect wickedness to increase & persecution to be intensified around the world.

When God deluged the world in the days of Noah, he saw utter depravity in man.

When Jesus announced judgement on the Jews who rejected him he declared the fulness of their wickedness:

The "Christian nations" are steadily repealing the commandments and bringing in laws that approve abominable sins. Our world is becoming ripe for judgement.

When we see the military support given by Christians to the nation of Israel, still rejecting their Messiah, still persecuting those who repent & turn to Christ, still having no dealings with the present day Samaritans, we wonder how long can God allow this to go on? When we see Christians supporting and waging wars against sinners rather than obeying the command given to love our enemies, we wonder, how long can God allow this to go on?

Both Old & New Covenants command loving care for our enemies. Dare we usurp God's prerogative to judge? We have a Gospel of salvation for them.

We have seen that Jesus was given an urgent message to John at the beginning of Revelation, and he has declared that he will be coming in clouds to judge the generation that crucified him. However, when he addresses the seven churches of Asia, there appears to be no message for the Christians & Jews of Israel.

When Jesus was on earth, he told parables about common things, & other people, The challenge was always that his hearers should consider the significance of his teaching, and apply it to themselves.

When King David sinned, the prophet Nathan told him a story of injustice. David immediately condemned the offender, not realising that the story was told about himself. (2 Samuel 12) The challenge of the letters to the seven churches is each time: "He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies." There are many allusions to Israel's history in these letters.

The Ephesians have left their first love, and are threatened with the removal of their lampstand. There are many commands in Scripture to love God. To cease to love God is to depart from the faith.

The church of Smyrna is suffering from "the evil-speaking of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but [are] a synagogue of the Adversary." Sadly the Jews who rejected their Messiah are no longer covenant Jews.

The church in Pergamos "hast there those holding the teaching of Balaam, who did teach Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom; "

The church in Thyatira "suffer[s] the woman Jezebel, who is calling herself a prophetess, to teach, and to lead astray, my servants to commit whoredom, and idol-sacrifices to eat;" In the days of Elijah, all the people of God suffered from Jezebel, becoming a remnant of 7,000.

The church of Sardis was ready to die, did not watch, and was wearing defiled garments. Isaiah lamented "all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags" and "Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire." (Isaiah 57, AV)

The church of Philadelphia was troubled by "the synagogue of the Adversary those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie."

Finally the church of Laodicea was trusting in its prosperity, and in neither welcoming nor rejecting the Gospel. Solomon declares "Whoso is confident in his wealth he falleth." (Proverbs 11:28)

These letters have direct application to the Christians & Jews of Israel.

Paul begins his letter by commending the Thessalonians "for your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye bear." He continues by assuring them of their relief & vindication at "the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with messengers of his power, in flaming fire, giving vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1)

In chapter 2, Paul writes of another event on the prophetic horizon that must happen before Jesus return for resurrection & judgement. He was writing in about AD 50. The Olivet prophecies of the Lord Jesus were still unfulfilled. The temple was still standing. The Jews of Thessalonica had stirred up persecution against them. (Acts 17) Paul wrote of their coming judgement.

16 forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come upon them -- to the end!

In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul writes of occupation of the temple by the man of sin who will be destroyed when the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the manifestation of his presence. History records that fulfilment of the Lord's Olivet prophecy. Scripture was completed before then, (with the possible exception of John's 2^nd & 3^rd letters.)

Paul told the Thessalonians of the presence then of something delaying the rise of the man of sin and his destruction.

Who or what was delaying the rise of the man of sin? In the Olivet prophecy Jesus gave clear signs of the impending destruction that would enable the Christians to flee from the city. After their flight there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be." (Mat. 24:21) History records that terrible tribulation.

John in Revelation 7 sees the sealing & deliverance of the 144,000 believing Israelites before the angels release the destructive winds.

2 Thessalonians 2 prophesies the destruction of the temple, and has no relevance to "end times."

This prophecy is the basis for much futurist speculation. In many interpretations the last week is separated from the preceding weeks and becomes seven years of tribulation & intrigue.

This is a statement of the saving work that will be accomplished by the anointed One, Jesus Christ.

All commentators understand the 70 weeks to represent 70x7 or 490 years.

There were a series of decrees, Cyrus in 536 BC; Darius in 520 BC; Artaxerxes in 457 BC; & again in 444 BC. The first two concern the rebuilding of the temple. Jews looking for a fulfilment 490 years from those dates were disappointed, but looked on to the next. The 70^th week would end in 33 AD. (Forgive the anachronism.) The 69^th would end in 26 AD, when Messiah would begin his work at the priestly age of 30 years. Messiah would therefore be born around 4 BC. At the time of Jesus' birth there were those looking for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2) We know of Simeon & Anna.

When Jesus was about 30 he was baptised, anointed with the Holy Spirit and owned by his Father. The 70^th week had begun. We can understand the events of that week in the light of the events of Jesus' ministry, death & resurrection, and the proclamation of the Gospel by the Apostles. The prophecy runs on after the weeks, to the prophesied end.

Messiah was cut off in the middle of the week, his death effectively ending sacrifice & offering. He fulfilled the covenant for those who received him during the 3 years of his ministry, and continued to do so by the Gospel proclaimed the Apostles. The war, desolation & destruction took place as prophesied before that generation died.

What happened around 33 AD to end the 70^th week. The most significant event around that time is the martyrdom of Stephen. (Acts 7) Through Stephen the Holy Spirit formally declared that the Jews were uncircumcised.

The Old Covenant was at an absolute end. Nothing remained but the prophesied destruction. God graciously allowed the full 40 years to elapse before that destruction.

Zechariah prophesied around 520 BC to the people of Jerusalem during the rebuilding of the temple, after that rebuilding had stalled due to opposition from the Samaritans. This was also recorded by Ezra, Nehemiah & Haggai.

The first six chapters are visions of angelic horsemen surveying & guarding Jerusalem, and of a degraded priesthood being gloriously transformed in visions of Christ. Zechariah sees visions of a gloriously restored Jerusalem, with eternal security.

Like Ezekiel 36, we see a wonderful vision of a restored Jerusalem, but that did not happen during the next 500 years. Instead they were years of trouble as prophesied by Daniel. The coming of the Messiah did not bring peace to the city, and the further 2,000 years have been years of trouble. What is being prophesied? Some look forward to a millennium of peace, but that ends with a violent rebellion against the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.

There are many very specific prophecies in Zechariah that have reference to our Lord's time on earth, and particularly his last week in Jerusalem. Notable fulfilled prophecies include:

These are clear & direct fulfilments. Some will argue that all the prophecies in Zechariah should therefore be literally fulfilled. We do however need spiritual understanding, and it is wise to seek a fulfilment in the events of the Gospels, and prophesied by Christ. Paul makes it clear that there is a heavenly Jerusalem of which believers are citizens, and a living temple built with living believers - living stones.

The Gospel of salvation through the blood of Jesus is wonderfully depicted by "In that day there is a fountain opened To the house of David And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, For sin and for impurity." (13:1)

The deliverance of the Christians before the destruction is prophesied by the deliverance of the godly one third.

9 And I have brought the third into fire, And refined them like a refining of silver, And have tried them like a trying of gold, It doth call in My name, and I answer it, I have said, `My people it [is],' And it saith, `Jehovah [is] my God!'

Chapter 14 depicts the destruction (v. 1-2) followed by the way being opened for the believers to flee. The living waters of the Gospel flow out from Jerusalem.

Finally all is `Holy to Jehovah.' The inscription on the High Priest's diadem (Exodus 28:36) is realised in all the restored creation.

That mutual affirmation is the heart of the Gospel. Sinners become God's people and God become the God of his people, all through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus.

That promise was declared in Leviticus:

It is repeated many times by the prophets.

Paul declares it to the Corinthian church:

Finally it is perfectly realised in the New Heaven & New Earth.

Are we that last generation which will see Christ return in glory for resurrection & judgement? Only God knows. The command to us is:

Notes from http://www.blueletterbible.org/

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) fathered, birth, nativity

2) that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family

a) the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy

b) metaph. a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character

1) esp. in a bad sense, a perverse nation

3) the whole multitude of men living at the same time

4) an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupied be each successive generation), a space of 30 - 33 years

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 42

Generation - 37; time - 2; age - 2; nation - 1

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) source, origin

a) a book of one's lineage, i.e. in which his ancestry or progeny are enumerated

2) used of birth, nativity

3) of that which follows origin, viz. existence, life

a) the wheel of life (Jas 3:6), other explain it, the wheel of human origin which as soon as men are born begins to run, i.e. its course of life

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 3

Generation - 1; natural - 1; nature - 1.

Outline of Biblical Usage 1) of men who fathered childrena) to be bornb) to be begotten1) of women giving birth to children2) metaph.a) to engender, cause to arise, exciteb) in a Jewish sense, of one who brings others over to his way of life, to convert someone

c) of God making Christ his son

d) of God making men his sons through faith in Christ's work

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count - Total: 97

begat 49, be born 39, bear 2, gender 2, bring forth 1, be delivered 1, misc 3

4. "parousia" Strong 3952

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) presence

2) the coming, arrival, advent

a) the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 24

Coming - 22; presence - 2.

5. phule Strong 5443

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) a tribe

a) in the NT all the persons descending from one of the twelve sons of the patriarch, Jacob

2) a nation, people

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 31

Tribe - 25; kindred - 6

6. ge Strong 1093

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) arable land

2) the ground, the earth as a standing place

3) the main land as opposed to the sea or water

4) the earth as a whole

a) the earth as opposed to the heavens

b) the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals

5) a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region

Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 252

Earth - 188; land - 42; ground - 18; country - 2; world - 1.

I hope you will be blessed, challenged & encouraged by this study.

Ian Day, December 2007.