Now let’s see some more about the rule and reign of God, which means the rule and reign of us. Wherever it talks about, as we’re going to read now, where “The LORD reigns” that means we do too. Lets’ come to Psalm 93. It talks about “The LORD reigns.” There are several Psalms we’ll go through where it starts out “The LORD reigns.” Now you tie that together with all the scriptures that we’ve covered up to this point and these are really some tremendous scriptures.

“The LORD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength,…” Now that also means us. We’re going to be spirit beings. We’ll be clothed with majesty, much less than Christ of course, and we will be endowed with strength, won’t we? Yes, indeed. “…Wherewith He hath girded Himself: the world also is [e]stablished, that it cannot be moved.” There’s no way that the kingdom of God is going to be taken over to others. Remember, we read that He’s not going to leave it to others. It’s for the saints, under Christ. “Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting” (Psa. 93:1-2). So just think about that for a whole thousand years. Men have been trying, for how long, to have a thousand year reign, and they’ve all fallen flat on their faces.

Now let’s look at another Psalm here. Psalm 97. Just turn the page to Psalm 97. Again it starts out the same way. “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.” So that’s going to be quite a thing. There’s going to be happiness, it’s going to be joy, it’s going to be fantastic, it’s going to be a marvelous thing that is going to take place. And the world is going to be really a…we’re going to see here in a minute, that every ill, every wrong, everything that has divided mankind, everything that has caused mankind suffering through war, through lying, through false religion, all the things that mankind has gone through. And I know it’s always amazing to me – I’ve got what is called the Langer’s Encyclopedia of World History. And all it is, is just a listing year by year of the things that happened in different parts of the world. It’s well organized, and so forth. But it is filled with wars, and murders, and assassinations, and kings fighting, and emperors fighting, and poisoning one another, and slipping the dagger under the fifth rib. It’s just an amazing bloody carnage of human history. And it began with Cain who killed his brother, and has been shedding human blood all the way through clear to our day. Well, that’s all going to end. There’s going to be rejoicing, the earth is going to be established, and it’s going to be for the good of the whole world and all people, and we are going to have our part in it.

Now let’s come to Psalm 99, in my Bible just down the corner of the page. “The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble:…” Now they’re going to fear God. It’s not going to be this, “Well, I wonder where God is? Well, He’s gone off far away.” Or, as it is today, “God is dead.” Or, some are saying, “We need to have a new way of looking at things. There is no God external to us out there in the heavens separated from the material world, and we’re going to have to find out what is the meaning and purpose of the universe, and the purpose of human life.” Now these are the educated ones. Matter of fact, these are the words of Robert W. Funk head of Jesus Seminar. That they are in a project going through and destroying the Word of God. And yet the very thing that they are destroying tells them exactly what they need to know: why we’re here, why God created us, why God made us. And furthermore he says that prayer…you can’t pray to any external God out there. Prayer is just meditation. And meditation is more listening. Now the kind of meditation that he’s having and listening, there are probably some sound waves coming in from Satanic sources to lead him to believe and follow the things that he does. It’s very likely. And if nothing else, if you’re just sitting there thinking and quietly listening to yourself, what are you doing? You’re just listening to your own carnal, evil mind. You know, it’s not going to be like that. People are going to fear God.

Verse 2, “The LORD is great in Zion; and He is [high] above all the people. Let them praise Thy great and [awesome] terrible name; for it is holy. The king’s strength also loveth judgment; Thou dost establish equity, Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy.” Now we know this is a millennial setting because notice look, “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name;…” Now remember when the vision of transfiguration took place, and Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and He was transfigured before them, that there appeared Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Well, here we have something similar to it. Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel. This means that they’re resurrected. They’re there with God. “…Among them that call upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them.” Then it shows what He did in the past. “He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept His testimonies, and the ordinance that He gave them” (vs. 2-7). And of course all during the millennium guess what? We are going to scrap all the laws of all nations everywhere. And we are going to give God’s laws, and His commandments, and His statutes, and His judgments. It’s going to be a totally different world.

You see, a theocracy never works unless God rules it. When you have a theocracy like you have in Iran today with the Ayatollahs, it is a brutal dictatorship because no man has the capacity to sit in the place of God and do His job. That’s why the Pope is a total failure. No man should be exalted to that position. Well, he’s soon going to take a demotion. You know, there isn’t going to be any such thing as Pope, there isn’t going to be any such thing as Cardinals or Bishops. There isn’t going to be any pedophilia in the ministry – molesting children. All of that’s going to be gone. There are not going to be any corporate heads of giant corporations stealing millions and billions of dollars and pushing in the face of the poor. It won’t happen any more. All those things are going to change, see.

Now it says here, verse 8, “Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance [against] of their inventions.” There’s always going to be punishment and correction. “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy” (vs. 8-9).

Now let’s look at some other things concerning how this is going to be done. Let’s come to Isaiah 60. Let’s see what it’s going to be with the world. Let’s see how the nations are going to react. Isaiah 60:1. Now this is quite a beautiful rendition in “The Messiah.” Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isa. 60:1-2). This is the beginning of the millennium, or you can say the dawning of the millennium because what is going to happen with the last of man’s rule, it’s going to end up in the darkest age that men have ever been in. And out of this darkness and out of this gloominess comes the resurrection, and the saints coming back to the earth to rule with Christ. And Christ is going to be the light.

“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee:…” They’re going to be coming to God. They’re going to have their natures changed. There’s going to be salvation offered. There’s going to be the Holy Spirit given. “…Thy sons shall come from far, and Thy daughters shall be nursed at Thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee” (vs. 3-5). Now that means all the wealth, all the things that are produced by the nations. You know, just imagine, eliminate all the waste, all the foolishness, all of the inflated profits as far as business is concerned, and you have the world that is blessed that produces. And everyone is educated, and every one worships God and knows God. It is going to be another whole world such as we have never understood. And we are going to help bring that about.

Now let’s come down to verse 11. Now speaking of Jerusalem here, “Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish;…” (vs. 11-12). They’re all going to serve Christ. They’re all going to serve us or they’re going to perish. Now remember what the punishment is going to be if they don’t come and keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Hold your place here and let’s go back to Zechariah 14. Let’s read that. You know God is going to have some very convincing persuaders. God has the power to do it and they are going to keep the Sabbath, they’re going to keep the holy days, they’re going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And every nation had better send their representatives up to Jerusalem to represent that country for the Feast of Tabernacles. And all of those back at home better be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles there.

Now let’s pick it up here in Zechariah 14:16. “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem…” Now, I want you to read that again – ALL the nations. How many is that? ALL the nations. They are all going to do it. “…Shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” Now that’s going to be a real thing, isn’t it? No more Christmas, no more Easter, no more Halloween, no more Sunday-keeping. No more witches sabbats, no more witches covens. I mean think how marvelous this is going to be. “And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain” (Zech. 14:16-17). If you don’t have any rain, you don’t have any water. Now you’re going to get the point very quickly. See, God has the power, so if they don’t come up He’s going to turn off the spickets. God can send the rain to bless those who do come up.

“And…” Now if you live in a desert like the Egyptians, or Saudi Arabia, or Lybia, or any of the desert areas. “…And if the family of Egypt…” The most notorious for all of their paganism and worshiping of gods, and I’ve often wondered, “I wonder what’s going to happen to the great pyramids in Egypt. I bet they’ll be destroyed. I bet there won’t be a remembrance of it.” “…And come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” Now what plague do you want? Frogs, lice, flees? Do you want boils, banes? That will be very convincing. Or in the case of the Philistines when they came and stole the ark, they all got hemorrhoids. Well you have a whole nation full of hemorrhoids, they’re all going to be moaning and groaning and they’re going to say, “Boy, we better keep this Feast of Tabernacles. Yeah. Oh God, this is painful.” “Aha. You got the point.” There isn’t going to be any of this, you know, “Oh those are just the days that Moses gave.” There isn’t going to be anyone standing up and saying, “Well you don’t have to keep those days. You can do anything you want to.” No, if they do, this is what’s going to happen. Now notice verse 19, “This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles” (vs. 18-19). So yes, there will be great enforcement, won’t there? Yes, indeed. It is going to be something.

So the nation that will not serve… Well, let’s come back here to Isaiah 60. The nation that will not serve, they’re going to get the point. They’re going to get the message. They are going to learn. Now verse 13, “…shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee [that is, bending down to worship]; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet;…” That sounds a little bit like Revelation 3 that we read the other day, doesn’t it? Yes, indeed, that He’s going to make all of those of the synagogue of Satan come and worship before our feet. And here’s the prophecy of it right here. “…And they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 60:12-14). Then it talks about, you know, you have been forsaken, and so forth, and now it’s going to be all changed.

Verse 15, “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings:…” God is going to give to His firstborn church, He’s going to give them the best of everything. That’s what it’s talking about. You know, God is not going to have us there working for nothing. He’s going to provide all these things, and we’ll be spirit beings, be able to use them and enjoy them. Be no problem with that. See, the best of everything. “…And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob” (vs. 15-16).

Now when they all yield to God and God’s blessings are poured out, notice what’s going to happen. Something phenomenal - a great economic boom that men could never even think of doing. Now notice this. “For brass I will bring gold,…” I mean no more plastic, you know. “…For iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (vs. 17-18). That’s going to be quite a thing that’s going to take place.

Now let’s come over here to Isaiah 61 and let’s see something else here. Verse 9. No, verse 4, then we’ll go to verse 9. “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations [that’s going to be a lot of work to do because it’s all going to be desolate], and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” And you can be sure – every idol, every gargoyle, every obelisk, every thing of the religions of this world are going to be destroyed and made dust and gotten rid of. It isn’t going to be anymore. It’s all going to work good. “And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers” (Isa. 61:4-5). Then it says there what we already read, that you shall be named the priests of the Lord.

Now let’s come down here to verse 7. “For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth,…” (vs. 7-8). So there’s going to be constant direction coming from Christ – how we are going to do this. And of course we’re going to have to grow constantly in the job as the population increase. And then many are added into the family of God during the millennium. So this is going to be just a tremendous thing. You’re going to have the best job, the best work, the best existence, the best of everything. And that’s what this Feast of Tabernacles pictures.

“…And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,…” And so that’s what God is going to do with us. You know, it’s, you know… If we can just grasp an understanding of how this is going to be, and if we can keep this in the forefront of our minds to give us hope, to give us drive, to give us energy, to give us zeal. And of course we’re living in a Laodicean age where we need to have this kind of thing so we can really yield to God and grow in grace and knowledge. And these are the things that we look forward to. And that’s why keeping the Feast of Tabernacles is so important. Now notice, “…robe[s] of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (vs. 8-11). So this is going to be absolutely overwhelming. This is going to be a marvelous thing indeed.

Now let’s go back to Isaiah 2, please. Let’s see what God is going to do. This is going to be something. The whole world is going to be changed, made over, redone. The nature of human beings is going to be changed – probably go back very similar to that what it was with Adam and Eve. Now let’s pick it up here in verse 2, Isaiah 2. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” Now go back and look at all those scriptures that we’ve covered that says “all the nation - all nations.” And the nation that doesn’t submit, if they don’t they’re going to be destroyed. If they don’t obey God, they’re going to receive punishment. All nations shall flow unto it.

“And many people shall go and say,…” So there are going to be some, many people, who are going to get the point. “…Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths:…” No longer every person doing what seems right in their own eyes. “…For out of Zion shall go forth the law,…” For all you, perverted grace/lawless keepers – listen up: the law is going to go forth. “…And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:…” (Isa. 2:2-3). So right at the beginning of the millennium there’s going to be some activity going on for those who are not yet willing to submit to the rule and the kingdom of God.

“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into puninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” How about banning 99% of all toys. How about replacing them with real live pets. That will be something, won’t it? No more toy swords. No more toy guns. No more cops and robbers. No more Cowboys and Indians. All gone. “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east,…” (vs. 4-6). And that’s why now they have come back, and so forth.

Now let’s come here to Isaiah 11. Let’s see what the condition of the world is going to be. And of course remember, whenever we’re reading these things, we are a part of what God is doing because there is Christ sitting on the throne of David, David with Him. There’s going to be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There’s going to be Moses and Elijah. There are going to be the twelve thrones with the twelve Apostles sitting on those thrones judging the tribes of Israel. There are going to be the kings ruling over the different nations. The Apostle Paul will probably be in a very high position helping all of those who govern the different nations, or the Gentiles because he was the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Now let’s pick it up here in Isaiah 11:1. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his [stock] roots: and the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,…” Now this can refer to Jesus first coming, which is true. It can also refer to the establishment of the kingdom of God, which we will see where it fits in here. “…The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isa. 11:1-6). Now that’s far better than having a little plastic scooter going down the sidewalk, isn’t it? It’s going to be a tremendous time. And everything is going to be changed.

“And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.” I still cannot imagine that, but I can read it and say, “Yes, it’s going to be so.” Verse 9, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (vs. 7-9). Which means that we’re going to have a tremendous educational program going, right? It is going to pale into insignificance the education that people get today. When we are the teachers, when we are showing them the way of God, and helping bring the blessing to them, and they see the results of it, it is going to be so absolutely marvelous. And the further that we get away from the beginning of the millennium down into the middle of the millennium, the more that the horror and war and everything will be forgotten, which will be in a sense a blessing, but as we will see a little later, that it’s also going to be a problem when we come toward the end of the millennium because they haven’t learned the lessons.

Now let’s come to Psalm 145, So what I’ve been doing in this sermon is giving you job description, to use a modern terminology. This is what we’re going to be doing. This is what Christ is going to be doing, the Apostles will be doing, all of the saints will be doing. Now, Psalm 145. Let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 1. “I will extol Thee, my God, O king; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever.” Now this is going to go on every day. They’re going to worship God, they’re going to pray to God, they’re going to study His Word, they’re going to be educated in everything. They are going to be so tremendously educated in things that it is, you know, like the knowledge of the LORD covers the earth like the oceans.

“Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Thy works to another [all down through the millennium], and shall declare Thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy” (Psalm 145:1-8). And of course, once everybody gets the point that that’s true then it’s going to happen.

“The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Just flooding the world, as it were, with His grace and mercy, and truth and knowledge. “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O LORD; and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom [which is what we’re doing right now], and talk of Thy power; to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (vs. 9-13). That’s a tremendous Psalm. That is just absolutely marvelous. Yes, God is going to be with them. He’s going to bless them, He’s going to preserve them, He’s going to love them.

Can you imagine a society based upon the love of God, and loving your neighbor as yourself? Can you imagine a society and how children are going to be reared and taught and trained, and how that God is going to bless mankind with tremendous wholesome, great, wonderful food that He has created? No more of this packaged redone, reconstituted, genetic engineered stuff. None of that. And everyone’s going to be healthy, and happy, and radiant, and just a great and exciting time.

Now let’s continue on here. Let’s come to Isaiah 65:15, and we’ll go ahead and end here. It says, “And ye shall leave your name [that is, the enemy] for a curse unto My chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name: that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from Mine eyes. For, behold,…” Now this is what’s going to happen all during the millennium starting right at the beginning. “…Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isa. 65:15-17). And so that’s what we’re going to be doing for a thousand years.

And brethren, this Feast of Tabernacles, like every one of the holy days of God, tells us about His plan, and what He’s doing and our part in it, and now we know more and understand what God has in store for us as pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles.

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