The Messianic Age

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. –– Zechariah 14:6,7

Christ’s Messianic, or Millennial, Kingdom is frequently portrayed as a utopia. It is envisioned as a time when peace reigns supreme on the earth and every man loves his fellow. The Bible, however, presents quite a different picture of this time.

While it is true that it is an era in which all evil will be restrained (Revelation 20:1-3), it does not follow that all of the effects of that evil will be immediately erased from the hearts of men. It is also true that the Bible does foresee a period of worldwide prosperity and goodwill. However, that is not to be the situation at the beginning of the Messianic age but at its conclusion. That thousand-year day, as Zechariah foretells in our text (14:6,7), will be “not day, nor night.” It is an epoch of transition from the present dominion of sin and death to the post-millennial “ages to come,” in which righteousness, justice, and harmony will indeed flourish. Christ’s Kingdom will neither be dominated by the present darkness of the night of sin and death nor be illuminated by the day star shining out of every human heart. But the prophet assures us that by its terminus, “at evening time,” it will be light.

In this article, we will examine three illustrations of this kingdom from the Old Testament that show the difficulties and traumas of the Kingdom of Christ in the Messianic age.

Israel’s Jubilee Year

 The Mosaic law contained a feature for perpetuating an equal economic base among the Jewish people. This feature was called the Year of Jubilee and is described in detail in Leviticus 25. Under this provision, every member of the twelve tribes was to regain his family’s inheritance of land every fifty years. Any who had been forced through debt into becoming indentured servants were to be freed. Thus, a fresh economic base was laid to allow everyone to avoid poverty and prevent a wide gap between the very rich and the very poor.

The jubilee did not guarantee absolute economic equality, however. The diligent farmer was allowed to keep his monetary profits while the indolent may regain his land but not have the capital to maintain it. The scope of the jubilee was limited also, in that it only applied to agricultural land and not to dwellings in the cities (Leviticus 25:29,30).

While our English word “jubilee” carries with it the thought of elation, the same is not true of the Hebrew word (Strong’s 8643). That word simply means a loud noise, usually a trumpet blast, and can be either a loud sound of joy (Job 8:21) or the shout of alarm for war (Jeremiah 4:19). At the same time the jubilee would bring joy to the one who would receive back his property and a feeling of loss to the one who must give it back.

It is worthy of note that the Law allowed a full year for the jubilee process. It was not envisioned as a matter that would take place on one given day every fifty years, but a process that would require an entire year for its accomplishment. Nor is this hard to imagine, for it would be a year of adjudication. There would be genealogical records to trace, and surveys would have to be made to ensure property lines. Disputes might easily arise where there were large families and heirs who had been born subsequent to the loss of the land. Divorce and remarriage situations would lend further complications, as would tribal intermarriages.

The Jewish historian Josephus had much to say about the jubilee law. He listed a number of exceptions and modifications that would not be necessary if the keeping of that law had been straightforward and simple. As in all legal matters, the original law laid down principles that required great wisdom in their application to specific situations.

So, it will be in Christ’s Kingdom. As the Israelite who lost his land returned to his possession in the jubilee year, so the human creation will return from the grave to its long-lost possession. Notice the phraseology in Ezekiel 16:55, “When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.” In a similar vein, Moses writes in Psalms 90:3, “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.”

Obtaining that which was lost is one thing, maintaining it is another. Just as the diligent farmer who saved from his profits of prior years will be in a better position to maintain an inheritance than the slothful one who has set nothing aside, so the man who has built a good character in the present life will have much advantage over the one who has let his fleshly passions rule his life. “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment;” writes the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5:24, “and some men they follow after.”

As the jubilee required a full year to sort out the accounts, it will not be until the end of the Kingdom that full equality will be attained and all who have shown a sheep-like disposition will hear “the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Battles in Canaan

 As Canaan was the “promised land” for the children of Israel fleeing from Egypt in the time of the exodus, so eternal life will be the “promised land” for mankind leaving the graves in the resurrection morning. But though God had promised to give the land of Canaan to the Israelites, he did not promise that they would obtain it without a struggle.

When Israel was about to cross the river Jordan into Canaan, the Lord told Moses to give them a message: “Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it … But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell” (Numbers 33:52,53,55).

Crossing the river Jordan represented mankind passing over the sentence of death. This will be accomplished by bringing them forth from their tombs in the beginning of Messiah’s Kingdom. It is interesting to note that the river Jordan was dried up near a small village named Adam (Joshua 3:15-17). So the death sentence over man will be rolled back to the man who bore the same name — the first man, Adam.

But crossing the Jordan did not give them immediate possession. There were seven nations — “the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites” (Joshua 3:10) — which had to be first driven out. This was not instantaneous but required six years of war.

Mankind in the kingdom, coming back from the grave, will also face enemies. These enemies, like the natives that inhabited Canaan before the Israelites, represent one’s former habits and manner of life. As we read in Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”

Even the number seven appears significant. As there were seven principle tribes to be driven out of the land after they crossed the Jordan, so the Bible implies that there are seven principal sins man must eradicate to inherit eternal life, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

The process would not be rapid. There would be defeats along the way. But while the Lord would not give them the land without their fighting for it, neither would he abandon them in the battle but would “drive out the enemy before them.” However, it would not be a quick process. They must be ready to use the land they conquered, else it would lie waste and wild beasts would establish their homes on it. “I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land” (Exodus 23:29,30). So it will be with the human race during the kingdom. Their battles against self and deeply entrenched habits will take many years. They, too, will meet defeats along the way. But, as the Lord did not abandon ancient Israel, so he will not abandon man in his struggle nor condemn him for repented shortcomings in his struggles.

This process is described in great detail in Job 33:23-28, “If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter [a mediator, NAS, NIV, RSV], one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth: he shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” To this the writer adds the comforting words, “Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living” (vs. 29, 30).

A Famine in Egypt 

The biblical account of the famine in Egypt in the days of Joseph is well known. Seven years of prosperous crops were followed by seven years of drought. It was only by the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream by Joseph and his subsequent wise administration that both the people of Egypt and even those of surrounding countries survived. These contrasting years of plenty and scarcity of food furnish a good illustration of the Gospel and Messianic ages in the plan of God.

As the Messianic age follows the Gospel age, so the years of famine followed the years of plenty. It is strange to our minds to think of the kingdom of Christ as a famine. Perhaps it may help if we redefine the word famine. Instead of thinking of it as a scarcity of food, we can define it as an abundance of need. It was a need that could have been avoided.

As one commentator has well observed, “If all the Egyptians had done for themselves in the seven years of plenty as Joseph did for Pharaoh, they had not been now in these straits; but they regarded not the warning they had of the years of famine, concluding that to-morrow shall be as this day, next year as this, and much more abundant” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary).

Because man has thus far failed to learn from the experiences of the present, he will need to rely on Jesus, the greater than Joseph, in the future age for his spiritual food and nourishment. It is worthy of note that the Israelites in Egypt were the only ones to receive food freely, showing the exemption of God’s people from having to feel the need of the poverty caused by their lack of foresight.

In Genesis 47:13-26 we read of the effects of this famine on the economy of Egypt. For the first several years of the famine, the people purchased grain from the state. When their money ran out, near the end of the drought, they gave their cattle to Joseph for more grain. After their flocks were depleted, they ceded their land to the state. Finally, in desperation, they even gave themselves to become slaves and to be relocated to wherever Joseph desired, paying for their food by indentured service. The Encyclopedia Britannica dates the earliest roots of Socialism to Plato’s Republic in the fourth century B.C.; yet Joseph introduced socialism over a thousand years earlier.

This process of the successive transfer of their fiscal assets and finally their service to the state furnishes an apt illustration of the Messianic age. As man progresses up the “highway of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8-10), he will yield more and more of his fealty to God until he finally comes to the point of full submission and consecration. Then he will, as the Church of Christ today, become a “bond-slave” of Christ (see Romans 6:1-23; Luke 17:7-10).

Without Price

 A contrasting picture is found in Isaiah 55:1 and Revelation 22:17: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price;” “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

In these texts, the Messianic blessings are free, while the picture of Joseph shows them to be bought at a great price. Which is true? Both! The Isaiah and Revelation references show that there is nothing that anyone can do to earn the divine blessing. Redemption is given by grace. The lessons will be available freely to all, but as the recipient learns and applies them, he must gradually yield all he has in thankful appreciation.

This is also shown in the story of Joseph and the famine in Egypt. It would be easy to imagine the people grumbling as they had to give up their possessions, and finally, their very freedom, to live. A disgruntled spirit would be easy to understand. Their attitude, however, was far different. It is shown by their words in Genesis 47:25, “And they said, You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh” (RSV).

Nor was this change in the economy in Egypt short-lived. After the famine was over, the people became tenant farmers. The land was leased to the people for tilling, and they were given seed to sow but there was a regular payment on the increase of the land of twenty percent (twice what God was later to ask of Israel when he instituted the tithe of ten percent). “Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones” (vs. 23, 24).

Summary

Summarizing, then, what will the Millennial Kingdom of Christ be like? His kingdom will be like a legal battle, a “day of judgment,” sorting out the jubilee claims of all humanity returning to their original inheritance. His kingdom will be like a protracted war as they learn to fight and dispossess long-entrenched bad habits and control their own spirit. His kingdom will be like a famine in which they must turn over all they have, even their own selves, in return for the blessing of life forevermore. They will end up with the attitude, “You have saved my life; may it please you for us to be your servant forevermore” (See Genesis 47:25).

Will that kingdom be a utopia of peace and prosperity? No! But it will introduce such ideal conditions. Eternity will spread as the Garden of Eden before them as the Messianic age fades away into the brilliant sunlight of a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). The Messianic Kingdom of Christ is a period of transition to those glorious eternal “ages to come” (Ephesians 2:7). The darkness of the present will gradually yield to the incoming “sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) and “at evening time it shall be light” (Zechariah 14:7).

–– The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom
1997/4