Acts 2:14-36 comments: Peter's sermon to Jews assembled from all over the known world

2:14 ¶  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25  For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26  Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29  Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31  He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32  This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof

we all are witnesses. 33  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35  Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Peter quotes the prophet Joel as the prediction of what just happened. He is, of course, speaking in Hebrew, translated into Greek, then into English for us at least. Scholars like H.C. Hoskier noted that manuscripts were translated from one language into another and then back again often.  The book of Joel clearly speaks to the end times. Peter and the believing Jews would have been reading the context of Joel and expecting, once again, the restoration of Israel’s former glory and its triumph over its enemies, a recurring theme, hope, and expectation to be imminent.

Joel 2:28 ¶  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Peter preaches about Jesus and in verse 25 he quotes David;

Psalm 16:8 ¶  I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right

hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Jesus had previously spoken about this Psalm.

Psalm 110:1 ¶  « A Psalm of David. » The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Matthew 22:41 ¶  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42  Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43  He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?45  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46  And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

The repentant sinner being saved by calling on the Lord in verse 21 will be contrasted against God’s calling of a person to salvation in the next passage in verse 39.  See what Paul says about salvation.

Romans 10:8 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

    12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [Paul calls Gentiles Greeks as that is the dominant culture]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

In verse 34 Peter says that David did not ascend into the heavens as Christ did. Christ is the Messiah, David’s Lord. So, with Jesus as the son of David (see Matthew 1:1), the descendant of David, He is also David’s Lord as per Jehovah, LORD God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah, the Christ (see John 4:25, 26), the Word by which all things were created (see John 1:1-18), and the Saviour of the world (1John 4:14), the true God (1John 5:20), the visible, physical appearance of the invisible God the Father (Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9), who in which abides all power and authority in the universe.

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Verse 36 and the verse in Matthew 28 I just quoted bring up important points about Biblical interpretation. Some theologians have insisted that Jesus was not made the Son of God until He was baptized by God and, in fact, verse 36 says that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Does being made something or being given something mean in our strict usage something you weren’t before or didn’t have before? Does this indicate that Jesus was not the Christ before God made Him so or did not have all power before it was given to Him?

For something to be given, granted, or bestowed as a gift does not by necessity mean in a specific moment in time. In the same way for someone to be made someone can have the same meaning. It can refer to something one has always had or always been. As a result I put forward that this made and this given are from the beginning, announced to the world at a specific time, implying no sudden granting or bestowal or change of condition but a declaration of something that has always been so. As an example I can be the heir of my father’s fortune and that status may have always been so even if I do not receive the inheritance until my father dies or I come of age. Our Lord had to be born into the flesh as a man, a human being, to affirm His status as the Saviour of the world, God walking in the flesh on earth.

Isaiah 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

As He told Philip in John 14:9 to have seen Him is to have seen the Father and as Paul said in Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the appearance of God. Jesus is that Messiah spoken of in Daniel 9:25, 26. He came into this world in a body of flesh and assumed the form of a man, and was and is fully God and fully man, the bridge between God and man.

Hebrew 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 ¶  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Peter is accusing the Jews, his own people, of crucifying Christ even though his listeners individually probably had nothing to do with it. He is accusing the Jews of rejecting the Messiah God sent but giving the people of God a way back into God’s good graces as the martyr Stephen will later do to the Jewish leadership.

Leviticu 3:6-17 comments: neither fat nor blood

3:6 ¶  And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7  If he offer a lamb for his offering, then

shall he offer it before the LORD. 8  And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. 9  And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 10  And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 11  And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD. 12  And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. 13  And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. 14  And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 15  And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 16  And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’S. 17  It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

The fat is a food offering to the Lord. Elsewhere it is called the bread of God (Leviticus 21:8, 22; Numbers 28:2) as some commentators interpret the passages.

The heathen in the ancient world practiced drink offerings with blood.

Psalm 16:4  Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

While the religions of Canaan are gone today in the form they were in when Israel entered into the Promised Land we can look at Hinduism as a mirror of the ancient religious world. The practice of sacrifice is fundamental to Hinduism. It is called yajna. The gods that supposedly demand blood sacrifices are considered fierce and angry. Among these is Kali who was the inspiration for the famous and controversial Thuggee bandits from whom we get the word, Thug. It is possible that they were mere inventions of the British Colonial regime in India in their later incarnation but they are mentioned in medieval writings as early as the 1300s although they may have been ordinary thieves then.

It is clear that in the practice of animal sacrifice God wanted His worship with animals as representatives of Himself as the Christ to come to be specific and separate from the heathen around Canaan. God was pleased with animal sacrifice from the time of Abel as an example of His own blood offering to Himself for man’s rebellion but Satan counterfeited these practices in his religions as he did so many things in trying to divert God’s plan for reconciling mankind to Himself.

It is forbidden to eat or drink blood before, during, and after the Law given to Moses.

Before;

Genesis 9:4   But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Here, in verse 17, under the Law. And then, when we are no longer justified by the Law.

Acts 15:19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Genesis 3:20 comments: Eve, the mother of all humans

3:20 ¶  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Acts 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

All human beings are descended from Eve. Modern science, even in its limited perspective of evidence and opinion that overthrows one set of theories after another in their attempts to explain history without admitting to God, understands that there is one human woman who is the mother of all people alive today. They call her “Mitochondrial Eve.”

All human beings are related, cousins, in a manner of speaking. So the New Guinea hill person and the gaucho-cattle ranch worker in Argentina and Uruguay, the Bantu in Africa, and the proudest American are all distant cousins.

Adam had not lost the right to name the world around him. He gave names to all creatures and here he gave a name to his wife. This has been a source of confusion in modern times. Some skeptics take the classifications of animals made up after the Bible was put to paper as a reason to say the Bible is in error. They read back their own naming of creatures back into the Bible and then object to God’s classifications.

Acts 2:5-13 comments: what speaking in tongues really means

2:5 ¶  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were

born? 9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Every nation under heaven does not mean that every nation on earth was represented but that a wide variety of nations where Jews lived had representatives there. There was no distinction with regard to where Jews dwelt as we must remember that words like every and all in English can be without distinction or the more strict without exception. For instance,

1Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

…cannot mean all without exception or you can toss out free will and include universal salvation as a doctrine. Of course, this would contradict almost every other verse in the Bible on the subject of salvation. This is clearly all without distinction. Salvation is open to all people. It is God’s wish that all men be saved although they will not be because of their own choices.

We get the word nation here from the Greek ethnos from which we get our modern ethnicity or ethnic which denotes people-groups as opposed to what we think when we see nation, as modern nation-states. There are different places represented here whose people speak various languages, all having in common that they were Jews, perhaps by blood or by conversion. These are native speakers, born in the places mentioned. Proselytes, converts to Judaism, called by some commentators of the Jews, new creatures, are mentioned elsewhere.

Matthew 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Acts 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

Acts 13:43  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

As a note of interest, notice how the Holy Spirit appropriates the Jewish reference to the convert as a new creature.

2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

These Jews and proselytes came from the area of present-day Iran and Iraq, Egypt and North Africa, and in the area of modern-day Turkey. What tongues are is made very clear here by their relationship to the languages spoken.

The mocking in verse 13 is based on the fact that the term new wine is defined based on the context. In the following it would be newly pressed juice;

Isaiah 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

Remembering that in the specific context of Joseph’s pharaoh it was indeed that, squeezed by a trusted servant’s hand into the pharaoh’s cup.

Genesis 40:11  And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

However, in other contexts new wine is intoxicating and not just freshly squeezed grape juice.

Hosea 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

Zechariah 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

And so, new wine here is in a mocking suggestion that the disciples are drunk which Peter will then deny saying it is only 9am, the third hour of the day, a bit early for a normal person to be making merry with wine.

Leviticus 3:1-5 comments: a sacrifice of peace offering

3:1 ¶  And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. 2  And he shall

lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 3  And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the

inwards, 4  And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 5  And Aaron’s sons shall

burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

A peace offering could be male or female. One observation from this is that in the church there is no distinction between male and female when it comes to God’s blessings or privileges just as there is no distinction racially or of social status.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Peace with God, as man has been in open rebellion against the king of the universe since Adam and Eve’s transgression in disobedience, is fundamentally important. Here is how Christ is our peace offering, making peace between Jew and Gentile and the new person in the Church composed of both and God.

Ephesians 2:11 ¶  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands [Jews];  12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

    14 ¶  For he is our peace, who hath made both one [Jew and Gentile], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man [the Church, composed of both Jew and Gentile believers], so making peace; 16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body [the Church] by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

God wanted animals that were physically without blemish and I believe that is because Christ was spiritually without blemish. As the Old Testament reflects the physical aspects of Law so the New Testament reveals more fully the spiritual aspects of God’s Grace, His unmerited mercy.

The peace offering represents reconciliation and communion with God. This is only possible now through Christ. The peace offering, more fully expounded on in chapter 7, represents a propitiation to God with propitiation meaning to appease someone’s anger and renew fellowship with them, which we can only achieve through faith in Christ, who is the propitiation of God’s wrath upon rebellious and wicked mankind.

Romans 3:19 ¶  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Peace offerings were not just made by the people but by leaders such as Nahshon the son of Amminadab and captain of the children of Judah in Numbers 7:17; Joshua in 8:31; and David in 2Samuel 6:17: 2Samuel 24:25 where we see the intent of the offerer.

2Samuel 24:25  And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

Genesis 3:17-19 comments: unto dust shalt thou return

3:17 ¶  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Here is one that fundamentalists love and their sentiment would almost be humorous if it didn’t have such tragic effects. Verse 17 is used to say that any man who takes advice from his wife is disobeying God and deserves any negative consequence. Adam is judged for disobeying God in taking the very bad advice from his wife to do it. Certainly, any woman or man who follows their spouse in disobedience to God is foolish. But, Godly advice from your wife is something you should always seriously consider as her co-heir in the grace of life.

This verse is no more a command to not do whatever your wife tells you to do any more than the following verse is a command to obey her in all things.

Genesis 21:12  And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

As Eve faced a judgment upon childbirth, that which perhaps had been easy and pain-free now being a time of pain and travail, so Adam’s employment as a worker of the ground and caretaker of God’s creation was going to be accompanied now by sweat, toil, and much effort. Also, here is the judgment of death, over which Satan has so much power.

Hebrews 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Adam and Eve will share in these judgments as man and woman share in the pains and agonies of life on earth.

Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Sunday School Class at Lake Marburg Baptist Church this morning

Revelation, Chapter 20

20:1 ¶  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Having already determined that the bottomless pit is the center or heart of the earth and Hell, we see here that Satan is bound for a thousand years. We also see that the martyred saints of the beast and the false prophet will rule with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 6:9 ¶  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

This resurrection of the martyred saints is the first resurrection. Here is information on what the conditions of the Millennial reign of Christ will be like. What follows is a general prophecy about the end of time, including the Millennium. Remember that prophecies in the Old Testament are incomplete, based on incomplete knowledge given to the writers, but giving a general sense with timeframes a little off with this is cleared up in the New Testament. I think it is only possible to sort out the Old Testament prophecies by using the New Testament fulfillment as a sort of key or map legend to them.

Isaiah 65:17 ¶  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18  But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21  And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. 24  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

66:1 ¶  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3  He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

    5 ¶  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6  A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies. 7  Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. 8  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 9  Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. 10  Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 11  That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13  As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14  And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

15 ¶  For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16  For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. 17  They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. 18  For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19  And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Zechariah 8:20  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21  And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22  Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

There are other verses that have to do with the Millennium and you can tell, because they have no application to the time in which they are written such as some of the verses in the passage from Isaiah I just showed. There are also incomplete, general, and summary statements in the New Testament that give little detail but make statements clearly about the Millennium.

2Timothy 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

At the end of the thousand years Satan is released temporarily, but long enough to gather together a great army of those who had been ruled by the iron rod of Christ during the millennium. Again, start reading in Ezekiel 38 about the war with Gog and Magog. Remember.

Revelation 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Revelation 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Revelation 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

They will chafe at Christ’s rule and rebel. Obviously, there are a great many people alive in the Millennium who are not saved. The point is that at the end of the Great Tribulation not every unsaved person is killed and not every government or nation is eliminated but that for a thousand years they are all under Christ’s authority until Satan is allowed to stir them up again and they are destroyed.

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

    7 ¶  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

    10 ¶  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Those who died in the Lord up to the beginning of the Millennium are the first resurrection. The second resurrection is of a substantially different nature, the description of which comes next.

    20:11 ¶  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Great White Throne judgment is at the end of the Millennium after Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire where the Beast and the False prophet were thrown a thousand years earlier.

Notice that this judgment is in space. Earth and heaven recede away or flee. They are not there.

Proverbs 20:8  A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

We know that the taint of sin corrupted the universe.

Job 25:5  Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

Isaiah 24:23  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Isaiah 60:19  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20  Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

These dead are not judged by Christ’s righteousness, but by their own, their own works.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Their names have been removed out of the Book of Life because they rejected Christ.

Exodus 32:32  Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.33  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Philippians 4:3  And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Note that death and hell are cast into the Lake of Fire. Hell is not the Lake of Fire as some fundamentalists claim. Also notice the reference to the sea.

Chapter 21

21:1 ¶  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Isaiah 65:17 ¶  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

2Peter 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

In the new heaven and new earth there will be no more sea. It is not certain if that means the world’s oceans as it would by the first mention of sea in Genesis or by its linkage with heaven and earth here if it refers to the space between the earth and the third heaven now, which will not be in between God and man as we see with the New Jerusalem coming to earth. The question here, as elsewhere in Revelation, is the word sea a metaphor for something else?

Remember, the church is the bride of Christ so there is something linking the church with the city of the new Jerusalem.

2Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

God will be with His people for eternity and there will be no more death, sorry, crying, or pain. All things will be made new by the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things.

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

I will discuss water of life in the next chapter where it is mentioned twice as literal.

Who he is that overcometh and shall inherit all things has been defined previously.

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Also, in verse 7 remember who we become when we receive Christ.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is a list of people whose character keeps them from the New Jerusalem. These are things worth examining in your own spirit as they are all impediments, even in the Age of Grace where the Holy Spirit has sealed us, to growing in grace with Christ.

    21:9 ¶  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

If the church is the bride of Christ and the new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ then it only follows, as per the next chapter it is safe to believe that the church is the servants who serve him in 22:3. It is reasonable to believe that our eternity will be praising and serving God, just being with Him physically present, a glorious event that makes even the most intense experience pale by comparison.

21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This city, coming down from space, which may already be on  its way, is physically visible so this is not simply a spiritual event.

21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So far, this is pretty obvious although one would presume that Paul was included in the twelve and not Judas, of course.

21:15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16  And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

The city is a cube with measurements of about 1500 miles on all sides. Note that it’s sides are not just 1500 miles but its height is 1500 miles so that consists of space inside of this cube is 1500x1500x1500 miles. This is over 3 billion cubic miles of space available within this cube. That seems like plenty of room for anything you can imagine. This is God the Father’s house.

John 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Our modern understanding of a mansion is a large manor house. An older definition is a luxury apartment in a manor house. It is clear in the New Jerusalem there is room for anything you can imagine.

 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The city has a wall and I don’t know how that works out with a cube so that may be an argument against the cube or either way you see it the wall may be evident. It is around 225 feet high depending on the length of a cubit, as there are small variations in the measurement. Here is further evidence of what an angel looks like as it is likened to a man. There are no angels with wings in the Bible and the phrase, “angelic creatures,” does not exist either except in the imagination of some. I defined angel from the Bible, early on.

18  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

The wall is jasper. In antiquity jasper was usually considered to be green and likened to an emerald while today it includes a stone of red, yellow, and brown as well. Other mentions of jasper in Revelation are;

Revelation 4:3  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Revelation 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Revelation 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Pure and clear are synonyms in this verse giving us the meaning of both. See again that this is done later.

Revelation 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The city is pure gold, without imperfection. Here are other references to pure gold.

2Chronicles 3:4  And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

2Chronicles 9:17  Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

A glass that you can see through is also without imperfections.

 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Precious stones like these cover the priest’s breastplate of judgment in Exodus 28 and in Satan/Lucifer’s clothing in Ezekiel 28.

Exodus 28:17  And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

Eze kiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Be careful, if studying what these individual stones might represent in reading back modern definitions of them into the Bible, which would have defined them by ancient definitions as I explained regarding jasper. Think of them as precious stones like rubies and emeralds and remember that quibbling over definitions today and reading them back into the Bible like reading Linnaeus’ taxonomic classifications of creatures back into the Bible, which are modern definitions, will lead to a dead end. The great fish or whale, because of its large size, was a specially prepared creature and in the Bible whale does not refer to a marine mammal of the order, Cetacea, but to a large sea creature.  Read Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; and Genesis 1:21. Keep that in mind when you try to read back modern definitions into the Bible. God couldn’t care less about your labeling and definitions created for your own benefit.

This also brings to mind some of the problems with modern science. Such designations and classifications are merely social constructions designed to place things in categories in our own minds and do not have a necessary reality in the physical universe. In the same regard philosophers of science have noted that for some experimental scientists who deal in real, tangible evidence that some things that cannot be seen with the naked eye like photons and electrons might not even exist but are, “fictions, logical constructions, or parts of an intellectual instrument for reasoning about the world.”(20)

My point is when you are reading the words mammal or reptile, do not read them back into the Bible, written before they came into use for science. Also, do not read the modern definitions of a precious stone and presume that the Bible must conform to what we have decided to use as a label or classification after the Bible was penned and translated.

(20) Ian Hacking, Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Sciences (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 27.