Peace on Earth-At Last! - Part B

You know what Jerusalem means? The City of Peace.

It has never lived up to its name. One day it will. One day the Prince of Peace will sit in the City of Peace and rule not just Israel, but the world from Jerusalem. Jerusalem will just be HQ for him. Can you imagine a future where war cease, justice is upheld perfectly, and righteousness is prevalent?

That future is coming. Connect with Skip Heitzig today as he talks about a future kingdom where peace will reign and how you're going to be a part of it. But before we begin, reading the stories of the Bible is a very good thing. Walking where these stories took place is at a whole another level. Skip Heitzig is planning his next tour and you can be on it.

Here's the invitation from Skip. You're in for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country. Now, I've been to Israel a number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded, where Jesus lived, taught, and healed, it just never gets old. We'll start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north, seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount, Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Mount of Olives, and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship.

The Bible will come alive to you in a way it never has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable trip. I can't wait to see you in Israel. This dream can come true for you. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Hitek. Information at inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q.

That's inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q. Now, we'll be in Isaiah chapter nine for today's study, so let's join Skip Hitek. It says Jesus is everlasting Father. It's not saying He is God the Father.

No, He's separate from God the Father. It is speaking of His reign. He's going to reign rule like a father would, not like a despot, not like a dictator, not like an elected official. He is going to reign with a paternal reign, a fatherly reign, a caring and compassionate reign. And this is one of the great reasons there will be peace on earth is because of the character of this ruler. His counsel is wonderful. His strength is impeccable. His rule is paternal, like a father. So, His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.

The fourth really speaks to what we're dealing with here and really the reason for this series. He will be called the Prince of Peace. You see, in Messiah's kingdom, there will be no conflict.

It will be a rule and reign, a kingdom of peace. Now, let me take you back to Bethlehem when the child was born. When the child was born, in Bethlehem, outside of Bethlehem where there were shepherds, an angel showed up and had something to say to the shepherds, right?

Some people think he maybe got carried away a little bit. The angel said, glory to God in the highest and on earth. What's the next word? Tell me. Peace. And on earth peace.

Then what? Good will toward men. Okay, it's a great saying. Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. Good will toward men.

Really? Because you said that 2,000 years ago, Mr. Angel, and just haven't seen that. Have not seen peace on earth. Have not seen much good will toward men in 2,000 years. So maybe you're reading the cue card wrong. Maybe that's what you're supposed to say at the second coming, but hadn't happened yet.

We're still waiting for that to happen. So maybe when the angel said, peace on earth, good will toward men, he is thinking eschatologically. He's thinking, here's the child he's born, but eventually he's going to bring peace on earth, good will toward men. Well, that would work, but I don't think that's what he meant there. Because a better translation is this, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people on whom God's favor rests.

Completely different meaning. Or a better translation even, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people with whom God is well pleased. So if you think about it, the prince of peace, let's just sort of sum up all that we have learned in the last several weeks because we talked about this early on. What Jesus did is, and going to do three things, he brought peace with God, number one, he brought the peace of God, number two, and eventually he's going to bring peace from God. So as soon as you give your life to Jesus Christ, the war is over, you have peace with God. There's nothing in between you and in heaven any longer. Romans chapter 5 verse 1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's number one, that's first and foremost. Whether you feel like it or not, you have peace with God. After that comes the peace of God, that's where you feel it, that's where it's personal. That's Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds. You have peace with God followed by the peace of God, the ah feeling, but eventually there's this, peace from God. That's where our prayers are answered, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Peace, the peace of heaven comes to earth and the whole world experiences peace. Okay now, wish we had time to go through all the prophecies and Isaiah would take a year or so.

So let's just go to one other one. Go back to chapter two because we mentioned this at the very beginning of this study with the United Nations thing. Isaiah chapter two, this is where he sort of first introduces the idea of a coming messianic kingdom. This is what got all the Jews, scribes, and Pharisees amped when Jesus showed up because they thought this is it, this is it. Isaiah chapter two, let's begin in verse two. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, so a very specific time period is mentioned, that the mountain of the Lord's house, that's the temple mount, shall be established on the top of the mountains.

It's very, very specific wording. And shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. Nations plural, indicates the world. Many people shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion, that's Jerusalem and Judea, out of Zion will go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. That's his second coming, he comes back to the earth, Revelation 19, puts an end to the tribulation, puts an end to the war, and then it says they, this is the kingdom age now, they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. It's a great prophecy. By the way, it's repeated also in Micah chapter 4. Okay, it's the messianic kingdom, but get this, I'm going to say, say I'm going to describe, again, I wish I had time to go through it all, but we don't, we're ending the series. So this is a description of the messianic kingdom after the earthquake.

I'm just letting that sink in because you're going after earthquake, after what earthquake? Glad you asked. Remember when Jesus ascended into heaven? He was on the Mount of Olives. He was on the Mount of Olives. Remember, he floated up and the disciples really went like, wow, that was awesome. He just like, he's gone. And they're looking up and the angel, there's an angel showed up and goes, what do you men from Galilee do in looking up? Don't you know the same Jesus who left will come back exactly as you saw him leave?

Well, how did he leave? Well, he came from heaven, he came from earth to heaven, and he left from the Mount of Olives. And he's coming back to the Mount of Olives.

We know that because Zechariah, the prophet in the Old Testament, chapter 14, said that he will, the Messiah will come and put his foot on the Mount of Olives. And when he does, the Mount of Olives will what? What will it do? It will split. It will split.

It'll cleave in two. Incidentally, there happens to be a fault line in Jerusalem running directly under the Mount of Olives, true story, waiting for a very particular footprint. So when Jesus comes back, he's going to come back to the Mount of Olives, he's going to touch down, it says it's going to split in two, and Zechariah said it's going to be raised up, it's going to be elevated because of that seismic activity. If you want more detail on that, not now, but look later on at Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48. You have nine chapters that give you details of the topographical and geographical changes that will occur in Jerusalem.

It'll even give you the exact measurements of the temple that will be built during the kingdom age, all greatly detailed in those chapters. So we have Messiah's rule, it's a geocentric rule, he will rule the world from Jerusalem. By the way, you know what Jerusalem means? The city of peace. It has never lived up to its name.

It has never lived up to its name. One day it will. One day the Prince of Peace will sit in the city of peace and rule not just Israel but the world from Jerusalem. Jerusalem will just be HQ for him. And according to Isaiah chapter 2, all the weapons of war will be turned into farm equipment.

It'll become ranch tools. Military conflicts will cease, military forces will be abolished. So that is in a nutshell his royal character. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Let's end with verse 7 and this takes us to the third reason why this dominion will result in everlasting peace and that is the kind of kingdom that he brings, a righteous kingdom. You'll notice in verse 7 it says, of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David, and this is very very specific covenant, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forth or forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. He describes in one verse an ever-expanding dynastic rule over the world.

Let me explain that. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. No end. This is eternal. This keeps going.

It's not four years, you didn't do a good job, you're out. Eight years, you know, a new one. No, it's perpetual, it's eternal. It is forever and it will keep on expanding. In other words it gets better and better and better, more peaceful, more pure. Now the question you should be asking is how can anything that is perfect improve? I mean if it's already, if you got the Prince of Peace, God himself ruling and reigning from Jerusalem, that's pretty perfect. How can it get any better than that? How can a peaceful reign get more peaceful? Well I've read commentators say well this is one of the mysteries of the kingdom age. I'll push that aside.

Just think of it in practical terms. The further that humanity gets away from the conflicts of the past, especially the tribulation period, every day is just going to seem better and more peaceful and purer and deeper than before. And that peace is going to expand into more hearts because people will be born during the millennial kingdom and they'll come to know about Jesus and they'll come to receive him as their Lord during that time even and the peace will be broadened.

Keep something else in mind. Jesus will have come to the earth. Satan is bound, according to Revelation, for a thousand years. So you have an earth with no devil.

You got no demons. You have no rebellion that is tolerated, for Jesus will rule with the rod of iron, the Bible says. Also after a thousand years of this earth, he'll destroy this earth and heaven and make a new heaven, new earth, new city of Jerusalem. So it's just going to get better and better and better as time goes on. Now having said that, with the devil gone, what kind of a world is it going to be? Well, it's going to dramatically alter lots of things.

Let me give you a quick rundown. Number one, not only will there be peace on earth, goodwill toward men, the animal kingdom will be tamed. You know, if you want to see animals today, you go to where? Go to a zoo. But you have to see them on the other side of the enclosure, either through plexiglass or through a big metal post, because you're not going to get into the enclosure and just like hug the bear. You're not going to be like the woman in Berlin who jumped over the enclosure of a polar bear during feeding time and she became lunch. Literally the bear went after her. She survived, but barely, and I'm sorry that was a bad, I didn't even intend for that to happen, but it's kind of a cool dad joke, right?

Barely. But the animal kingdom will be tamed. According to Isaiah chapter 11, it tells us the wolf and the lamb will live together. The leopard and the goat will be at peace.

A child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes and pull it out unharmed. So the animal kingdom will be tamed. Number two, the environment on the earth will be lush. There will be a new global ecological system, probably like before the flood. It'll have a whole new hydrological system.

Listen to Isaiah chapter 35. Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert, listen up Rio Rancho residents, the desert will blossom with flowers. Deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon. Springs will gush forth in the wilderness and streams will water the desert. That means Albuquerque and Phoenix and Las Vegas and Barstow are going to look like the English countryside. So think about that.

You may want to buy now and get prepared because the rates are good now, but they'll skyrocket perhaps during that time. So the animal kingdom is tamed, environment will be lush. Something else, human longevity, human longevity. Isaiah chapter 65 says, never again will there be an infant who will live a few days or an old man that will not live out his years. He who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth. Oh, I'm so sorry. Your relative died. He was only a hundred.

Oh, I'm so sorry. Your relative died. He was only a hundred. Only a hundred. You say that today, he made it to a hundred. Now before the flood, according to the Bible, there were long lifespans.

For example, Methuselah lived, you remember this from Sunday school, he lived 969 years. I don't take that figuratively. I take that literally. And you can do whatever you want with that. But I, you know, it's funny because just in case you don't know yet, I take the Bible literally.

Okay. So it's just, if that's like a shock to you, I want you to get over the shock or somehow get through it. But a few years ago, there was a lady and a husband in church. I heard this because somebody was sitting right behind him.

And as I was preaching, she turned to her husband with these big eyes and she goes, oh my goodness. He's taking the Bible literally. Duh. Yeah. Good.

I'm glad you latched onto that one. I take all of these things that Isaiah has to say, not figuratively, but literally. Now you can say, well, I don't take it literally. So then what does it mean? You can make it mean anything. He's talking about bunny rabbits. I mean, you could, you can literally impose anything you want once you remove grammatical, historical, literal interpretation.

Back to this. Some scientists believe that before the flood there was a vapor canopy around the earth that protected the earth from harmful radiation, that destroyed longevity, that when the flood came it destroyed the vapor canopy, and that greatly reduced a man's longevity on the earth. So that's why immediately, even in the Bible, you have people living hundreds of years old, and then suddenly after the flood they don't live that long. So much so that even Psalm 90 says the days of our lives are 70 years. If you make it to 80, they're filled with labor and sorrow. It seems that in the millennial kingdom of the future, the longevity of people on the earth will return to pre-flood levels.

And then let's just close this out. He says in verse 7, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order and establish with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever. God made a very specific promise to King David.

He said to David, 2 Samuel chapter 7, your house and your kingdom will endure forever. Now I happen to be one who believes that forever doesn't mean four years or ten years. It's not like like modern slang, dude that was like forever. Well it was only actually five minutes. Yeah but it seemed like forever.

No, forever is forever. And you might be thinking yeah you are reading this way too literally. You know the whole lion and the lamb lying down together and the whole on the throne of David like literally ruling from Jerusalem. You're taking that way too literally.

Really? Tell that to the angel who told Mary that she was pregnant with a baby that they were to call Jesus. Because the angel said to Mary these words, you will conceive in your womb and preach and preach, excuse me.

You will conceive in your womb, I don't know Mary preached, and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob, that is Israel, forever and of his kingdom there will be no end. So we have then the prince of peace ruling from the city of peace over an earth that is filled with peace. And that's what the prophets of the old testament knew the world needed.

We don't need a better philosophy of government, we don't need a better system of legislation, we just need the right person with the right character at the right time. And there will be peace on earth and it will last. I want to close this series by asking you this question. We know the government of this world is going to be on Jesus' shoulders one day, he'll rule it all. Is the government of your life on his shoulders now? Have you turned over your life to him now? You know the bible says every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, but you don't have to wait till there's like that enforced peace. You can voluntarily say, you know what? I've been trying to carry my burden on my own shoulders for so long, I feel so weighed down, I just can't manage any longer. The quicker you get to that point, the better your life will be.

Especially if you take the step of I'm turning my life, I'm surrendering my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Give Peace a Chance. Now we want to let you know about a resource that will give you critical insight into what exactly is going on in Israel and the Middle East and why it's important for you to know. New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg is now based in Jerusalem and he's releasing the new non-fiction book Enemies and Allies.

I've traveled with Joel to Middle East cities to meet with kings and crown princes. We sat together on the east lawn of the White House for the signing of the historic Abraham Accords and I previewed his new book Enemies and Allies. I can tell you it contains never before published quotes from behind closed door meetings with some of the most powerful and mysterious leaders in the Middle East. You will want to read this book. Enemies and Allies by Joel Rosenberg includes insights and analysis from the author's conversations with some of the most powerful leaders in the world.

This is the first book of its kind. Almost nobody's ever had that chance to not just meet one of these major leaders but to meet almost all of them and then they get to tell the story in the first person language. Come with me into the palace into the motorcade and come meet the most interesting consequential and controversial leaders in the entire Middle East.

Leaders in the entire Middle East. Enemies and Allies by Joel Rosenberg includes insights and analysis from the author's conversations with some of the most controversial leaders in the world. We'll send you a hardcover copy of Enemies and Allies as thanks for your gift of $35 or more.

To give, visit connectwithskip.com or call 800-922-1888. Did you know there's a great biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your mobile device? Skip has several Bible reading plans available in the YouVersion Bible app. You can dive deeper into several books of the Bible to gain new insights. Just search Skip Heitzig in the YouVersion Bible app and be sure to come back next week as Skip Heitzig shares top teachings from over five decades that resonated powerfully with people just like they will with you. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.