Derek Prince - What Happens When God's Kingdom Comes
Then will come Jesus judging the Gentile nations. This is pictured in Joel 3:1-2. This is very, very important for us who are not Jewish to understand. Joel 3:1-2: For behold, in those days and at that time (God is speaking) when I bring back the captives, or exiles, of Judah and Jerusalem. In the days in which we are living when God is bringing back Jewish exiles from more than one hundred nations to their own land. God says: I will also gather all nations (Gentile nations) and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat means in Hebrew: The Lord judges. And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up My land.
That is extremely important we need to understand. God is going to judge the nations on the basis of how they’ve treated the Jewish people. And particularly He’s going to judge them for one thing; they’ve divided up His land. What’s the modern political word for dividing up? Partition. That’s precisely what the nations have done and are busy trying to do now. God is angry with them. We who love our nation need to be in urgent prayer that our nation will not be aligned against God’s purposes for Israel. Now, it doesn't say there'll be any Jews judged there. My opinion is because the Jews will have already passed through their own judgment, the great tribulation.
Somebody said years ago something worth considering: God blesses the Jews direct. He blesses the Gentiles through the Jews. God judges the Gentiles direct. He judges the Jews through the Gentiles. I think this has been worked out in history time and time again. So, Israel will pass through their judgment in the great tribulation. They will have been judged but then the nations that persecuted them will be judged. In Matthew 25 Jesus says I'll read those words, because it’s so clear that this is Joel 3 in the New Testament. Matthew 25. The last part of the chapter. Verse 31: When the Son of man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
This is the same scene as in Joel 3:1. All the nations (the Gentiles) will be gathered before Him and He will separate them from one another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. If you’ve studied that chapter you’ll find the basis of the division is how they’ve treated the brothers of Jesus. So, the nations need to know. We need to keep our nation informed. We need to speak out and warn our nations, You’re going to be judged by the way you have dealt with God’s people and God’s land Israel. Now, following that ,Christ’s kingdom on earth will be established. Whenever you pray the Lord’s Prayer, which you probably do often you’re praying for the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth. The first petition is ‘thy kingdom come.’ That takes precedence over all other petitions. When you’re praying that you’re praying for the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom on the earth. Whether you know it, or not.
Now this is described in Isaiah 24:19 You see how important it is to have a knowledge of biblical prophecy? Isaiah 24:19, this is, in a sense, the climax of the age. It’s reduplicated many times in Revelation. This is the picture: The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly, the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy upon it and it will fall and not rise again. That’s the earth, the planet on which we live. It shall come to pass that the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. The Lord will deal with two kingdoms. Satan’s kingdom in the heavenlies and the kingdom of man on earth. He will punish all those who refuse His righteous government in the person of Jesus. They will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit (or the prison) and will be shut up in the prison. After many days they will be punished.
Now I like this verse, this is the climax: Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders gloriously. The Lord’s kingdom will have been re-established in its capital which is Jerusalem. Why should the sun be ashamed and the moon disgraced? This is something that I believe I have the answer to. In Luke 9:26 is a description of the return of Jesus. Luke 9:26, Jesus said: For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him the Son of man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory in His Father’s glory and the glory of the holy angels. Just think of that. Jesus is coming in His own glory, the glory of the Father and the glory of the holy angels. The brilliance of that glory is something that we cannot even begin to imagine and yet it will not hurt our eyes. But then the sun and the moon will have to take a back seat and say: The light we offer is nothing compared with what comes with Jesus. That’s why they’ll be ashamed.
I’ve got to go quickly and I’ll just give you the references, I don’t have time to turn to them. The next thing that will happen is Jesus will establish His kingdom for one thousand years. A thousand years, the Bible says, is as a day. So, it’s one day in the Lord’s reckoning. Then Satan will be released from his prison briefly and go out and stir up rebellion in the nations which is his job. The Lord will intervene and bring final judgment on the nations and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire together with the antichrist and the false prophet, who are already there. The present heaven and the present earth will pass away and a new heaven and a new earth will come forth. All the remaining dead will stand before the great white throne of God for judgment. Now tomorrow, God helping me, if God wills and we live we’ll deal with the eternal judgment of God. The Lord bless you.