Revelation 16:17-21 “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" (18) And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. (19) Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. (20) Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (21) And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is an account of the final judgement that God will inflict on the earth during the three year outpouring of His wrath. This passage describes the angel pouring out the seventh bowl into the air, resulting in two judgements taking place in the earth. The first judgement is the largest earthquake in the history of mankind. This passage refers to an earthquake of a magnitude that has never been experienced by mankind before. The earthquake will not be localised to one geographic area, but rather it will impact the whole earth and will be so severe that all the cities of the earth will fall. In other words the tall skyscrapers of today’s cities will be flattened and completely destroyed. This passage goes on to reveal that this earthquake will completely transform the earth, for it speaks of the islands fleeing away and the mountains being no more. This passage specifically mentions the impact that the earthquake will have on the city of Jerusalem, i.e. it will be split into three separate parts. The second judgement speaks of severe hail in the earth, with hailstones weighing over seven kilograms each and striking the earth at over two hundred kilometres per hour. Mankind has never experienced hailstones of that size before; suffice it to say that hailstones of that size and striking the earth at that speed, will easily demolish houses and manmade structures throughout the earth. And so we see that when this last bowl is poured out, that God will completely destroy the entire remaining infrastructure in the earth.
Zechariah 14:8-11 “And in that day it shall be-- That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. (9) And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be "The Lord is one," And His name one. (10) All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. (11) The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.”
In the previous passage we have seen the complete devastation that Jerusalem, along with all the other cities of the earth, will suffer during the outpouring of God’s wrath; and so we see that when the Lord Jesus returns to begin His millennial reign, it is obvious that the city will have to be rebuilt. This time however, the city’s inhabitants will not be the Jewish nation, but rather it will be the church. We have already looked at the above quoted passage of scripture when we discussed the river of life that will flow from the Lord’s throne in the temple. Nevertheless this passage also speaks about the city of Jerusalem being raised up i.e. rebuilt. Earlier in this series we discussed the fact that God has scattered the Jews into the nations of the earth twice before, and He has also gathered them from the nations twice. We also mentioned that as at the writing of this series, His gathering of the Jews for the second time has not yet been completed. Each time the Jews were scattered in the past, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed and each time the Jews were gathered, the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt. The first time the Jews were scattered in the year 589 BC, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and the first time the Jews were gathered in the year 520 BC, the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt. The second time the Jews were scattered in the year 70 AD, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed once again. Nevertheless although God began to gather the Jews for the second time in the year 1948 AD, the city of Jerusalem has not yet been rebuilt according to the specifications given to the Jews through the prophet Ezekiel, i.e. with walls and gates, etc (Ezekiel 48:30-35). The reason for that is because at the time of the writing of this series, the times of the Gentiles has not yet been fulfilled and Jerusalem is still being trampled by the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). Nevertheless once the times of the Gentiles have finally been fulfilled, the city of Jerusalem will then be rebuilt according to the Lord’s specifications given to the prophet Ezekiel, i.e. with walls and gates, etc. And so this brings us to the final time that the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed. At the end of this current age God will use the anti-Christ to finally bring an end to the Jewish nation. In other words God will no longer scatter the Jews; He will finally destroy them and they will cease to exist as a nation, and as we have already seen, God will then destroy the city of Jerusalem along with all the other cities of the world. And so we see that because Jerusalem will be built the second time according to the specifications given to Ezekiel, this passage then specifically mentions the city walls and gates being rebuilt during our Lord’s millennial reign, i.e. Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. Nevertheless it will only be the city of Jerusalem that will be built with city walls during that time, for scripture describes the villages that the saints will dwell in, as being without walls (Ezekiel 38:11). This passage goes on to declare that once Jerusalem is rebuilt, that the city shall be safely inhabited and no longer shall there be utter destruction. The reason for that is because this will be the last time the city of Jerusalem will ever be rebuilt, for at the end of the Lord’s millennial reign this current earth will be completely done away with.
Michael E.B. Maher
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