2 Kings 5:26 “Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the prophet Elisha confirms the truth to us that those who serve the Lord faithfully in this age will be rewarded in the age to come, with money, clothing, olive groves, vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants. The context of this passage of scripture is that Elisha’s servant had coveted the material rewards offered by Naaman the Syrian who the Lord had healed through Elisha’s ministry. Eilsha had refused Naaman’s offered rewards but Gehazi had gone behind Elisha’s back to take the rewards from Naaman and he had hidden them from the prophet. But God had revealed to Elisha what Gehazi had done and so God used Elisha to judge Gehazi with leprosy for his covetous behaviour. The point however that I wanted to make from this passage of scripture are the rewards mentioned by Elisha, that await the Lord’s saints in the age to come. These rewards form part of the lands and houses that the saints will receive in the new earth.
Revelation 21:24-26 “And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. (25) Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). (26) And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle John reveals to us that the nations that live outside the city of Jerusalem in God’s new earth will bring their glory and honour into that city. I have already briefly mentioned the nations that will be living outside the city of the New Jerusalem and so I will not go into further detail here because that falls outside the scope of this teaching. Suffice it to say that there will be nations living outside of the city walls in the age to come. So what is the glory and honour that will be brought into the city as mentioned in this passage? The answer to that question is that it will be the produce of the lands in God’s new earth that will be brought into the city which will represent the glory and honour of the nations of the earth.
1 Kings 4:7 “And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year.”
The kingdom of Solomon was a type and shadow of God’s kingdom that will be on the earth in the age to come. In the passage of scripture quoted above we read how the nation of Israel provided for the city of Jerusalem under the reign of Solomon. Solomon appointed twelve governors over the nation and each of those governors was given one of the twelve months of the year in which their region was to supply the needs of the city. And so just as the city of Jerusalem was provided for by the children of Israel at that time, so the New Jerusalem will be provided for by the nations over which the Lord’s saints will reign in God’s new earth. There is much more that we can talk about concerning the rewards awaiting the saints in the kingdom of God, including our priestly functions that we will perform, but that falls outside the scope of this teaching and so I will end this section here.
Michael E.B. Maher
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