Isaiah 14:1-2 “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. (2) Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.”
In this section we want to discuss a unique category of people that will be on the earth during our Lord’s millennial reign. In a previous section we saw that the army of the anti-Christ will be drawn from his kingdom of approximately 1.4 billion people. We estimated that the size of the anti-Christ’s army would be 300 million men, i.e. those who are of fighting age between 18 and 50 years. We have seen that our Lord will destroy that army at the battle of Armageddon. So what will become of the remaining 1.1 billion people of the anti-Christ’s kingdom after the battle of Armageddon? In order for us to understand what will become of them, we first need to understand their relationship with the Lord’s saints prior to the rapture. In the last three-and-a-half years of the anti-Christ’s reign, he and the false prophet will make a concerted effort to assimilate as many nations as possible under their rule. In so doing, their agenda will be to either kill or take into captivity any of the Lord’s saints found in the nations that they absorb (Revelation 13:10). Although most saints that are caught up in the anti-Christ’s net will be martyred during that time, nevertheless there will be some that will be taken into captivity. Obviously the saint’s captivity will end when the rapture of the church takes place. And so we see that when the church returns with the Lord Jesus Christ, the remaining 1.1 billion people in the anti-Christ’s kingdom will be forced to serve the Lord’s saints. This truth is confirmed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture; the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. In context, the house of Israel in this passage is referring to the church i.e. both Jews and Gentiles, which is why this passage declares that the strangers (Gentiles believers) will be joined to the house of Jacob (Jewish believers). The reason this passage refers to the saints taking captive whose captives they were and ruling over their oppressors, is because the saints living under the reign of the anti-Christ would have been held captive and oppressed by the people of the anti-Christ.
Isaiah 31:8 “Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labour.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is referring to the destruction of the anti-Christ’s army of 300 million men at the battle of Armageddon. We know that, because it speaks of Assyria (representing the Islamic states) falling by a sword not of man and being devoured by a sword not of mankind. The sword referred to in this passage is the sword that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, which as we have already mentioned, will dissolve their flesh while they stand on their feet. This passage goes on to say that his young men shall become forced labour, referring to the remainder of the conquered people of the anti-Christ. There are two points of interest in this comment. Firstly, it refers to the people of the anti-Christ becoming forced labour. In other words they will be required to serve the victors of Armageddon i.e. the Lord’s saints; nevertheless the people of the anti-Christ will not do so willingly but rather they will be forced to do so. Secondly, this passage refers specifically to the “young men” being forced to serve the saints. The reason it refers to young men, is because the remaining population of the anti-Christ’s kingdom will be comprised of women and young men between the ages of 13 and 18, and men 50 years and older.
Isaiah 61:5-6 “Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers. (6) But you shall be named the priests of the Lord; they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is referring to the remaining population of the anti-Christ’s kingdom serving the saints of the Lord Jesus during His millennial reign. This passage speaks of them feeding the flocks of the saints and being their ploughmen and vinedressers. We have already mentioned that the number of saints will be approximately 250 million, and the remnant of the anti-Christ’s kingdom will be approximately 1.1 billion people. That means that each saint will be allocated at least four servants during the Lord’s millennial reign. This passage confirms the fact that during the millennium, society will be mainly agricultural in nature, which is why the saints’ servants will feed their flocks and be their ploughmen and vinedressers. In a later section we will expand on this concept, i.e. where the farmlands of the saints will be located, etc.
Michael E.B. Maher
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