Isaiah 4:2-6 “In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. (3) And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (4) When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, (5) then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. (6) And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.”
We have already established that the saints will be located in the region of the Middle East during the Lord’s millennial reign, and in the above quoted passage of scripture the prophet Isaiah refers to this region as Mount Zion. From this passage we can clearly see that Mount Zion will be completely different from the rest of the earth, for this passage reveals the perfect environment that the Lord will create for the saints during His millennial reign. This passage declares that God will place His covering over the saints throughout their time on the earth, i.e. a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. You will recall the last time that our Lord did something similar in the earth was when He led the children of Israel through the wilderness, for at that time He placed a cloud over them during the day and a pillar of fire over them during the night (Exodus 13:21). This passage teaches us that the Lord’s covering will be placed over the saint’s dwelling places (their homes and villages) and over their assembly places where they gather to worship the Lord. Obviously the Lord’s covering will also be over the city of Jerusalem throughout our Lord’s millennial reign. This passage explains the purpose of God’s covering during that time; it will be for shade in the daytime from the heat and for shelter from storms and rain. And so we see that throughout the year the saints will always experience a perfect environment, for even as the earth goes through its various seasons, God’s covering will shield the saints from heat, cold, rain and snow. It is important to note that God’s covering will only be over the saint’s dwelling places and not their farmlands, because obviously their farmlands will need to be exposed to the various seasons, rain, etc. There is something else that is interesting to note from this passage, which is the flaming fire that will be over the saints’ dwellings at night. The reason for that is because the saints, in their resurrected bodies, will no longer require sleep. And so because they will always be awake, they will need the Lord’s light to shine at night so that they may continue as if it were daylight.
Isaiah 66:21-23 “And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says the Lord. (22) "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the Lord, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. (23) And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the Lord.”
Although the above quoted passage of scripture is referring to the age when God the Father will create new heavens and a new earth, this passage nevertheless also relates to the period of our Lord’s millennial reign. This passage declares that on specific occasions in the new age all flesh will appear before God to worship Him. And so we see that in a similar manner, that on specific occasions in the millennium all the saints will appear before the Lord Jesus to worship Him. The specific occasions mentioned in this passage are the Sabbaths and the new moon; nevertheless the Lord’s feasts are also implied. One of the differences between the new age and the Lord’s millennial reign however, is that whereas all flesh will worship before God the Father in the new age, it is only the saints that will worship before the Lord during the Lord’s millennial reign. The reason for that is because in the new age, all flesh will include the nations of those who are saved (Revelation 21:24), whereas in the millennium, all flesh will include the nations of those who are unsaved. Someone said, but I thought that the Sabbath, the new moon and the feasts were under the law. The answer to that statement is that the feasts observed under the law were a type and shadow of the reality which the saints will partake of during our Lord’s millennial reign.
Zechariah 14:16-19 “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (17) And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. (18) If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (19) This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”
The context of the above quoted passage of scripture specifically refers to the millennial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can clearly see from this passage that the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed during that time and although the other feasts aren’t specifically mentioned, it is strongly implied that all feasts will be observed. We have already mentioned that the saints will observe all the feasts; nevertheless it is interesting to note in this passage that it will be mandatory for the unbelieving nations to go up to Jerusalem each year to specifically observe the Feast of Tabernacles. This obviously implies that the unbelieving nations will not be required to observe the other feasts, new moons and Sabbaths. It is important to note that for the obvious reason of being completely impractical, not all 5.4 billion people will be required to present themselves in Jerusalem each year. But rather each nation will be required to send a delegation of their leaders to Jerusalem to represent their nations at the feast. This passage goes on to say that if any nation chooses not to send a delegation on any given year, then the offending nation will punished for their disobedience. The example of drought in the following year is given as the type of punishment that will be meted out on the offending nation.
Zechariah 14:9-11 “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.”
We have already mentioned the above quoted passage of scripture when we discussed the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the millennium. In this passage Zechariah informs us that the land south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon. So why does the Holy Spirit impart that piece of information to us? The reason is because it will be on that plain that the saints will gather to worship the Lord on the various Sabbaths, new moons and set feasts. The plain mentioned in this passage will be large enough to accommodate all 250 million saints gathered together on those occasions. And we must not forget that when the saints gather together to worship before the Lord, their assembly will be covered by the cloud and smoke during the day and the shining of a flaming fire at night (Isaiah 4:5).
Michael E.B. Maher
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