Isaiah 60:10-14 “The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favour, I have had mercy on you. (11) Therefore, your gates shall be open continually; They shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And their kings in procession. (12) For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined. (13) "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place of My feet glorious. (14) Also, the sons of those who afflicted you Shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; And they shall call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
From the moment the Lord Jesus begins His reign in the earth, the unbelieving nations will be required to pay tribute to Him in the city of Jerusalem. The above quoted passage of scripture confirms that truth to us, for it describes the leaders of the unbelieving nations ministering to the Lord by bringing the wealth of their nations to Him. The tribute presented by the nations will not be a one-off event, but rather they will be required to pay an annual tribute throughout the Lord’s millennial reign. Any nation during that time that refuses to pay their tribute will experience the judgement of the Lord, for this passage states that those nations shall perish and be utterly ruined. And so very quickly, the unbelieving nations will learn to pay the tribute that will be required of them. This passage explains the purpose of the nation’s tribute, i.e. to beautify the place of the Lord’s sanctuary.
Psalms 72:15-16 “And He shall live; and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised. (16) There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; and those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that the nations of the earth will present gold as part of their tribute, for this passage speaks of the gold of Sheba being presented to the Lord. We have already mentioned that during the Lord’s millennial reign, society will revert back to being an agricultural based society. And so the vast mining operations that we see in the earth today (including the gold mines) will not be present at that time. So where will the gold come from? Currently there are literally hundreds of thousands of tons of gold being held in various vaults all over the world. That gold will still be in the earth when our Lord returns. And so the nations of the earth will present gifts of gold from their vast storages that are held all over the earth today.
Isaiah 60:6-17 “The multitude of camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. (7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall ascend with acceptance on My altar, And I will glorify the house of My glory. … (9) Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you. … (13) “The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place of My feet glorious. … (17) “Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver, Instead of wood, bronze, And instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, and your magistrates’ righteousness.”
The above quoted passage of scripture describes the various gifts and tributes that the unbelieving nations will present to the Lord Jesus during His millennial reign. The list of tribute items include multitudes of camels, various flocks and rams, the wood of cypress, pine and box trees, incense, gold, silver, bronze, and iron. We have already mentioned that there are vast stockpiles of gold in the earth; nevertheless there are vast stockpiles of silver, bronze and iron as well, and all of those materials will be presented to the Lord as tribute during His millennial reign. All of these materials will be used for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and for the beautifying of the Lord’s temple. The various flocks delivered by the nations will be distributed among the Lord’s saints.
Isaiah 18:1-7 “Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, (2) Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, "Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide." (3) All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When He lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; and when He blows a trumpet, you hear it. (4) For so the Lord said to me, "I will take My rest, And I will look from My dwelling place Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." … (7) In that time a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts to a people tall and smooth of skin, and to a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, whose land the rivers divide-- To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, To Mount Zion.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is another account of the tribute that will be brought to Mount Zion during our Lord’s millennial reign, for it speaks of the presents (gifts) that the Ethiopian ambassadors will bring to the Lord of hosts. As an aside, there are two interesting points revealed to us in this passage. The first point of interest is the vessels of reed that the Ethiopian ambassadors will use in sailing to Israel to present their tribute. The reason why such primitive sailing vessels will be used during that time is because all shipping would have been destroyed during the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth. The second point of interest is the description of the Lord’s saints; they are described as a terrible and powerful nation, but they are also described as a nation tall and smooth of skin. The second description which attributes the inhabitants of Mount Zion to being a nation tall and smooth of skin is not referring to the Lord’s saints however, but rather it’s referring to the Lord’s angels, for the Lord’s angels will also be present in Mount Zion during the Lord’s millennial reign. Nevertheless the main point that I wanted to highlight from this passage is that during the millennium, the various nations of the earth will constantly bring presents and tribute to the Lord Jesus in the city of Jerusalem.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments