OUR limited space will not allow us to say all that we desire on this topic. We shall call attention to a few scriptures, and for a fuller exposition refer our readers to such works as "Thoughts on Daniel," "Exposition of Matt. 24," and "Age to Come," any or all of which may be obtained from our depositories, or offices of publication.
We will first call attention to texts which speak of the bringing in of the new-earth state. St. Peter says, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." This testimony shows that the time when the earth becomes an abode for righteousness, or, as some render the text, "wherein the righteous shall dwell," is after the fires of the day of the Lord have purged the works of the devil out of it. This must locate this inheritance after the destruction of the wicked; for the prophet says: "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Then the establishment of the kingdom on earth must be after the second coming of Christ, and after the destruction of those "that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The kingdom of God follows those kingdoms represented by the four beasts of Daniel 7. We read, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." The powers represented by the symbols of the four beasts, are not complete until the little horn has accomplished its work. The kingdom is not given into the hands of the saints until the work of this little horn is completed; for by reading Dan. 2, where are introduced symbols of the same kingdoms, we learn that when the God of Heaven sets up a kingdom, the image is dashed in pieces, and becomes as the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, etc. But by comparing the work of the little horn with the description of St. Paul's man of sin, it will be clearly seen that they are identical, and, therefore, that the work marked out as the smiting of the image on the feet can be nothing else than the events by which the nations are dashed in pieces at the coming of Christ. With these points before us, it must be clearly seen that the kingdom cannot be established prior to Christ's second advent.
The above conclusion is confirmed by the further testimony of Daniel, "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." This shows that the time when the saints possess the kingdom is after judgment is given to the saints.
The testimony of the prophet Daniel is clear proof of our position that the earth is finally to become the kingdom of God, "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." A kingdom under the whole heaven could be nothing less than the whole earth. So his former statement, "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom," implies clearly that they will take as their kingdom the same territory as that over which the four beasts have borne rule.
By reading our Saviour's testimony, as recorded by St. Matthew, we gain a further clue to the time of giving the kingdom to the saints, as well as its location, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
What kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world? According to this text it is the one the saints are to inhabit. Are the saints at that time called to inherit Heaven as a kingdom? If you say yes, we would ask, was the Heaven which you suppose the saints are to inhabit, where God dwells, prepared at the foundation of the world? We can conceive of no kingdom that was prepared from the foundation of the world, but the earth itself. When God had created the earth, and beautified the face of it, and pronounced it very good, he gave man dominion over it. This first dominion is to come to Christ. So we conclude that the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world is the earth itself.
The above text is evidence as to the time when the dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens shall be given unto the people of the saints of the Most High. It is when the Son of man is seated on the throne of his glory, and all nations are gathered before him, and he makes a final separation, consigning one party to the flames and receiving the other to possess the kingdom. It has been argued, quite conclusively too, that the wicked cannot be thus consigned to the flames till after their resurrection, which Revelation 20 locates at the end of the 1,000 years after Christ's second advent, as it also does their destruction. And, therefore, the time when the saints are called to possess this earth as a kingdom must be a thousand years after Christ's second advent, as it could not otherwise be after the resurrection of the wicked.
Certain it is, according to St. Peter's argument, that it is after the earth is made new that the saints are to receive it for an inheritance. "We look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The earth is to become an abode for the righteous after it is purified by fire; and yet, after that purification, it will be the earth that is now, in the same sense that this earth is the one that existed before the flood. This earth is made of the same material that existed before the flood, and yet it is said that "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." And so of this earth: when it has been melted and undergone a change by the action of fire, it will become a new earth, in which the saints will dwell.
327If this earth is not to become the abode of the saints until it is made new, we see it will have quite a bearing in the settlement of the question when the kingdom is established on earth, to learn, if possible, when the earth is made new. St. Peter says, The day of the Lord will come, in the which this earth is to be melted, and a new earth is to be brought in. This text does not fix the definite point when this change shall take place, further than it is said to be in that day. The day of the Lord, we understand, commences with events just prior to Christ's second coming, and concludes after the wicked are destroyed forever out of the earth, which we see by Rev. 20 is in the "little season" after the thousand years. So this text would not fix the definite point for the event, save that it shows that it will be in the day of the Lord.
We will now inquire at what point in the day of the Lord is the new-earth state brought in. Some have argued that it will be at the very commencement of that day; that at Christ's second coming the saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and that they will then enter the New Jerusalem while the wicked are being destroyed and the earth melted. Some have claimed that there the prophet's testimony applies: "Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." Although we agree with the position that this text is a call for God's people to hide themselves while this earth is undergoing its purging by fire, yet, from the testimony that immediately follows, we conclude that it cannot apply till after the thousand years. "For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Here is a coming of the Lord out of his place, and the special object of that coming is stated. When he thus comes to punish the wicked, the earth no more covers her slain. So it must be that at that point all the wicked are resurrected, which is conclusive evidence that this text has a better application at the end of the thousand years.
There is a serious difficulty in the view that the new earth is brought in at the beginning of the thousand years. It seems from St. Peter's testimony that when this purifying of the earth takes place, the works in it are destroyed. But is it consistent to suppose that after this earth has been cleansed one thousand years, and during that time been the place "wherein dwelleth righteousness," that all the wicked rebels that ever were upon it, shall be resurrected in one vast body out of the purified earth, and go upon its beautiful plains with Satan at their head, and that then fire and brimstone shall be rained from heaven upon those glorious fields of verdure to destroy the wicked?
By the above remarks we do not dispute that the wicked will be raised at the end of the thousand years; that they will come around the New Jerusalem and be destroyed. But we understand their destruction is connected with the purification of the earth. Then is the time when they shall "see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom," and they themselves thrust out. The kingdom is first established in the city, and finally when the earth is purified, the "dominion and greatness of the kingdom" will be "under the whole heavens." If the earth is made new, and the wicked are upon it when they see the kingdom, they would virtually be in the kingdom, and how could they see themselves thrust out? Again, if the whole earth is made new and constitutes the kingdom when they behold it, where is their stand-point from which they can behold, and be themselves out of, the kingdom? It is all plain with the view that the kingdom is first established in the city, and after the wicked are cut off and the earth cleansed, that the dominion is extended under the whole heaven.
It has been suggested by some that Christ's kingdom cannot be established at all, until he takes possession of the whole earth, destroys the wicked, and establishes a peaceful reign upon it. But we do not suppose that this is necessarily so. When his kingdom is set up, the heathen are given into his hands, that he may "break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in peices like a potter's vessel." This he will do at that time when the Lord has said of Christ, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." This asking for and receiving the kingdom is undoubtedly the event described by the prophet Daniel, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, etc." Some suppose this to refer to Christ's second coming. This cannot be, for when he comes the second time, he comes away from the Father; but this testimony speaks of a time when he is "brought near before him," to receive a kingdom. We read, in the parable of the nobleman going into a far country to receive a kingdom, "When he was returned, having received the kingdom," etc. So he receives the kingdom before he returns. We think we shall be able to show that he reigns, with the saints, in Heaven, in the New Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom for 1,000 years. At the end of that period, as recorded by the prophet Zechariah, Christ's feet will stand on the mount of Olives, and the mount of Olives will cleave half toward one sea, and half toward the other, and there will be formed a mighty plain. Upon that plain we understand that the city, New Jerusalem, comes down. The wicked are then resurrected (Rev. 20), Satan goes out to deceive them, they gather around the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and fire comes down from God out of Heaven and devours them. That fire which burns the wicked, burns up the works of the devil in the earth. By that fire the mountains are melted and run down like wax, and thus the deep caverns of earth are filled. The curse is forever swept from the earth, and when the fires of that day have subsided, the earth will stand forth in its restored state, beautiful and glorious, and will become the everlasting abode of the saints of God—the new earth where in dwelleth righteousness, which St. Peter says we look for, according to God's promise.