Jacob's prophecy of the Last Days:

In his last days blessing bestowed upon his sons the Patriarch Jacob said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days" (Genesis 49:1). In addressing His son Judah, Jacob prophesied concerning King Messiah, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Genesis 49:10). The term Shiloh refers to the Messiah both in His first coming as Messiah Ben Joseph and in His second coming as Messiah Ben David. Shiloh ultimately speaks of three things: a person (the Messiah); an event (the installation of Messiah as Prophet-High Priest-King of all the nations and peoples of the world); and a place (the sacred city of Shiloh).

                                                                           I.  SHILOH, THE PERSON

There is a great deal of rabbinical support for asserting that Shiloh refers to the Messiah: 

1. Targum Onkelos: "The transmission of domain shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor the scribe from his children's children, forever, until Messiah comes." 

2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: "King and rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah...until King Messiah comes." 

3. Targum Yerushalmi: "Kings shall not cease from the house of Judah...until the time of the coming of the King Messiah...to whom all the dominions of the earth shall become subservient." 

4. Babylonian Talmud: "The world was created for the sake of the Messiah, what is this Messiah's name? The School of Rabbi Shila said 'his name is Shiloh, for it is written; until Shiloh come.'"

Shiloh has come: 

Shiloh has come. Rabbi Yeshua fulfilled over three hundred prophecies (almost 2000 years ago) from the Tanach. He will fulfill over another three hundred prophecies of the Jewish Bible when He returns to Israel a second time as the Lion of Judah. The scepter of Judah is now in the permanent possession of Mashiach Yeshua Ben Joseph, Ben David. However, the power of Messiah's scepter to rule over Israel and the entire world will not be fully exercised until after restored national Israel "turns" (teshuvah) in faith to Messiah Yeshua. 

Shiloh will return:

At Messiah's return, at His second coming, all Israel will be saved (i.e. Israel will be fully restored to its promised glory both spiritually and physically). Israel's previous and current unbelief has only "delayed" the inevitable day of God's rule on earth that was promised to the Patriarchs. God's Word will never be broken. All the promises of God must and will be fulfilled in His Time.

Messiah presently sits at the Right Hand of the Father:

Where is Shiloh now? Having completed His redemptive ministry the Messiah Ben Joseph (the Suffering Messiah) departed from Israel and ascended into heaven. There He will continue to rule at the right hand of the heavenly Father until the soon approaching day when national Israel will cry out to Messiah Yeshua, "Son of David, have mercy on us, save us now." This prayer will be the result of Israel one day rejecting the rule of the False Messiah (anti-Messiah, the False Shepherd).

Be watchful for the False Shepherd: 

The False Shepherd will in the near future help Israel secure a temporary international peace accord and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple (only to secure a false trust with the Jewish people). Three and one-half years into the agreement the False Messiah will turn on the Jewish people. During the following three and one-half years this Antichrist will attempt to annihilate all the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As a result, the False Shepherd will cause two-thirds of the global Jewish population to perish in a period of only forty-two months.

Return of the King:

Messiah will return from heaven at the end of this seven year period to deliver His people from the hatred of the Antichrist and his subordinate rulers of the earth.  When Messiah Ben David returns (a second time) He will rule the entire earth with a rod of iron. He will establish God's governance over the world. He will internationally establish the worship of the one true God, the Eternal One, by building His Millennial Temple in Shiloh. The reaction of the Jews to these monumental events will be one of tremendous, unspeakable joy. The King-Messiah will rule as the High Priest of all the earth from His Millennial Temple in Shiloh. At that time the Scepter of Judah will rule over all the peoples of the world both spiritually and governmentally.

The rebuilt Jerusalem Temple will permanently be destroyed: 

The rebuilt Temple will be destroyed, never to be rebuilt. The temple mount will be swallowed up by an earthquake. Why will the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem be destroyed by an earthquake never to be rebuilt? In investigating the destined destruction of the rebuilt Jerusalem Temple it is necessary to first reference the historical events that directly relate to the time of Jacob's Trouble--the seven year great tribulation period that is prophesied as occurring in the last days just before the establishment of the millennial kingdom by Messiah Ben David--and to study the ministries of the "three Elijahs."

Three Elijahs in the Order of Eternity:

In the Scriptures Elijah's ministry transcends space and time. In Judaism (and messianic belief) the testimony of Elijah (My God is the Eternal One, i.e. Yahweh) involves at least three prophetic-historical events and ministries that so far have spanned a period of time that already has been over 2,800 years. The Tanach discloses that God has destined that there are to be three different historical periods in the Elijah ministry. Three persons are associated with the Elijah ministry. The prophetic ministries of the three Elijahs are:

1. The first Elijah did not die but ascended alive into heaven (850 B.C.) and along with Moses appeared to Messiah at the Mount of Transfiguration. He will return  in a glorified body, on Yom Kippur, at the Second Coming of Messiah.

2. The second Elijah, John the Baptist, is the blessed prophet who publicly introduced the Messiah to Israel at the Jordan (27 B.C.), was beheaded by Herod, was buried by his disciples (28 B.C.) and is now awaiting the soon approaching day of the resurrection of the righteous (he is the first Elijah to come).

3. The third Elijah when he comes in the midst of the Great Tribulation (future), will testify of not just one but all three elements of the Elijah testimony. Unlike the first Elijah who testified of Messiah's glorified ascendance into heaven, or the second Elijah, who was a witness to the sacrificial death of Messiah, the third and final Elijah will testify to all three elements of Messiah's atoning death, resurrection, and glorified ascension into heaven. 

When the  Tribulation Elijah completes his mission of testifying to all three  elements of Messiah's glory, then a full and complete witness will have been accomplished (i.e. these three miraculous signs will turn the hearts of God's people, Israel to believe in all the doctrines, "hearts," of the Patriarchs; cf. article, "Messiah in Sukkot").

After the ministry of the final Elijah to come is completed the fourth and final element of messianic prophecy will be fulfilled when Messiah will dramatically and triumphantly return to earth a second time to put down all humankind's rebellion against God and to finally establish the Millennial Kingdom that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David (the promised restoration of all things).

There is a second, final Elijah to come: 

John the Baptist is the Elijah to come whose ministry ushered in the beginning of the Halakha of Messiah (i.e. Gospel). He is the Elijah who gave witness to the death and burial of the Messiah Ben Joseph, the Suffering Messiah. The second Elijah to come will have a greater testimony than that of the prophet John. His miraculous death, resurrection and ascension will introduce the imminent second coming of the Messiah Ben David, the Conquering Messiah (who will complete the Gospel promises by restoring all things; cf. prophetic articles on the "Twelve Festivals of Messiah"). When the Messiah returns from heaven to earth a second time, all three Elijahs (the original and the two Elijahs to come) will accompany Messiah in their glorified resurrected bodies. At that time the fulfillment of God's promises to the fathers (patriarchs) will occur. God will finally bring about the establishment of His promised Millennial Kingdom through the permanent rule of King David's greater son, the resurrected, glorified Mashiach Yeshua Ben David, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Rabbi Jose Ben Halafta:

Rabbi Jose Ben Halafta rightfully stated in the second century (around 160 A.D.), in his highly respected work the Seder Olam that there must be three different and separate appearances of Elijah. In the seventeenth chapter of his work, the "Order of Eternity," we read: "In the second year of Azariah (King of Israel) Elijah was hidden away and is not seen until Mashiach comes. In the days of the Mashiach he will be seen and hidden away a second time and will not be seen until Gog will arrive. At present he records the deeds of all generations." This well known second century rabbi's statement sheds light on Rabbi Yeshua, Ben Joseph's teaching that the Elijah to come refers to both the prophecy and martyrdom of the prophet, Yochanan, Ben Zechariah and a yet future Elijah whose life will also be martyred in the time of Jacob's Trouble (Matthew 11:11-15; Mark 9:11-13).

This Elijah to come will restore God's halakha, "The Way:"

During the Great Tribulation, the final Elijah to come will shut the sky so that no rain may fall. He will be killed by the beast from the bottomless pit.  He will miraculously be raised from the dead after three and one half days. Then visibly this last Elijah to come will gloriously ascend into heaven (for the whole world to see). Thereafter, many in Israel will finally "begin" to believe in the testimony of Rabbi Yeshua and begin walking in His Halakha, "The Way"  (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22; Revelation 11:4-7). The final Elijah’s death, resurrection and ascension occurs at the midpoint of the seven year Great Tribulation (at the three and a half year mark). At this time the False Messiah's future rebuilt temple in Jerusalem will utterly be destroyed in an earthquake.

Revelation 11:1-13: 

"Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, 'Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.' These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.  But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven."

The two witnesses and divine judgment:

The divine judgment upon the temple mount occurs when the coming two witnesses (who are Elijah like and Moses like in Spirit) are killed, resurrected and ascend into heaven. Their deaths occur after a three and one half year period of giving testimony in support of their faith in the true Messiah Yeshua. These two prophets also warn the world about and voice their opposition against the ant-Messiah (ant-Christ) who will rise up to become a world dictator at that time. At first the anti-Messiah will appear to be a man of peace. For a time he will also appear tolerant of variances in religious and secular belief. However, at the mid-point of the seven year period, in the month of Nisan, when the birth of kings is celebrated and the festival of Pesach is observed, the anti-Messiah will declare himself to be God in human form. With the whole world watching the anti-Messiah will then kill the two Elijah like and Moses like prophets. At that time the whole world will be ordered to celebrate the deification of their False Messiah-god. The dead bodies of the prophets of God will be left on display on the temple mount so the whole world can celebrate anti-messiah's magnificent victory over them.

An autonomous, sovereign, self governed Sacred District:

"Abomination of Desolation" in the rebuilt Jerusalem Temple:

From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days" (Daniel 12:11).  "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing where it should not be, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains" (Consolidated: Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).

A detestable, disgusting, foul, defiling act:

An abomination is a foul, detestable thing. The Hebrew word that abomination is translated from is shiqquwts. This word refers to what is foul and detestable, a thing that pollutes people and the environment. In the prophecy of the prophet Daniel this word refers to the fashioning of an idol, the setting up of an object of worship in a sacred, dedicated, holy place reserved only for the worship of God. It also refers to the actual act of the people of the world worshipping an idol that is located on the sacred temple mount.  The abomination of desolation includes the twin works of crafting the idol and believing in the ultimate lie that the anti-Messiah (indwelt by Satan) is God. The abomination is an idolatrous act and image that utterly desecrates and defiles the temple by blasphemously claiming that the indwelling spirit of this false god is the Holy Spirit, when in fact he is Satan. The disgusting, detestable prophetic event in view here is that one day Satan (in the guise of the anti-Messiah) will be worshipped on the sacred Temple Mount in Jerusalem as if he were the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual and physical desolation:

The Hebrew word translated desolation is shamem. This Hebrew word is principally used by the prophet Daniel to communicate the horror, destruction, waste and ruin that will result from the blasphemous acts that will be committed on the temple mount during the reign of the False Messiah, soon to come. In the time of the False Messiah, soon to come, the world will be shocked, horrified, appalled, and terror stricken (shamem) when the two witnesses miraculously resurrect and ascend into heaven. As stated before, then divine judgment will immediately fall upon the temple mount in the form of an earthquake that will destroy the temple precinct, instantly killing 7,000 of the false messiah's followers. Ironically, these devoted followers of the anti-messiah will have been joyously celebrating their deified leaders' short lived victory over the two witnesses. The three and one half days of global celebration dramatically and abruptly comes to an end when the two witnesses are gloriously resurrected and triumphantly ascend into heaven. Thereafter, according to God's judgment, the idolaters of the False Messiah will immediately be condemned to a shameful death, swallowed up by the earth, with their souls made to descend into hell (cf. Numbers 16:32; 26:10; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalm 106:17).

Three and one half years:

Prophetically we see that in the time it took in days for the two witnesses to be raised from the dead so it will be exactly three and one half "years" later (after the abomination of desolation event) that the true Messiah will return to earth to end the rule of the devil through his false king and usher in the "real" Kingdom of God. It is important to note the irony of the justice of God. As God so long ago encouraged the first Elijah to exercise true faith in Him by His preserving alive 7,000 true followers of Himself (who would not bow their knees to Baal), here false belief is greatly discouraged by God harshly judging 7,000 false followers who will perish in the temple mount earthquake for their blasphemous claim that anti-Messiah is indwelt by Yahweh when in fact, he will be indwelt with haSatan. 

The Law of Reciprocity:

It is important to observe in the prophetic narrative that in the exact manner judgment is falsely pronounced upon the righteous, so will it be justly pronounced upon the wicked. After the Lord returns at the end of the seven year Great Tribulation, we discover: "And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20).  

The Great Deception:

Why are the anti-messiah and the false prophet treated in this manner? What insult, what great lie could they commit against Almighty God and His righteous ones that would make it necessary for them to be publicly thrown alive into the Lake of Fire? Could it be that the false messiah and false prophet slander a very large group of righteous, holy and beloved followers of God? Could it be that when the true followers of Yahweh suddenly and mysteriously disappear that the satanic messiah and his fake prophet speak a great slanderous lie about God's beloved children? Is it possible that these wicked world leaders will falsely claim that the true children of God are really demonized heretics in disguise? What if Satan inspires his fale messiah and false prophet to claim that Yahweh Himself, in an instant, had thrown the disappearing followers "alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone"? What do you think will happen when the entire world populace begins to believe "The Lie" that they too might experience a similar fate if they won't immediately and completely reject the doctrine of the condemned followers and their blasphemous teaching that they were saved by the Grace of God alone and not through works of their own?

The global rejection of God's Torah of Grace: 

In believing this great lie of Satan nearly all the people of the world will then become terrified to risk believing and walking in the Halakha of Messiah, "The Way." This satanic teaching  will then bring about the ultimate beheading of God's doctrine of grace. In fear the deceived peoples of the World will reject outright the saving doctrine of God's Torah of Grace. Like Herodias (who succeeded in having the prophet John beheaded), the earth's rebellious and unbelieving populace (Salome) will  begin to help the False  Messiah hate, search out, find, abuse, persecute and destroy both the message and the messengers of the Grace of God (John's name in Hebrew, Yochanan, means "The Grace of God').

In this way immediately following the Rapture, an international movement of  demonic spirituality will spring up that will embrace as its mission the permanent severing of God's Gospel of Grace from the entire body of tolerated religions and philosophical beliefs that will be allowed to be practiced during the time of Jacob's Trouble. It is this great global apostasy of man’s religious and secular beliefs that will set up the rapid promotion of the False Messiah from the status of a common man to the status of divinity; therefore, his blasphemously being worshipped as the one true God (i.e. the Eternal One).

The rise of faith in the anti-Messiah and the Torah of Satan: 

The global severing of the Torah of Grace at the outset of the time of the seven year Great Tribulation will ultimately pave the way for the world to believe anti-messiah's blasphemous mid-trib (three and one half years) lie that he is the one true God. Building upon the anti-Messiah and his false prophet's Great Lie about the Gospel of Grace being a damnable heresy, all the world's populace will be willing to embrace exclusive faith in the satanic messiah-god, the "Beast" and his Torah of Satan. After placing their complete faith in this false god, the anti-messiah's spiritual followers will be permanently sealed to him when they receive the Mark of the Beast (a permanent marking on their hand or forehead).

Persecution of those who refuse to believe in anti-Messiah:  

These satanic followers will wholeheartedly and zealously reject, persecute, and destroy all other competing philosophies, beliefs and religions. Once the False Messiah declares himself to be God freedom of speech and belief will cease to exist. The universal penalty for not receiving the Mark of the Beast will be death by decapitation. Prophetically this means martyrdom will occur, for those who refuse to put their faith solely in the false messiah, in the same exact manner that the prophet John was executed (whose name in Hebrew, Yochanan, prophetically means the "Grace of God"). They will be beheaded.

The satan-indwelt Beast and his global reign of terror: 

This is Satan's cruel way of saying he must be professed to be your Lord (be your Head) or else he will savagely torture, torment and kill you. Once he proclaims himself to be Yahweh in human form, anti-Messiah's sadistic cruelty will surpass that of every other satanic dictator that has ever lived before him. The man of peace who will brilliantly delude the world into trusting him in the first half of Jacob's Trouble will become the sadistic, savage, depraved, satan-indwelt Beast in the second half of the seven year period; also known as the Great Tribulation.

                                                                           II.  SHILOH, THE EVENT 

Rosh Hashanah is mentioned only one time in the Tanach:

Rosh Hashanah means Head or beginning of the year. In Judaism there are actually four annual New Year observances, not one. The four New Year days in the Jewish calendar are: *The new year for counting the months on the calendar and the reigning years of kings (Nisan 1); *The new year at which offerings are made based on the value of animals (Elul 1); *The new year for trees and for offerings based on fruit yields (Shevat 15); *The new year for years when the annual number of each year is increased (Tishri 1, this is Hebrew year 5771).

Rosh Hashanah points to the installation of the Messiah-King:

The Holy Scriptures declare that there is a New Rosh Hashanah, a future festival that will only be celebrated after the Millennial Temple is built and dedicated in the "messianic age." At the conclusion of the Millennial Temple dedication Messiah will be installed as King of kings and Lord of lords at the new temple mount in Shiloh. In Ezekiel 40:1 we read: "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at Rosh Hashanah (the beginning of the year), on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of Yahweh was upon me and He brought me there." Ezekiel's vision was received on Nisan 10. This is the day that the Passover Lamb was selected by the Head of each Jewish household and was preserved alive until the Pesach sacrifice at twilight on Nisan 14.

The vision occurred the day the Pesach lamb was chosen:

The heavenly Father selected the Messiah to be His Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the World. The Father has also selected His resurrected Glorified Son to be the King of all the earth. Ezekiel 40:1 is the only passage in the Tanach where the Hebrew term Rosh Hashanah is actually used. Incredibly the sole use of this Hebrew term "marks" at the very beginning of Ezekiel's vision the most important single day in the millennial age. The prophet Daniel refers to this future day in his report of the divine message he received from the angel Gabriel: "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy" (Daniel 9:24).

Seven objectives:  

This passage in Daniel presents "seven" of God's terminal (end time) objectives, these are:  

First, "to finish the transgression," this refers to the removal of Israel's tendency to apostasy. This removal of Israel's reproach occurs at the Messiah's Second Advent when Israel is restored to the land and blessed;  

Second, the making "an end of sin" means that at Messiah's Second Coming He will remove Israel's sin;  

Third, to "make atonement for iniquity" relates to God's final atonement of Israel's sin when she repents at Messiah's Second Coming. Although the Messiah atoned for Israel's sin almost two thousand years ago His sacrifice on His people's behalf has yet to be acknowledged. Israel's sin as a nation of unbelief will not be covered (removed completely) until the nation recognizes Yeshua Ben David to be the Promised One, the Messiah;

Fourth, the bringing in of "everlasting righteousness" indicates that God will establish a special age uniquely characterized by "righteousness" (this is a direct reference to the Millennial Kingdom);  

Fifth, when we read "to seal up vision and prophecy," it is to be clearly understood that whatever God has promised through His prophets He will do regarding His covenant with Israel, this will all fully come to pass in the Millennial Kingdom;  

Sixth and Seventh, "anoint the Most Holy," refers both to the "dedication" of the most Holy Place in the Millennial Temple and to the anointing of the King, the Holy One, the Person of the Messiah Yeshua. The seventh objective the anointing of the Most Holy, speaks of the actual ENTHRONEMENT EVENT when the Messiah Yeshua will be installed at the newly dedicated Millennial Temple site as "King of kings and Lord of lords." 

Year of the High-Priest and King:

These seven divine accomplishments anticipate the establishment of Israel's covenanted millennial kingdom under the authority of her promised King. This all occurs in the first eight days of Nisan (March/April) in the "first year" of the millennial age. The first seven days are set aside for cleansing the Temple and the eighth day, Nisan 8, is the day of the Messiah’s actual "installation as High Priest and King of Israel" and Lord of all the world (cf. Exodus 40:1-17 and Leviticus 9:1; the ordination ceremony began on "the first day of the month in the second year;" therefore, the eight day ceremony lasted from Nisan 1-8). 

Shiloh/Messiah is the Rod of Levi, the Resurrected High Priest: 

When there was dissension among the tribes of Israel about who was the legitimate High Priest, the Lord put the leaders to a test. Each tribe put their tribal rod before the presence of the Eternal One (Yahweh) in the Tabernacle (Numbers 17:1-13). Over night only the rod of Levi came to life. The rod (made out of a dead almond branch) blossomed, budded and gave forth fruit. Levi in Hebrew means joined or united. When Messiah is made the High Priest of all the nations, tribes and families of the world God's life will fill the earth with His knowledge and grace. 

Like Melchizedek, Messiah will be the High Priest of all the families, nations and people of the world (not just Israel).

Like Melchizedek, Messiah will be senior in rank to father Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs of Israel's twelve tribes. 

Like Melchizedek, therefore, Messiah's priestly office is senior to that of Abraham's offsrping the tribe of Levi: 

*The Messiah is the Resurrected One (Psalm 2:7). 

*The Messiah is the Lord of Eternity (Isaiah 9:6-7). 

*The Messiah is our High Priest Forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). 

Through faith in the Messiah man is able to be reunited with God. Through faith in Messiah's priestly ministry we receive redemption, removal of punishment for our transgressions, restored peace with God, and a new nature that is sinless and devoted to the Father. This is all possible through the Messiah's death on the cross and the gift of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is given to all who believe in Yeshua, the True Messiah, God's Eternal High Priest.

The Messiah, King-Son: 

In the Tanach we discover the Messiah is God's King-Son and Priest-Son. Referring to the King-Son we read:

1.  Psalm 2:7-8: "I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.'" 

2.     2 Samuel 7:14: "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me..."

3.     1 Chronicles 17:13: "I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you."

4.   Psalm 45:1-2, 6-7: "My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever...Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your fellows."

5.     Psalm 102:25-27: "Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment; like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end."

6.      Psalm 95:7,8: "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Messiah in the wilderness."

7.     Psalm 2:1-3, 12: "Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!' He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them...Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!"

The Messiah, Priest-Son:

Referring to Messiah as God’s Priest-Son who is the High Priest of all the nations and peoples of the world we read:

1.  Psalm 110: "Yahweh says to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for your feet.' Yahweh will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.' Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, your youth are to you as the dew. Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.' The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside; therefore He will lift up His head."

2.  Psalm 22:1-2: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest."

3.  Psalm 22:24: "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard."

4.  Psalm 22:22-31: "I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear Yahweh, praise Him; all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard. From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise Yahweh. Let your heart live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is Yahweh's and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, all those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive. Posterity will serve Him; it will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They will come and will declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has performed it."

5.  Genesis 22:18: "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

6.  Jeremiah 31:31-34: "'Behold, days are coming,' declares Yahweh, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,' declares Yahweh.  'But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares Yahweh, 'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares Yahweh, 'for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'"

7.  Psalm 40:6-8: "Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, 'Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.'"

The fulfillment of Messiah's Kingdom Prayer: 

"Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.  When you pray, say: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen." 

This Kingdom Prayer pertains not only to the Jewish people, the nation of Israel but to all humanity, Gentile as well as Jew. This prayer, taught by Messiah Yeshua is remarkably like the prayer offered by His ancestor, the prophet-king, King David. 

The prayer of David the Prophet-King: 

When David was at the close of His reign and Solomon was on the threshold of being crowned King of Israel for a "second time" (emphasis mine) King David prayed as follows:

"Blessed are You, Yahweh God [Mighty One, El] of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.  Yours, O Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the Kingdom, O Yahweh, and You are exalted as Head over all...You reign over all..." (1 Chronicles 29:10-12).

It should be stressed here, where the wording and literary style of David's prayer are so very similar to Yeshua's model prayer that David addresses the Eternal One as "our Father." 

Forever and ever:   

Additionally the phrase of just how long Yahweh is Israel's father is "forever and ever." In Acts 2:30, David is designated as a prophet as well as a king. Therefore, David's words are binding. Consequently, it must be asserted that the Kingdom Prayer of Mashiach that is so very much like King David's prayer is a Model Prayer that is "binding" upon all humanity as well as the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Messiah's prayer will be offered up in the Millennium: 

There can be no doubt that in the future Millennial Kingdom Jews and believing Gentiles (both glorified and mortal) will stand together in the millennial temple courts praying this model prayer on that incredible Coronation Day when Messiah Yeshua is proclaimed to be the High Priest and King of Israel (AND OF ALL THE NATIONS/PEOPLES OF THE ENTIRE WORLD), a "Second Time" (about the prophetic significance of the term "second" cf. article, "Messiah in Purim").

The installation of the King of kings and Lord of lords:

Aaron the High Priest was consecrated on Nisan 8. Aaron's temporary assignment as high priest was a divine promise that one day a permanent high priest would come that would make a once-in-eternity sacrifice for sin. As the prophet-king David points out, the  permanent High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek is the Messiah. He will one day be installed on earth (at the Millennial Temple in Shiloh) as humanity's eternal High Priest and King.

The Installation Ceremony: 

Messiah Yeshua's installation ceremony, like the temporary high priest Aaron, will occur on Nisan 8. Messiah Yeshua is the Eternal High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (cf. article, "Heart of Aaron"). Melchizedek means "King of Righteousness." This title is permanently assigned by God  to the Messiah, who is our High Priest forever (cf. Genesis 14:18; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-21).

This means God has ordained according to His calendar that Nisan 1 (March/April), the Year of the King, will be the Head of all the years. Therefore, it is the reigning years of the "King of kings and Lord of lords," that have been decreed by God to be "honored" above all the other years of human history.

On that future date AT SHILOH it will finally come to pass that God's Will will truly be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. This is the reason why the Hebrew Scriptures and the prophet Ezekiel bestow upon the lunar month of Nisan the great honor of being designated the "eternal" Rosh Hashanah.

                                                            III.  SHILOH, THE PLACE 

Declare all that you see: 

Ezekiel 40-42 provides us with an immense number of details concerning the dimensions, parts and contents of the future Millennial Temple. The Temple structure and ceremonies have a definite symbolic and spiritual significance but this does not argue against its literal existence. Like the Tabernacle the Millennial Temple is a literal structure filled with both symbolic and historical significance. Ezekiel was given specific instructions to "Declare to the house of Israel all that you see" (40:4). The Israelites were to "keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them" (43:11). This is an exact parallel to the pattern of the Tabernacle which Moses saw in the Mount and which God commanded him to construct (Exodus 25:8, 9).

The Millennial Temple is described in Ezekiel 40-48:

All must agree that the Temple of Ezekiel 8-11 was the literal Temple of Ezekiel's day, even though the prophet saw it "in the visions of God" (8:3) while he himself was still in Babylon (8:1). These four chapters mention:

1. "The door of the gate of the inner court" (8:3);

2."The porch"(8:16);

3."The altar" (8:16);

4."The threshold of the house" (9:3);

5."The east gate of Yahweh’s house" (10:19).

In chapters 40-42 we discover identical descriptive formulas being used "in the visions of God" (8:3; 40:2):

1."A gate to the inner court" (40:27);

2."The porch of the house" (40:48);

3."The altar" (43:18);

4."The gate facing toward the east" (43:3)

5. The glory of the God of Israel is seen returning through the Eastern Gate  just as it had departed (10:19; 11:23).

Prophecies of a Millennial Temple:

Isaiah 60:13: "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the box tree and the cypress together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I shall make the place of My feet glorious."  

Daniel 9:24: "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."  

Haggai 2:7, 9: "I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Yahweh of Hosts....The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the Yahweh of Hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the Yahweh of Hosts."

Prophecies of animal sacrifices in the future Temple:

Isaiah 56:6-7: "Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath and holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."   

Isaiah 60:7: "All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious house."

Jeremiah 33:18: "And the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually."

Zechariah 14:16-21: "Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Yahweh of Hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which Yahweh smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, 'HOLY TO YAHWEH.' And the cooking pots in Yahweh's house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Yahweh of Hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Yahweh of Hosts in that day."

An everlasting priesthood:

God promised the line of Zadok an everlasting priesthood (1 Samuel 2:35; 1 Kings 2:27, 35). This confirms God's promise of an everlasting priesthood to Zadok’s ancestor Phinehas (Numbers 25:13), which also confirms His promise of an everlasting priesthood to Phinehas' grandfather Aaron (Exodus 29:9; 40:15). See 1 Chronicles 6:3-8, 50-53 for the full genealogy. Furthermore, this promise of an everlasting priesthood was strongly confirmed by God through Jeremiah 33:17-22, who links the perpetuity of the Levitical priests with the perpetuity of the Davidic Kingship and the perpetuity of the earth's rotation on its axis. In view of these promises the Millennial Temple of Ezekiel will have the sons of Zadok as its priests. (40:46; 44:15).

Twelve thousand Levites will be sealed in the Tribulation: 

This truth is underscored by the mention of 12,000 Levites who will be sealed by God during the yet future seventieth week of Daniel (Revelation 7:7). Since the future sealed Levites are literal then the Millennial Temple is literal. And since God's promises to David are to be fulfilled literally then equally so His promises to Aaron, Phinehas, and Zadok will be fulfilled literally as well (2 Samuel 7:13,16).

The Bible clearly teaches that while there is no such thing as an earthly Temple, an altar, or animal sacrifices at the present time (John 4:21, Hebrews 7-10), there will be such provisions for Israel following the rapture of the church (Matt. 24, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 11:1, 2; compare also Hosea 3:4,5 with Daniel 9:24,27). Furthermore, Revelation 20:9 indicates that Jerusalem, the "beloved city," will once again be "the camp of the saints" during the millennial age.

The clear New Testament teaching of a post-rapture "holy place" and "temple of God" in Jerusalem, complete with "the altar" (Revelation 11:1), prepare us to anticipate a Millennial Temple in connection with the "holy city" Jerusalem that is in harmony with the Tanach (old testament) teaching. 

The Temple courts will be about one square mile in size: 

The area of the Millennial Temple courts (500 x 500 "reeds," or about one square mile; a reed measures six royal cubits or about 10.5 feet) will be larger than the entire ancient walled city of Jerusalem. The sacred area reserved for the priests and Levites will be over 40 x 50 miles (20,000 x 25,000 reeds). This means the new area will be placed within a much greater geography than present-day Israel now enjoys. The violent changes that will be made to the earth’s natural configuration during the Great Tribulation will significantly extend the geographical boundaries between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (Ezekiel 47:18). This more generous (post-Tribulation) tract of land will also reserve a "portion for the prince" (the Davidic royal family will receive special honor during the millennial age) on either side (east and west) of the sacred 40 x 50 mile precinct (45:7, 47:21).

The holy precinct will be about forty miles in circumference:

The Millennial holy precinct reserved for Temple, priestly, Levitical, and public worship use will be approximately 40 miles in circumference and therefore be about ten times the circumference of the ancient city. The New Jerusalem adjoined immediately to the holy precinct's southern border will be approximately a 10 x 50 mile area (5,000 x 25, 000 reeds). The combined dedicated area of the New Jerusalem and the Millennial Temple land will create an approximately 50 x 50 mile square holy district. Consequently, the new Temple will be located considerably north of the present Jerusalem site. The new Temple site will be located approximately twenty miles out from the southern section of the New Jerusalem, in the center of the priestly precinct of land (Ezekiel 48:8, 10). Therefore, the Millennial Temple will be relocated to the ancient site at Shiloh, where the tabernacle once stood (Genesis 49:10; Joshua 18:1; 1Samuel 3:20; Psalm 78:60). The new worship area will be considerably larger than the previous dedicated worship sites, stretching from the northern border of the New Jerusalem, in the south, to Shechem in the north.

The entire sacred district will be 50 x 50 miles square in size:

Interestingly, the entire combined Jerusalem-Holy district will form a perfect square, approximately 50 x 50 miles in size. The famous city, lying immediately "south" of the holy district, YeruShalem, means "Foundation of Peace." The entrance to the "northern" border of Shechem (meaning shoulder or governance) was in ancient days called Shalem (Genesis 33:18; Acts 7:16). These ancient names indicate God meant for the entire area to one day be used as a sacred area for His Peace (Shalom) to dwell. This was God's plan from the beginning when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob first colonized the sacred area. The holy city is the foundation of peace and the holy precinct is the sanctuary of peace that rests upon it. The ruler over this entire holy city-sanctuary area is the Prince of Peace, King of Righteousness, and King of Salem, the Messiah Yeshua (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1;Isaiah 9:6).

The only Temple in the world will be located in Israel:   

Israel will have the only sanctuary and priesthood in the world during the millennial age. The greatly enlarged Temple courts and sacred area will be needed to accommodate the vast number of worshippers and the priests who will serve them (Isaiah 2:3, 60:14, 61:6, Zechariah 8:20-23). Various Old Testament prophecies speak of great geological changes that will occur in Israel at the time of the Messiah's Second Coming, so it is not difficult to imagine a 2,500 square mile area for the Temple and city fitted into a reshaped and enlarged land (cf. Isaiah 26:15; 33:17; 54:2 and especially Zechariah 14:4-10). The latter passage tells us of new valleys and rivers, and a flattening of portions of land "like the Arabah" which then "shall be lifted up." Presumably the entire Dead Sea region will be lifted up more than 1,300 feet above its present sea level, for it will contain fish "after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many" (Ezekiel 47:10).

The geological formations of the earth will be changed: 

Revelation 16:20 reports that at the end of the Great Tribulation gigantic earthquakes will cause islands and mountains to vanish. Thus, both testaments speak of topographical and geographical changes that will accompany the inauguration of the millennial kingdom. Jerusalem itself will be the capital of the world, the beloved city (Revelation 20:9) and its size will surely be proportionate to its importance. If Nineveh, the capital of one ancient empire, was sixty miles in circumference (Jonah 3:3), certainly it will be appropriate for the new millennial Jerusalem-holy district to be at least fifty miles in circumference.

The new Millennial Temple will be located at Shiloh: 

The Millennial Temple will be located about twenty miles north of Jerusalem at Shiloh (Shiyloh: meaning tranquility, rest, the peaceable one, peace-maker, "a place and person of rest;" from shalah: safe, secure in mind, "to be in a state of rest").  God specifically indicated to Ezekiel that the Temple area will no longer adjoin the royal palace as in the days of old (43:7-9). The point is clearly stated in 43:12, "This is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house." Vast topographical changes will not make the new Israel less the Promised Land, nor will a centralized, enlarged Temple twenty miles removed from the city's northern border be a disappointment to Israelites who have been accustomed to thinking of it in terms of Mount Moriah (cf. John 4:21). The important thing is that the glory of Yahweh (the Eternal One) will fill the Temple (43:5), and the city will be renamed "Yahweh is There"  (48:35). There will be a new system of animal sacrifices reinstituted at the Temple after it has been made perfectly clear to all that the one perfect sacrifice of Messiah has been accomplished (Hebrews 7-10). This new sacrificial system will exist only as a means to regally worship the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World (John 1:29). 

The millennial system of sacrifice will be different:

The millennial system of sacrifices described by Ezekiel differ profoundly from the Aaronic system, so that it is not simply a reinstitution of Mosaic Judaism as some have claimed. These changes could not have escaped the notice of post-captivity Jews, such as Zerubbabel and Joshua, who upon seeing the glorious context into which Ezekiel placed these new ordinances, would have immediately realized immediately that the prophecy could only be fulfilled in the kingdom age. Therefore, they made no effort to build such a temple after the exile. There will be no Ark of the Covenant, Table of the Law, Cherubim, Mercy Seat, Veil, Golden Candlestick, or Table of Showbread.

Messiah will be recognized as the High Priest: 

Instead of a high priest (for Yeshua alone is our High Priest forever, Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17-21: cf. our article, "Rosh Hashanah II"), there will be a prince who has some royal and priestly powers, but will actually be neither king nor high priest. The Levites will have fewer temple privileges except for the sons of Zadok who will serve as priests. The Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) is omitted as well as Yom Kippur (the great Day of Atonement), and there is no evening sacrifice.

Messiah will restore the glory of Israel on a grand scale: 

The dimensions of the temple and courts are changed and they are removed from the city. With regard to additions that will be made: One, the entrance of the Glory into Ezekiel's Temple to dwell there, forever. Two, the Living Waters that flow, enlarging from beneath the Altar. Three, the suburbs, the wonderful trees of healing. Four, the new distribution of the land according to the twelve tribes, each with their own portion. Five, the resettlement of the tribes; the Prince's portion. Six, the City's new name, "Yahweh-Shammah" (The Eternal One is there); Seven, a converted people gloriously worshipping God "in Spirit and in truth;" These additions magnificently describe a Restored Israel existing on a grander scale than ever  known before!

Israel will be instructed in the Torah of Messiah: 

Animal sacrifices and priests will definitely have a place again in Israel after the rapture of the church. Although God will have finished His work of sanctification in the Christian church by the time of the rapture, He will not have finished His work of instruction, testing, and sanctification of Israel. In fact, one of the main purposes of the thousand-year earthly kingdom of Messiah Yeshua will be to vindicate His chosen people Israel before the eyes of all nations (Isaiah 60, 61). It is obvious that the Book of Hebrews was written to messianic believers who came under the pre-millennial reign of the Christian church. Israelites during the Millennium will not live as their church age brethren, without priests, without sacrifices, and without a Temple.

Mortals will live side by side with God's glorified saints: 

The Israelites who died before Shavuot (Pentecost), like John the Baptist, are not Christians (John 3:29, Matthew 11:11); those who are saved following the rapture of the church, likewise will not be members of the Bride of Christ, though as God's elect people they too will be "perfected" and blessed to enter into the messianic age (Hebrews12: 23). Even in the age of grace, God deems it necessary for Christians to be reminded of the awful price that Yeshua (Jesus) paid, through the symbolism of the bread and the cup. Drinking of the "cup of blessing" (1 Corinthians 10:16) does not involve a re-offering of the blood of Christ in contradiction to the Book of Hebrews, but serves as a powerful "remembrance" of Messiah and a powerful proclaiming of "the Lord's death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).

The sacrifice of God's Beloved Son will be remembered:

Likewise, in the context of distinctive Israelite worship, the five different offerings, four of them with blood-shedding, will serve as a constant reminder to millennial Jews (mortals who will not yet be glorified) of the awful and complete sacrifice which their Messiah, then present in their midst, had suffered centuries before to make their salvation possible. In view of the fact that there may be no other bloodshed in the entire world, because of a return of semi-Edenic conditions (cf. Isaiah 11:6-9), such sacrifices upon the Temple altar will be doubly illuminating and inspirational.

The district will stretch out from Jerusalem to Shechem:  

Participation in these sacrifices will be compulsory; they will not be voluntary. Ezekiel says that God will "accept" people on the basis of animal sacrifices (43:27), and they are "to make atonement for the house of Israel" (45:17; cf. 45:15). Once again, as in Old Testament times, the privilege of life and physical blessing in the theocratic kingdom will be contingent upon outward conformity to the ceremonial law. Such conformity did not bring salvation in old testament times, but saved Israelites willingly conformed. Only faith in God could bring salvation, and this has been God's plan in every dispensation. Therefore, these mandatory sacrifices will not be expiatory. They were not expiatory in Mosaic times ("it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins;" Hebrews 10:4) and they will not be able to save anyone in the Millennium.

The global state will be one of universal respect for God:  

Nevertheless, the symbolic and instructional value of the sacrifices will be upheld by a legal system of ensured participation. Unlike the present global state of wholesale disrespect for God, the new millennial status quo will be one of universal respect for and accommodation of God’s wishes. For those minority populations who decide to neglect the annual Feast of Sukkot (Booths), they will experience the consequences of a drought or a plague (Zechariah 14:16-19). If the true significance of the five offerings is understood, it is not difficult to see how they could serve as a highly effective means of divine instruction and discipline for Israel and her neighboring nations during the Kingdom age. 

The land of Israel will physically be given new life: 

In Ezekiel 47:1-12 we read of a stream that issues from the Temple to become a great river after a few miles. This river enters into the Dead Sea and completely heals it of its death. The trees growing on the banks of this miraculous river will enjoy perennial foliage and fruit; even the leaves will be used for "medicine" and the fruit, although for food, never wasting. When Messiah came, He changed water to wine, multiplied loaves and fishes, instantly calmed a great storm, healed the sick and raised the dead (Isaiah 35:5,6; Matthew 11:5). Messiah said that those who did not believe all that the prophets spoke were "fools and slow of heart" (Luke 24:25). In the light of these First Coming fulfillments and our Lord's strong admonition, these millennial prophecies must be taken literally.

Conditions will exist like the Garden of Eden:  

Idyllic conditions (like Eden) will largely prevail in the messianic age, with longevity, universal peace, transformation of animal life, and blossoming of the deserts. These ideal conditions are not completely new if we carefully consider some of the conditions that existed in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis, we discover that some of the trees and fruits possessed super-vegetative powers and were sustained by a stream from within the Garden that divided into four rivers (Genesis 2:10-14). We are informed that one of the trees, the tree of life, even possessed the power to sustain eternal life. The reality of the Temple stream of Ezekiel 47 therefore should concretely be seen as God's miraculous near restoration of the divine spiritual and natural order enjoyed in Genesis 2. The perfect restoration of creation will not occur until after the millennial age and Great White Throne Judgment. The Eternal Age will begin when God's people and His holy angels enter  into the righteous dwelling of His new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).