Text: Psalm 2:8
“Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations
for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
Though the nations will not be the chief inheritance of the divine Trinity
and the covenant people, they will nevertheless be a small part of that
inheritance. God, through His Son, will be the primary Heir (inheritor)
of the Nations (Psalm 2:8 ; Psalm 82:8 ; Hebrews 1:2 ; Isaiah 54:3).
Yet, Jesus will share His glory with Abraham (Romans 4:13 ; Galatians
3:18) and those of Abraham's covenant seed, whether under the Old or
New Covenants (Isaiah 61:6-9 ; Galatians 3:29)
Such are Christ's covenant people, His joint-heirs and will receive
the privilege of reigning with Christ over these nations (Romans 8:17,
32 ; Luke 19:11-27 ; Revelation 2:26, 27 ; Revelation 21:23-26 ; Revelation
22:5).
Millennium Nations Under Utopian Conditions
God's purpose in the nations will be to demonstrate the power of sin
in human nature in the most ideal utopian conditions of the Millennium.
This will also demonstrate the futility of human wisdom and power to
do anything about sin. Observe, or instance:
Satan and evil spirits are locked away. Satan, fallen angels, and all
evil spirits will be removed from the earth's surface and locked in
the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3 ; Revelation 7-10).
The "curse" which God placed on the earth in Genesis 3 will
be removed (Isaiah 11:1-9 ; Romans 8:19-22). The lifting of the curse
means on the Millennial earth there will be no diseases, no harmful
bacteria, insects, creeping things, fish, fowl, animals, vegetation,
or anything else that would mar a utopian environment except the sinful
nature still possessed by the nations. The utopian environment that
will exist during the Millennium will be an almost incomprehensible
contrast to the present earth conditions.
Millennium Nations Ruled by Christ's Government
Christ and the glorified covenant people will rule and thoroughly instruct
the nations in righteousness. Christ and the glorified covenant people
with their ever present ministering angels (Hebrews 1:14 ; Matthew 18:10
; 1 Corinthians 6:3) will rule the earth and instruct the nations in
perfect righteousness (Ephesians 1:19-21 ; Ephesians 2:7 ; Habakkuk
2:14; Micah 4:1, 2).
This includes perfect love, compassion, mercy, justice, equity, and
the other priceless virtues of the divine Person (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Be assured, the nations will be thoroughly instructed in righteousness
and also in all the detailed relationships of sin, from start to finish,
both immediate and eternal (Isaiah 11:9 ; Isaiah 2:3 ; Micah 4:2).
The nations will still rebel against Christ, and the glorified covenant
people during and at the end of the Millennium (Zechariah 14:17-19 ;
Revelation 20:7-10).
Conclusion
According to His own counsel and purpose, God will show the true nature
of sin, i.e., that sinful people because of their sinful nature will
still rebel against God and desire to walk after their own sinful passions
in spite of the righteous rule of the saints perfectly seasoned with
love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, justice, equity, etc.
One of the chief things God is doing through these seven thousand years
of the history of mankind is to show the deceitfulness of sin, the exceeding
sinfulness of sin, the absolute enslaving power of sin, and not only
man's utter and eternally hopeless inability to pull himself out of
his enslavement to sin, but the deliberate choice and stubborn persistence
of most of mankind to continue in their own sinful ways even in the
most ideal circumstances.
God created the nations to serve as an inheritance for Christ and the
covenant people. God's purpose in the nations is for the nations to
serve as a small part of the inheritance for Christ and the covenant
people during the millennium.
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