The Messianic Kingdom will be the final fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham.  God had promised Abraham a land and a seed.  The seed promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac and ultimately in the person of Christ.  Paul says in Galatians 3.16: 

"Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as referring to many, but rather to one, 'And to your seed,' that is, Christ.'"  

The land promise, never before fulfilled, will be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom.  In Genesis, God says to Abraham, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. 15.18).  This land is an everlasting possession.  God declares to Abraham, "And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God" (Gen. 17.8). millennium

The chief characteristics of the Mosaic system were law and obedience.  The chief characteristics of the present system, the Church age are believe and grace.  The chief characteristics of the Messianic Kingdom will be peace and righteousness cf. Is. 2.1-5, Is. 11.1-10, Jer. 23.5-8.  Other characteristics are long life, perfect environment, and wealth.

During this period the New Covenant will be established with Israel and Israel will become a nation of priests.  This covenant will be fundamentally different from the Mosaic Covenant which Israel could not obey.  God will write his laws upon their hearts rather than on stone cf. Jer. 31.31-37.  There are literally hundreds of verses in the Old Testament prophesying the Messianic Kingdom.  The Jews had awaited it for hundreds of years.   It was this kingdom that John the Baptizer proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3.2).  Jesus proclaimed the same message that John had begun, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 4.17).  Even while the nation of Israel rejected their Messiah and the kingdom it was clearly on the minds of Jesus' disciples even after his crucifixion.  In one of his resurrection appearances, right before his ascension, the disciples said, "And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1.6).  Jesus replied that he could not reveal this knowledge.  Jesus did not reject the idea of the Messianic Kingdom or spiritualize it.  Rather, his answer affirmed the prophetic Scriptures.  He just could not reveal the timetable.  Since all the prophecies in the Old Testament related to the Messiah have been literally fulfilled, it is reasonable to expect that the prophecies related to the Messiah and his Kingdom will be fulfilled literally also.   

tw~| a)gapw~nti h(ma~j kai\ lu/santi h(ma~j e)k tw~n a(martiw~n h(mw~n e)n tw|~ a(i/mati au)tou~.

©1998 Don Samdahl.  Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold.

Updated November 04, 2004