God's Coming Kingdom

God, in the pages of the Bible, often speaks about the coming kingdom of God on earth. This page is a continuing series of articles about this coming kingdom, as shown in the Bible.

Part 24      God's Coming Kingdom

“Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” - Micah 4:2.

During Christ’s thousand years rule in Jerusalem his immortal saints will be instructing the mortal nations in God’s way. They will come to understand what is God’s great objective in creation: to populate the earth with people who listen to His instructions in their way of life.

They will come to appreciate that this is the way to possess wisdom, and God’s favor. Attaining that wisdom comes with prayerful effort. But those who turn their back on the word of God will not be among those who will be rewarded with life everlasting at the end of that time.

Those students will learn that in our natural state all mankind possess little of what is for most of us the acquired capacity to comprehend or appreciate the more intricate facts of life. Biologically we are animals, and apart from education, we will naturally act like animals.

Only if we are taught wisdom, will we no longer stumble like the deaf and blind through life. We need not search far to find the highly instructive words of God, spoken first by the prophets and then by his son Jesus Christ. Jesus said to his disciples, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about...My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” - John 4:34.

This is that same instruction spoken of by Wisdom, which she has set upon her table – Proverbs 8:1-11. Those students will be invited, as we have been, to go into Wisdom’s fine house, supported by the pillars of the faith, like James, Peter and John (Galatians 2:9), in which she declares the following.

• “The fear [deep respect] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.”

The teachers will not only be able inform their students of the wisdom of God by referring to the figurative woman Wisdom, but also to adopt the figure used by Solomon of the other woman.

• “The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.”

Folly’s voice is louder than soft-spoken Wisdom’s - she is insistent on getting your attention. Once Folly has your attention, you will see how sexy and attractive she is: “Live dangerously and have some excitement!”, she says. Her way is easy. Wisdom makes you spend time and effort and energy, reading and studying the word of God. But Folly closes the book, and says, “have fun instead - ignorance is bliss”.

Folly also has her house, but there is no banquet of spiritual food and drink there. She invites you to spend as much time as possible on increasing your worldly riches. If you must lie and cheat to get the good things of this life, then she will approve.

• “...she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”