Jacob's Trouble

Chapter Fifteen 1000 Years Of Peace The Enemy Released for A Short Time

The city of Jerusalem was full of joyous celebration as the King Of The Ages took his rightful throne in the City of David. With him were the saints from all generations.

Eliyahu, Joseph, Eli and all the others from the Petra Fortress mingled with the saints. They met Elijah and Moses who were in the city a few years earlier. King David himself walked through the crowds. Many saw Billy Graham and Billy Sunday.

But there still were those who did not perish in the Tribulation and survived Jacob's Trouble. Of course, they were not celebrating Jesus' return and his victory.

One of the first on Joseph's list to visit with was his father, Jacob. Mary and Jacob were together admiring the great new temple. Their two sons and daughters walked hand in hand with their parents.

Jacob gave a smile to his son, Joseph. Joseph placed his arm around his father and kissed his cheek. Joseph smiled back at him and replied, "You need to see how beautiful the temple is."

They all turned to look at the temple and Joseph said, "It looks amazing. It's even better than I thought it would. Everything we've hoped for."

When Jacob saw the thousands of Jewish men and women standing in front of the altar in the main sanctuary, he felt nervous. Many of them bowed their heads and raised their hands high in praise to God.

Jacob noticed some faces that were familiar to him. There were old friends, teachers, family members, and many more whom he'd known for many years.

As Jacob watched the multitudes, a chill went down his spine. He thought about all the times when he was young he visited the temple of the Mount. At that time, there was no temple, but he remembered his father and grandfather taking him to hear the sermons and teachings of Rabbi Yitzhak and his assistant, Rabbi Yosef. Jacob always enjoyed listening to their teachings and studying the scriptures.

For the past two hundred years, the building of the temple had been stopped because there wasn't enough money to complete it. However, now all of that had changed. The Jews finally had their temple back, and it was bigger than anyone dreamed possible.

As Jacob looked around, he suddenly realized that something wasn't quite right. He had to ask Joseph what was going on.

Joseph told his father, "This is the holy day that God commanded. Every Jew has been waiting for this moment. We get the opportunity to celebrate the re-dedication of the temple with prayers and sacrifices to God."

With tears streaming down his face, Jacob said, "It feels good to pray and worship in the temple again."

Jacob looked around to see everyone worshiping.

Then Joseph said, "Everyone is worshipping now, and everything is peaceful and calm, but there are still others in the world, even in the millennium, that hate God and want to destroy our great city. But Yoshua destroyed the evil single-handedly. We are in the thousand years of peace throughout the whole earth.

Even after all these years, Jacob could hardly believe it. This was the millennium that the prophets talked about in their writings. It seemed almost too good to be true. Jacob wondered if this really was real.

The Millennium will continue to expand until it encompasses every nation on earth, where God's love and mercy will reach all nations and bring salvation to every human being. Yoshua will live among mankind during this period of 1000 years. This is what is called the Messianic Kingdom. No longer will there be any pain or suffering? No sickness or disease. Nothing that breaks the laws of God or destroys a person physically or spiritually. There is no injustice. Everyone will live in peace, harmony, joy, happiness and love. We will experience the glory of God in its fullest extent. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, God's presence is with us wherever we go. There will be no more wars. Not only that, but no more hunger, poverty, suffering, crime, drugs, or corruption. God will eliminate all sin forever. Life will be perfect. That is the promise of God.

As the group continued walking, Jacob thought about the past and how things had been when he was a boy. He knew that people sometimes chose to walk away from God. When they decided to ignore God's instructions, they chose the way of Satan instead. As a result, they lost God's blessings. They no longer experienced the spiritual peace, protection, security, guidance, mercy, love, forgiveness, health, prosperity, wisdom, and power that comes from obeying God. In essence, they rejected the covenant of God. Because of their rejection, their lives became a mess. God had no choice but to punish them. He allowed disasters, calamities, illnesses, diseases, famines, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, fires, murders, thefts, natural disasters, etc. To teach them that they needed to obey God. Jacob also knew that some died during those disasters and in other ways. Sometimes they died as a result of choices they made themselves. They chose to disobey God instead of obeying Him. Instead of doing what was right, they chose the wrong path. They were trapped between God and the devil. That's why they ended up in trouble. Some people wanted to repent and receive God's help. But because they refused, they fell into a trap that led to destruction. When a person is caught in a cycle of sin and misery, they become hopeless and feel trapped.

Many became despondent, believing that they would never escape from their situation. Most didn't know where to turn for help. If they reached out to God, they might not find anyone willing to help them. Some tried reaching out to other humans, but they were rejected and abandoned by those they trusted. They grew bitter and angry and chose to reject God and all his works. In desperation, they turned to whatever means they could find to try to end their pain. The Devil gladly welcomed them with open arms. But that was just temporary relief. It brought about a temporary escape from reality. Eventually, they found themselves worse off than when they started.

That is why Jacob could hardly believe that God had chosen to give them peace and comfort for 1000 years. How amazing it must be to live in that kind of peace. He could hardly wait for the rest of the people on earth to experience that same type of peace. Then there would be no more death or sorrow or pain. Everyone would live happily ever after. Jacob had heard the stories about this kingdom from the ancient prophets. It sounded like a fairy tale, but now he was living it.

In the meantime, he thought to himself, while he was glad that he and his family would be experiencing this incredible kingdom, he wished that he could share this wonderful life with his brother Abraham.

He continued looking around the city and then asked, "Is everything all right?"

Joseph responded, "Yes father, nothing to worry about."

Jacob, Joseph, and Mary continued walking around the temple mount. As they entered a large tent that served as a meeting hall for both Jews and Gentiles, they saw everyone else praying and worshiping in peace.

Jacob noticed another man in the tent who was giving a sermon. The man looked familiar to him. He kept looking at the speaker trying to figure out who he was. Finally, Joseph realized that it was Moses.

Jacob leaned over to his son and whispered, "Who is that man?"

Joseph quietly said, "Oh, that's Moses. He wrote most of the words of the Torah. Remember, you read his teachings with your father and grandfather."

Jacob looked toward the speaker and asked, "Is that really Moses speaking?"

Joseph nodded yes.

Jacob then sat down next to his wife and listened intently to what Moses was saying.

Moses began talking about how long he'd waited to see this glorious day. "It seems like a dream. It doesn't seem possible," he said.

Jacob was mesmerized by Moses. All he could think about was what Moses had done to help Israel in the desert, how he used his mighty staff to free the children of Israel from Pharaoh's slavery, and how God revealed himself to Moses and helped him lead the people safely out of Egypt. He looked forward to this time when he would meet him.

After the sermon was finished, Jacob shook hands with Moses and spoke with him for a short time.

Then Moses got up and went back into the tent.

All around them, the city of Jerusalem rang with music, laughter, and song. People ran around laughing, playing, and having fun. Many danced and sang. They were so happy to be alive and see this wonderful time of peace. Everywhere you looked, people were smiling and praising God.

Jacob looked at his son and said, "Wow! This is truly a special day."