Let us scroll ahead to Micah 4, verses 1-5 reiterating this promise of world peace and Millennial joy.
The Millennial Sabbath has multiple spiritual implications, including:
Rest from Sin and Spiritual Warfare - which God's saints have had to endure since their calling. When Satan is bound (Revelation 20:2-3) humanity will experience relief from continuous deception and temptation, allowing widespread knowledge of Almighty God (Isaiah 11:9): proclaiming The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea). This abundance of knowledge, also described in Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; and Jeremiah 31:31-34, represents the fulfillment of God's sanctification process, in which believers enter a state of holiness and direct communion with Christ.
Role of the Saints - Resurrected believers (the Bride of Christ) will rule as priests and kings (Revelation 5:10, 20:6) embodying God's glory as glorified spirit beings, shepherding survivors, the remnants of Jacob's family as well as Gentiles. This Millennial practicum implies a period of teaching and spiritual growth, preparing for eternity.
Sabbath Observance - Prophecies (including Isaiah 66:23) reinforce the seventh day Sabbath will be universally kept during the Millennium. The Millennial Sabbath contains several societal and global implications such as:
a) Peace and Justice: Some have proclaimed the Millennium as a golden age without war, poverty, or oppression; perhaps a divine mandate to ‘Make the World Great Again (MWGA) ushering in a theocratic government under Jesus Christ, resolving human failures like democracy, nationalism, or tolerance for or legalizing sin, which the children of Jacob have had to endure recently.
b) Population and Survivors: Post-Tribulation survivors (namely those who endured judgments like the Four Horseman or plagues) will repopulate Earth under Christ's rule. Some suggest that the massive depopulation beforehand during the Trumpet Plagues will finally lead to a humbled society, focused on rebuilding and repentance.
c) Environmental Restoration: Finally, the Earth can rest from vicious human exploitation, akin to a Sabbatical Year for land ( Leviticus 25:4). The curses from Genesis 3 (thorns, toil, painful childbirth) are finally lifted, resulting in blessed abundance and harmony, where even wolves and lambs can peacefully live together (Isaiah 65:20-25).
As we are gathered here today in Myrtle Beach to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, we have caught a glimpse, a tiny foretaste of the glorious Millennial Sabbath, when our Lord and Savior will return to bring true rest and lasting peace to a weary world. My mentor, the late Bob Hoops, used to tell the Rapid City congregation that we should consider the weekly Sabbath as a miniature Feast of Tabernacles, which is a miniature Millennium, which is a miniature new heavens and earth.
Every weekly Sabbath, bearing God's watermark or signature - the ubiquitous number seven - we keep it as a rehearsal for that magnificent day, a moment to practice the rest and rule we will share with our Savior. Brother and sisters, the Sabbath simplifies our lives today by anchoring us to God's eternal plan.
We need to make sure that we do not measure our identity with our work, our achievements, or the chaos of this world, but in our calling as God's sanctified saints. Let us embrace the Sabbath with joy, knowing that each seventh day which we honor brings us closer to the day when we reign with Christ, bringing rest to all nations. Let us go forth from this Feast in Myrtle Beach with renewed zeal to keep God's holy Sabbath, for it is our sign, our delight, and our destiny.
