In 1996 the State of Israel celebrated the 3000th anniversary of the Ark of the Covenant being brought to Jerusalem by King David. Although Saul was the first king, he was rejected by the Lord for disobedience and the Kingdom of Israel commenced with David. If the date of 1996 is correct, it indicates that the Ark was placed in Jerusalem in 1004 B.C. This date, I believe, marks the beginning of the Kingdom of Israel. Prior to 1004 B.C. King David lived in nearby Hebron.

Many years ago Dr. J. R. Church discovered that the Psalms followed the theme of the 20th Century, year by year. For confirmation of this, read Psalms 35 through 44, which parallel 1935 through 1944 and the dark times for the Jewish people during the Holocaust of Hitler. These Psalms are a cry for help against evil and wicked men.

The reason I bring this to your attention is that Psalm 96, following the theme of 1996 according to Dr. Church, quotes from First Chronicles 16:23-33, which is David’s song of praise after bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. I do not believe that this is a coincidence.

Luke 2:2 tells us that Jesus was born during the census that occurred when Quirinius was governor. According to historians this would have occurred in 4 B.C., exactly 1,000 years after the Kingdom of Israel was initiated by David. Jesus, the promised Messiah, was the culmination of the Kingdom, and it had lasted for 1,000 years. We know that the Jews rejected the Messiah, as prophesied, and the Kingdom came to a close with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (70 A.D.) and the later Roman deportation of the Jews from Israel (135 A.D.).

We know that the Lord created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh. Following the statements of Moses (Psalm 90:4) and Peter (Second Peter 3:8), both the Jews and the early Church believed that a day was like a thousand years and the Lord would strive with mankind and Satan for six “days” and rest on the seventh “day” or thousand year period.

According to Biblical history, we are near the seventh, and final, millennium or 1,000 year period of human history. This period of time is prophesied in the Old Testament as a time of honor and peace for Israel, and in the New Testament as a time when Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords and Satan will be locked up.

In the last lesson I wrote of the testimony of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, who tried to tell the Jews that they always got it wrong the first time. This same theme applies to the Kingdom of Israel. The first Kingdom was a failure. But the second time the prophesied Kingdom will come to pass. Foreigners will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Isaiah 60:10), the wealth of the nations will be brought to Israel (Isaiah 60:5) and the Children of Israel will inherit their land forever. (Isaiah 60:21).

This second, and glorious, Kingdom corresponds to the Millennial Kingdom of the Revelation chapter 20. If six-thousand years of human history have passed, then the seventh thousand, the Millennium, is near. Even so, come Lord Jesus!