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"The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute."
Turning to Isa. 25: we may notice some further limitations that may at first surprise
us. A feast is to be made unto all peoples, but it is to be held "in this mountain" (verse 6).
The veil that is cast over all the peoples and which is spread over all nations is to be done
away, but once again it is "in this mountain" (verse 7). In the same context we have these
two opposite thoughts:--
"He will swallow up death in victory" (verse 8).
"Moab shall be trodden down, or threshed, even as straw is threshed under the wheels
of the threshing cart" (verse 10).
This threshing of Moab is connected with the mountain of the Lord, for it reads:--
"For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be threshed, etc."
When the desert blossoms as the rose, when the eyes of the blind see, and the ears of
the deaf hear, when the ransomed of the Lord return to Zion, Isa. 35:, the same
chapter says:--
"Behold, your God will come with vengeance" (verse 4).
We must therefore be prepared to find in the millennial kingdom the execution of
judgment. Not only so, but Scripture reveals that there will be sin in that kingdom, and
death as a consequence; in other words, the king who shall reign will
"Rule them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psa. 2: 9).
That this is characteristic of millennial rule is seen by comparing Rev. 2: 27, 12: 5
and 19: 15:--
"To him that overcometh . . . . . will I give power over the nations and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron; as the vessel of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I
received of My Father" (Rev. 2: 27).
Psa. 110: which speaks also of that day reveals the Lord ruling in the midst of enemies,
judging among the nations, and filling the places with dead bodies! Strange symbols of
peace!! The Oxford Gesenius renders verse 3:--
"Thy people will be (all) voluntariness in the day of Thy host."
In marked contrast with Israel will be the feigned and constrained obedience of the
nations. The marginal reading of Psa. 18: 44 is:--
"The sons of the stranger shall yield feigned obedience unto Me."
So again in Psa. 66: 3 and 81: 15. The character of this kingdom is moreover
manifested by turning to the R.V. margin of Dan. 9: 24--"To restrain transgression".
This idea of restraint is seen in the fact that during this period Satan will be bound, but
not destroyed. Psa. 21: 1-13; 48: 4-7; 66: 7; 68: 21; 72: 9-14; and 97: 1-7