By Jesse M. Jackson
President Donald Trump recently credited God for saving his life through two assassination attempts to “make America great again” and declared that “the golden age of America begins right now.”
What exactly does President Trump mean by vowing that the golden age of America begins now? It means, by his definition, that America as a nation “will flourish and be respected again” and “be the envy of every nation.”
According to Trump, it refers to America becoming “far more exceptional than ever before” and having our sovereignty, safety, and justice restored. Trump also defined it as a time of giving “people back their faith, their weath, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”
Trump also vowed, to begin “the complete restoration of America” through common sense decisions and by not forgetting “our Constitution” nor “our God.” Trump then stated, that his “proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier.”
The question we want to focus on is: Will this restoration that is predicted to come, indeed, be the golden age of America? If so, will it bring “a new spirit of unity to the world” and peace? We consider this question as it relates to the future events predicted in the Bible.
Even though it is not wrong to desire peace and unity (Rom. 12:18), according to Scripture, this golden age on earth cannot and will not fully come, until the Prince of Peace arrives.
The Bible is clear that sinful men and women can never produce a lasting peace or any type of desired paradise. That paradise was permanently lost when Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God in the garden. This is why Paul warned Timothy that in the last days, expect the times to become increasingly more evil, intensify, and get worse (2 Tim. 3:13).
Nevertheless, the Bible predicts and foretells an event that is to come, which will be the culmination of all of history. This event involves the reign of Jesus Christ on earth as King and Lord and will bring about a literal golden age of peace, prosperity, and unity known as the millennial kingdom.
During this age, according to the Bible, the world will flourish under the rule of the Prince of Peace, who will judge perfectly and immediately the limited amount of evil and rebellion that exist (Isa. 11:1-16) and which will be a time unlike any other, one of unrestricted peace and prosperity, the likes of which the world has never seen.
This event involves the reign of Jesus Christ on earth as King and Lord and will bring about a literal golden age of peace, prosperity, and unity known as the millennial kingdom.
Zechariah 14:9 says,
“And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.” The following verses 16-21 in Zechariah continue explaining what this Millennial kingdom will be like.
The Millennial kingdom is also described in various other Old Testament passages, like Psalm 2:6-9; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:6-9; 65:18-23; Jeremiah 31:12-14, 31-37; Ezekiel 34:25-29; 37:1-6; 40-48; Daniel 2:35; 7:13-14; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14; Micah 4:1-7; and Zephaniah 3:9-20, to name a few. In addition, the New Testament also refers to this Kingdom age such as Matthew 5:1-20; 19:27-30; 26:27-29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; and Revelation 20.
Even though we can determine much of what this kingdom will be like from the many given passages listed in the Bible, it is not until we arrive at Revelation 20, that we discover the duration of this Kingdom period, which will be 1,000 years.
Until this golden age known as the Millennium (when Jesus Christ reigns in righteousness for 1,000 years), the world can only taste and experience at best, false peace and instability that unregenerate man apart from God has to offer. That type of peace is empty and temporary (2 Thess. 2:1-12). Even the Antichrist, who will act as the consummate unifier during the Tribulation period, will be hailed as the greatest peacemaker the world has ever seen, yet, to the world’s surprise will only be able to offer a false peace.
Again, this is not to say that as Christians we do not pray and hope for God to act graciously and mercifully to America, by asking God to bless it and by maintaining and supporting righteous standards and opposing evil ones (2 Chronicles 7:13,14; Proverbs 14:34; Philippians 4:6-7). But it is to say, that we realize that true peace can only be fully established on earth by the Prince of Peace.
Nevertheless, until the reign of Christ on the earth, we would do well to understand that man will always be desperately striving to produce a permanent peace, by repeated efforts of successfully uniting nations of the world. This effort by man, according to Scripture, will always result in abysmal failure to produce genuine lasting peace and unity and further predicts that “even to the end there will be war; and desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26).
Again, this is not to say that as Christians we do not pray and hope for God to act graciously and mercifully to America, by asking God to bless it and by maintaining and supporting righteous standards and opposing evil ones.
In the meantime, as Christians, we continue to pray for President Trump and our leaders and submit to the governing authorities over us (Romans 13:1-7). We also thank the Lord for the decisions and policies that President Trump and Congress implement that rightly reflect and honor the principles set forth by God in His Word with the hope of seeing His favor and blessings.
Next time, we will delve deeper by looking at some of the major features of the Millennial kingdom and what it will be like living daily in the personal and physical presence of Jesus Christ.
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