Author Archives: Pastor David Havard
What Does Forever “with the Lord” Mean?
When the Apostle Paul wrote about our state after the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, he said, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Some people have asked if this statement means that the Body of Christ will return with the Lord at His Second Coming. Others have asked if it means that we will be with the Lord on earth during the Millennium.
Questions like these reveal a misunderstanding of what Paul meant when he said we would be “with the Lord.” While that phrase can refer to physical proximity, that is not its meaning here. And once we change how we understand it, we change how we answer questions about being “with Him” at the Second Coming or during the Millennium.
What Paul meant by “with the Lord” is not geographical proximity but relational union. We know this because Paul uses similar wording to speak of our relationship to Him and not physical proximity. In Colossians 3:3, he wrote that our life is “hid with Christ in God,” though Christ is in heaven and we are on earth. And in Ephesians 2:6, he wrote that we are seated together in Christ “in heavenly places” though we are physically here. In his letters, being “with Christ” or “in Christ” describes our shared life, identity, and destiny with Him, not our physical location.
Once we are raptured, we will never be separated from Christ again—we will never be outside His care, authority, or presence. We will always belong to Him in the realm He places us. Paul did not mean that wherever Jesus goes physically, the Body of Christ must accompany Him.
With this understanding of what it means to be forever “with the Lord,” we can more clearly answer the questions of whether the Body of Christ must return with Him at the Second Coming or needs to be with Him on earth during the Millennium. And the short answer to both questions is “No.”
But even if we did not understand what Paul meant by the term “with the Lord,” we should understand that the Body of Christ is not associated with the Second Coming because it deals 100% with Israel’s prophetic program on earth and has nothing to do with our heavenly mystery program. And when Revelation 19 describes Christ returning with armies of heaven, that is referring to angelic hosts, not the Body of Christ.
This same dispensational distinctive also shows that the Body of Christ will not inhabit the Millennium. The Millennium deals with Israel’s kingdom, Israel’s land, Israel’s covenants, Israel’s Messiah ruling from Jerusalem, and Israel’s resurrected saints reigning on earth. The Body of Christ has no covenant, no land promise, and no earthly kingdom role. Our realm is heavenly, and Paul never moves us out of it.
To be dispensationally consistent, we must understand that after the Rapture, the Body of Christ will be caught up to heaven and remain there. We do not return to earth with Christ or participate in Israel’s earthly kingdom because our sphere of blessing is heavenly, not earthly. There is nothing in Paul’s writings to indicate that we will have anything to do with this prophetic time. Instead, he consistently locates our destiny in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3; 2:6-7; Phil 3:20-21).
So, what does being forever “with the Lord” mean for us? It means that we will never be separated from Christ. We will always share His life, glory, and heavenly position. We will be in the realm where He is for us—the heavenly places. Our union with Him is eternal and unbreakable. Being with the Lord forever does not require following Him to earth, participating in Israel’s prophetic events, or being physically present in the Millennium.
Millennial Sacrifices
While understanding the dispensational distinctions between Israel (with it’s earthly prophetic program) and the Body of Christ (with her heavenly unprophesied program) answers most of the supposed soteriological and eschatological contradictions in the Bible, some questions remain. One of these questions which is brought up from time-to-time is regarding the purpose of the blood sacrifices which will be offered to God in the Millennial Temple. This question is usually asked along the lines of, “Since Hebrews 9:12 says that Jesus was the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, why will blood sacrifices again be offered during the Millennium?”
To better understand the answer to this question, we will first briefly look at the Mosaic sacrificial system. Then we will see what Scripture has to say about the Millennial Temple and its sacrificial system. And finally, we will compare the two to try to gain insight into the purpose of the Millennial blood sacrifices.
The Mosaic Sacrificial System
After Israel was freed from their Egyptian bondage, God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20-31; Lev. 1-25). The Mosaic Law was much more than just the Ten Commandments. God also gave Moses detailed instructions regarding the building of the Tabernacle (and all its furnishings), the Levitical priesthood (including their vestments, ordination, and how they were to carry out their priestly duties), and the requirements for the many sacrifices that the people were to give.
God went into great detail when He told Moses how to construct the Tabernacle, and He admonished Moses to be sure to construct it all according to the pattern which God had showed him (Ex. 25:9,40; Num. 8:4). What pattern did God show him? Hebrews 8:5 adds additional information and tells us that God showed Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle when he was on Mt. Sinai: “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
While on Mt. Sinai, Moses was not only told, but also shown what to do. Moses was directed to build the earthly Tabernacle based on his vision of the heavenly Temple—it was a pattern to be copied. Thus, we see that the entire Levitical sacrificial system was a type or “shadow of heavenly things.”
What was the purpose of the blood sacrifices in the Levitical system in the Tabernacle and Old Testament Temple? Scripture tells us that they were to “make atonement” for sin (Ex. 29:36-37; 30:10; Lev. 1:4; 4:20; et al). The word “atonement” (Hebrew kâphar) means to cover. Interestingly, it is the same word translated as “pitch” in Genesis 6:14, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”
The ark was given a covering (an atonement) that protected it from the judgment of God’s flood waters upon the world. Likewise, the blood sacrifices of the Levitical system provided a covering over Israel’s sins and uncleanness which protected them from God’s judgment and allowed a holy God to remain in their presence. Thus, Noah’s ark, like the blood sacrifices of the Levitical system, is a type of Christ. The blood sacrifices of the Levitical system did not remove or expiate sin but only provided a covering—as we read in Hebrews 10:4, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
Under the Mosaic Law, blood sacrifices were required to cover Israel’s sin both to avert God’s judgment and to allow God’s holy presence to remain with them. After years of hard-heartedness and rebellion, as evidenced by phony worship to God (offering sacrifices to Him without the right heart attitude, Isa. 1:11-14) and outright idolatry (worship of other gods, 2 Kings 17:13-18), we see that God had finally had enough and removed His glory from the Temple (Ezek. 10:18-22). Though Israel continued to offer sacrifice, God’s Shekinah glory never returned to Israel’s Temple (neither Solomon’s nor Herod’s).
The Millennial Temple and It’s Sacrificial System
Moving from the Levitical worship system of the past, we now want to look at the Millennial worship system of the future. The most extensive treatment of the Millennial Temple and its worship is given in Ezekiel chapters 40-46. The dimensions of the Temple and its surrounding area listed in Ezekiel chapters 40-42 show that it will be larger than before—just the Temple itself will be about one mile square (Ezek. 42:15-20). Ezekiel 44:15-16 shows that only Levitical priests who are descended from Zadok will serve there. And Ezekiel 45:13-17 (along with Isa. 56:7; Jer. 33:18) reveals that there will be blood sacrifices offered on the altar in the Millennial Temple.
Comparing the worship and sacrifices of the Solomonic and Millennial Temples, we see that both will require blood sacrifices. We previously saw that the reason for blood sacrifices under the old Levitical worship system was to provide atonement or a covering for Israel’s sin (Ex. 29:36-37; 30:10; Lev. 1:4; 4:20). What then will be the purpose of blood sacrifices in the Millennium?
Well, Ezekiel says that these sacrifices will be offered for the same reason that they were offered in the previous Temple—to “reconcile” or make atonement for Israel (Ezek. 45:15,17,20). But why is atonement still required for Israel if Christ has already offered Himself once-for-all (Heb. 9:12)?
The Purpose of the Millennial Blood Sacrifices
The problem is answered once we realize that we are asking the wrong question. The problem is that we erroneously equate blood sacrifices with the expiation of sin. But as Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” The blood of sacrificial animals never took away sin. It did not purge sin in the previous Temple worship system and neither will it purge sin in the future Millennial Temple. Blood sacrifices have nothing to do with the forgiveness of sin. Rather, in both Temple worship systems, blood sacrifices cover sin—and that is the key to understanding their significance in both the past and the future.
A common reason given for the blood sacrifices in the Millennial Temple is that they are memorials that look back to Christ’s sacrifice—just as under the Law, the theory goes, they looked forward to Christ’s work on the cross. However, there is only one problem with this supposition: nowhere in Scripture are these sacrifices ever said to be “memorials.”
We previously mentioned that God’s glory had departed from the Temple (Ezek. 10:18-22). Now, let us go back to Ezekiel for a passage that we deliberately did not mention before. Ezekiel 43:2-5 reveals that in the Millennium, God’s Shekinah glory will return and once again fill the Temple. In the Millennium, “the glory of the God of Israel” (Ezek. 43:2), “the glory of the Lord,” (Ezek. 43:4), will “fill the house [Temple]” (Ezek. 43:5) just as it did in the days of Moses (Ex. 40:34) and Solomon (1 Kings 8:11).
God cannot abide in the presence of sin (Psa. 5:5; Hab. 1:13). Anything in His presence that is not 100% holy would be destroyed by His glory (Ex. 33:20). In the Millennial Kingdom, God’s glory will once again fill the Temple; so how will Jews and Gentiles in their natural bodies be able to worship Him in the Temple as required?
Provision must be made whereby unholy man can approach and worship a holy God. As in the Tabernacle and the old Temple, the blood of sacrificial animals in the Millennial Temple will provide a covering or atonement over their ceremonial uncleanness so God can be in their presence without destroying them.
The Book of Hebrews was written to Kingdom Jews to show them the absolute superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ over Moses, the Law, and their sacrificial system. The Jews had come to place faith in the wrong thing—the works of the Law (including blood sacrifices) for salvation instead of the work of their Messiah on their behalf.
Using the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ in Hebrews chapter 10 to question the purpose of blood sacrifices in the Millennium is to miss the point of both the Book of Hebrews and the Millennial sacrifices. The purpose of the Book of Hebrews is for Kingdom Jews to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ instead of the works of the Law. The purpose of blood sacrifices in the Millennium is to provide atonement (a covering) for man’s uncleanness so he can enter into God’s presence to worship Him.