Paradigm Shift (Part 3)

Good to all of you. It is good, again, to be together. You are in fine voice. Thank you for the song. We very much appreciate it. Wonderful words as well. Well, brethren, as we've brought out during this past series of messages that we've been looking at, humanity has been living under a paradigm.

They've been living under a paradigm for the vast majority of their history. In fact, for all of you and for all of us, we were born under this paradigm. As a result of the influence of Satan, the devil, our adversary, billions of people, have lived and have died under a specific framework and a specific system of thought. This model and this pattern of thought has been in place since the Garden of Eden, and ultimately it is responsible for a world in which deception and the manipulation of truth has created an illusion of reality.

In fact, it's an illusion of reality that society has attuned to, where evil is considered good, darkness is considered light, and bitter is considered sweet. The result has been 6,000 years of broken relationships, conflict, violence, oppression, injustice, and confusion.

And all of this is taking place within a society where they recognize that something is wrong. But they refuse to see that it's the paradigm itself that's the issue. Instead, society blames those who manifest the truth, those who reveal the truth of God, those who live by the word of God, those who speak out against these things. Those individuals are the ones that can't stand out of the way and let society progress. They're the ones who are living in the past, the ones who are sowing hate. Brethren, this paradigm that we have been under for the past 6,000 years of human history shifts when Jesus Christ returns. When the events that are symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets take place, the world reaches a critical tipping point.

And it is a point after which nothing will ever be the same again. There's no going back at that point. The old ways are done. The old ways are done. The process of paradigm shift, the actual process going from one paradigm to the next, is something, as we spoke of on Trumpets, is inherently messy. It's something that's messy. It's a period of time that's transitional in nature, meaning that, you know, it's in this transitional period in which these things are taking place.

There are conflicting worldviews during this time period. There's a time period in which the old paradigm is clearly no longer sufficient, but the new paradigm has not yet fully taken hold. And so you have this messy period of upheaval which takes place when there's conflict between the existing norm and the emerging ideas that begin to butt heads, so to speak. It's a time in which there's resistance and there's fundamental challenges of letting go of patterns of thought and behavior that have been entrenched and ingrained in human society for so long that they are believed to be truth.

As those who go through these events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ transition from this old paradigm to the coming new paradigm, it's going to take some time for these things to level out. It's going to take some time for the thoughts and the attempts of the human heart to align with Godly standards. But brethren, when it finally does, mankind will experience a new framework of thought.

Mankind will experience a new default setting, if you will. It will experience a new default setting. One that is based in truth, that is based in justice, based in mercy, based in righteousness. Every aspect of society will be influenced by this new paradigm. Because for the first time in human history since the Garden of Eden, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Today, we're going to take some time here to explore this new paradigm. We're going to look at three specific components that take place in setting this paradigm up and in establishing this paradigm that makes it different than what we've seen in the world to this point.

These three components really are what make what we see represented by the millennial reign of Jesus Christ possible, for the millennium to become what Scripture describes it to be. The title in this third message in this series is Paradigm Shift Part 3, and that is the new paradigm. The first of those components that takes place is the knowledge of God being restored. If you begin today by turning over to Isaiah 11, we're going to begin in the book of Isaiah, and we take a look at the first foundational component that leads to the establishment of this new paradigm.

So this is the foundational component. This is the thing that allows all the other things to begin to take place. Isaiah 11, and we'll pick up a prophecy here from the prophet Isaiah, and in this prophecy are some incredible imagery. I mean, as we read through this, picture it. See it in your head as we read these things. Some of these incredible descriptions of this coming time. In fact, for many years, our church seal, this imagery was on our church seal, you know, for a number of years. And I don't know about you, but when I think of the Feast of Tabernacles, you know, these days that we're about to go and to commemorate, this is what I think of in my head when I think of the millennium. Isaiah 11, we'll pick it up in verse 6. Isaiah 11 and verse 6. It says, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Hear these animals that for all of human history have been these ferocious predatory animals. And we're at a point now where a young child could lead them around. Where they would lay down with the very prey that they chased for so long. It says, verse 7, The cow and the bear shall graze. Well, we know that now the cow does, but what? The bear will graze? The young one shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. Verse 9, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all of my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This passage in Isaiah 11 provides a stark contrast between the current paradigm that we experience today, one in which pain and suffering seems natural, seems normal, seems part of the status quo, and a time in the future in which these things will be no more. Isaiah illustrates what we know and what we consider to be this world tomorrow. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all of my holy mountain. Brethren, what does that mean? What does that entail? What makes that possible? Verse 9. Take a look at verse 9. Following that statement, he says, There's a similar description in Habakkuk 2 and verse 14, and you can write that down in your notes if you'd like. We won't turn there. But Habakkuk records that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So it's not just knowledge of God's ways, it's not just knowledge of God's laws, but knowledge of His very nature. Knowledge of His very nature. His glory, the beauty, the splendor, the perfection of His divine character as revealed through His attributes and revealed through His works. It says the knowledge of these things will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

You know, it's one of the things that's always amazed me is the sheer volume of water that's on this planet. You know, for those of you that have flown internationally or you've gone to other places, if you've ever flown across the Atlantic or you've flown across the Pacific Oceans, you leave the shore of your country and you leave that land behind. And there are times where you're in the air for hours upon hours upon hours, and as you look out the window, there's nothing but water for hours and hours.

And hours as you fly. That is an incredible amount of water. In fact, people who apparently can do math better than me have ascertained that there's 139 million square miles of water in the oceans. 139 million square miles per perspective. The United States has approximately 3.8 million square miles of land. So 139 million square miles is approximately 36-ish United States-es-es. I'm not sure what the plural of United States-es-es would be. But it doesn't tell the entire story. It's not just square miles that matters. The ocean's average depth is about two to two and a half miles deep. On average, some places certainly shallower, some places certainly deeper. But when you consider that, the volume of water that is on this planet is just mind-boggling.

It's absolutely mind-boggling. The point is that the knowledge of God, the knowledge of His glory, is going to saturate this earth. It is going to saturate this earth. And just as the waters of the sea find their way into all the caverns and crevices and depths of the earth's surface now, the truth of God is going to pervade every recess of this earth, every location on this earth. And brethren, that knowledge and that understanding is going to change the world forever. It'll change the world forever. The eyes of man will be open to the truth of God. The eyes of man will have the men will have opportunity to learn the things that were previously closed off to them. That truth, that nature of God will be poured forth, and all who dwell on the earth will have the opportunity to learn and to understand His ways. And it will change this creation. It will change His creation. It will change everything that is within it. Just a little over a week ago, a battle took place that pitted 12 contestants in a life and death struggle. Only one winner could be selected, and the competition was fierce. It was fat bear week.

Fat bear week. Some of you may be familiar with fat bear week. Others of you may not be. Every year, at the peak of the salmon run in the Katmai National Park of Alaska, the brown bears of that area, in an effort to fatten themselves up for hibernation, perch themselves in the middle of the falls where the salmon have to bottleneck and jump through them. And those bears essentially just sit there in the water with their mouths open, catching salmon. It's a little more work than that, but honestly not much more. This is the image from every nature show you've ever seen, usually in slow motion, as the bear sits there with their mouth agape and the fish jumps, and the bear goes and catches the salmon. This is the thing you've seen from every single nature show you've seen where they talk about this sort of thing. But Fat Bear Week has become an internet sensation. It doesn't take much to become an internet sensation, but Fat Bear Week has become an internet sensation. People watch via webcam. They watch online via webcam. There's webcams positioned all around the falls, and they can watch these bears just sit and eat salmon. And then as the week goes on, they vote for the fattest bear, and the fattest bear rises to the top.

This year, the winner was a 1,200-pound male with a broken jaw named Chunk. Chunk beat out another large female by the name of Flo-Tato to take the crown. I don't know. Flo-Tato's a pretty good name, to be honest. You know, as these bears prepare for hibernation, they need calories. Salmon, it turned out, are very efficient vessels of calories. It's not their fault. They don't even know they're delicious.

But they're full of protein. They're rich in Omega oils. They make the perfect food for soon-to-hybrid-ate Kodiak bears. During the peak of the salmon run, it's estimated that those bears will eat up to 30 salmon per day per bear. And if you've ever seen the pictures, it's not one or two bears. There's a significant number of bears that are up there. The number that they actually said was that they will eat upwards of 600-plus pounds of salmon per bear per year in an effort to prepare for hibernation.

When the events of Isaiah 11 and verse 6 take place, the nature of animals changes. The nature of animals changes. No more will they hurt. No more will they harm. Their very nature will change. And those predatory carnivorous Kodiak bears that, if we were standing next to them at the shoulder, would be about yea-high on all fours. These massive, massive bears will be able to be led around by a small child. That is so different than what we're experiencing today. These animals will eat straw like an ox.

Their fundamental character, their fundamental nature changes as a result of the knowledge of God being poured out. Just as the fundamental nature of humanity will change as a result of the same thing. So we might ask ourselves, what makes it so different? What makes this paradigm so different than what we experience now? After all, the truth of God has been revealed. It's been proclaimed. It's been preached to the world as a witness. What makes this coming time period so vastly different than what we see in our current paradigm?

How is it something completely and totally new? Let's turn over to Revelation 20. Revelation 20. You know, the Holy Days of God cannot be separated from each other. They are connected in such a way that they experience a certain degree of, we might say, irreducible complexity. In other words, you can't have what comes during the millennial period of Christ without the events that are symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.

You know, as we gather together here in the coming weeks to commemorate these days, we're commemorating the whole package of these Holy Days. Yes, we're focused on the Feast of Tabernacles, but we're commemorating the entire package. Revelation 20, we'll pick it up in verse 1. Revelation 20 and verse 1. It says, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were finished. But after those things, he must be released for a little while. What makes this paradigm so different? The author of the prior paradigm is removed. He can go forth and deceive no more. For a thousand years, the people of this earth will experience the unfiltered truth of God.

It's not being filtered through Satan's manipulation. It's not being filtered through a distortion. It's not being brought out and brought to bear, and then someone coming along and going, Well, what about this? Have you considered this? You know, the various things that we see all the time. That truth of God will be poured out upon the land, and all who dwell on the earth will have the opportunity to understand that truth. No more deception, no more lies, no more manipulation. You know, we've reached a point in our current paradigm where it's extremely difficult to know what's true.

I'm sure many of you have experienced this, but you look out and it's very difficult to know what's true. We live in a world of situational ethics. You know, for many people, what is true, quote-unquote, depends on the circumstances. We live in a time of subjective reality in which individual definitions of truth matter. My truth can be different than your truth. Right? We live in an era of just, quite frankly, outright falsehood.

Okay, we live in an era of outright falsehood as well. Artificial intelligence, which up to just a couple of years ago, used to be pretty easy to tell what was false, used to be pretty easy to tell what was false, has improved to a point that unless there's something so outlandish that it's completely obvious, subtly generated AI things are very, very difficult to ascertain what is true and what is not.

And unfortunately, it's only going to get worse as AI models improve. As AI models get better, they're going to become better at generating things that look realistic. They're going to become better at generating things that sound realistic. Soon, and I mean soon, within the next couple of years, I mean, we're almost there now, you won't even be able to believe what you see and what you hear. Because who knows if it's been generated by an artificial intelligence. The current paradigm in which we live now is founded on deception. Satan, as the father of lies, is its author.

But when Christ returns, when we ultimately see Satan's influence put away during that 1000 years of the millennium, mankind will receive objective truth, facts, that which is undeniable. And for the first time since the Garden of Eden, the truth of God will not be undermined by Satan and his tactics. People will receive the truth of God, and the effect that that has on the world is significant. Let's turn over to Zechariah 8. Zechariah 8, we'll turn over and see a millennial passage here in which God speaks to the restoration of Israel and Judah. Zechariah 8, and we'll go ahead and we'll pick it up in verse 1. Zechariah 8 and verse 1. This gives us an idea of what the effect of this truth being poured out on the world is.

What does this look like? Actually, in real application of people at that time, what are they doing with this? Zechariah 8 and verse 1 says, Again, the word of the Lord of Hosts came, saying, Thus says the Lord of Hosts. It says, I am zealous for Zion with great zeal, with great fervor. I am zealous for her. Thus says the Lord, I will return to Zion, dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the holy mountain.

So God, speaking here through Zechariah, professes his zeal for Zion. He has a fervent zeal for her, and because of that, he'll return to Zion, dwelling in the very midst of his people, in the very midst of Jerusalem. He says it will be known as the holy mountain that connects that prophecy in Isaiah 9.

But not only that, notice verse 3. Notice verse 3. Jerusalem will be the city of truth. From Jerusalem will flow the truth of God. From the holy mountain of God, the truth will go out. In the midst of this, there's an expectation of God for his people.

There's an expectation. Pop down to verse 16. Pop down to verse 16. Zechariah 8 and verse 16. These are the things you shall do. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor.

Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace. Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor. Do not love a false oath, for all of these are things that I hate, says the Lord. Brethren, can you even imagine? You imagine a world in which everyone speaks truth to their neighbor?

You imagine every single interaction that you have with someone else, truth is the foundational aspect of that interaction. There's no attempt at deception. There's no little white lies. There's no withholding information in order to gain advantage.

Can you imagine a world in which truth is so prevalent, so prevalent, that it forms the fundamental basis of how society operates? For a one thousand year period, such that eventually, when Satan is released, at the end of that thousand years, the lie will feel as strange and foreign to the masses as the truth of God seems today. Can you imagine that? That's what's coming. People will operate in truth with their neighbor. And that truth that flows outward from the very nature of God, from His holy mountain, changes the nature and the way that man interacts, from the most personal of relationships, person to person, even to those that are built on social contracts and authorities, such as that of the person and their government. That foundation of truth will flow justice, and finally will flow peace. The second component that is involved in this process, after the truth of God that was poured out in this way, is that godly government and leadership will be restored. Godly government and leadership will be restored. And these things, justice and peace, can't occur without this foundation of truth being in place in the first place. True justice today is elusive. You know, you look at the world around us. Justice is elusive. In our current paradigm, we see judgments that are rendered which are self-serving. They're biased. They're decided at times upon to fit an agenda or a narrative that they wish to have advanced. Decisions that are made, judgments that are made. Satan's ongoing deception in this paradigm renders true justice next to impossible. Next to impossible. Crimes are judged on a standard that is not of God. It's judged on a standard which is of this world. Those who commit crimes, contrary to the law of God, are often released back into society in this guided attempt at mercy only to offend again. If they do receive punishment for their crimes, frequently it's a slap on the wrist or a reduced sentence while the victims themselves cry aloud for justice. Now at times, those victims cry aloud for vengeance. Justice and vengeance are not the same thing. But at times, they cry aloud for vengeance. Despite them feeling the same, they are not the same thing. Habakkuk 1 and verse 4.

We see that this is a common thread throughout this last 6,000 years of history. This has been a time, in fact, in which we've seen similar situations take place in the past. Habakkuk 1 and verse 4 says, Therefore the law is powerless. Justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, and therefore perverse judgment proceeds. As a result of deception, as a result of this lack of truth, perverse judgment proceeds because there is no justice. There's no true justice. True justice is extremely difficult in a world in which deception reigns. It requires wisdom. It requires a knowledge of God. Recall the story of Solomon in 1 Kings 3. You're welcome to turn there if you'd like and follow along with the story. I'm just going to summarize it for you. It's a tragic story. It's a very tragic story. As you read through this, these two women, both mothers, had children within days of one another. So these two women had children within days of one another. One of the women in the night accidentally laid on her son and he died. She rolled over on her son, laid upon him, and he suffocated. He died as a result.

And so she attempted to claim the other woman's child as her own. She attempted to claim the other woman's child as her own. And now these two women have come to Solomon for a judgment. Both claim to be the mother of the child. There were no witnesses. It is one woman's story against the other. One of those women is telling the truth. One of those women knows she is lying. There is deception present in this scenario. Human governments today to decide this case would rely on, perhaps hearsay. No witnesses. So hearsay, potentially. They might rely on bias. They might rely on legal loopholes to try to establish that decision.

One woman might be believed over the other based on her social standing, although I guess in this scenario they were both harlots. Their influence, perhaps, maybe they had influence with this particular judge, or maybe they had a better, more articulate argument. And so they are more apt to be believed in that way. But instead what we see here is that Solomon, guided by a knowledge of God, guided by wisdom given by God, cut right through the deception.

He discerned the truth by testing their hearts. And in testing their hearts, the real mother's love was revealed. And the judgment was rendered. True justice cannot exist in a world in which deception reigns. Because true justice depends on accurate facts. It depends on a fair representation of reality. Truth creates the factual foundation upon which fair judgment is made. And without it, justice cannot be achieved. Because the judgment is based on misinformation, personal bias, or it leads to some sort of an unfair or oppressive outcome.

When Satan's influence and dominion is removed, when the governments of this world transition to God's authority and God's dominion, perverse judgment will no longer proceed forth from these institutions. It will no longer proceed forth from governmental institutions. Let's go back over to Jeremiah 11. We already read verses 6... I'm sorry, Isaiah 11. We've already read verses 6 through 11 of Isaiah 11, but I'd like to pick it up a little bit earlier here in verse 3.

Isaiah 11 and verse 3, because we see the effect of godly government. We see the effect of godly government and leadership, godly leadership, on judgment and on justice. Isaiah 11 and verse 3, What we see here is that Jesus Christ is the perfect judge. He's a perfect judge. He doesn't judge by the sight of his eyes. He doesn't judge by the hearing of his ears.

He's not influenced by what he hears or what he sees. Someone shows up to court in a nice suit, and the other person shows up in rags. The decision is not going one direction or the other. He's not influenced by what he sees or hears in that sense. He exhibits no partiality, no bias. He doesn't have one judgment for the poor and one for the rich.

He judges all with righteousness. Judges all with righteousness. Psalm 119 and 172 states, All of your commandments are righteousness. All of your commandments are righteousness. You know, in this new paradigm, Christ will judge the earth. He will judge the nations with the exact same standard. The law of God. The law of God will be the standard upon which all will be judged. No longer will there be legal loopholes. No more legal loopholes. No more ways around the rule. Mr. Hansen gave the split sermon in Eugene this morning, and he was telling a story about a gentleman back during the time of worldwide, when they had gone to the feast in China.

And he was talking about how there were all these rules at the feast in China. And everybody was just like, oh, more rules. And he said, the guy one morning came out and he said, here's the deal. Here's the rules. Here's the expectations. Here's the things that you have to do. And he said, if you think that you're an exception to the rule, please come and talk to me, and I'll explain to you that you're not.

There is no more legal loopholes. There are no more exceptions to the rule. It is the law of God, period. And going forward, that's incredible, because what that instills is that everybody's playing by the same rules. Everybody knows the rules of the game. There is no more, well, I wasn't really sure, I'm not sure how this all works. What a breath of fresh air from the current paradigm, in which sometimes the rules aren't even known. I don't even know what rules we're being asked to operate from sometimes in this world and the way that it operates.

What we see when we see Isaiah's vision of Messiah's judgment, we see a standard that is utterly fair and impartial. A judgment that's rooted in righteousness, a judgment that's rooted in truth. But what we also see is that God's justice is not just about strict justice. There's mercy involved as well. It's balanced in mercy. In fact, Isaiah makes this clear just a few chapters later. If you want to turn over to Isaiah 16.

Isaiah 16, speaking here of the reign of Jesus Christ, one of the things that we see is that Christ walks this line between mercy and justice perfectly. We as humans, we don't do that so well. We as humans struggle at times, trying to walk the line between mercy and justice. Isaiah 16 and verse 5 here, speaking of this judgment, In mercy the throne will be established, and one will sit on it in truth. Again, truth, that foundation. In the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness. So in mercy, that throne will be established. But he will be judging, and he'll be seeking justice, and he'll be hastening righteousness.

We see that the throne of Christ will be established in mercy, exercised in truth, expressed in justice and righteousness. And that perfect balance, mercy without partiality, justice without prejudice, is what characterizes his rule. It's what characterizes the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. And that balance of mercy, that balance of justice, is what leads directly to peace. It's what leads to peace. Because when justice is impartial, when mercy is rightly applied, the result is reconciliation rather than vengeance. It's fairness rather than oppression. It's exactly what the prophet Micah talks about when he talks about the way that the nations would no longer be at war, when they were willingly coming to Jerusalem to learn God's ways and to seek his judgments.

Let's go ahead and turn over there. If you turn over to the book of Micah, Micah was a contemporary prophet to the prophet Isaiah, prophesied around the 8th century BC. And while Isaiah was primarily focused on the big picture, often he was focused on the big picture, kind of international affairs, what was going on in those nations, coming of Messiah, millennial reign of Christ.

Micah's focus tended to be a little bit more localized, kind of addressing specific current state issues of Israel, of Judah, and contrasting that with what was coming. Micah 4, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1, Micah 4 and verse 1. Again, as he describes this coming time, Micah 4 and verse 1 says, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains.

God's government will be preeminent. His mountain will be established on the top of the other mountains. These dominions, these thorties, these kingdoms. Shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. Verse 2 of Micah 4, Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Notice verse 3, it says, He'll judge between many peoples. So He'll judge between many peoples. Rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war anymore. You know, if the disputes between nations can be judged with equity, if they can be judged in accordance with an objective standard, what need is there for war?

We have conflicts and disputes taking place all around the world right now. Russia and Ukraine have been in the midst of a dispute. It's gotten a little hotter than a dispute, but it started as a dispute. Israel and Gaza are in the midst of a dispute, in the midst of a war, of a conflict. There are countries all over the world in the midst of disputes and conflicts. When you have equitable and righteous judgment in accordance with an objective standard that is the same for all members involved, and Christ makes the judgment, what need is there for war?

What need is there? Christ and the saints rule the nations. There's no need for greed or expansion of power. There's no need for conquest. There's no need for lashing out in anger over offenses. Provided those disputes and those issues can be judged in righteousness, we see that God will turn the swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.

That is what we see. The nations' weapons of wars will be melted down. The metal will be reforged to become farming implements. Helicopter blades into scythes, perhaps. Who knows? Maybe a scythe could be used, I guess, as a weapon. So maybe there'll be a better thing than a scythe, I guess, for harvesting. But neither will they learn war anymore.

Neither will they learn war anymore. That's the effect of true, godly leadership in this new paradigm. The result is true, lasting peace with equity and stability among the nations. The final component that is in this, that is needed to be able to build what we see in the descriptions of the millennium is that human relationships will be reconciled and will be restored. Human relationships will be reconciled and restored. We just came out of the Day of Atonement.

We recognize that one of the most significant aspects of that process is reconciliation to God. That is where it all begins. Reconciliation to God. Because we understand that peace is a whole lot more than just the absence of war. True peace, true reconciliation, is more than just the absence of war. You can have two countries that are not in open war but who are not reconciled to one another.

There is a quiet peace of just leaving me alone. That's not reconciliation. That's not reconciliation. Therefore, they are not truly at peace. Just like we as humans experience estranged relationships as a result of a lack of reconciliation in our own interpersonal relationships. We may not be in open war. We might have even said we forgive one another. But we're far from reconciled. We are far from reconciled. You all likely know someone who has experienced this in their families. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's you. Two people get sideways with one another over something. Some reason or another? Perhaps a series of reasons. Resentment, anger, frustration builds.

Some of them both say or do things they regret. But instead of apologizing, instead of working through it, they dig in their heels and they refuse to yield. Two siblings that haven't spoken in years. Brothers, haven't spoken in years. A father and a son. A mother, a daughter. A husband, a wife. They haven't spoken in years after the argument. They're not at war, so to speak. They may have even called one another on the phone periodically. Maybe they've even said that they forgive one another.

But the contact stops, the dinners together end, and the relationship is cold. That's not reconciliation. It's not reconciliation. Reconciliation is when the phone calls start up again. When the dinners, when they can sit at the same table and share a meal and a conversation. When that bond is ultimately rebuilt. What's preventing it now?

What prevents it now in today's paradigm? Well, Satan influences and encourages us to dig in our heels. That little voice in the back of your head that says, but I'm right. Doesn't matter. I'm right. Sometimes we refuse to repent. That prevents the possibility of reconciliation. Reconciliation is a two-party system.

Forgiveness is a one-party system. Reconciliation is a two-party system. Drives us to refuse to reconcile. He drives us towards a desire for vengeance. He wants, well, he influences us to want to see someone get what they deserve. Not forgiveness. When that influence is put away, and when the truth of God is poured out, when righteous rule is established, such that people know the standard that society operates on, know the standard by which they will be judged, stresses and sins that commonly create these interpersonal relationship issues in mankind, will begin to dissolve.

Let's go to Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32. You know, justice and peace are closely related in that the application and execution of justice brings peace. The righteousness with which Christ rules yields peace. Isaiah 32. We'll go ahead and grab it in verse 16. Isaiah 32 and verse 16. It says, Then justice will dwell in the wilderness. Righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

Verse 17, The work of righteousness will be peace. The work of righteousness will be peace. The effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. It says, My people will dwell in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet, resting places. You know, the picture that this paints in this passage is beautiful. You kind of can imagine a quiet life, kind of just peaceful.

Not a lot of stress, not a lot of hurry. Maybe you've got a little field that you go when you work. There's not a lot of chaos. They're in peaceful habitations. They're in secure dwellings. They're in quiet, resting places. Other places in Scripture describe this time as people dwelling in cities without walls. There's peace. There's peace. There's no need to, you know, have protection, necessarily, or secure walls to keep you protected. Peace, quietness, and assurance forever is the environment that we see people dwelling in.

And while we recognize that the coming result of these things, this is the coming result of these things, we also know that it won't be immediate. We know it won't be immediate. For those that lived through the Day of the Lord and into the Millennium, Mr. Armstrong used to theorize it might take as much as three generations for the memory of the way things were. Now, the memory of this old paradigm, even independent of Satan's influence, to work its way out of humanity.

A time in which the saints will be working with people, a time in which the saints will be teaching those in the Millennium God's way as the earth is restored. But as the knowledge of God is poured out, as justice is maintained through godly leadership, and as peace becomes the standard, as time goes on, things will improve. We'll see a shift from brokenness and hostility and exploitation, which has characterized man's relationships in this paradigm, to reconciliation, unity, and peace with one another in the New.

What makes this possible? Let's go to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31.

Jeremiah 31, we'll pick it up in verse 33.

Jeremiah 31 and verse 33.

Jeremiah 31, verse 33 says, But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will put my law in their minds, write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. See the law of God being written on the hearts of man, being written in their minds. As that knowledge is poured out, God will restore Israel and Judah. They will no longer be low Ami and low Ruhama. They will be his people again. They'll be restored, and they'll be reconciled to their God. Ezekiel 36 describes a new heart and a new spirit that God places within his people. That they will have the heart of stone removed from them. That heart that wouldn't hear, that heart that wouldn't listen, that heart that refused to follow. Instead, they would receive a heart of flesh, his spirit causing them to walk in his statutes and to keep his judgments. Dwelling in the land they were promised with him as their God and with them as his people, God heals the breach. God heals the breach. This reconciliation of mankind to God is coming. It's coming. And as part of this new paradigm, it is what makes reconciliation with one another even possible. We cannot reconcile with one another if we are not first reconciled to God. Wholescale, worldwide reconciliation with God will enable estranged relationships to be healed and to be ultimately fixed. As people forgive, as people are forgiven, as they restore and they repair those broken and dysfunctional relationships, reconciliation becomes possible. Now this current paradigm of Satan's deception and corrupt government and broken relationships is not permanent. It's not permanent. It's not the way it is. It's the status quo for now. But that paradigm will be challenged. It will be disrupted. It will be shifted by the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

When he returns, he will introduce a new paradigm. One that is characterized by truth and justice and peace. One that comes from the removal of Satan and the knowledge of God being poured out of the righteous rule of Christ and his saints and the reconciliation of man to God and to one another. And brethren, when this happens, the old way of doing things is done.

The new paradigm becomes the norm by which society operates. It becomes the lens by which they view the world, so to speak.

It's an incredible promise that we're about to go and commemorate at the feast this week as part of the plan of God. But brethren, for those of us who have been called now, we're not waiting for the new paradigm to understand these things. We've been called to live it now. The world around us is still blinded by the old ways—confusion, division, and justice—but God's called us out of that. He's called us into His light. And that means something. It means something. It means we're to already be examples of this kingdom. Not tomorrow. Not someday. Now. Right now. Today.

As we respectively go our different directions to the feast, we have opportunity to show these things. To live these things.

We can do that in three ways. We can do it by living God's nature, living that truth right now. Letting His truth shape our words. Letting His love shape our actions. Showing His mercy, His kindness, and His character.

We can do that through peace and justice. We can be fair. We can be patient. Quick to forgive. Living in a way that builds harmony and righteousness.

We can do that through reconciliation. We can heal what's broken. We can bridge that which is divided. And we can work to treat one another as family in Christ. If we do this, brethren, if we commit ourselves to these things, then this coming feast will not only picture the world to come.

It'll be a taste of it. Right here and right now.

So let's go forward into this Feast of Tabernacles with Joy. We're commanded to rejoice before God. Let's go before Him in joy, in love, and purpose. Let's honor God. Let's encourage one another. And let's shine as the lights that point to a new paradigm that is to come.