[117] Jeremiah xxxi. 8-19, 33, 34.
[118] Isaiah xxvi. 19; Daniel xii. 2.
When the great king comes there will be genuine penitence among the people over their past sins,[116] and they will become a wholly changed people.[117] Israel will be a nation converted by the power of the Holy Spirit through the conversion of the people individually. There will be at this time a resurrection of God's people who have died.[118]
[119] Micah iv. 1-2.
[120] Isaiah xxv. 7
[121] Isaiah iv. 2-5.
The new reign and kingdom is to be one of great spiritual enlightenment to all nations.[119] There will be everywhere a new, remarkable openmindedness to God and His truth.[120] And there will be the same visible evidence of the presence of God at Jerusalem as when the pillar of fire and cloud was with them in the wilderness. That wondrous presence-cloud is to be always in view.[121]
This sounds to our ears like the highly coloured visionary dream of some over-enthusiastic Hebrew. Yet this is a calm statement of what is found here. And be it keenly marked, it is a picture which the godly Hebrew of the old time never lost sight of. This is the first thing that stands out in these prophetic pages.
[122] Isaiah xxiv. 1-13, 17-20; ii. 12-19; Micah vii. 15-17.
[123] Zechariah xii. 1-9; xiv. 1-2.