Millennial Babies

They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For My people's lives will be like the lifetime of a tree. My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor without success or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the LORD along with their descendants. - Isaiah 65:22-23 HCSB

I was recently asked if the Ransomed would bear children during the Millennium. I believe that today’s passage adequately answers that question. For many Christians, this is a novel concept but we must remember that when God created Humanity, His first command to us was to be fruitful and multiply. He considered the creation of sexual creatures to be “very good.”[1] In fact, God considered a single gendered, essentially sexless humanity to be bad and He did something to fix the situation.[2]

Since the Fall, God has consistently worked to restore Humanity to its original condition and relationship with Himself. His command to have sex was reiterated to Noah[3] and Hashem considered successful sexual reproduction to be part of His promised blessing to Abraham.[4] The Abrahamic blessing came in direct response to Abraham being “devout.” Sex has never been a “dirty” thing in God’s kingdom. Within its proper marital boundaries, it is holy.[5]

Some may object on the grounds that Jesus said that we would be “like the angels”. What Jesus actually said was that angels are not bound by human marriage traditions and rituals[6] and the passage in Luke clarifies that the comparison to angels was in relation to their immortality, not their sex life. After all, angels are not necessarily without gender.[7]

While angels generally appear as men in Scripture, Zechariah may suggest this is not always the case. The two women mentioned in this passage are not specifically called angels, but they are clearly winged agents of God so we must be careful about making dogmatic statements about angels being without gender or sex.

This is especially true in light of the Nephilim passage in Genesis 6.[8] The phrase “sons of God” there would seem to be indicative of angelic beings. It is the same phrase used in Job which clearly intends to mean angelic beings.[9]

If these “sons of God” were not angelic, why were their progeny consistently characterized by gigantism and why were they so evil and yet so powerful? I’m not sure how but perhaps this may some day shed some light on Paul’s notoriously difficult homily on women and head coverings.[10]

Not only will we have children but the survivors of the Great Tribulation[11] will too. Each Millennial child will have a free will[12] and will be given the chance to choose Christ’s rule or Satan’s. Those who decide to cast their lot with the rebels will suffer the same consequences as they.[13]

[1] Genesis 1:28-31
[2] Genesis 2:18-25
[3] Genesis 9:1, 7
[4] Genesis 17:1-2
[5] Hebrews 13:4
[6] Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:34-36
[7] Zechariah 5:9
[8] Genesis 6:1-4
[9] Job 1:6; 2:1
[10] 1 Corinthians 11:10
[11] Zechariah 14:16
[12] Zechariah 14:17-18;
[13] Revelation 20:1-10