A very popular area of Bible study is prophecy. The Bible tells us much of what will
take place, especially at the end of this age. It seems that for many the study of
prophecy is a matter of curiosity, wanting to know the future for the sake of knowing
the future. There may be a bit of fear, fear of what may happen and a desire to find
some way to deal with it. We see this in things like astrology and palm reading. Some
have a desire to have secret knowledge, knowing something that no one else knows.
Some may even want to know when the end is coming so they can live as they please
and then \u201cget right with the Lord\u201d at the last minute. I believe that Scripture is clear that
God\u2019s purpose in prophecy is that we will be ready at any moment for the events of the
end. The end, of course, includes death for those who die before the end of the age
comes. Everyone should be ready to meet the Lord right now, even if the events of the
end are a thousand years away. Another reason for prophecy is that we be able to
recognize the signs of the times so as to know how to respond to events (see Mt. 16.3,
Lk. 12.56).
There have been many attempts to put the events of prophecy in chronological order. I
do not believe that can be done completely, but I do think that we should study the
order of events insofar as the Bible reveals it, just because, first of all, it is in the Bible.
Then there are certain things that will take place at fixed points that can be put in order,
not knowing the day or the year when they will occur, but by way of recognition that
the Bible predicts that this will occur at a certain point, so how should we respond to
this event, and what comes next? The present study is not so much an attempt to work
out such a chronology, knowing that it cannot be done perfectly, but it seems obvious
that we would want to be as orderly as possible in studying the Scriptures. Certainly I
cannot pinpoint everything that will take place, but I will lay things out as nearly as I
can for the sake of order. There are several things that will occur at the coming of the
Lord that may be in some order or may be simultaneous. I have dealt with these as I see
it, knowing that I cannot see perfectly. The point is that all these events will take place.
A major purpose of this work is to gather together the Bible passages that go with each
event. The prophetic passages are scattered all through the Bible. There are passages in,
say, eight or ten books that deal with the same thing. Many are written in language that
is cryptic to us. How are we to understand all this? Surely we will not understand it all
until it actually unfolds, but let us try to understand as much as God\u2019s word reveals, for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it is our guide under the work of the Holy Spirit. It is his communication with us. There
will be much quotation of Scripture in this work in an attempt to show which passages
go together. Many writings on prophecy jump around so much from event to event that
it is difficult to know where one is in the process. I am trying to deal with that to make
prophecy more understandable.
There is also a heavy emphasis on the Jewish people. Remember that almost all of this
prophecy is in the Old Testament. It was written to the Jews originally. We do, of course,
believe that it applies to the church also, and there is additional prophecy concerning
the church in the New Testament. One of my professors taught that God is through with
the Jews forever. I do not believe that. It all began with the Jews and they will have a
major role in its fulfillment at the end. God may have put his ancient people aside for a
time, but he is not and never will be through with them. \u201cSalvation is of the Jews.\u201d And
let me state here that I fully support the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and I
abhor anti-semitism.
I would like to quote here a passage from T. Austin-Sparks as setting forth my belief
about prophecy. God does not give us prophecy to tickle our ears, but to urge us to be
ready at any and every moment. Just as it is true that any of us may die at any moment
and that is the end for us, so the events of the end of this age may begin at any moment.
Be ready now. You may not have one more second! Brother Sparks writes,
I shall never forget on a visit to a certain country going into one of the big cities
where I was to speak for a week. Everything was so arranged that my first
message was timed to follow the last message of a man who had had a week
before me, and he had been on prophecy for the whole week. I went into the last
meeting where he gave his final message on the signs of the time. Notebooks
were out, and they were taking it all down, fascinated. It was all external, all
objective; such things as the Roman Empire revived and Palestine recovered. You
know the sort of thing. Then he finished and they were waiting for some more,
and the notebooks were ready. The Lord put it right into my heart that the first
word was to be, “And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3); to speak on the spiritual effect of that spiritual
hope. They were not interested in that. The notebooks were closed, pencils put
away, there was no interest as I sought in the Lord to be very faithful as to what
all this should mean in an inward way, in adjustment to the Lord, and so on.
They were only longing for the meeting to close. When I finished\u2014they hardly
waited for me to finish\u2014they were up and out. (The School of Christ, chapter 6)
That is the point: purify your hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One more thing: 2 Pt. 1.19 says, \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9We have the prophetic word even more sure, to which
you do well paying close attention as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day
dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts.\u201d Prophecy is important not so much so
that we will know all about the future, but because it is a light shining in a dark place.
The world is a dark place. We need God\u2019s guidance. The future is a dark place. All we
know is what God reveals in his word through prophecy.
A Note of Explanation: The name of God given in the Old Testament at Ex. 3.14 is
YHWH in English or JHVH in German (Hebrew has no written vowels). No one knows
how it was pronounced because the word was not used by Jews from ancient times for
reverence. Various attempts have been made to come up with a satisfactory word for
our use. The Old Testament generally translates the word as LORD in all caps because
the ancient Jews said \u201cLord\u201d when they came to the name of God. This creates a
problem because God is many times called \u201cLord YHWH or JHVH\u201d in the Old
Testament, so you have Lord LORD in translation. To deal with this redundancy, many
Old Testament translations have Lord GOD. Are you sufficiently confused? Probably the
most used word outside the Old Testament itself is \u201dJehovah,\u201d made up of the German
JHVH for the name of God plus the vowel sounds of the Hebrew word for \u201cLord.\u201d
Another possibility of more recent origin is to take the English letters YHWH and add
vowels to make it Yahweh. I have mulled over this for years. A few years ago I decided
that since I speak English and the English translation for the Hebrew word for God\u2019s
name is I AM, I will use I AM for God\u2019s name. I do not know enough Hebrew to
translate the Old Testament and I do not want to run afoul of copyrighted translations,
so I use the American Standard Version of the Old Testament, which is not under
copyright, and update it into modern English. So \u2013 when you see I AM in the following
paper on prophecy you will know that I am using the Old Testament name for God in
English.
Ongoing Prophetic Fulfillments
Matthew 24 is perhaps the best prophetic chronology we have. Other than events of his
own life, such as his crucifixion and resurrection, perhaps the first event that the Lord
prophesied was the destruction of the Jewish temple, in Mt. 24.2 (Mk. 13.2, Lk. 19.43-44,
21.6). That prophecy has already been fulfilled, in A.D. 70. Then there are ongoing
prophetic fulfillments, beginning in Mt. 24.4 and going through v. 14. There will be false
Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, tribulations, and killings.
Another reason for prophecy is that we be able to recognize the signs of the times so as
to know how to respond when events take place.
As the end of the age approaches, there will be falling over stumbling blocks, betrayals,
hatred, false prophets, lawlessness, and the growing cold of love. Another ongoing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
event that we should take special notice of is found in Lk. 21.24: \u201c\u2026 Jerusalem will be
trodden down by the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.\u201d (Lk. 21 is Luke\u2019s
prophetic chapter as Mt. 24 is Matthew\u2019s.) The times of the Gentiles began with the fall
of Jerusalem to Babylon and have continued to this day, even though Israel is now an
independent state. She is still dependent on Gentile nations to some extent and is in
constant danger from her enemies who hate her so much. The temple mount in
Jerusalem is controlled by Muslims. There is coming a day when this will end. The
times of the Gentiles are an ongoing prophecy. The end of them is an unfulfilled
prophecy. Obviously these things have existed since sin came into the world, so it
appears that here in Matthew the Lord is referring to an increase in these things. We
certainly see much of this in our day. In addition, there will be the preaching of the
good news of the kingdom in the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the
nations. Then the end will come. All of these prophecies have had ongoing fulfillments
since the Lord was on the earth in the flesh. But the end has not yet come. (There are
three words in Greek that can be translated \u201cworld.\u201d One is kosmos, which really refers
to the entire universe and is used in the New Testament largely to refer to human
society under Satan\u2019s control and organized against God; another is aion, from which
we get \u201caeon,\u201d which actually means \u201cage,\u201d which translation I prefer, and has a time
element; and the other is oikoumene, from which we get \u201cecumenical,\u201d and which refers
to the known world, the inhabited earth, in New Testament times the Roman Empire.)
Fixed Prophetic Points
Then we have what I believe is the first great fixed point of the prophecies of the end
times: the presence of Israel in their land. Let us begin with another passage in Matthew
24, vs. 32-35 (Mk. 13.28-31, Lk. 21.29-33):
32From the fig tree learn the lesson. When its branch is already tender and is putting
forth the leaves you know that summer is near.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
33So you also, when you see all these<\/p>\n\n\n\n
things, you know that he is near, at the doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34Amen I say to you that this<\/p>\n\n\n\n
generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35The sky and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
earth will pass away, but my words may not pass away.
After tracing the history and final events of this age up through the appearing of the
Lord Jesus and his gathering of his people to himself in Mt. 24.2-31, the Lord makes the
statement in this passage just quoted. He is telling his people how to know when the
end is near. In the next verse he makes it clear that no one knows the day or the hour of
his return, but he does say in vs. 32-35 that we can know when his coming is near.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is generally accepted by believing students of the word of God that the fig tree is a
symbol of Israel. We find many references to it in the Old Testament (1 Kings 4.25, see
Is. 36.16, 2 Kings 18.31, Jer. 5.17, 8.13, 24.2, 5, 8, Hos. 2.12, 9.10, Joel 1.7, 12, 2.22, Am. 4.9,
Mic. 4.4, Hab. 3.17, Hag. 2.19, Zech. 3.10). Several refer to Jews under their vine and fig
tree, a picture of good times and blessing. Others show times of judgment. In Jn. 1.48
and 50 we see references to Nathaniel under a fig tree. Perhaps the most telling example
is found in Matt. 21.18-19 (Mk. 11.12-14). The fig tree there pictures Israel with all the
beautiful leaves of religion, but with no fruit. It was cursed and it withered. That has
been the situation ever since. But there is coming the day of Matt. 24.32-35 when the fig
tree will once again put forth leaves, and this time fruit will result.
There are many references to this restoration of Israel in the Old Testament. Before
delving into them in detail, let me begin with what seems to me to be the prophetic
point at which we have arrived at present. In Matt. 24.34 quoted above the Lord Jesus
says, \u201c\u2026 this generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass.\u201d For a
long time I thought that \u201cthis generation\u201d was the generation when the Lord was on
earth in the flesh because \u201cthis\u201d usually means now, but it was difficult or impossible to
see how he could have meant his generation when none of the things he prophesied
came about then, except the destruction of the temple. But looking at the passage in
context, I believe \u201cthis generation\u201d is the generation when the fig tree begins to put
forth leaves again. In the nineteenth century there was a sort of rediscovery of
prophecy. Many began to study biblical prophecy and to put forth interpretations.
Along with this there was the movement to return the Jews to the Promised Land, what
is called Zionism. Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jew who gave
his life to trying to promote Jewish immigration and the formation of a Jewish state. He
founded the Zionist Organization in 1897, which still exists as the World Zionist
Organization.
After World War I there was a movement supported in part by the British government
to establish a Jewish homeland in the Promised Land, and many Jews did immigrate.
World War II ended that migration for its duration, but after the war there was enough
support that a Jewish state, not just a homeland, but a state, was established. The Jews
of the northern kingdom, Israel, were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and that state
ceased to exist. Judah or Judea fell to Rome in 63 B.C. and their self-government was
lost. In A.D. 70 the temple was destroyed by the Romans in a Jewish rebellion, and in
A.D. 135 Jews as a whole were banned from the Promised Land after another rebellion
and they were scattered all over the world, as Moses himself had prophesied (Dt. 28.64).
These judgments of God came in response to the Jews\u2019 idolatry and other sins, and most
especially because of their rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus. On<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May 14, 1948 the Jewish State came into existence. For the first time since 63 B.C., 2011
years before, the Jews had a state of their own governed by themselves.
I do not believe it is wise to be overly dogmatic about prophecy. God has not revealed
everything to us, and the purpose of prophecy, as noted above, is not to reveal
everything to us ahead of time, but to challenge us to be ready for the events of the end
of the age at any moment and to be ready to meet the Lord at any time, by death or by
rapture or by his return. This said, I must say that I have come to the belief that these
events regarding the return of Jewish people to the Promised Land and the eventual
establishment of the Jewish State have to do with the fig tree putting forth leaves. Some
of that has taken place in the lifetime of many of us. If I am correct, and I leave wide
latitude for my not being correct, we are in the generation when \u201call these things will
come to pass,\u201d including the return of the Lord. How long does a generation last? No
one knows exactly. It is not a precise term. Some take it as twenty or so years, some,
thirty, some forty. It has been seventy-two years since the founding of the Jewish State
at this writing. Perhaps a biblical generation is a longer time than these modern
estimates. In Gen. 15.13 God tells Abraham that his seed would be in Egypt for four
hundred years (Ex. 12.40 four hundred and thirty years), and in v. 16, that their return
to their land would be in the fourth generation, so that a generation could be as much as
a hundred years or a bit more. At any rate, I do not think it impossible that we could be
in the generation including the founding of the Jewish State. If so, and if that event is a
part of the fig tree putting forth leaves, then the Lord is near.
There are passages in the Old Testament that prophesied this calling by God of his
people back to their land. Is. 43.5-7 reads,
5Don\u2019t be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather
you from the west.
6
I will say to the north, \u201cGive up,\u201d and to the south, \u201cDon\u2019t hold<\/p>\n\n\n\n
back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7
every one
that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have
formed, yes, whom I have made.\u201d
Ezk. 34.11-13:
11For thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cLook, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek
them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that
are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13And I will bring<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them
into their own land\u2026.\u201d
Ezk. 36.24: \u201cFor I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the
countries, and will bring you into your own land.\u201d
Ezk. 37.21: \u201cThus says the Lord I AM, \u2018Look, I will take the sons of Israel from among the
nations where they have gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their
own land.\u2019\u201d
So they are back in their land, but they are still in unbelief. And not all of them are back.
We will return to this theme of the Jews back in their land, but there will many
prophetic events yet to occur, to which we now turn. To my mind we have established
that the last days have begun with the fig tree putting forth its leaves. What is next?
Apostasy
Something that has gone on for a long time, dating back at least to what is called the
Enlightenment (actually an \u201cEndarkenment\u201d!) of the eighteenth century in which
Renaissance humanism dominated much of the thinking of that age, and really to
almost the beginning of life on this earth, is what our Bibles call apostasy. The Greek
word is apostasia. It is usually defined as \u201cfalling away,\u201d but the Greek word is literally
\u201cstanding from.\u201d Falling away implies to me that one may have just stumbled and
fallen, perhaps accidentally. Standing from, or you might say \u201cstepping away from,\u201d
seems to be more of a deliberate act, taking a stand away from God and his word. As
noted, that has gone on for a long time, but in 2 Thess. 2.3 we read about \u201cthe apostasy\u201d
which will occur at the end of this age when the rise of the antichrist and the day of the
Lord are near. In 1 Tim. 4.1 we read, \u201cBut the Spirit expressly says that in later times some
will step away from the faith, going after deceiving spirits and teachings of demons\u2026.\u201d This
is a deliberate rejection of the teaching of God\u2019s word and a going after demonic lies. 2
Tim. 3.1 reads,
1But know this, that in the last days there will be difficult times,
2
for men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, disrespectful of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3without natural affection, implacable, lacking<\/p>\n\n\n\n
self-control, brutal, not loving good,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4betrayers, rash, conceited, loving pleasure rather<\/p>\n\n\n\n
than loving God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5having a form of godliness, but denying its power, and turn away<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 Tim. 4.3 says that \u201cthey will not endure sound teaching.\u201d Are we not living in this day
of apostasy? How many so-called Christian denominations have rejected virtually all
the fundamental doctrines of the word of God, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus, his full
humanity and divinity, his sinlessness, his resurrection, his coming again. Not just
apostasy, but the apostasy, comes in the latter days. This is a fixed prophetic point. It
appears that we are in that day. In 1 Thess. 2.3, this apostasy is mentioned in the context
of the rise of the antichrist and the nearness of the day of the Lord. We will come to
those matters presently.
2 Pt. 3.3-4:
\u2026 knowing this first, that in the last days scoffers will come with scoffing, going
according to their own desires and saying, \u201cWhere is the promise of his
coming\/presence? For from the time that the fathers fell asleep all things continue as
from the beginning of creation.\u201d
(Note that the Greek word parousia literally means \u201cpresence,\u201d but can also refer to the
coming that leads to a presence. In the New Testament it usually refers to the return of
Christ. I have chosen to use both words in my translations: coming\/presence.)
Ripe for judgment.
Another fixed prophetic point is the abomination of desolation, and another is the last
trumpet. We will deal with these later.
The Antichrist
The next prophetic event is the rise and time of the antichrist. We see in Rev. 12 that
when the manchild is caught up to Heaven (more on this a bit later), Satan is cast down
to earth. In great rage (Rev. 12.12) he begins to persecute Christians. At about the same
time he brings up the antichrist (Rev. 13.1). The coming of the antichrist is a process. I
do not intend to go into in much detail. Many have written about the visions of Daniel
with their beasts and Rev. 13. My point at present is that the coming and rule of the
antichrist take time, the length of time of his rise being unknown, and the last part of his
time being seven years.
In Dan. 7 we have Daniel\u2019s vision of the four beasts rising out of the Great Sea, which is
the Mediterranean Sea. This passage is often taken as a repeat of King<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s vision of the image of the giant of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay
in Dan. 2. This may or may not be true. Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s vision pictured history from
the time of the rise of Babylon through an empire that is not named, and then projects
ahead to the last days. I think it is agreed that the empires that Nebuchadnezzar saw
were Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, with the unnamed being the Roman Empire.
The vision of Dan. 7 may well be all future at this time. The last part of the vision of
Dan. 7 clearly has to do with the last days, as vs. 21-22 show: \u201cI looked, and the same horn
made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came and
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom.\u201d It is in the process depicted by this vision, the rise of the four
beasts, the fighting among them, the ten horns, and the rise of the little horn who
emerges as the victor over all of them, that tells us of the rise of the antichrist. I will not
go into all the details of who the ten horns and the three who are pulled up by the roots
are. I do not think we will know until it takes place. Suffice it to say that the antichrist
takes over at this point.
Other Scripture passages also deal with the rise of the antichrist. Continuing in Daniel\u2019s
visions, we read in Dan. 7.24, \u201cAnd as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will
arise, and another will arise after them, and he will be diverse from the former. And he will
put down three kings.\u201d This is the antichrist, rising up among the ten kingdom
confederation and putting down three of them, making himself the ruler of all. We see
the same thing in Rev. 13.1-8, which I will not quote now, but which should be read.
Also Rev. 6.1, the first seal being the antichrist going out to conquer, and 17.11-13. I will
not give all the details of the rise and reign of the antichrist because my purpose is not
that, but to give a survey of the prophetic events.
The time of the rule of the antichrist is seen in Rev. 6.3-8, seals 2-4. During this time
there will also be a glorification of false religion while it suits the purposes of the
antichrist. We see this in Rev. 17.1-7. More on this later.
The Seventy Sevens and the Abomination of Desolation 1
One of the major passages on prophecy is Dan. 9.24-27. I will not deal with vs. 24-26
because these prophecies have already been fulfilled except for one: v. 24 begins with
\u201cSeventy weeks have been decreed for your people\u2026.\u201d These seventy weeks trace the
course of prophecy from Daniel\u2019s time till the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus except for
one week. The seventieth week has not yet occurred and will be the last week, or seven
years, of this age. There will be a gap of unknown length between the sixty-nine weeks
and the seventieth. That gap has lasted from the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus until now<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and will continue for how much more time the Lord decrees. V. 27 continues with this
last week, or seven years, and is of great importance for the end times: \u201cAnd he will
make a firm covenant with many for one week\u2026.\u201d
At this point I must break in with a major prophetic event that will come at this point or,
more probably, at some time before it. It is<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rapture of the Overcomers
What I write next will be controversial. It has to do with the rapture. I will not be
dogmatic about it, nor will I argue about it, but I will set it forth as I see it. Most of us, I
suppose, have been taught that the church will be raptured to Heaven before the Great
Tribulation. I do not believe this to be the case. I do believe in the pre-tribulation
rapture, but not as it is usually set forth.
Let me begin with the book of Revelation. The testimony of Jesus is of great importance
in Revelation. We read in 1.14 that the Lord Jesus is walking among the churches with
eyes like a flame of fire. What is he looking for with those penetrating eyes, eyes that
can burn into the very soul and spirit? He is looking for the testimony of Jesus, for
churches, and individual Christians, that are faithful to him no matter what the
conditions. Revelation is a warning to the church that one with eyes like a flame of fire
is looking for the testimony of Jesus in her, and that her lampstand may be taken away
if that testimony is not found.
We read in 12.11 that those who were victorious overcame Satan because of the blood
of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life
or soul (the Greek word can mean both) unto death. The word “overcame” is key. Rev.
2-3 consists of seven letters, one each to seven churches, the number seven indicating
that these seven symbolize the entire church. In five of these letters, the Lord finds
something to criticize, and he speaks a word of warning. Then he says, in every case,
“To him who overcomes,” I will give some reward. To him who overcomes. Revelation
indicates that in the midst of churches where there is general failure, there are
overcomers. The overcomers are an important concept in Scripture. In the Old
Testament they are called the remnant, the faithful few among the many, those who
hold to God no matter what conditions surround them. Elijah, for example, overcame,
and thought he was the only one, but God told him that there were seven thousand who
had not bowed the knee to Baal. They were the remnant. After the Jewish exile in
Babylon, most Jews stayed in Babylon, a symbol of the world and man\u2019s religion in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scripture, and only a few returned to the land promised them by God. Most of God’s
people were content in the world. Only a few were not, and went back to the land at no
little cost. They were the remnant. As prophesied by Isaiah, a remnant returned. In
Revelation, this group that is faithful to God at any cost is called the overcomers. This
book of Revelation is a challenge to the church, and to individuals in the church, to
overcome in the midst of failure, the failure of God’s people.
We come now to Rev. 3.10. This verse is perhaps the key verse of the entire book. We
noted above that in five of the seven letters, the Lord found something to criticize in the
churches addressed. The church of Philadelphia, however, was only commended by the
Lord, and is the model church. He says to her, in 3.10, “Because you kept the word of
my endurance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the
whole inhabited earth to test those dwelling on the earth.” Only one church, the church
of Philadelphia, is told that it will be kept from the hour of testing. That hour is the
Great Tribulation. Only one church, the church of Philadelphia, will be kept from the
Great Tribulation.
What is the message of Revelation? Revelation is a warning to the church, and thus to
individual Christians, that a Great Tribulation is about to come on the earth, and an
exhortation to escape it. The implication is clear that not all Christians will escape it.
Who are those who will and those who will not? Those who will escape the Great
Tribulation are those Christians who have maintained the testimony of Jesus, those who
are overcomers. But there are Christians who have not maintained the testimony, who
have not overcome. They have neglected spiritual things. They have resisted the
dealings of God with their flesh. Instead of accepting their trials as the work of God
designed to apply the cross to their flesh and yielding to him in that effort, they have
resisted his dealings, wanting only to be delivered from trouble, and perhaps becoming
bitter at God for not making their lives more comfortable.
Wheat in the New Testament pictures the Lord’s people, those who will be harvested by
him at the end. Wheat is ripened by the heat of the sun. There is early wheat, and there
is later wheat. Wheat that is ripened by the early sun of spring is harvested at the end of
spring, before the searing heat of summer. Wheat that is not ripened by the early sun is
left to go through that withering heat, and is harvested only after enduring that heat.
Christians who are alive when these events occur and who accept the dealings of God
with their flesh, yield to him in them, allow him to do his work, try to gain what he has
for them in trouble instead of just trying to get out of it, will be matured by the early
sun and will be harvested before the Great Tribulation. Those Christians who resist God
in his efforts to take them deeper will be left to be matured by the scorching heat of the
summer of the Great Tribulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a rapture before the Great Tribulation, but it is the rapture of the overcomers, of
those who have been matured by their trials, by the dealings of God, and not of the
whole church. There will be Christians left here to go through that terrible time because
they were not matured up to that point. Those who teach that the whole church will be
raptured before the Great Tribulation do Christians a disservice, for they in effect tell
them that it does not matter how they live, just get saved and you will escape the Great
Tribulation. That is not the case. It does matter how they live. If Revelation is anything,
it is a warning to the church to be ready now. If we need another verse to underline this
truth, it is Luke 21.36. After giving some description of the terrible things that will come
on the earth during that frightful time, the Lord says, “But stay awake in every time,
praying that you may be strengthened to escape all these things that are about to take place
and to stand before the Son of Man.” The Lord Jesus was talking to his own when he said
those words. His admonition to pray for strength to escape the Great Tribulation clearly
implies that there will be those who do not escape it. Escape is not automatic because
one is a Christian. It comes to those who are ready. That is the purpose and message of
Revelation.
Another passage in Revelation that seems to me to add much weight to this position is
12.1-5:
1And a great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars,
2
and she was pregnant, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she cried out, having birth pains and being tormented to give birth.
3
and another sign
appeared in the sky, and look, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,
and on his heads seven diadems,
4
and his tail swept down a third of the stars of the sky
and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to
give birth, that when she gave birth he might devour her child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And she gave birth to
a son, a male, who would shepherd all the Gentiles with a rod of iron. And her child
was caught up to God and to his throne.
This is another example of \u201cwe have been taught.\u201d We have been taught that the
woman is Israel and the manchild is Jesus. Some believe that the woman is Mary. This
could not be true because neither Israel nor Mary fled into the wilderness after the birth
of Jesus as we see in Rev. 12.6; because the dragon that the woman encountered in Rev.
12.3 had seven heads and ten horns, but these symbol refer not to the time of the Lord
Jesus on earth, but to the end of this age when the antichrist comes on the scene, as we
see in Rev. 13 and 17 (the scene of Rev. 12 is future, not past); and because Jesus was not
caught up to the throne of God at his birth. He lived about thirty-three years, died, was<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
resurrected, spent forty more days with his disciples, and then was taken up to Heaven
in a cloud. The woman is not Israel or Mary, but the church, and the manchild is not
Jesus, but the company of overcomers. When the body of overcomers has reached its
fullness by God\u2019s maturing of them, it will be caught up to the throne of God in
Heaven, before the Great Tribulation. A result will be that Satan will be thrown down to
the earth (vs. 7-10), and v. 11 specifically says that they, the overcomers, overcame
Satan.
Then v. 6 says that the woman fled into the wilderness where God took care of her for
1260 days, 3 1\u20442 years, the period of the Great Tribulation. These are the Christians who
were not raptured before the Great Tribulation, but were left to go through that time of
testing. V. 13 adds that Satan persecuted the woman, and v. 17, that he waged war with
the rest of her children. He will martyr some of these Christians during the Great
Tribulation, but he will not be able to destroy the woman, the church.
Rev. 14.1-5 is in agreement. V. 1: \u201cAnd I saw, and look, the little Lamb standing on Mount
Zion, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of
his Father written on their foreheads.\u201d The first question this verse raises is the location of
Mount Zion. Is this the earthly Mount Zion in Jerusalem, or is it in Heaven? There can
be little doubt that this Mount Zion is in Heaven because this scene occurs before the
return of the Lord Jesus to earth. Heb. 12.22 tells us that there is a heavenly Mount Zion.
Gal. 4.26 and Rev. 21.2 tell us that there is a heavenly Jerusalem, the city of Mount Zion.
Who then are the one hundred and forty-four thousand? Are they the same group as
the one in Rev. 7.1-8? We believe the first group were Jews, sealed for the Great
Tribulation. But this second group is with the Lamb on Mount Zion, in Heaven. They
are there before the Great Tribulation. They are the overcomers, raptured before the
Great Tribulation and seen by John in Heaven with the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. The
number one hundred and forty-four thousand is also symbolic, as it is in chapter 7,
meaning the full number according to God’s will, twelve being a number of perfection
in the Bible and one hundred and forty-four thousand being twelve times twelve
thousand.
Just as the followers of the antichrist would have the mark of the beast on their
foreheads or right hands, as we will see in our consideration of chapter 13, these will
have the name of the Father written on their foreheads. This fact is further proof that
this group is the overcomers, for in Rev. 3.12 we are told one of the promises to the
overcomers: “\u2026 and I will write on him the name of my God\u2026.” In addition, these are in
Heaven, and as v. 3 will show us, before the throne. The overcomers are caught up to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the throne in Heaven, before the Great Tribulation (12.5), but all other Christians, those
raised from the dead and those alive at the Lord\u2019s return, are raptured to the Lord in the
air, not to Heaven, after the Great Tribulation at the Lord’s visible coming (1 Thess.
4.16-17).
V. 4 says that \u201dthese were purchased from men, firstfruits to God and to the little Lamb.\u201d
They are firstfruits. What is the meaning of this term? We have seen that the wheat that
ripened in the spring was harvested before the heat of summer, the Great Tribulation.
These firstfruits of the harvest are raptured before the Great Tribulation. They are the
overcomers.
This is the rapture that will occur before the Great Tribulation, the rapture of the
overcomers. I cannot pinpoint the time of this rapture, but it will occur before the Great
Tribulation.
Now we continue with
The Seventy Sevens and the Abomination of Desolation 2
\u201c\u2026 and in the midst of the week he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease, and on the wing
of abominations will come one that makes desolate, even till a full end, and that determined,
will be poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d
This is the famous \u201cabomination of desolation\u201d passage, which is also referred to in
Dan. 11.31, 12.11, Mt. 24.15, and Mk.13.14. This is one of the major fixed points of
prophecy. At the beginning of this seven year period, the antichrist will form a covenant
with the Jewish people, \u201cthe many,\u201d for seven years. This is a momentous point in
Jewish history. They will not covenant with God and his Christ, but they will covenant
with the antichrist. The Lord Jesus himself says in Jn. 5.43, \u201cI have come in the name of
my Father and you do not receive me. If another come in his own name you will receive that
one.\u201d Choices have consequences. In the middle of the seven years, after 3 1\u20442 years, he
will go back on his covenant and put an end to sacrifices and offerings. He will do this
by desecrating the Jewish temple by setting himself up as God in the temple. This
desecration of the temple will be such an abomination to the Jews as to make them
desolate. We read of this in 2 Thess. 2.4. I will quote the context, vs. 1-4:
1We ask you, brothers, by the coming\/presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
gathering to him,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2not to be quickly shaken from your mind either by a spirit or by a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
word or by a letter as from us as that the day of the Lord is present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3No one should<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
deceive you in any way, for if the apostasy be not come and the man of lawlessness be
not revealed, the son of destruction,
4
the one opposing himself and exalting himself
above every so-called god or object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of
God, setting himself forth that he is God.
Paul does not complete the sentence, but his obvious meaning is that if the apostasy,
and so forth, be not come, the day of the Lord has not come. The day of the Lord is the
return of Christ to gather his people, judge the wicked, and establish his kingdom. It
will not come secretly, but every eye will see it just as a lightning flash is seen.
This passage raises another question. The antichrist will enter the temple and seat
himself there as God. There is no temple. It was destroyed in A.D. 70 and has never
been replaced. It would seem that there will be a temple built in Jerusalem before the
end of this age. At present there is a Muslim mosque on the temple site. If Israel tried to
destroy it and replace it with their temple it would probably set off World War III! What
will take place? I do not know, but be on the lookout for a temple.
The Great Tribulation
This abomination of desolation is the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Up to this
point the antichrist will have used his covenant with the Jews to lull them to sleep as to
his intentions, but he will suddenly march into the temple in Jerusalem and declare that
he himself is God, and launch his persecution of the Jews, \u201cthe time of Jacob\u2019s trouble\u201d
(Jer. 30.7), and indeed of all religion and of Christians. Matthew tells us that when the
abomination occurs (Mt. 24.15), \u201c\u2026 then there will be a great tribulation such as has never
been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will be.\u201d (Mt. 24.21, Mk. 13.19).
Everything that God does or allows has purpose. He is not a purposeless being. Two of
the purposes of the Great Tribulation are God\u2019s judgment on the wicked and his
purification of his people, the Jews who have rejected their Messiah and the Christians
who were not prepared for the rapture of the overcomers by yielding to God\u2019s dealings
with them in \u201cthis life.\u201d
This matter of the purification of the Jews is of major importance in prophecy. As dealt
with earlier, I believe the first step as regards the Jews at the end of this present evil age
is the Jews back in their land. Some of them are there now, but in unbelief. We have
seen this take place over the last 150 years, especially with the establishment of the
Jewish state in 1948. They are back in their land. They are in unbelief. Many Jews do not<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15<\/p>\n\n\n\n
believe in God at all, and many who do believe in God do not accept that Jesus is their
Messiah.
The next step as I see it is the preparation of the Jews by God to receive their Messiah.
This involves a purging of the Jews of their sin and unbelief that culminates in the Great
Tribulation.
There are several Scripture passages on the purification of the Jews and the Great
Tribulation. Let us turn to them now.
In Is. 1.21-25 we read,
21How has the faithful city become a harlot, she that was full of justice. Righteousness
lodged in her, but now murderers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves
bribes and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause
of the widow come before them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24Therefore the Lord I AM of hosts, the Mighty One of
Israel, says, \u201cAh, I will be relieved of my adversaries and avenge myself of my
enemies, and I will turn my hand against you and thoroughly purge away your dross,
and will take away all your tin.\u201d
This passage is obviously a prediction of judgment on the Jerusalem of Isaiah\u2019s day, but
as the following verses show, they reach to the end of the age. There will be similar
judgments as God purges his people in preparation for the return of their Messiah and
their seeing him whom they pierced. Let me add that this is not a singling out of the
Jews. All of us pierced him by our sins.
Next we come to Is. 10.22-23:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22\u201cFor though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a
remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with
righteousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord I AM of hosts make in the
midst of all the earth.\u201d Of all the Jews at the end of this age, only a remnant will be
faithful to their God. The rest will be destroyed in judgments. There will be Jews who
have rejected Jesus as Messiah who are yet faithful to God as far as they know. Many
Jews are atheists, but many are true to I AM as they see him. They are not atheists, but
believers, and are looking for their Messiah. I believe that it is these who will see their
Messiah when he returns, recognize him as such, and repent and mourn what they have
done. And faithful Jews who have died before the end of the age will be included in the
remnant, just as the dead in Christ who have been faithful to him will share the same
reward as those faithful ones who are alive at his coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We say that it is too late to repent when one has died or when the Lord appears. I
believe this is largely true, but there are exceptions. One is the Gentiles of Matt. 25.31-46,
where the word translated \u201cnations\u201d in our English Bibles should be \u201cGentiles.\u201d God
knows the heart and he knows which Gentiles that have not been Christian in name are
nonetheless right with him in their hearts. What about the millions of people who have
never heard of Jesus, but have hearts for what is right? See Rom. 2.14-16 in this regard.
Jer. 30.4-7 reads,
4And these are the words that I AM spoke concerning Israel and concerning
Judah.
5For thus says I AM, \u201cWe have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of
peace.
6Ask now and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man
with his hands on his loins as a woman in travail, and all faces turned to
paleness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Alas! for that day is great so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n
trouble, but he will be saved out of it.
This time of Jacob\u2019s trouble is the Great Tribulation. Israel and Judah will go through
the most terrible judgment of their existence, surpassing all that they have suffered from
the beginning, through the Holocaust, and up to the present day and what may yet
come.
Ezk. 38.1-16:
1And the word of I AM came to me saying,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2\u201cSon of man, set your face toward Gog of
the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against
him
3
and say, \u2018Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cLook, I am against you, Gog, prince of
Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,
4
and I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws,
and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling
swords;
5Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6Gomer
and all his hordes, the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north and all
his hordes, many peoples with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you and all<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your companies that are assembled to you and be a guard to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8After many days
you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land that is brought back
from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel,
which have been a continual waste, but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they
will dwell securely, all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9And you will ascend, you will come like a storm, you<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with
you.\u201d\u2019\u201d
10Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cIt will come to pass in that day that things will come
into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11 and you will say, \u2019I will go up to
the land of unwalled villages. I will go to them who are at rest, who dwell securely, all
of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12to take the spoil
and to take the prey, to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited,
and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and
goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of
Tarshish, with all its young lions, will say to you, \u2018Have you come to take the spoil?
Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to
take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and
say to Gog, \u2018Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cIn that day when my people Israel dwell
securely, will you not know it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15And you will come from your place out of the
uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding upon
horses, a great company and a mighty army,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16and you will come up against my
people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land. It will come to pass in the latter days that I
will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I will be
sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.\u201d\u2019\u201d
Dan. 12.1: \u201cAnd at that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the
children of your people, and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was
a nation even to that same time.\u201d
Zechariah has much to say about the last days of this age. It says in 5.1-4,
1Then again I lifted up my eyes and saw, and look, a flying scroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2And he said to me,
\u201cWhat do you see?\u201d And I answered, \u201cI see a flying scroll. The length of it is thirty
feet and the width of it fifteen feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3Then said he to me, \u201cThis is the curse that goes
forth over the face of the whole land, for everyone that steals will be cut off on the one
side according to the writing on it, and everyone that swears will be cut off on the
other side according to the writing on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4\u2019I will cause it to go forth,\u2019 says I AM of
hosts, \u2018and it will enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that
swears falsely by my name, and it will abide in the midst of his house, and will
consume it with its timber and its stones.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the somewhat mysterious passages in Zechariah. The flying scroll is the
law, written on two tablets by the finger of God and given to Moses. Those who steal
will be judged by the laws on one tablet and those who swear falsely will be judged by
the laws on the other. This a picture given to Zechariah of the evil being purged from
the land of Israel at the end of the age.
This theme of the purging of the land continues in 5.5-11:
5Then the angel who talked with me went forth and said to me, \u201cLift up now your eyes
and see what this is that is going forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6And I said, \u201cWhat is it?\u201d And he said,
\u201cThis is the ephah that is going forth.\u201d He said moreover, \u201cThis is their appearance in
all the land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7And look, there was lifted up a talent of lead. And this is a woman<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sitting in the midst of the ephah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8And he said, \u201cThis is Wickedness.\u201d And he cast her
down into the midst of the ephah, and he cast the weight of lead on the mouth of
it.
9Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, look, there came forth two women, and the
wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they
lifted up the ephah between earth and heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10Then I said to the angel who talked<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with me, \u201cWhere are these taking the ephah?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11And he said to me, \u201cTo build her a
house in the land of Shinar, and when it is prepared, she will be set there in her own
place.\u201d
Another puzzling passage! An ephah is a measure in the Old Testament, about 6\/10 of a
bushel. Here it is a basket of that size. Wickedness in Israel is placed in the ephah and
kept there by a heavy lead weight. Then she is flown to Shinar, Babylonia, the home of
evil in the Bible. From one standpoint the Bible is a tale of two cities, Jerusalem, the city
of God, and Babylon, the city of evil, under Satan\u2019s rule. In the end Babylon will be
destroyed and never again occupied, and Jerusalem will be the center and capital of the
earth. This passage in Zechariah is a picture of the purging of evil from Israel and
taking it to its place of destruction forever. This will occur at the end of this present evil
age.
Along this same theme of the removing of the evil from the land is Ezk. 11.18, a verse in
the midst of a passage about the restoration of Israel to the Lord and to their land: \u201cAnd
they will come there and they will take away all its detestable things and all the abominations
from there.\u201d
Zech. 12.3: \u201cAnd it will come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome
stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all
the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zech. 13.8: \u201cAnd it will come to pass that in all the land,\u201d says I AM, \u201ctwo parts in it will
be cut off and die, but the third will be left in it.\u201d In The Great Tribulation, 2\/3 of the Jews
will be killed by the invading armies.
Zech. 14.2: \u201cFor I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. And the city will be
taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished, and half of the city will go forth into
captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.\u201d
Finally in the Old Testament we have Mal. 3.1-5:
1\u201cLook, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me, and the Lord,
whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant,
whom you desire, look, he comes,\u201d says I AM of hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2\u201cBut who can abide the day of
his coming, and who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like
fuller’s soap,
3
and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the
sons of Levi and refine them as gold and silver, and they will offer to I AM offerings
in righteousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Then will the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to I AM,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And I will come near to you to
judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the
adulterers and against the false swearers and against those who oppress the hired man
in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his
rights, and those who do not fear me,\u201d says I AM of hosts.
The first statement is applied to John the Baptist and his coming before the Lord Jesus in
the New Testament, but then the prophecy jumps quickly to the last days when God
asks, \u201cWho can abide the day of his coming?\u201d It will be a day of judgment and purging
and refining.
Then we have some New Testament passages. We have already referred to Mt. 24.15
and 21. Let us quote verses 15-22:
15Therefrore when you see the \u2018abomination of desolation,\u2019 which was spoken of
through Daniel the prophet standing in the Holy Place [let the reader understand],
16let those in Judea flee to the mountains,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17let him who is on the housetop not go<\/p>\n\n\n\n
down to take the things in his house,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18and let the one in the field not turn back to take<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his garment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
those days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
21For<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
then there will be a great tribulation such as has never been from the beginning of the
world until now, nor will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22And if those days were not shortened no flesh would be
saved, but because of the elect those days will be cut short. (See also Mk. 13.14-20)
Rev. 6.9-11:
9And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those
slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had.
10And they cried with a great voice saying, “How long, holy and true Sovereign, will
you not judge and avenge our blood from those dwelling on the earth?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11And a white
robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a
little time, until their fellow-slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed, as
they also, were also fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rev. 7.9-14:
9After these things I saw and, look, a large crowd which no one was able to number,
from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne
and before the little Lamb clothed in white robes, and palm branches in their hands.
10And they cried with a great voice saying, \u201cSalvation to our God who sits on the
throne and to the little Lamb.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11And all the angels stood around the throne and the
elders and the four living beings and they fell before the throne onto their faces and
worshipped God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12saying, \u201cAmen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the
thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength to our God into the ages
of the ages. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13And one of the elders answered saying to me, \u201cWho are these<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who are clothed in white robes and where did they come from?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14And I said to him,
\u201cMy lord, you know.\u201d And he said to me, \u201cThese are those who come from the Great
Tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the little
Lamb.
This time of tribulation will be the most terrible of times. There will be the judgments of
God poured down from above on the wicked of the earth, and used by him also to
purify his people, the Jews in preparation for their coming to faith in their Messiah, and
the Christians who were not readied for the rapture of the overcomers. There will also
be the persecutions of the antichrist on all who refuse to worship him (Rev. 13.7, 15-17).
But somewhere in this turmoil, Rev. 7.2-8 tells us, God will have his slaves among the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jews, those who have been faithful to him, sealed on their foreheads. The number of
those sealed will be 144,000, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Whether that
is a precise number or symbolic I cannot say with certainty, but I take it to be symbolic.
These Jews will either survive the Great Tribulation or will be martyrs who will be
saved in the end.
Dan. 12.7 has a word that I think is very significant in understanding the Jewish
temperament, if there is such a thing. About fifteen times in the Old Testament God
calls the Jews stiff-necked, stubborn in their refusal to obey him. Dan. 12.7 says, \u201cAnd I
heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his
right hand and his left hand to the heavens, and swore by him who lives forever that it will be
for a time, times, and a half, and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power
of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.\u201d The time, times, and half a time are
the 3 1\u20442 years of the Great Tribulation. With all that the Jews have suffered down
through history, slavery in Egypt, constant war, exile to Assyria and Babylon, Roman
domination and cruelty, two millenniums of persecution, including the holocaust, God
has been trying to break this stiff-necked people and they have not broken! It will take
the Great Tribulation to achieve that goal. It will be achieved, and, as we will see, they
will break and turn to their Messiah. Lord, hasten the day!
Let me add a note at this point, that the next several sections, from here through The
Restoration of Israel to the Land all form one great event, collectively the day of the
Lord. Whether they occur all at once or over a bit of time, and if so, in what order, we
cannot say. Pinpointing every event is probably not possible at this time.
Cosmic Disturbances
I wrote earlier that Matthew 24 is perhaps our best prophetic chronology. The next
event after the Great Tribulation which Matthew records is the disturbances of the
celestial bodies. We read in Mt. 24.29, \u201cBut immediately after the tribulation of those days,
\u2018the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the
sky, and the powers of the skies will be shaken.\u2019\u201d (See also Mk. 13.24-25, Lk. 21.25.) These
disturbances are referred to many times in the Bible. Instead of quoting all of them I will
just list the references so you can look them up. They are Is. 13.10, 24.23, 34.4, Ezk.
32.7-8, Joel 2.10, 31 (Acts 2.20), 3.15, Zeph. 1.15, Zech. 14.6, Rev 6.12-13, the sixth seal of
Revelation. Is 34.4 and Rev. 6.14 also mention the sky being rolled up like a scroll.
Where Matthew has the powers of the skies being shaken, Luke has the roaring of the
sea and the waves and Rev. 6.14 has every mountain and island moved from their
places. Hag, 2.6, quoted in Heb. 12.26, which we will refer to again in dealing with the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
restoration of the Jews, tells us that there will be such a shaking. Apparently the entire
universe is shaken as something momentous is about to take place. Recall Mt. 27.45, the
sky being darkened from noon until 3:00 p.m. as the Lord Jesus was about to die on the
cross, and v. 51, the earth shaken and the rocks being split at his death. Something
momentous took place then, and something momentous is about to take place again at
this point of the cosmic disturbances. What is that something?
The Sign of the Son of Man
Mt. 24.30: \u201cAnd then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky\u2026.\u201d What is the sign
of the Son of Man? Students of the word of God have puzzled over this question. I have
my own opinion. In Ti. 2.13 we read, \u201c\u2026 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.\u201d This verse refers to the second
coming of Christ, but it says that we are to look for the glory. I believe this means that
just an instant before the appearing of the Lord in the sky at his coming there will be a
burst of glory that will light up the entire universe with an intensity never before seen.
This is the lightning flashing from the east to the west of Mt. 24.27.
The Return of Christ – Mourning
And then the Lord himself will appear: \u201c\u2026 and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn
and they will see \u2018the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky\u2019 with power and much
glory\u201d (Mt. 24.30). I must record that I weep as I write this. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
The Lord will appear! Take note that Matthew writes that all the tribes of the earth will
mourn. Zech. 12.10 records that when the Lord delivers the Jews in Jerusalem from the
armies of the world about to destroy them totally, he
will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of grace
and supplication. \u201cThey will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will
mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one
grieves for a firstborn son.\u201d
Rev. 1.7 says, \u201cLook he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who
pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.\u201d
I believe that Matthew means that everyone alive on the earth at that moment will
realize that we have all pierced him by our sins. Zech. 12.10 refers to the Jews, but every
one of us is responsible for the death of the Lord Jesus. We all will mourn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hos. 3.5 adds, \u201cAfterward the sons of Israel will return and seek I AM their God and David
their king, and will come with fear to I AM and to his goodness in the last days.\u201d
The Return of Christ \u2013 Resurrection and Rapture
But then there will a burst of joy, joy unspeakable and glorified!
This appearance of the Lord is also recorded in Mk. 13.26, Lk. 21.27, 1 Thess. 4.16, and
Rev. 14.14. At this point will occur the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture
of them and the Christians still living then. This is recorded in several passages.
Mt. 24.31: \u201cAnd he will send his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the skies to the other.\u201d
Mk. 13.27: \u201cAnd then he will send the angels and gather the elect from the four winds, from
the end of earth to the end of the sky.\u201d
Lk. 21.27-28: 27\u201dAnd then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28These things beginning to take place, look up and lift up your heads, for your<\/p>\n\n\n\n
redemption is drawing near.\u201d
1 Cor. 15.52: \u201c\u2026 in a moment, in a blink of an eye, at the last trumpet, for a trumpet will
sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.\u201d
1 Thess. 4.16-17: 16\u201cFor the Lord himself, with a shout of command, with a voice of an
archangel, and with a trumpet of God, will descend from Heaven, and the dead in Christ will
rise first.
17Then we the living who remain will be caught up in clouds for the meeting of the
Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.\u201d
Rev. 14.14-16
14And I saw, and look a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one like a son of man,
having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel
came out from the temple crying with a great voice to the one sitting on the cloud,
\u201cSend your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth
is dry.\u201d
16And the one sitting on the cloud cast his sickle to the earth and the earth
was reaped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rev. 20.5b: \u201cThis is the first resurrection.\u201d
Probably most Bible believers have been taught that the rapture depicted in 1 Cor. 15.52
and 1 Thess. 4.16-17 occurs before the Great Tribulation. As I dealt with at length above,
I do not believe this is the case. The rapture of the overcomers comes at that point, but
the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of them with those still living at the time
will come at the second coming of Christ. The purpose of rapture before the Great
Tribulation is to escape that tribulation. The dead in Christ have no need of such escape
for they have already escaped it by death. These two passages, 1 Cor. 15.52 and 1 Thess.
4.16-17, come after the second coming. Notice that 1 Thess. 4.17 says that those raised
and raptured in that verse will meet the Lord in the air. But the rapture of the
overcomers in Rev. 12.5 is not to meet the Lord in the air, but to the throne of God.
When the Lord Jesus comes back, those raptured to the throne will come back with him
to meet those raised and raptured at his coming in the air (1 Thess. 3.13).
Notice also that 1 Cor. 15.52 says that the resurrection of that verse comes at the last
trumpet. What is the last trumpet? It is the great trumpet of Mt. 24.31, the trumpet of
God of 1 Thess. 4.16, the seventh and last trumpet of Rev. 11.15. This last verse
continues,
15\u2026 and there were great voices in Heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world has
become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and he will reign to the ages of the ages.”
16And
the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell on their faces and
worshipped God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17saying, “We thank you, Lord God almighty, who is and who was,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
for you have taken your great power and reigned.\u201d
All these verses come at the return of Christ, after the Great Tribulation. That is why it
is so important to be ready for the rapture of the overcomers before the Great
Tribulation, to be kept from the hour of testing (Rev. 3.10) and to be strengthened to
escape all these things (Lk. 21.36).
Rom. 8.18-23 reads,
18For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not comparable to the glory
to be revealed to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19For the eager expectation of the creation is awaiting the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
revelation of the sons of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20For the creation was subjected to futility, not<\/p>\n\n\n\n
willingly, but because of the one having subjected it, in hope<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21that the creation itself
will also be set free from the slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
children of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails<\/p>\n\n\n\n
together until now,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23but not that only, but even we ourselves, having the firstfruits of
the Spirit, groan within ourselves, awaiting son-placing, the redemption of our body.
When the Lord returns, not only will the dead in Christ be raised and those alive at his
coming go with them to meet the Lord in the air, but the creation itself will be set free
from its subjection to futility resulting from the fall into sin. In addition, as 1 Cor. 15.52,
just quoted, says, we will be changed. That is, our mortal bodies, subject to disease,
death, and decay, will transformed into spiritual bodies (1 Cor. 15.44, see vs. 43-53),
bodies like the resurrection body of the Lord (Phil. 3.21), no longer subject to such.
In addition, it is either here or at the judgment seat of Christ, to be considered presently,
that we will receive our son-placing. This word \u201cson-placing\u201d is usually translated
\u201cadoption,\u201d but is does not have this meaning in the New Testament. In the first place,
we are not adopted children of God. We are born of the Spirit, born into his very family
by the new birth (Jn. 3.3, 5, 7, Ti. 3.4-5, 1 Pt. 1.23). Second, the Greek word literally
means \u201cson-placing.\u201d The word is used five times in the New Testament, Rom. 8.15, 23,
9.4, Gal. 4.5, and Eph. 1.5. Gal. 4.1-7 deals with a man, a property owner, and his minor
son. As long as the son is a child he is under guardians and does what he is told. In a
sense he is a slave, not free to do what he wants to do, even though he is potentially lord
of all. But when he reaches maturity, in v. 2, he receives his son-placing. That is, he is
placed in his position of responsibility in the family business.
This theme is true of each of the occurrences of this word. In Rom. 8.15, when we are
born into the family of God we receive a spirit of son-placing. That is, we are not yet
mature sons, but we have that spirit that will grow into maturity if we walk with the Lord
in faith and obedience. We call out, \u201cAbba, Father!\u201d In 9.4, we see that the concept of
son-placing began with the Jews in the very beginning. God\u2019s plan all along was for the
Jews to come to the place of spiritual maturity. They were disobedient to God and
rejected their Messiah and so forfeited this goal, but, as we will see, they will regain it in
the millennium. Since they failed of this calling, it was passed on to those who receive
Christ, who are born from above, of the Spirit. Eph. 1.5 says that we are predestined to
son-placing. That is, we are not predestined to be lost or saved. That is a matter of our
free will. But if we are saved, then we are predestined to reach maturity, to son-placing
(see Rom. 8.28-29). (We can still fail even of this if we do not live overcoming lives.)
We come back to Rom. 8.23. When the Lord returns, he will redeem our corruptible
bodies, transforming them into incorruption, fitting us for his heavenly kingdom, and
giving us our son-placing, our place of responsibility in his kingdom as we reign with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
him (2 Tim. 2.12), if we are considered worthy (Lk. 20.35, 2 Thess. 1.5). Our spirits are
made alive when we trust Christ and are born from above. Our souls are being saved
throughout life. Our bodies will be redeemed at the coming of the Lord.
So – the Lord has gathered his people to himself. What is next?
The Return of Christ – Judgment Day
We might call this judgment day. That could be applied to the great white throne
judgment after the millennium, but it can also certainly apply to this day of the Lord\u2019s
return, to gather his people and judge his enemies and theirs. In fact, the day when the
Lord Jesus returns in judgment is called \u201cthe day of I AM\u201d or \u201cthat day\u201d numerous
times in the Old Testament and \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d in the New Testament. There are
also verses that refer to \u201cthe last days.\u201d We will take them in their order in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is. 2.10-21:
10Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of I AM and from the glory
of his majesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11The lofty looks of man will be brought low and the haughtiness of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
men will be bowed down, and I AM alone will be exalted in that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12For there will
be a day of I AM of hosts on all that is proud and haughty and on all that is lifted up,
and it will be brought low,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13and on all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted<\/p>\n\n\n\n
up, and on all the oaks of Bashan,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14and on all the high mountains, and on all the hills<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that are lifted up,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15and on every lofty tower, and on every fortified wall,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16and on all<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the ships of Tarshish, and on all pleasant imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And the loftiness of man will be
bowed down, and the haughtiness of men will be brought low, and I AM alone will be
exalted in that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18And the idols will utterly pass away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19And men will go into the
caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from the terror of I AM and from the
glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20In that day men will
cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which have been made for them
to worship, to the moles and to the bats,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21to go into the caverns of the rocks and into
the clefts of the ragged rocks from the terror of I AM and from the glory of his
majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
V. 21 says that the wicked in that day of judgment will go into the caves and clefts to
hide from the terror of I AM. Hos. 10.8c-d says, \u201c\u2026 they will say to the mountains, \u2018Cover
us,\u2019 and to the hills, \u2018Fall on us.\u2019\u201d This statement in Hosea refers to Assyria\u2019s destruction<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., but as is often the case
these prophecies of judgment in the Old Testament days point forward to judgment at
the end of this age. In Lk. 23.29-30, the Lord Jesus says as he walks to Calvary, quoting
Hos. 10.8, 29\u201c\u2026 for look, days are coming in which they will say, \u2018Blessed are the barren and
the wombs that did not bear and breasts that did not nurse.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30Then they will begin to say to
the mountains, \u2018Fall on us,\u2019 and to the hills, \u2018Cover us.\u2019\u201d The Lord Jesus himself takes a
passage that clearly refers to an Old Testament event and casts it onto the future. What
took place then will take place again on a much broader scale.
Rev. 6.16 reads,
15And the kings of the earth and the great ones and the rulers of thousands and the
rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and in
the rocks of the mountains<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16and said to the mountains and to the rocks, \u201cFall on us
and hide us from the face of the one sitting on the throne and from the anger of the
little Lamb,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17for the great day of their anger came, and who is able to stand?\u201d
All of these passages deal with the judgment that will fall at the return of the Lord.
Is. 11.13-14:
13The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and they that harass Judah will be cut off.
Ephraim will not envy Judah and Judah will not harass Ephraim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14And they will fly
down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west. Together they will despoil the
children of the east. They will put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the
children of Ammon will obey them.
It should be noted that Judah and Ephraim, reunited Israel, will fly down on the
Philistines, their ancient enemies. A number of times we will see this theme of the Jews
being used by God to destroy their enemies in the judgment, just as the ancient sons of
Israel destroyed the wicked people in the Promised Land under God\u2019s direction.
Is. 13.6-9:
6Wail, for the day of I AM is at hand. As destruction from Shaddai it will
come.
7Therefore will all hands be feeble, and every man\u2019s heart will melt,
8
and they
will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will take hold. They will be in pain as a woman
in travail. They will look in amazement at one another, their faces like faces of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28<\/p>\n\n\n\n
flame.
9Look, the day of I AM is coming, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make
the land a desolation and to destroy the sinners out of it.
(The word \u201cShaddai\u201d in the passage just quoted is often translated \u201cAlmighty.\u201d Since it
is not certain what the word means I have chosen to use the Hebrew word in English
letters. The phrase \u201cEl Shaddai is well known. \u201cEl\u201d means \u201cGod.\u201d El Shaddai is God
Shaddai.)
All of Isaiah 34 has to do with this judgment. I will not quote it here because of its
length, but it should be read.
Is. 63.1-6, parts of which are quoted in Rev. 19.13, 15:
1Who is this who comes from Edom with garments of crimson from Bozrah, this one
who is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? \u201cIt is I who
speaks in righteousness, mighty to save.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 Why is your apparel red, and your<\/p>\n\n\n\n
garments like him who treads in the wine press?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3\u201cI have trodden the winepress alone,
and of the peoples there was no man with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and
trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I
have stained all my raiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4For the day of vengeance was in my heart and the year<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of my redeemed has come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And I looked and there was no one to help. And I
wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation
to me, and my wrath upheld me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6And I trod down the peoples in my anger and made<\/p>\n\n\n\n
them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.\u201d
Jer. 30.11a-b: \u201cFor I am with you,\u201d says I AM,\u201d to save you, for I will make a full end of all
the nations where I have scattered you.\u201d
Ezk. 30.3: \u201cFor the day is near; the day of I AM is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of
the nations,\u201d that is, a time of judgment, as vs. 2-5 show:
2Son of man, prophesy and say, \u201cThus says the Lord I AM, Wail, \u2018Alas for the
day!\u2019
3For the day is near, the day of I AM is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of
the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4And a sword will come on Egypt and anguish will be in Ethiopia when
the slain will fall in Egypt. And they will take away her multitude and her
foundations will be broken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5Ethiopia and Libya and Lydia and all the mingled
people and Cub and the sons of the land that is in league will fall with them by the
sword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judgment on the nations.
Ezk. 38.17-39.8:
17Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cAre you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants
the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you
against them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18And it will come to be in that day, when Gog will come against the
land of Israel,\u201d says the Lord I AM, \u201cthat my wrath will come up into my
nostrils.
19For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken that surely in
that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20so that the fish of the sea
and the birds of the skies and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep
on the earth and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at my presence,
and the mountains will be thrown down and the steep places will fall and every wall
will fall to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21And I will call for a sword against him to all my
mountains,\u201d says the Lord I AM. \u201cEvery man’s sword will be against his
brother.
22And with pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him and
I will rain on him and on his hordes and on the many peoples who are with him, an
overflowing shower and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23And I will magnify
myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many
nations, and they will know that I am I AM.
39.1\u201cAnd you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, \u2018Thus says the Lord I AM,
\u201cLook, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,
2
and I will turn
you about and will lead you on and will cause you to come up from the uttermost
parts of the north, and I will bring you to the mountains of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And I will smite
your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right
hand.
4You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes, and the
peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort and to the
beasts of the field to be devoured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5You will fall on the open field, for I have spoken it,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
says the Lord I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6\u201cAnd I will send a fire on Magog and on those who dwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n
securely in the coastlands and they will know that I am I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7And my holy name
will I make known in the midst of my people Israel and I will not allow my holy name
to be profaned anymore, and the nations will know that I am I AM, the Holy One in
Israel.
8Look, it is coming and it will be done,\u201d says the Lord I AM. \u201cThis is the day of
which I have spoken.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel 1.15: \u201cAlas for the day, for the day of I AM is near, and as destruction from Shaddai it
will come.\u201d
Joel 2.1, 10-11:
1Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of I AM is coming, for it is near\u2026.
10The
earth quakes before them. The skies tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened and
the stars take away their shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11And I AM utters his voice before his army, for his
camp is very great and he is strong who executes his word, for the day of I AM is
great and very terrible and who can abide it?
This is another example of the prophets projecting the judgment of their day onto the
last days. In Joel\u2019s day it was a swarm of locusts who devastated the land in judgment.
In the end it will be the judgment of God devastating the wicked. And notice again the
cosmic disturbances, sun, moon, and stars losing their brightness, here and in vs. 30-31:
30\u201cAnd I will show wonders in the skies and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of
smoke.
31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and
terrible day of I AM comes.\u201d This verse is quoted by Peter in Acts 2.20.
This continues in Joel 3.13b-16c:
13b\u2026 come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is
great.
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of I AM is near in
the valley of decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15The sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw<\/p>\n\n\n\n
their shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16a-cAnd I AM will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the skies and the earth will quake.
Am. 5.18-20:
18Woe to you who desire the day of I AM! Why would you have the day of I AM? It is
darkness and not light,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, or went into<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a snake bit him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20Will not the day of I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AM be darkness and not light, very dark, and no brightness in it?
Ob. 15: \u201cFor the day of I AM is near on all the nations. As you have done it will be done to
you. Your dealing will return on your own head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zeph. 1.1-18 seems to begin with the coming judgment of ancient Judah at the hands of
Babylon, but goes on to the end of the age, and perhaps even points to the burning of
the earth and sky and their replacement by new skies and a new earth after the
millennium, which we will deal with later:
1The word of I AM which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah,
the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of
Judah:
2\u201cI will utterly consume all things from the face of the ground,\u201d says I AM.
3\u201cI
will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the skies and the fish of the
sea and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. And I will cut off man from the
face of the ground,\u201d says I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4\u201cAnd I will stretch out my hand on Judah and on all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, the
name of the idolatrous priests with the priests,
5
and them that worship the host of
heaven on the housetops, and them that worship, that swear to I AM and swear by
Malcam,
6
and them that have turned back from following I AM and those who have<\/p>\n\n\n\n
not sought I AM or inquired after him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord I
AM, for the day of I AM is near, for I AM has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated
his guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8And it will come to be in the day of I AM’s sacrifice that I will punish the
princes and the king’s sons and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9And in
that day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master’s
house with violence and deceit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10And in that day,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthere will be the noise
of a cry from the fish gate and a wailing from the second quarter and a great crashing
from the hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are<\/p>\n\n\n\n
undone. All those who were laden with silver are cut off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12And it will come to be at
that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men that are
settled in complacency, that say in their heart, \u2018I AM will not do good, nor will he do
evil.\u2019
13And their wealth will become a spoil and their houses a desolation. Yes, they
will build houses, but will not inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards, but will
not drink their wine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14The great day of I AM is near, it is near and hastes greatly,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the voice of the day of I AM. The mighty man cries there bitterly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15That day is a day
of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16a day of the trumpet<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high battlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And I will
bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned
against I AM, and their blood will be poured out as dust and their flesh as
dung.
18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of I
AM’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he will
make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
32<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mal. 4.5: \u201cLook, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of I AM
comes.\u201d This verse tells us that the day of I AM is great and terrible, indicating
judgment, but also that Elijah will come first. Students of the Bible are not certain or
agreed on the meaning of this statement. The Lord Jesus says in Mt. 11.14 that John the
Baptist was the Elijah to come, and in 17.11-13, that Elijah is coming and had already
come. See also Mk. 9.11-13, Lk. 1.17, and Jn. 1.21. Many believe that the two witnesses of
Rev. 11 are Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. Others think they are Enoch
and Elijah because it is appointed to man to die once (Heb. 9.27) and neither of these
men died, but were taken up to Heaven alive. I think this question will remain a
mystery until that day.
We see the Lord using Israel to destroy some of their enemies on the day of judgment in
Zech. 10.3c-5:
3c \u2026 for I AM of hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as
his splendid horse in the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4From him will come forth the cornerstone, from him<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And they will be as
mighty men, treading down in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they will fight
because I AM is with them, and the riders on horses will be confounded.
This continues in Zech. 12.2-9:
2Look, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about, and on
Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And it will take place in that day
that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All that burden
themselves with it will be severely wounded. And all the nations of the earth will be
gathered together against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4\u201dIn that day,\u201d says I AM,\u201d I will smite every horse with
terror and his rider with madness, and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah and
will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And the chieftains of Judah will
say in their heart, \u2018The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in I AM of hosts
their God.\u2019
6
In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among
wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves, and they will devour all the peoples
round about, on the right hand and on the left, and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in
their own place, in Jerusalem.
7
I AM also will save the tents of Judah first, that the
glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not
magnified above Judah.
8
In that day will I AM defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and he that is feeble among them at that day will be as David, and the house of David<\/p>\n\n\n\n
33<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will be as God, as the angel of I AM before them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9And it will come to pass in that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.\u201d
We see the Lord Jesus himself fighting for the Jews against the forces invading their
land in the last days in Zech. 14.3-7:
3Then I AM will go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the
day of battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4And his feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is
before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle
toward the east and toward the west, a very great valley. And half of the mountain
will remove toward the north and half of it toward the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And you will flee by the
valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel. Yes, you
will flee as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.
And I AM my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6And it will come to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in that day that there will not be light – the luminaries will congeal –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7but it will be
one day which is known to I AM, not day and not night, but it will come to be that at
evening time there will be light.
This great valley running through the Mount of Olives will be the pathway of escape for
the Jews who flee from the Lord\u2019s destruction of their enemies. As he pours out
judgment on them, he will make a way of escape for his people.
On the matter of there not being any light, Rev. 16.10 tells us that when the seventh
bowl of wrath is poured out on the throne of the beast, the antichrist, there will be
darkness in his kingdom, such darkness that they will gnaw their tongues because of
pain, a darkness that can be felt (Ex. 10.21). The next bowl clears the way for the kings
from the east, and then there is Armageddon, the Lord\u2019s judgment of the wicked armies
at his return. It is not clearly stated, but perhaps when this judgment falls as his feet
touch the Mount of Olives, great darkness will fall on the enemies and there will be no
light. But at evening time there will be light. The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
As that judgment falls and the people of God escape, they will have light, eternal light.
Zech. 14.12-15:
12And this will be the plague with which I AM will smite all the peoples that have
warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot away while they stand on their feet, and
their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongue will rot away in their
mouth.
13And it will take place in that day that a great tumult from I AM will be
among them, and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14And Judah also will fight in
Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations roundabout will be gathered together, gold
and silver and apparel in great abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15And so the plague of the horse, of the
mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the beasts that will be in those camps
will be like that plague.
Mt. 13.30: \u201cLeave both to grow until the harvest and at the time of the harvest I will say to
the reapers, \u2018Gather first the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the
wheat into my barn.\u2019”
Mt. 13.41-42: 41\u201dThe Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather from his kingdom
all stumbling blocks and those who do lawlessness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
42and will throw them into the furnace of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
fire. There will there be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d
Mt. 13.49-50: 4\u201dThus will it be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the
evil from the midst of the righteous<\/p>\n\n\n\n
50and throw them into the furnace of fire. There will there<\/p>\n\n\n\n
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 Thess. 5.1-3:
Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no reason for me to write to
you, for you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief
in the night. For when they may say, \u201cPeace and safety,\u201d sudden destruction is
coming on them like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they may not escape.
2 Thess. 1.6-10:
For indeed it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those afflicting you, and to
you, the ones being afflicted, relief, with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from
Heaven with angels of his power, in a fire of flame, giving vengeance on those not
knowing God and on those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus, who will pay
the penalty of eternal destruction away from the face of the Lord and from the glory of
his power, when he will come on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be
marveled at in all those having had faith, for our testimony to you was believed, for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35<\/p>\n\n\n\n
which also we pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of the calling,
and that he may fulfill with power every intention of goodness and work of faith.
2 Thess. 2.2 tells us that the day of the Lord will not come until the apostasy and the
revealing of the antichrist.
Rev. 14.17-20:
17And another angel went out from the sanctuary which is in Heaven having himself
also a sharp sickle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18And another angel, the one having authority over fire, went out
from the altar, and he voiced with a great voice to the one having the sharp sickle
saying, \u201cSend your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of the vineyard of the earth,
for her grapes have become ripe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19And the angel cast his sickle to the earth and
gathered the vineyard of the earth and cast into the great wine press of the fury of
God.
20And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood went out from the
wine press up to the bridles of the horses for sixteen hundred stadia (about 200
miles).
Rev. 16.13-21:
12And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water dried
up, that a way might be prepared for the kings who are from the rising of the sun.
13And I saw from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from
the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14for they are spirits of
demons doing signs, who go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth to gather
them to the war of the great day of God the almighty. (<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15\u201cLook I come as a thief.
Blessed is the one who is awake and keeps his garments, that he not walk naked and
they see his shame.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16And he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armageddon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And the seventh poured out his bowl onto the air, and there went out<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a great voice from the sanctuary, from the throne, saying, \u201cIt is done!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18And there
were lightnings and sounds and thunders and there was a great earthquake, such as
was not since men were on the earth, so great was the earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19And the great city
went into three parts and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And Babylon the great was
remembered before God to give to her the cup of the wine of the fury of his anger.
20And every island fled and mountains were not found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21And great hail, about a
talent, came down from the sky onto men, and the men blasphemed God from the
plague of the hail, for very great is this plague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rev. 19.11-18:
11And I saw Heaven opened, and look, a white horse, and the one sitting on him called
faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12and his eyes like a
flame of fire, and on his head many diadems, having a name written which no one
knows but himself,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13and clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and his name is called<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Word of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14And the armies in Heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
fine linen, white, clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15And from his mouth there goes out a sharp sword, that with
it he might strike the Gentiles, and he himself will shepherd them with a rod of iron,
and he himself will trample the wine press of the wine of the fury of the anger of God
almighty, 16and he has on the garment and on his thigh a name written, King of kings
and Lord of lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And I saw one angel standing in the sun and he cried with a great
voice saying to all the birds flying in midheaven, \u201cCome be gathered for the great
supper of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18that you may eat flesh of kings and flesh of rulers of a thousand and
flesh of strong and flesh of horses and those sitting on them and flesh of all free men
and slaves and small and great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and
their armies gathered to make war with the one sitting on the horse and with his
army.
20And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who did the signs
before him with which he deceived those receiving the mark of the beast and who
worshipped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with
brimstone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21And the rest were killed by the sword of the one sitting on the horse<\/p>\n\n\n\n
which went out from his mouth, and all the birds were filled from their flesh.
There is another aspect of judgment that I need to refer to. I will not quote all the
passages because they are quite lengthy. Jer. 50-51 tell us of the doom of Babylon.
Perhaps the most dramatic statement is in 51.63-64:
63And it will be, when you have finished reading this scroll that you will bind a stone
to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
64and you will say, \u201cThus will
Babylon sink and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her, and
they will be weary.\u201d Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Rev. 18.21-24 alludes to these verses, and we will come back to them presently.
This theme of judgment on Babylon continues in Rev. 14.8: \u201cAnd another angel, a second,
followed saying, \u2018Fell, fell Babylon the great who from the wine of the passion of her
immorality has given to all the nations to drink,\u2019” and then in 16.19: \u201cAnd the great city<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37<\/p>\n\n\n\n
went into three parts and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And Babylon the great was
remembered before God to give to her the cup of the wine of the fury of his anger.\u201d
Then Rev. 17 and 18 give the full details of this judgment. Let me summarize by saying
that Rev. 17 deals primarily with what we could call religious Babylon. We referred
earlier to the fact that the Bible could be called a tale of two cities. In Gen. 10.10 we first
read of Babylon, and then in Gen 11.1-9 we read of the tower of Babylon, built to reach
into Heaven and make a name for man. That is, man will create his own Heaven or
reach Heaven without God. Man\u2019s religion. Of course, Satan is hiding behind all of this,
deceiving man. Ever since, Babylon has been symbolic of Satan\u2019s opposition to God in
every way. The other city in this tale is Jerusalem, the center of God\u2019s earth (Ezk. 38.12),
that will one day be the capital city of this world under the government of the Lord
Jesus.
Rev. 18 has to do with what we might call secular or political or commercial Babylon. It
is not that politics and commerce and so forth are evil in themselves. God\u2019s word itself
is full of directions from God about government and work and order in the world. But
the world as we know it, while pursuing these worthy goals, is full of corruption and
injustice. Under man it is largely an evil system, and it certainly takes little notice of the
true God and his instructions.
One of the features of this twofold Babylon, religious and secular, is that the two often
work together to accomplish their goals. If religion is useful to commerce and politics, it
will be used, and vice versa. It is all a world system, secretly under Satan\u2019s control, that
is opposed to God. There is coming a day when God will judge this evil system.
Ironically, in the end secular Babylon will rise up against religious Babylon and destroy
it, when the antichrist decides to enter the temple and set himself up as God and
demand worship of himself only. He will outlaw all worship except that of himself and
will do away with any other religion.
But then God will destroy the entire world system that has operated against him and
his ways for millennia. We come back to Jer. 51.63-64 in Rev. 18.21: \u201cAnd one strong
angel took a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea saying, \u2018Thus with violence
will Babylon the great city be thrown down, and it will be found no longer.\u2019\u201d
The end of Babylon forever. The angel says in Rev. 18.20, \u201cRejoice over her, Heaven, and
the saints and the apostles and the prophets, for God has judged your judgment of her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
38<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many who believe that ancient Babylon in what is now Iraq will be rebuilt
and again become the capital of evil in the world. They believe this because of these
prophecies of its destruction at the end of this age. The city was conquered and partially
destroyed and rebuilt a few times in antiquity, and about 275 B.C. ceased to exist as an
important city, though there has always been some activity there. Since the Bible says it
is to be destroyed in the last days, then it must be rebuilt. Right? The problem I have
with this approach is that I cannot find any Scripture that says it will be rebuilt. It is
certainly possible that it will be, and I will not argue with those who believe it will, but I
am inclined to take Babylon as a symbol of evil, as we just saw in Rev. 17 and 18. It is
worldwide. It is everywhere. It pervades the air we breathe. It is the world system
organized by Satan against God. This will be destroyed and we will breathe God\u2019s pure
air. That is how I see it.
The Return of Christ – The End of the Antichrist
The next event is actually a part of the judgment just dealt with. It is the end of the
antichrist. We have just read in Rev. 19.20 that the beast, the antichrist, and his false
prophet, were seized and thrown alive into the lake of fire, which is hell. This is also
noted in 2 Thess. 2.8: \u201cAnd then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will
destroy with the breath of his mouth and abolish by the appearing of his coming\/presence.\u201d I
take it that the destroying of the antichrist equals throwing him alive into the lake of
fire. Being in hell is a living death, we might say. One does not cease to exist in hell, but
his life there can hardly be called life. It is spiritual death, complete separation from
God.
Is. 29.10 and 20a also seem to be a references to the end of the antichrist. V. 10 reads,
\u201cTherefore it will come to be that when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount
Zion and on Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria and the
glory of his high looks.\u201d And v. 20a, in the midst of a time of terrible judgment on Israel,
we are told, \u201cFor the terrible one is brought to nothing and the scoffer ceases.\u201d
The fact that the antichrist will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus himself, as in Rev. 19.20
and 2 Thess. 2.8, is seen also in Is. 31.8: \u201cAnd Assyria will fall by a sword not of man, and
the sword not of Adam will devour him. And he will flee from the sword, and his young men
will become forced labor.\u201d Here we see Assyria as the antichrist, as also in Is. 14.24-25:
24I AM of hosts has sworn saying, \u201cSurely as I have thought so it will come to be, and
as I have purposed, so it will stand,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25that I will break Assyria in my land, and on my<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39<\/p>\n\n\n\n
mountains I will tread him under foot. Then his yoke will depart from off them and
his burden from off their shoulder.\u201d
The word \u201cAssyria\u201d here refers to the antichrist, as we see in the words, \u201cI will tread
HIM underfoot.\u201d Assyria, and ancient enemy of Israel and Judah is projected onto the
future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Jer. 30.8, just quoted, I AM says, \u201c\u2026 I will break his yoke from off your neck.\u201d I believe
this to be a reference to the antichrist, as are Is. 10.20 and 27:
20\u201cAnd it will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and those who have
escaped of the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who smote them, but will
lean on I AM, the Holy One of Israel, in truth\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27And it will come to pass in that
day that his burden will depart from off your shoulder and his yoke from off your
neck\u2026.\u201d
One of the blessings of the end of the age will be the deliverance of the Jews from the
antichrist, who had broken his covenant with them and initiated the Great Tribulation.
We see more of Assyria in this way in Is. 30.30-31:
30And I AM will cause his glorious voice to be heard and will show the descent of his
arm with the indignation of anger, and the flame of a devouring fire with a blast and
tempest and hailstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31For through the voice of I AM will Assyria be dismayed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with his rod he will smite.
The final references to Assyria as the antichrist occur in Mic. 5.5b-6:
5bWhen Assyria comes into our land and when he treads in our palaces, then we will
raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6And they will waste the
land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances, and he will
deliver us from Assyria when he comes into our land and when he treads within our
border.
Let me say two things here. (1) Sometimes the Hebrew word Asshur is translated
Assyria, sometimes Assyrian, sometimes the Assyrian. In all the verses quoted here, the
word is simply Asshur. That makes it difficult to interpret at times. For example, where
some translations have \u201cthe Assyrian,\u201d meaning one man who is taken as the antichrist,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
40<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Hebrew is simply Asshur. There is no \u201cthe.\u201d It could be translated \u201cAssyria.\u201d I have
used my judgment to decide whether or not the word refers to an individual, the
antichrist. I believe it does at the places I have quoted.
(2) \u201cSeven shepherds and eight princely men.\u201d This is a mysterious statement. Some of
the commentaries I consulted skipped over this phrase and said not a word about it. C.
F. Keil, a conservative nineteenth century German commentator, takes it that these
seven and eight are under shepherds of the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, and that the
use of seven and eight, since seven is a number of completion in the Bible, indicates that
the Chief Shepherd will have not only enough, but more than enough. I think this has
merit. I think that there is also another possibility. Since seven is a number of
completion, eight implies something entirely new. What is entirely new in the Bible?
Resurrection. \u201cThere is nothing new under the sun,\u201d says Eccl. 1.9, but then God, the
only one who could do so, did something entirely new: he raised his Son from the dead
on the eighth day, the Sabbath, the seventh day, plus one. Eight is the number of
resurrection. Keep in mind that the other people who were raised from the dead in the
Bible were not resurrected, but resuscitated. Man can sometimes resuscitate. Only God
can resurrect, raise someone to life that is no longer subject to death. All those others
died again. Jesus lives. 2 Pt. 2.5 adds a bit to this: when it says literally \u201ceighth Noah,\u201d
meaning that Noah was one of eight who went through the waters of death in the ark,
which is a type of Jesus, thus figuratively coming out of death into life. Think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Return of Christ – The Imprisonment of Satan
Then we have the imprisonment of Satan in hades. Let me make it clear here that hades
and hell are not the same thing. Hades is death and the grave or the prison house of
some fallen angels and of the lost dead awaiting final judgment. It is the same as sheol
in the Old Testament. It is the abyss, the lower parts of the earth, and \u201cunder the earth.\u201d
This is not the place to go into a study of hades and hell, but if you will study the
following verses on hades and hell, you will see the difference. Hades: Mt. 11.23, 16.18,
Lk. 10.15, 16.23, Acts 2.27, 31, Rev. 1.18, 6.8, 20.13, 14. See also \u201cabyss in Lk. 18.31, Rom.
10.7, Rev. 9.1-2, 11, 11.7, 17.8, 20.1, 3. See also 2 Pt. 2.4: your translation probably reads
\u201chell,\u201d but the Greek word is tartaroo (pronounced \u201ctar-tar-OH-oh), a verb meaning
\u201ccast into tartarus,\u201d another word for hades. See also Eph. 4.9, Phil. 2.10. See also 1 Pt.
3.19, \u201cspirits in prison.\u201d The prison is hades. This is a difficult verse to interpret and I
will not go into it here. Finally, Ju. 6: \u201che has kept for judgment of the great day in
eternal chains under thick darkness.\u201d Hell: Mt. 5.22, 29, 30, 10.28, 18.9, 28.15, 33, Mk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
41<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9.43, 45, 47, Lk. 12.5, Ja, 3.6. Other references to hell that do not use that word: Mt. 18.8,
25.41, 2 Thess. 1.6-9, 2 Pt. 2.17, Ju. 7, 13, Rev. 14.9-11, 19.20, 20.10, 14-15, 21.8. In Rev.
20.1-3 we read,
1And I saw an angel coming down out of Heaven having the key of the abyss and a
great chain in his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2And he seized the dragon, the old snake, who is the devil and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years,
3
and he threw him into the abyss and
shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not deceive the Gentiles any more until
the thousand years are finished. After these things he must be released for a little
while.
Taking the previous paragraph and this one together, we see that the antichrist and his
false prophet are the first occupants of hell. There is no one in hell at present, nor has
there ever been. And Satan will be imprisoned in hades along with all those he has
deceived into an eternally lost condition. He will experience what he has done to so
many.
The Return of Christ – The Judgment Seat of Christ
We are told in 2 Cor. 5.10 that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to
give an account of our deeds, not for salvation, but for our rewards in the millennial
kingdom. We cannot lose our salvation, but we can lose reward. For example, we are
told that there is a crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 2.8), a crown of life (Ja. 1.12, Rev.
2.10), and a crown of glory (1 Pt. 5.4), but in Rev. 3.11 the Lord Jesus himself warns his
people to hold fast what they have that no one take their crown. The crown can be lost.
We see a sad example of this on the earthly level in 2 Sam 1.10: King Saul, because of his
disobedience to God lost his crown. It is very interesting that in 1 Sam. 10.9 Saul was
given a new heart, but at the end of his life he lost his crown. There are many passages
in both Old and New Testaments about rewards gained and lost. See also Mt. 16.27,
Rom. 14.10, 12. And take note of 2 Pt. 3.11-12a: \u201cAll these things being thus destroyed,
what kinds of persons is it necessary for you to be in holy conduct and proper worship,
12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God\u2026.\u201d
It is difficult to determine exactly when the judgment seat of Christ occurs. Perhaps
every Christian must give an account at death when he first faces the Lord. Perhaps the
overcomers will give account when they are raptured. Perhaps there is a time when all
Christians will give this account at the same time. The Bible does not state a definite
time, but the time is not so important as the fact: we will have to give an account to God<\/p>\n\n\n\n
42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
for our deeds as Christians. I believe that Mt. 24.37-25.30 gives an account of this
judgment seat, and this may well be the time when all of us must give account.
Mt. 24.37-25.30 has a series five statements that deal with this issue, so I am taking it
that this is the point at which the judgment seat of Chris takes place. One might wonder
how Christ could judge all the millions, or more probably billions, of people at this
point. Won\u2019t it take a very long time? Just keep in mind that the Lord can work all sorts
of wonders. He can judge all of us in an instant if he so chooses. Again \u2013 it is the fact
that matters, not the process. We will give account.
The fact that the Lord\u2019s words about this matter require five passages totaling forty-five
verses shows the importance of the issue. I have tried to stress the importance of being
ready to meet the Lord at any moment, not just for salvation, but for our reward in his
kingdom. There will be Christians who will be raptured before the Great Tribulation.
There will be Christians who will be left here to go through the Tribulation. Those who
are ready to give account at any moment will have a place in the kingdom that not all
Christians will have, as we will see later. Those who are left to go through the
Tribulation will have opportunity then to prepare for the judgment seat by faithfulness
to the Lord then. Do not take this matter lightly. Having said, this as plainly as I can, let
me begin a consideration of these passages.
We begin with Mt. 24.37-41:
37For as the days of Noah, so will be the coming\/presence of the Son of Man.
38For as
they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39and they did not know until the
flood came and took them all away, so will be the coming\/presence of the Son of Man.
40Then two will be in the field; one is taken and one left;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
41two women grinding at the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
mill; one is taken and one left.
This passage tells us that at the time of the Lord\u2019s coming people will be going about
their business as usual. They will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, and so forth. These are not things that are evil, but normal everyday life. But
people are taken up with these matters and have not listened to the warnings of Noah
that judgment is coming. They are not getting ready for the judgment by \u201cgetting right
with God,\u201d as we sometimes put it. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, as 2 Pt. 2.5
tells us, and God waited patiently while he was building the ark, 1 Pt. 3.20, until he sent
the judgment of the flood. Many of those who heard him preach laughed at him, I am
sure \u2013 Why is this fool building a boat on dry land? \u2013 and made no provision for the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
43<\/p>\n\n\n\n
flood. But it came. So will it be at the return of the Lord. Not only do you not want to be
a lost person who will be facing hell at that point, but you do not want to be a Christian
who is not ready to give account of your deeds. Get ready! The two men and two
women of vs. 40-41 represent Christians who are alive at the coming of the Lord. One of
each will be ready to give account. One will not. We will explain what \u201cwill be taken\u201d
means when we deal with the parable of the ten virgins.
Then we come to Mt. 24.42-44:
42Stay awake, therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming.
43But
you know that if the householder had known at what watch the thief was coming, he
would have stayed awake and not have permitted his house to be dug through.
44Because of this you also be ready, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man is
coming.
Stay awake! Obviously this does not mean that we never sleep physically. That would
be an impossibility. We should all stay awake spiritually, always looking for the coming
of the Lord, being ready for his coming, for we do not know at what hour that will be.
One day that burst of the Lord\u2019s glory will light up the universe and there he will be
without warning, except for the warning we have had since he gave these warnings
when he was on earth in the flesh. And keep in mind that these passages apply to those
who die in the Lord before his coming just as much as they do to those who are alive at
his coming. Stay awake now. Be ready now. Death may come just as suddenly as the
return of the Lord.
Next is Mt. 24.45-51:
45Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom the lord put in charge of his
household to give them food at the right time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
46Blessed is that slave whom, the lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n
coming, will find him so doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
47Amen I say to you that he will put him in charge<\/p>\n\n\n\n
over all his possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
48But if that evil slave say in his heart, \u201cMy lord delays,\u201d
49and begin to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
50the
lord of that slave will come on a day which he does not expect and at an hour which he
does not know,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
51and he will cut him in two and will make his place with the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there.
This parable seems to be a word to elders and leaders among God\u2019s people. Those who
feed the flock and take care of them will be ready to face the Lord and give account for
their stewardship of their place in God\u2019s house when he comes and will receive their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
44<\/p>\n\n\n\n
reward. Recall that we noted just above that 1 Pt. 5.4 tells us that elders who exercise
their oversight faithfully will receive a crown of glory when the Chief Shepherd
appears. But the slave charged with care for the flock who beats them and eats and
drinks with drunkards will be surprised at his coming and will be dealt with severely.
He will be \u201ccut in two.\u201d The Greek word is dichotomeo, from which we get \u201cdichotomy,\u201d
literally \u201ccut in two\u201d! I do not think this means that he will be physically cut in two, for
he is a slave (the Greek word means \u201cslave\u201d) of the Lord, and therefore saved, but he
will be cut off from those who have been faithful and will forfeit any reward he might
have had in the kingdom. He is a hypocrite, posing as a servant of the Lord and his
people while actually beating them and carousing with drunkards. He will not be ready
to give an account of his stewardship.
The parable of the five prudent and five foolish virgins follows in Mt. 25.1-13:
1Then the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who taking their
lamps went out to meet the bridegroom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2but five of them were foolish and five<\/p>\n\n\n\n
prudent.
3For the foolish ones, taking their lamps, did not take oil with them,
4but the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
prudent took oil in containers with their lamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5But when the bridegroom delayed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
they all grew drowsy and went to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6Now in the middle of the night there was a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cry, \u201cLook! the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Then all of those virgins got up<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and trimmed their lamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8And the foolish said to the prudent, \u201cGive us of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.\u201d But the prudent answered saying, \u201cThere may not be
enough for you and for us. Go rather to the sellers and buy for yourselves.\u201d
10Now
while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready
entered with him into the marriage feast, and the door was shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11Later the rest of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
virgins also came saying, \u201cLord, Lord, open to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12But answering he said, \u201cAmen I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
say to you, I do not know you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13Stay awake therefore, for you do not know the day or<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the hour.
All ten virgin are Christians, saved people, for they are virgins, having been cleansed of
sin. They are new creatures in Christ. The Bridegroom is the Lord Jesus. Going out to
meet the bridegroom refers to being constantly looking for the return of Christ and thus
always ready to give account to him. Five virgins were prudent, that is, thinking ahead,
and they took extra oil for their lamps, not knowing how long the wait would be. Five
were foolish and took no extra oil. Their falling asleep may mean that they all died,
showing us that those who die before the coming of the Lord must be just as ready to
meet the Lord as those who will be alive when he comes. They, too, will have to give
account. When the midnight call came, five were ready to meet the Lord and went with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
45<\/p>\n\n\n\n
him to the marriage feast, that is, to be the bride of Christ. The five who were not ready
were rejected when they asked the Lord to let them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parable of the talents, Mt. 25.14-30:
14For as a man was leaving on a journey he called his own slaves and gave to them his
possessions,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15and to one he gave five talents, and to one, two, and to one, one, to each<\/p>\n\n\n\n
according to his own ability, and he left on the journey. Immediately<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16the one having<\/p>\n\n\n\n
received the five talents, going, traded with them and made five more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17Likewise the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
one with the two gained two more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18But the one receiving the one going out dug in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the earth and hid his lord\u2019s money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19Now after much time the lord of those slaves<\/p>\n\n\n\n
came and settled accounts with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20And when he had come the one receiving the
five talents brought five more talents saying, \u201cLord, you gave me five talents. Look! I
gained five more talents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21His lord said to him, \u201cGood, you good and faithful slave.
You were faithful over a few. I will put you over many. Enter into the joy of your
lord.\u201d
22And when he had come the one receiving the two talents said, \u201cLord, you gave
me two talents. Look! I gained two more talents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23His lord said to him, \u201cGood, you
good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few. I will put you over many. Enter
into the joy of your lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24But when he had come, the one having received the one
talent said, \u201cLord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not
sow and gathering where you did not scatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25And being afraid, having gone out I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hid your talent in the earth. Look, you have what is yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26But answering his lord
said to him, \u201cEvil and lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather
where I did not scatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27It was necessary for you therefore to give my money to the
bankers, and having come I would have received what is mine with interest.
28Therefore take from him the talent and give it to the one having the ten talents.
29For
to everyone who having it will be given and he will have an abundance, but the one
not having, even what he has will be taken from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30And throw the worthless slave
out into the outer darkness. There will there be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d
This parable teaches is that we will be judged by what we have done with the abilities
God gives us, not by being compared with someone of greater ability. We think of a
great evangelist who leads many thousands, even millions, to the Lord and think that
we could never receive the reward that he would. But remember the widow who put in
two mites. She was not judged as being beneath those who put in large amounts of
money. The Lord said she gave the most because she gave all she had. It is not how
much we have, but what we do with what we have, however small or large it may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
46<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice that each of these five stories of judgment deals with a different means of
measure. The days of Noah challenge us not to be so absorbed with the needs of life that
we do not heed the warnings that the Lord has given in the Bible to be ready to face him
and any and every instant. The story of the householder who did not watch for the thief
and had his house broken into tells us to be alert for the Lord\u2019s coming at all times. The
slave put in charge of the household instructs us to discharge faithfully the assignments
the Lord gives us, especially to take care of the flock of the Lord. The story of the ten
virgins calls on us to think ahead, to be prudent in making preparations for the future.
The Lord is coming. We do not know when, whether soon or later. When we are born
again we receive the Holy Spirit, of whom oil is a frequent symbol in Scripture, but the
word of God also tells us to be filled with the Spirit so as to be able to walk in faith and
obedience. And the parable of the talents tells us to serve God faithfully with the
abilities he has given us, whether great or small or in between. (See Robert Govett, The
Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church of God in the Gospel of Matthew, pgs. 56-57 in this
connection.)
The Return of Christ – The Judgment of the Gentiles
The next event as I see it is Mt. 25.31-46. The Lord Jesus has returned. He has gathered
his people to himself. These are Christians, those who have put their trust in Christ for
salvation. He has destroyed the evil armies attacking the Holy Land. He has thrown the
antichrist into the lake of fire. Satan has been imprisoned in hades for a thousand years.
This thousand years is the millennium, the word \u201cmillennium\u201d meaning \u201ca thousand
years.\u201d
In Mt. 25.31-46 we read of another judgment, that of Gentiles, neither Christian nor Jew,
still on the earth at that point. We dealt with this matter briefly in considering the Great
Tribulation. Now we will take a more detailed look. First we will quote the passage:
31But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he
will sit on his throne of glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
32Then all the Gentiles will be gathered before him, and
he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats.
33And he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34Then the
King will say to those on his right, \u201cCome, you blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35For I was hungry and
you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you
welcomed me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36naked and you clothed me. I was infirm and you visited me. I was in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
prison and you came to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37Then the righteous will answer him saying, \u201cLord,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
38And when<\/p>\n\n\n\n
47<\/p>\n\n\n\n
did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39And when did<\/p>\n\n\n\n
we see you infirm or in prison and come to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
40And answering the King will say
to them, \u201cAmen I say to you, inasmuch as you did it for one of the least of these my
brothers you did it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
41Then he will also say to those on the left, \u201cGo from me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
42For I was
hungry and did not give me to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me drink.
43 I
was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick
and in prison and you did not visit me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
44Then they will also answer saying, \u201cLord,
when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and
did not minister to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
45Then he will answer them saying, \u201cAmen I say to you,
inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these least ones, you did not do it for me.\u201d
46And these will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
These prophetic chapters of Matthew, 24 and 25, close in 25.31-46 with the story of the
judgment of the Gentiles at the Lord\u2019s visible return. V. 32 is usually translated to say
that the nations will be gathered before the Son of Man as he sits on his throne, but
people are not judged in nations. One will not be approved or disapproved because of
the nation he belongs to, but on his own. The same Greek word means both \u201cnations\u201d
and \u201cGentiles,\u201d and I believe that \u201cGentiles\u201d is the proper rendering in this passage.
We are told that the Gentiles will be gathered before the Son of Man for judgment, and
he will separate them, righteous from unrighteous, as a shepherd separates sheep from
goats. The criterion of judgment will be treastment of \u201cthe least of these my brothers.\u201d
What is this judgment and who are these Gentiles?
The Scriptures teach that those who are Christians will appear before the judgment seat
of Christ and be judged according to their works (2 Cor. 5.11), not for salvation, for that
would be salvation by works, but for rewards. The Lord will appear visibly at
Armageddon to destroy the wicked armies and to take the throne of the world. Then
there will be a judgment of the wicked dead at the great white throne after the
millennium (Rev. 20.11-15). But the judgment of Mt. 25.31-46 is different from these
two. It is the judgment of the Gentiles living on the earth at the time of the Lord\u2019s visible
return.
The New Testament teaches that there are three kinds of people, Jews, Christians, and
Gentiles (1 Cor. 10.32). There are many Gentiles who have never heard the name of
Jesus Christ. Many have taught that all who have not actually become Christians in
reality and in name will be eternally lost. But will this thought stand up to examination
in the light of Scripture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
48<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The present passage indicates that those Gentiles, that is, non-Chtistians and non-Jews,
alive at the visible return of Christ, will be judged by their treatment of \u201cthe least of
these my brothers,\u201d and that some will be allowed to enter the kingdom, while others
will be sent into the eternal fire. Those who have treated these brothers well will be
saved, while those who have not will not. Thus we see that people who have never
heard of Christ, and people who have never understood the good news, will be judged
on the basis of the kind of people they are, and this is really a matter of the heart, for
behavior reveals the heart. God will not condemn someone who has never heard of
Christ simply because he does not bear the name Christian, but will judge him on the
kind of heart and behavior he has exhibited.
This belief is confirmed by Rom. 2.12-16, where Paul says that those who do not have
the law and yet do the things required by the law show that they have the law in their
hearts. They are people who want to do what is right, even though their knowledge of
what is right may be imperfect. In the same way, those who, not having the law, do
things against the law, show that they have the wrong kind of heart, and they will be
judged accordingly.
Who are \u201cthe least of these my brothers\u201d who form the criterion of judgment? We do
not know. Some believe they are the Jews, who were the Lord\u2019s brothers according to
the flesh. Those who believe that the entire church will be raptured before the Great
Tribulation, which we do not believe, and that it is the Jews and unbelievers who will
go through the Great Tribulation think that \u201cthe least of these my brothers\u201d are Jews.
Getniles will be judged based on their treatment of persecuted Jews during the
Tribulation. Did they help them? Did they join in the persecution?
\u201cThe least of these my brothers\u201d could also be Christians. We believe there will be
Christians going through the Great Tribulation. They could also be other Gentiles who
do not call themselves Christians, those who have never heard or understood the good
news, but who will be among the sheep. We are not told plainly who \u201cthe least of these
my brothers\u201d are, but the point is that Gentiles who are not Christians in name will be
judged by their treatment of them.
The Return of Christ – The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Mt. 25.10 in the parable of the ten virgins mentions the marriage feast of the Lamb. Only
the five prudent virgins who were ready to meet the Lord at any instant were ready to
go in with him to the marriage feast. This being able to be a part of the marriage feast<\/p>\n\n\n\n
49<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the subsequent being a part of the bride of Christ seem to me to be the greatest
reward we can receive. Imagine having the intimacy with the Lord Jesus on that level
that a man and his wife have. We read of this in Rev. 19.7-9:
7Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him, for the marriage of the little
Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready,
8
and it was given to her that she
might be clothed in fine linen, shining, clean, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds
of the saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9And he said to me, \u201cWrite, \u2018Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage supper of the little Lamb.\u2019\u201d And he said to me, \u201cThese are true words of
God.\u201d
The Lord has met his people in the air and rewarded those who are to be his bride. At
this point, his wife has made herself ready. Because she has made herself ready, she is
allowed to wear fine linen, bright, clean fine linen. This beautiful garment is the
righteous deeds of the saints. How does the wife make herself ready? How does she
come to the place of being allowed to appear in fine linen before her Lord and heavenly
Bridegroom?
The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. All those who have been born again
have assurance of their eternal salvation. But in addition, they have the challenge of
living lives of faith and obedience to God. Those who do so are all through their lives
weaving a wedding garment. Seemingly insignificant acts are acts of obedience and so
they add a strand to the garment. Great trials are endured in faith and add to the
garment. Obedience is rendered in God\u2019s calls to life\u2019s work, and the garment is being
woven.
The Lord Jesus said, \u201cFor many are called, but few are chosen\u201d (Mt. 22.14). And it is the
chosen who will be at the marriage of the Lamb. All Christians are called by God to the
wedding supper, but only those with wedding garments will be chosen. Only those
who have used this life to weave a garment of righteous deeds will be invited to the
marriage supper of the Lamb.
Paul shows his intense desire that the Corinthians, and implying all Christians, be ready
for this greatest of blessings, is seen in 2 Cor. 11.2: \u201cI am jealous for you with God\u2019s
jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present to Christ a pure virgin.\u201d
The Ingathering of the Jews<\/p>\n\n\n\n
50<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We saw that at his return, the Lord Jesus would gather his people to himself. This
applies to Jews as well as Christians. The matter of his gathering the Jews is such that it
needs a separate treatment. Let us look into it now.
We noted above that when the Lord Jesus returns and every eye sees him, all the tribes
of the earth will mourn. This includes the Jews, as seen in Zech. 12.10:
I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of
grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will
mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one
grieves for a firstborn son.
Then Zechariah continues in 13.1: \u201cIn that day there will be a fountain opened to the house
of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.\u201d When the
faithful Jews see Christ as he returns they will realize who he is and what they have
done in rejecting and crucifying him. They will mourn, deep grief-stricken mourning.
But our wonderful God of grace will open to them a fountain for sin and uncleanness.
They will be cleansed of their sins and fitted for his kingdom. As we read in Jer. 50.20,
\u201c\u2019In those days, and in that time,\u2019 says I AM, \u2018the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and
there will be none, and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found, for I will pardon them
whom I leave as a remnant.\u2019\u201d
Ezekiel expands on this providing of a fountain for sin and uncleanness. In a wonderful
passage he writes in 36.25-27,
25\u201dAnd I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols I will cleanse you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will
I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a
heart of flesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and you will keep my ordinances and do them.\u201d Beautiful, blessed words.
Let us begin with a bit of background on why the Jews were scattered throughout the
nations. In Lev. 26.33 Moses tells the Jews that if they do not obey the Lord, \u201cI will
scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you, and your land will be
a desolation and your cities will be a waste.\u201d This goes back to the beginning of the Jews
as a nation. Moses continues in Dt. 4.27: \u201cAnd I AM will disperse you among the peoples
and you will be left few in number among the nations where I AM will lead you away.\u201d This
statement was made at the end of Moses\u2019 life just before the sons of Israel were to enter
the Promised Land, as was Dt. 28.64: \u201cAnd I AM will disperse you among all peoples, from<\/p>\n\n\n\n
51<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and there you will serve other gods
which you have not known, you nor your fathers, wood and stone.\u201d
In Ezk. 12.15 the Lord says, \u201cAnd they will know that I am I AM, when I disperse them
among the nations and scatter them through the countries.\u201d He adds in 20.23-24:
Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the
nations and scatter them through the countries because they had not executed my
ordinances, but had rejected my statutes and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their
eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
Finally in Zech. 7.13-14 we read,
13\u201dAnd it has come to be that, as he cried and they would not listen, so they will cry
and I will not listen,\u201d says I AM of hosts,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14\u201cbut I will scatter them with a whirlwind
among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after
them, so that no man passed through nor returned, for they laid the pleasant land
desolate.
So we see that the Jews were scattered all over the world because of their disobedience
to God, and as Christians, we believe their ultimate disobedience was their rejection of
their Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
\u201cDid God put away his people?\u201d Meaning, did he reject them? Paul asks this question in
Rom. 11.1. In v. 2 he says that he did not put them away. Then in v. 15 he speaks of
\u201ctheir casting away,\u201d a different Greek word with virtually the same meaning. I
suppose Paul\u2019s thinking is that the Jews knew a casting away for a time, but not a
putting away forever. He goes on to say in that verse, \u201dFor if their casting away be the
reconciliation of the world, what will acceptance be but life from the dead?\u201d But God \u2013
wonderful words, \u201cbut God.\u201d But God promised to bring the Jews back to their land at
the end of this age. God will bring the Jews back, and when he does the world will
reach a golden age, a thousand year reign of righteousness under the kingship of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus. \u201cLife from the dead!\u201d
Rom. 9-11 contains Paul\u2019s assessment of the history of the Jews and their future. In
chapter 11, just referred to, he writes of the fact that disobedient Jews were branches
broken off the olive tree, Israel, and Gentiles who put their trust in the Lord Jesus are
branches grafted in, there being only one people of God, one olive tree, whether Jews of
Gentiles. Then he goes on to say that if Gentiles, not originally of the olive tree, could be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
52<\/p>\n\n\n\n
grafted in, Jews who turn to the Lord could be grafted back in. He says that this is all a
mystery. A mystery in the Bible is not like our murder mysteries, something that can be
figured out with the right clues. It is a secret known only by God, but that he will reveal
in his time. In Rom. 11.25 he says that this mystery is a partial hardening of the Jews.
That hardening came, as we have been seeing, because of their disobedience to God,
and especially because of their rejection of their Messiah. But Paul says that part of this
mystery is that it occurred until \u201cthe fullness of the Gentiles be come in.\u201d That is, God
has used the disobedience of the Jews to take the good news to the Gentiles, but when
the fullness of the Gentiles has reached God\u2019s goal, he will turn back to the Jews. The
Jews will be grafted back in.
Indeed, he says, this will take place: \u201cThe one delivering will come out of Zion. He will
turn ungodliness from Jacob,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27and this is the covenant from me with them, when I take away
their sins\u201d (Rom. 11.26-27, a quotation of Is. 59.20-21). Not only the Old Testament, but
also the New, prophesies the return of the Jews to the Lord.
Let us see several Scripture passages that prophesy this bringing of the Jews back to
their land and to their Messiah.
Dt. 30.1-4 tell us,
1And it will come to be when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and
the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the
nations where I AM your God has driven you,
2
and return to I AM your God, and
obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children,
with all your heart and with all your soul,
3
then I AM your God will turn your
captivity and have compassion on you and will return and gather you from all the
peoples where I AM your God has dispersed you.
4
If your outcasts be in the uttermost
parts of the skies, from there I AM your God will gather you, and from there will he
take you back.
In Is. 1.26 we read, \u201cAnd I will restore your judges as at the first and your counsellors as at
the beginning. Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful town.\u201d Isaiah
continues in 10.21-22,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21\u201cA remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return. A
destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.\u201d This last statement indicates
that the judgment of Israel is righteous because of their sins, but we see again the mercy
and grace of God to bring them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
53<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Is. 11.11-12 we are told,
11\u201cAnd it will come to be in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second
time to recover the remnant of his people, who will remain, from Assyria and from
Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from
Hamath and from the islands of the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12And he will set up a standard for the
nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the earth.
In this same passage Isaiah adds in vs. 15-16,
15And I AM will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with his
scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River and will smite it into seven
streams and cause men to march over dryshod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16And there will be a highway for the
remnant of his people who will remain from Assyria, as there was for Israel in the day
that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
The river in this verse is the Euphrates.
Is. 27.12-13:
12And it will come to be in that day that I AM will thresh from the flood of the River
to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one, you sons of Israel.
13And it
will come to be in that day that a great trumpet will be blown and they will come who
were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of
Egypt, and they will worship I AM in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Is. 35.9d-10: \u201c\u2026but the redeemed will walk there<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10and the ransomed of I AM will return
and come with singing to Zion, and eternal joy will be on their heads. They will obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.\u201d (See. Is. 51.11.)
Jer. 23.3: \u201cAnd I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have
driven them and will bring them again to their folds, and they will be fruitful and multiply.\u201d
Jer. 23.3a, 7-8:
\u201cAnd I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven
them, and will bring them again to their folds\u2026. Therefore look, the days are
coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat they will no more say, \u2018As I AM lives, who brought up the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
54<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8but, \u2018As I AM lives, who brought up and who
led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries
where I had driven them.\u2019 And they will dwell in their own land.\u201d
Jer. 30.3: \u201cFor look, the days are coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat I will turn again the captivity of
my people Israel and Judah,\u201d says I AM, \u201dand I will cause them to return to the land that I
gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.\u201d
Jer. 30.10: 12.5
This verse is followed in v. 11 by these words: \u201cFor I am with you,\u201d says I AM, \u201cto save
you, for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have dispersed you, but I will not
make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will by no means leave you
unpunished.\u201d We have already seen that the Jews will go through a time of purging to
purify them for the receiving of their Messiah. They are reminded here in these
passages on their ingathering that yes, God is with them and will judge the wicked
nations that have persecuted them, but they themselves will have gone through a time
of punishment for their sins, but a punishment not designed to destroy them, but to
purify them. We see the same thought in Jer. 46.27-28:
27But don\u2019t be afraid, Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, Israel, for look, I will save
you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob will return
and will be quiet and at ease, and none will make him afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28Don\u2019t be afraid, Jacob
my servant, says I AM, for I am with you, for I will make a full end of all the nations
where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you
in measure, and will in no wise leave you unpunished.
Jer. 31.8-11:
8Look, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the uttermost
parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and
her who travails with child together. A great company will they return here.
9They
will come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to
walk by rivers of waters in a straight way in which they will not stumble, for I am a
Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10Hear the word of I AM, you nations,
and declare it in the coastlands afar off and say, \u201cHe that scattered Israel will gather
him and will keep him, as shepherd does his flock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11For I AM has ransomed Jacob<\/p>\n\n\n\n
55<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. [This last
statement is probably another reference to deliverance from the antichrist.]
Jer. 32.37-44:
\u201cLook, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my
anger and in my wrath and in great indignation, and I will bring them again to
this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely, 38 and they will be my people
and I will be their God. 39And I will give them one heart and one way that they
may fear me forever, for their good and their children\u2019s after them. 40And I will
make an eternal covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following
them to do them good. And I will put my fear in their hearts that they may not
depart from me. 41Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good and I will plant
them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.\u201d 42 For
thus says I AM, \u201cAs I have brought all this great evil on this people, so will I
bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43And fields will be
bought in this land, of which you say, \u2018It is desolate, without man or beast. It has
been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.\u2019 44Men will buy fields for money and
sign the deeds and seal them and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in
the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the hill
country and in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the south, for I will
cause their captivity to return,\u201d says I AM.
Ezk. 11.16-17:
Therefore say, \u201cThus says the Lord I AM, \u2018Although I have removed them far off
among the nations and I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to
them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have
come.\u2019\u201d
17Therefore say, \u201cThus says the Lord I AM, \u2018I will gather you from the peoples
and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give
you the land of Israel.\u2019\u201d
Ezk. 20.33-44 shows both the scattering and the ingathering of the Jews:
33\u201cAs I live,\u201d says the Lord I AM, \u201csurely with a mighty hand and with an
outstretched arm and with wrath poured out will I be King over you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34And I will
bring you out from the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which you
are dispersed with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath
poured out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will<\/p>\n\n\n\n
56<\/p>\n\n\n\n
enter into judgment with you face to face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36As I entered into judgment with your
fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you,\u201d
says the Lord I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37\u201cAnd I will cause you to pass under the rod and I will bring<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you into the bond of the covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
38And I will purge out from among you the rebels
and those who transgress against me. I will bring them forth out of the land where
they sojourn, but they will not enter into the land of Israel. And you will know that I
am I AM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cGo, serve
everyone his idols, but hereafter you will listen to me and my holy name will you no
more profane with your gifts and with your idols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
40For in my holy mountain, in the
mountain of the height of Israel,\u201d says the Lord I AM, \u201cthere will all the house of
Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There I will accept them and there I will
require your offerings and the firstfruits of your oblations with all your holy things.
41I will accept you as a sweet savor when I bring you out from the peoples and gather
you out of the countries where you have been dispersed, and I will be sanctified in you
in the sight of the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
42And you will know that I am I AM when I bring you into<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
43And there
you will remember your ways and all your doings in which you have polluted
yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that
you have committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
44And you will know that I am I AM, when I have dealt with
you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your
corrupt doings, house of Israel,\u201d says the Lord I AM.
Ezk. 28.25: \u201cThus says the Lord I AM, \u2018When I have gathered the house of Israel from the
peoples among whom they have been dispersed, and have been sanctified in them in the sight
of the nations, then will they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.\u201d
Ezk. 34.11-13a:
11For thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cLook, I will search for my sheep and will seek them
out.
12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are
scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep and I will deliver them out of all places
where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13And I will bring them
out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into
their own land\u2026.\u201d
Ezk. 36.24: \u201cFor I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the
countries, and will bring you into your own land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
57<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hos. 3.4-5:
For the sons of Israel will abide many days without a king and without a prince and
without sacrifice, and without a pillar and without an ephod or household
idols.
5Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek I AM their God and David
their king, and will come with fear to I AM and to his goodness in the latter days.
Am. 9.11-15:
11 \u201dIn that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen and close up its
breaches. And I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old,
12 that
they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that are called by my
name,\u201d says I AM who does this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13\u201dLook, the days are coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat the
plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. And
the mountains will drop sweet wine and all the hills will flow with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14 And I will
bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they will build the waste cities and
inhabit them And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will also make
gardens and eat the fruit of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15 And I will plant them on their land, and they will
no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,\u201d says I AM your
God.
Ob. 17: \u201cBut in mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy, and the house
of Jacob will possess their possessions.\u201d
Mic. 2.12-13:
12I will surely assemble, Jacob, all of you. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I
will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture.
They will make a great noise because of men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13The Breaker has gone up before them.
They have broken out and passed on to the gate, and have gone out by it, and their
King has passed on before them, and I AM at the head of them.
The Breaker in this passage is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who will break down any
walls blocking the Jews from their land and lead them into it.
Mic. 5.3: \u201cTherefore he will give them up until the time that she who travails has brought
forth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the sons of Israel.\u201d God gave up the Jews
to judgment in A.D. 70 when their temple was destroyed and they were scattered, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
58<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in A.D. 135 when they rebelled against Rome again and were banned from their land
and scattered all over the world. God has turned from the Jews to the church for this
age of grace (but remember that God\u2019s grace is eternal, past and future \u2013 all who were
saved in the Old Testament were saved by grace through faith just as we are).
.24 tells us that the Jews \u201cwill fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the
nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden underfoot by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled.\u201d (Note that \u201cnations\u201d and \u201cGentiles\u201d are the same word in Greek.) This
began in A.D. 70 in earnest, though Judea had been under foreign rule for most of the
time since she fell to Babylon in the sixth century B.C.
Now let us refer to Mic. 5.3: God gave the Jews up in A.D. 70. At the end of this age
there will come a time of travail called the Great Tribulation, as we have already seen. It
will be a time of travail because it will be the time of Israel\u2019s greatest suffering when
God will judge and purge out their wicked and purify the righteous, a time of suffering
like a woman in travail to give birth, for it will be a time of birth. Mic. 5.3 says that God
will give them up until \u201cshe who travails has brought forth.\u201d As Jer. 30.6-8 says,
6Ask now and see whether a man will travail with child. Why do I see every man with
his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces turned into
paleness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n
trouble. But he will be saved out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8\u201dAnd it will come to be in that day,\u201d says I
AM of hosts, \u201cthat I will break his yoke from off your neck and will burst your bonds,
and strangers will no more make him their slave.\u201d
It will be a time of travail in birth for it will the tribulation out of which the Jewish
people will recognize their Messiah, repent, own him as theirs, and be born into their
freedom, never again to be in bondage. \u201cHis yoke\u201d I take to be that of the antichrist.
There will be much destruction, much suffering as of a woman in travail, but out of it
will be born their deliverance from sin and shame.
In is notable in this connection that in Acts 2.24 Peter refers to the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, saying that God loosed Jesus from the
pains of death. The word for \u201cpains\u201d there is actually \u201cbirth pains.\u201d That is, the pains of
death suffered by the Lord in crucifixion were actually birth pains, giving rise to new
birth and life from the dead for his people. In the hands of God, suffering can be birth
pains that open up a whole new world of blessing, for Jews and for Christians. (I am
indebted to my dear friend Ray Kangers for calling my attention to the fact that the
word in Acts 2.24 is \u201cbirth pains.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
59<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also in 54.1: \u201c\u2019Sing, barren one, you who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry
aloud, you who did not travail with child, for more are the children of the desolate than the
children of the married wife,\u2019 says I AM.\u201d Israel has known great desolation over the last
1949 years, as of this writing. There have been many children born, but there has been
much barrenness of life in what they have suffered. But oh the fullness of joy awaiting
them when they own their Messiah!
I want to insert a passage here which I confess I do not know the proper location of. It
seems to fit in several places. It is one of the great passages in Isaiah, chapter 40, vs.
3-11:
3The voice of one who calls, \u201cPrepare in the wilderness the way of I AM. Make level in
the desert a highway for our God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Every valley will be exalted and every mountain
and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level and the rough places a
plain,
5
and the glory of I AM will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, for the
mouth of I AM has spoken it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6The voice of one saying, \u201cCall out.\u201d And one said,
\u201cWhat will I call out?\u201d All flesh is grass and all the goodness of it is as the flower of
the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of I AM blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God will stand forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9You who tells good tidings to Zion, go up on a high
mountain. You who tells good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength.
Lift it up. Don\u2019t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, \u201cLook, your God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10Look, the
Lord I AM will come as a mighty one and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward
is with him and his recompense before him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He
will gather the lambs in his arm and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead
those the nursing ones.
These verses were used by Matthew, Mark, and Luke to identify John the Baptist as the
one coming before the Lord Jesus to announce his coming and to prepare his way, but
the passage in Isaiah obviously leads on to the second coming of the Lord. V. 5 says that
all flesh will see the glory of the Lord. That has not yet taken place, but will when the
Lord returns in glory, as we saw above. Nor have vs. 9-11. This passage probably
should be placed at the section on the visible appearing of Jesus at the end of this age,
but it relates so closely to his ingathering of the Jews that I felt it should be here. In fact
all these events from the appearing of the Lord down to this point will all take place
more or less simultaneously, allowing for some time to elapse. This passage is such a
beautiful word to the Jews as they are gathered to their Messiah that I want to quote it
here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
60<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This matter of the Old Testament prophecies referring to both the first and second
comings of the Lord were a mystery to some of the ancient Jews, who speculated that
there were two Messiahs. From our standpoint as Christians and students of the New
Testament we know that there is one Messiah who has come once and will come a
second time at the end of this age.
Let us continue with the theme of travail and birth that we left off with at Is. 54.1. Is.
66.7-8: 7\u201cBefore she travailed she brought forth. Before her pain came she was delivered of a
manchild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Will a land be born in
one day? Will a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought
forth her children.\u201d Out of the travail of Israel\u2019s history and of the Great Tribulation,
Zion, symbol of Jerusalem, will give birth to her manchild in one day at the appearing
of the Messiah. We say that the manchild of Rev. 12 is the overcomers among
Christians. Here we see the manchild as the remnant of the Jews, their overcomers. A
land will be born in one day! The Hebrew word for \u201cland\u201d here refers to the Promised
Land, the Holy Land, Israel.
Finally we come to Zech. 10.6: \u201cAnd I will strengthen the house of Judah and I will save the
house of Joseph, and I will bring them back. For I have mercy on them and they will be as
though I had not cast them off, for I am I AM their God, and I will answer them.\u201d
There is a further aspect of this ingathering that we need to be mindful of. We saw
earlier that when the Lord Jesus returns, he will resurrect the dead in Christ and rapture
them along with the Christians living at that time to meet him in the air (1 Cor. 15.52, 1
Thess. 4.16-17). This will apply to the Jews also. In Dan. 12.13 we read, \u201cBut go your way
till the end, for you will rest and will rise to your lot at the end of the days.\u201d This is one of
the few hints at resurrection in the Old Testament. Is. 26.19 says, \u201cYour dead will live.
Their dead bodies will arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is as
the dew of light, and the earth will cast forth the dead.\u201d And there is also the very
well-known story of Ezk. 37, the valley of dry bones. In vs. 9-14 we have this remarkable
statement:
9Then he said to me, \u201dProphesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the
wind, \u2018Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cCome from the four winds, breath, and breathe on
these slain that they may live.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the
breath came into them and they lived and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great
army.
11Then he said to me, \u201cSon of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
Look, they say, \u2018Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are cut off to
ourselves.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12Therefore prophesy and say to them, \u2018Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cLook, I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
61<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people, and I
will bring you into the land of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13And you will know that I am I AM when I
have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, my
people.
14And I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will place you in
your own land, and you will know that I, I AM, have spoken it and performed it,\u201d\u2019\u201d
says I AM.
There will be a resurrection of faithful Jews, just as there will be of the dead in Christ!
The Ingathering of the Jews – Messiah
The next paragraphs on the restoration of the Jews at the return of the Lord are not in
any particular order. I doubt they could be put in order, and indeed the Scripture
passages that deal with these matters often have two or more, or several, of them in one
passage. And it may be that all of this will happen in an instant.
After the regathering of the Jews to their land under their Messiah we see him as King.
Let us begin with Is. 9.6-7:
6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his
shoulder. And his name will be called Wonder, Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be
no end on the throne of David and on his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from now on forever. The zeal of I AM of hosts
will perform this.
This is one of those glorious passages about the coming millennial and eternal reign of
the Lord Jesus. Take note that this is an Old Testament passage. It was written to the
Jews. We believe that it applies to all God\u2019s people, but it began with the Jews.
Is. 11.1-5:
1And there will come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a Branch out of his
roots will bear fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2And the Spirit of I AM will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And his delight will be in the fear of I AM, and he will not judge after<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the sight of his eyes or decide after the hearing of his ears,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4but with righteousness he
will judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he will smite
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
62<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wicked.
5And righteousness will be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle
of his loins.
Here we see the Messiah as the Son of David who fulfills the prophecies of a descendant
of David on the throne of Israel forever, and we see the righteousness of his reign. Peter
refers to this in his second epistle: \u201cBut we are awaiting new skies and a new earth
according to his promise, in which righteousness dwells\u201d (2 Pt. 3.13).
Jer. 23.5-6:
5\u201cLook, days are coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat I will raise to David a righteous Branch,
and he will reign as King and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness
in the land.
6
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. And this is<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his name by which he will be called, I AM our righteousness.\u201d
Another reference to the Son of David.
Jer. 30.9: \u201c\u2026 but they will serve I AM their God and David their king, whom I will raise up
for them.\u201d I believe that David here means the Lord Jesus, as Son of David, but I read
somewhere that someone believes that David himself will be raised up and reinstalled
as king. The previous verses just cited say that God will raise up a Branch to David. This
seems to me to be a Son, not David himself, but if it turns out that David will be
reinstalled as king, then praise the Lord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jer. 33.14-22:
14\u201cThe days are coming,\u201d declares I AM, \u201cwhen I will fulfill the good promise I made
to the people of Israel and Judah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15In those days and at that time I will make a
righteous Branch sprout from David\u2019s line. He will do what is just and right in the
land.
16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the
name by which it will be called: I AM Our Righteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17For this is what I AM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
says, \u201cDavid will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18nor will the
Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt
offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19The word of I AM came<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to Jeremiah:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20\u201cThis is what I AM says \u2018If you can break my covenant with the day
and my covenant with the night so that day and night no longer come at their
appointed time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21then my covenant with David my servant, and my covenant with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
63<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Levites who are priests ministering before me, can be broken and David will no
longer have a son to reign on his throne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22I will make the seed of David my servant
and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the skies and as
measureless as the sand on the seashore.\u2019\u201d
Ezk. 34.23-24: 23\u201dAnd I will set up one Shepherd over them and he will feed them, my
servant David. He will feed them and he will be their Shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24And I, I AM, will be their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God, and my servant David prince among them. I, I AM, have spoken it.\u201d
Ezk. 37.24-25:
24And my servant David will be king over them and they all will have one Shepherd.
They will also walk in my ordinances and observe my statutes and do them.
25And
they will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your
fathers dwelt, and they will dwell in it, they and their children and their children’s
children forever. And David my Servant will be their prince forever.
Mic. 5.2c-d: \u201c\u2026 out of [Bethlehem] will one come forth to me who is to be Ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth are from of old, from eternity.\u201d The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
having come from eternity past, and he will be Ruler in Israel eternally. Mic. 5.4-5a
continues, 4\u201cAnd he will stand and will feed his flock in the strength of I AM, in the
majesty of the name of I AM his God, and they will abide, for now he will be great to the ends
of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And this one will be peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zech. 3.8: \u201cHear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you,
for they are men that are a sign, for, look, I will bring forth my Servant the Branch.\u201d This
verse is a bit difficult to interpret. David Baron, Commentary on Zechariah, pgs. 106-107,
believes that as Joshua was the High Priest, his companions were the priesthood under
him, and that they were a sign of the priesthood to come, namely that of the Lord Jesus.
This seems to be confirmed by Zech. 6.11-13:
11Yes, take silver and gold and make crowns and set them on the head of Joshua the
son of Jehozadak, the high priest,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12and speak to him saying, \u201cThus says I AM of
hosts, \u2018Look, the man whose name is the Branch, and he will grow up out of his place,
and he will build the temple of I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13He will build the temple of I AM and he will
bear the glory and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a Priest on his
throne, and the counsel of peace will be between them both.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
64<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First we have Joshua (Jesus, Iesous in Greek) as the priest. Then we have the Branch,
already identified as Jesus. Then it says that he will be a Priest on his throne. This is one
of the most remarkable prophecies in the Old Testament. It was the law of Israel that the
kings came from the tribe of Judah and the priests, from Levi. It was impossible for one
man to be king and priest. But the story of Melchizedek in Gen. 14.18-20, supplemented
by Ps. 110.4 and Heb. 5.6, 10, 6.20, and chapter 7 shows us that God\u2019s original idea of
priesthood was not the Levitical priesthood of Israel, but the priesthood of Melchizedek,
who was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High, and Ex. 19.6 says that God
wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priests. Because of Israel\u2019s failure to live up to this
desire of God, he raised up the priesthood of Levi for a time of failure. 1 Pt. 2.5 reads,
\u201c\u2026 you yourselves as living stones are being built a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.\u201d Rev. 1.6 and 5.10 tell us
that we, the church, are a kingdom, priests to God. We are fulfilling the original idea of
God as a kingdom of priests under the one who is both King and High Priest, the Lord
Jesus. And there is a remarkable little statement in Is. 61.6: in the end, God says through
his prophet, Israel will be priests of I AM. Israel itself will fulfill God\u2019s original idea of
priesthood for them.
Zech. 14.9: \u201cAnd I AM will be King over all the earth. In that day I AM will be one, and his
name one. \u201c
The Ingathering of the Jews \u2013 the New Covenant
Because of the failure of the Jews to live up to God\u2019s covenant with them and because of
God\u2019s mercy, God says in Jer. 31.31-34 that he will make a new covenant with the Jews:
31\u201cLook, days are coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
32not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt, which covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,\u201d
says I AM. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days,\u201d says I AM. \u201cI will put my law in their inward parts and in their heart I
will write it, and I will be their God and they will be my people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34and they will teach
no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, \u2018Know I AM,\u2019 for
they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,\u201d says I AM, \u201cfor
I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
65<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book of Hebrews makes much of this new covenant in 8.8-12 and 10.16-17. Ezekiel
expands a bit on this covenant in 34.25: \u201cAnd I will make with them a covenant of peace,
and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they will dwell securely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods,\u201d and in 37.26: \u201cMoreover I will make a covenant of peace
with them. It will be an eternal covenant, and I will place them and multiply them, and will
set my sanctuary in the midst of them forever.\u201d A covenant of peace. Israel has known
little but war and suffering and sorrow and persecution in the four thousand years of
her existence. At the end of this age we will see the realization of the beautiful words of
Is. 40.1-2: 1\u201c\u2019Comfort, comfort my people,\u2019 says your God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and call to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has
received of I AM’s hand double for all her sins.\u201d At last, peace, eternal peace.
The Ingathering of the Jews \u2013 Jerusalem
After the coming of the Lord, Jerusalem will be the center of the earth (as it is now in
reality), the capital of Messiah\u2019s kingdom, the glory of the earth. Is. 2.1-4, repeated in
Mic. 4.1-3, says,
1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2And it
will come to be in the latter days that the mountain of I AM’s house will be
established on the top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills. And all
nations will flow to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And many peoples will go and say, \u201cCome and let us go up to
the mountain of I AM, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his
ways and we will walk in his paths.\u201d For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the
word of I AM from Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4And he will judge between the nations, and will decide
concerning many peoples. And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they
learn war any more.
Is. 4.2-6:
2
In that day the Branch of I AM will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
land will be excellent and appealing for those who have escaped of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And it will
come to be that he who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem will be called
holy, everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4When the Lord will
have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and will have purged the blood of
Jerusalem from the midst of it by the spirit of justice and by the spirit of burning,
5
I
AM will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion and over her assemblies a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
66<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the
glory will be a covering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6And there will be a pavilion for a shade in the day from the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
heat and for a refuge and for a cover from storm and from rain.
In Ezk. 38.12, in the description of Gog\u2019s invasion of Israel, we have the statement, \u201cI
will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered
from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.\u201d This indicates
that Israel is the center of the earth. However, the Hebrew word translated \u201ccenter\u201d
actually means \u201cnavel.\u201d Figuratively this would mean the center, but could it not also
mean that Jerusalem is the point in the earth from which God nourishes the world
spiritually? In Rom. 9.4-5 Paul writes of the Jews, \u201c\u2026 whose are the son-placing and the
glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple worship and the
promises, whose the fathers, and of whom is the Christ according to flesh, the one being
over all\u2026.\u201d And the Lord Jesus himself says in Jn. 4.22, \u201c\u2026 salvation is of the Jews.\u201d
Jerusalem has always been the city of God, as Babylon is the city of Satan and religion.
In the end Babylon will be destroyed and Jerusalem will rise to eternal glory.
We see more of this in Zech. 8.13, 20-23:
13And it will come to be that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah
and house of Israel, so will I save you and you will be a blessing\u2026 20Thus says I AM
of hosts, \u201cPeoples will yet come and the inhabitants of many cities,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21and the
inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, \u2018Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of
I AM and to seek I AM of hosts. I will go also.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22Yes, many peoples and strong
nations will come to seek I AM of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of I
AM.\u201d
23Thus says I AM of hosts, \u201cIn those days ten men out of all the languages of
the nations will take hold of the garment of him who is a Jew, saying, \u2018We will go with
you, for we have heard that God is with you.\u2019\u201d
God is with you. What greater glory could there be?
Hag. 2.6-9 adds,
6For thus says I AM of hosts, \u201cOnce more, it is a little while, and I will shake the skies
and the earth and the sea and the dry land,
7
and I will shake all nations, and the
precious things of all nations will come and I will fill this house with glory,\u201d says I
AM of hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8\u201cThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine,\u201d says I AM of hosts.
9The
latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,\u201d says I AM of hosts, \u201cand in
this place I will give peace,\u201d says I AM of hosts.
67<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zech. 8.1-8:
1And the word of I AM of hosts came saying, \u201cThus says I AM of hosts, \u2018I am jealous
for Zion with great jealousy and I am jealous for her with great wrath.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3Thus says I
AM, \u2018I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem
will be called the city of truth and the mountain of I AM of hosts, the holy
mountain.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Thus says I AM of hosts, \u2018There old men and old women will yet dwell in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6Thus says I AM
of hosts, \u2018If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days,
should it also be marvelous in my eyes?\u2019 says I AM of hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Thus says I AM of
hosts, \u2018Look, I will save my people from the east country and from the west
country,
8
and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and
they will be my people and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.\u2019\u201d
I have saved Is. 60 for the last:
1Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of I AM has risen on you.
2For
look, darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples, but I AM will arise
on you and his glory will be seen on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And nations will come to your light, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
kings to the brightness of your rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Lift up your eyes round about and see. They all
gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far and your
daughters will be carried in the arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5Then you will see and be radiant and your
heart will thrill and be enlarged, because the abundance of the sea will be turned unto
you, the wealth of the nations will come unto you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6The multitude of camels will cover
you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All they from Sheba will come. They will
bring gold and frankincense and will proclaim the praises of I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7All the flocks of
Kedar will be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you.
They will come up with acceptance on my altar and I will glorify the house of my
glory.
8Who are these who fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows?
9Surely
the coastlands will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from
far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of I AM your God, and for the
Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.
10And foreigners will build up your walls and their kings will minister unto you, for
in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11Your gates also
will be open continually. They will not be shut day or night, that men may bring to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
68<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12For that nation and
kingdom that will not serve you will perish. Yes, those nations will be utterly
wasted.
13The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree
together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet
glorious.
14And the sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all
those who despised you will bow themselves down at the soles of your feet, and they
will call you \u201cThe city of I AM, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.\u201d
15Whereas you have been forsaken and hated so that no man passed through you, I
will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16You will also suck
the milk of the nations and will suck the breast of kings, and you will know that I, I
AM, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17For brass I will
bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. I
will also make peace your officers and righteousness your magistrates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18Violence will
no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders, but
you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19The sun will be no more
your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give light to you, but I AM will be
to you an eternal light, and your God your glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20Your sun will no more go down,
nor will your moon withdraw itself, for I AM will be your eternal light, and the days
of your mourning will be ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21All your people also will be righteous. They will
inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22The little one will become a thousand and the small one a strong nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I, I AM, will hasten it in its time.
\u2018Nuf said.
But there is one more thing to say. Is. 42.6 and 49.6 tell us that God intended for the
Jews to be a light to the Gentiles, but instead of fulfilling that calling they saw
themselves as above the Gentiles and looked down on them. Instead of taking the Lord
to the Gentiles, they shut them out. The Gentiles were dogs, a term of great derision in
that day. Instead of being a light to the Gentiles, when the Light of the world came they
rejected and crucified him. But \u2013 we quoted Is. 2.1-4 (Mic. 4.1-3) at the beginning of this
section. It tells us that at the end of this age, when the Jews have owned their Messiah
and been restored to their land, the Gentiles will stream to Jerusalem to be taught by the
Lord and the law of God will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. I believe these passages tell us that after this age the Jews will indeed be a
light to the Gentiles. We also referred to Is. 61.6, \u201cAnd you will be called priests of I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
69<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will be named ministers of our God.\u201d To whom will the Jews be priests? To whom
will they minister? Will it not be Gentiles, the nations of the world?
The Ingathering of the Jews \u2013 The Holy Spirit Poured Out
Another feature of the Jews coming back to their land will be the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, filling the land. Is. 32.15: \u201c\u2026 until the Spirit be poured on us from on high,
and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.\u201d
Is. 44.3: \u201cFor I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I
will pour my Spirit on your seed and my blessing upon your offspring.\u201d
Joel 2.28-29:
28And it will come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and
your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams; your
young men will see visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those<\/p>\n\n\n\n
days will I pour out my Spirit.
These verses are quoted by Peter in Acts 2.17-18.
Zech. 14.8: \u201cAnd it will come to pass in that day that living waters will go out from
Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea. In
summer and in winter it will be.\u201d
The Millennium
Rev. 20.4 says,
And I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was given to them, and the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of
the word of God and those who did not worship the beast or his image and did not
receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they lived and reigned with
Christ for a thousand years.
This verse tells us that there will a period of a thousand years \u2013 the word \u201cmillennium\u201d
means \u201ca thousand years\u201d \u2013 during which Christ will reign, and those who have been
faithful to him will reign with him. Other verses bear on this statement. In Mt. 19.28 we<\/p>\n\n\n\n
70<\/p>\n\n\n\n
read, \u201cAnd Jesus said to them, \u2018Amen I say to you that you, the ones who have followed me,
in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you will also sit on
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.\u2019\u201d In 2 Tim 2.12 we are told, \u201cIf we endure
we will also reign with him.\u201d And Revelation adds four other verses. \u201cThe one who
overcomes, I will give to him to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat with my
Father on his throne\u201d (3.21.) This verse brings in the overcomers which we dealt with
earlier, those who will be raptured before the Great Tribulation because of their
faithfulness to the Lord. \u201cAnd you made them to our God a kingdom and priests, and
they will reign on the earth” (5.10). \u201cBlessed and holy is the one who has part in the first
resurrection. Over these the second death does not have authority, but they will be priests of
God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years\u201d (20.6). \u201cAnd night will
not be any more, and they will not have need of light of a lamp and light of the sun, for the
Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign to the ages of the ages\u201d (22.5).
There are several sublime passages of Scripture in the Old Testament that apply mainly
to the Jews, but will certainly affect all of the Lord\u2019s people. We will quote at length. I
will not try to put these in any order except the order in which they come in the Bible.
Much of Isaiah is millennial.
Is. 11.6-9:
6And the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and
the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child will lead
them.
7And the cow and the bear will feed. Their young ones will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8And the nursing child will play on the hole of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the asp, and the weaned child will put his hand on the adder’s den.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9They will not
hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of I
AM, as the waters cover the sea.
Is. 12.1-6:
1And in that day you will say, \u201cI will give thanks to you, I AM, for though you were
angry with me, your anger has been turned away and you comfort me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2Look, God is
my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid, for YAH, I AM, is my strength and
song and he has become my salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3Therefore with joy you will draw water out of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the wells of salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4And in that day you will say, \u201cGive thanks to I AM. Call on
his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Make mention that his name is
exalted.
5Sing to I AM, for he has done excellent things. Let this be known in all the
earth.
6Cry aloud and shout, inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of you is the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
71<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holy One of Israel. (Note that the name for God in Hebrew, put into English
letters, is YHWH. Sometimes in the Old Testament that occurs as just YH. That is
the case in the word Hallelujah \u2013 Hallelu \u2013 YH \u2013 Praise YH, and in v. 2 here. I
have chosen to render it \u201cYAH\u201d in this case.)
Is. 19.18-25 is a rather remarkable passage:
18In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of
Canaan and swear to I AM of hosts. One will be called the city of destruction.
19In
that day there will be an altar to I AM in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at
its border to I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20And it will be for a sign and for a witness to I AM of hosts in the
land of Egypt, for they will cry to I AM because of oppressors, and he will send them
a Savior and a Defender and he will deliver them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21And I AM will be known to
Egypt, and the Egyptians will know I AM in that day. Yes, they will worship with
sacrifice and oblation and will vow a vow to I AM and will perform it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22And I AM
will smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they will return to I AM, and he will be
entreated by them, and he will heal them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23In that day there will be a highway out of
Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into
Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24In that day Israel will
be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25for I
AM of hosts has blessed them saying, \u201cBlessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the
work of my hands and Israel my inheritance.\u201d
We are not told any details, but perhaps there was a time when the Egyptians and
Assyrians were worshippers of I AM before the nations were scattered and drifted away
from him. They were used by God in his dealings with them, Egypt to shelter them in
Joseph\u2019s day, and Assyria to discipline them when Israel had turned away from God. In
the end God will redeem Egypt and Assyria along with Israel.
Is. 24.23: \u201cThen the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed, for I AM of hosts will
reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and glory will be before his elders.\u201d And Is. 60.19
adds, \u201cThe sun will be no more your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give
light to you, but I AM will be to an eternal light, and your God your glory.\u201d There will be
no need for sun or moon, for as Rev. 21.23 says, \u201cAnd the city has no need of the sun or
the moon that they might shine on it, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the
little Lamb.\u201d And Rev. 22.5: \u201cAnd night will not be any more, and they will not have need
of light of a lamp and light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
72<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is. 25.6-10a:
6On this mountain I AM of hosts will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a
banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7On this mountain he
will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.
8He
will swallow up death forever. The Lord I AM will wipe away the tears from all faces.
He will remove his people\u2019s disgrace from all the earth. I AM has spoken.
9
In that day
they will say, \u201cSurely this is our God. We trusted in him and he saved us. This is I
AM. We trusted in him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10The hand of I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AM will rest on this mountain.
Is. 27.2-6:
2
In that day a vineyard of wine. Sing of it.
3
I, I AM, am its keeper. I will water it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
every moment, so that none hurt it. I will keep it night and day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Wrath is not in me.
Should one give briers and thorns against me in battle I would march on them. I
would burn them together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may<\/p>\n\n\n\n
make peace with me; let him make peace with me.
6
In days to come will Jacob take
root. Israel will blossom and bud and they will fill the face of the world with fruit.
Is. 30.18-26:
18And therefore I AM will wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore he will
be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for I AM is a God of justice. Blessed are
all those who wait for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will
weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he
hears he will answer you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and
the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be hidden anymore, but your eyes
will see your teachers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21and your ears will hear a word behind you saying, \u201cThis is the
way. Walk in it,\u201d when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the
left.\u201d
22And you will defile the overlaying of your graven images of silver and the
plating of your molten images of gold. You will cast them away as an unclean thing.
You will say to it, \u201cGo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23And he will give the rain for your seed with which you will
sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the ground, and it will be fat and
plenteous. In that day will your cattle feed in large pastures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24The oxen likewise and
the young donkeys that till the ground will eat salted fodder which has been<\/p>\n\n\n\n
73<\/p>\n\n\n\n
winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25And there will be on every lofty
mountain and on every high hill brooks, streams of waters, in the day of the great
slaughter when the towers fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of
the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the
day that I AM binds up the hurt of his people, and heals the stroke of their wound.
Is. 32.1-4:
1Look, a King will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2And a man
will be as a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, as streams of
water in a dry place as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3And the eyes of those<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4And the heart of
the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready
to speak plainly.
Is. 32.15-20:
15\u2026 until the Spirit be poured on us from on high, and the wilderness become a
fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16Then justice will dwell in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And the work of
righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence
forever.
18And my people will abide in a peaceful habitation and in safe dwellings and
in quiet resting places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is. 33.17-24:
17Your eyes will see the King in his beauty. They will look a land that reaches
afar.
18Your heart will meditate on the terror: Where is he who counts? Where is he
who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19You will not see the fierce people, a
people of a deep speech that you cannot comprehend, of a strange tongue that you
cannot understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20Look on Zion, the city of our solemnities. Your eyes will see
Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be removed, the stakes of which will
never be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21But there I AM will be with
us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will
go, in which no majestic ship will pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22ForI AM is our judge, I AM is our lawgiver,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
74<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I AM is our king. He will save us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23Your tackle is loose. They could not strengthen
the foot of their mast. They could not spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil
was divided. The lame took the prey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24And the inhabitant will not say, \u201cI am sick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people that dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.
Another passage that begins with the first coming of the Lord and goes on to his second
coming is Is. 42.1-4:
1Look, my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put
my Spirit on him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2He will not cry or lift<\/p>\n\n\n\n
up his voice or cause it to be heard in the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3A bruised reed he will not break and
a dimly burning wick he will not quench. He will bring forth justice in truth.
4He will
not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands
will wait for his law.
Vs. 2-3b were fulfilled at the first coming as seen in Mt. 12.19-20b, but the rest will not
come about until the second coming. Take note that he will bring justice to the Gentiles,
something they are very short on in this age. It is not only the Jews who will be blessed
by the age to come.
Is. 43.19-21:
19Look, I will do a new thing. Now it will spring forth. Will you not know it? I will
even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20The beasts of the field
will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21the people whom I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
formed for myself, that they may set forth my praise.
Is. 44.1-5:
1Yet hear now, Jacob my servant and Israel, whom I have chosen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2Thus says I AM
who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid,
Jacob my servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3For I will pour water on
him who is thirsty and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed
and my blessing on your offspring,
4
and they will spring up among the grass, as<\/p>\n\n\n\n
willows by the watercourses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5One will say, \u2018I am I AM’s,\u2019 and another will call
himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write with his hand \u2018I am I AM\u2019s,\u2019 and
name himself by the name of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
75<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeshurun means \u201cupright one\u201d and is used as a poetic name for Israel.
Is. 45.23-25:
23By myself I have sworn. My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not
be revoked. \u201cBefore me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
24They
will say of me, \u2018In I AM alone are deliverance and strength.\u2019\u201d All who have raged
against him will come to him and be put to shame,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25but all the descendants of Israel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will find deliverance in I AM and will make their boast in him.
The statement of v. 23, quoted by Paul in Rom. 14.11 and Phil. 2.10-11 shows us the
outcome of the Lord\u2019s return in judgment and of the Jews\u2019 acceptance of their Messiah.
I will not quote all of Is. 51, 52, and 53 because of the length, but I do want to quote a
few verses, and all three chapters should be read carefully. This is a remarkable passage. Is.
52.1-3:
1Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the holy city, for from now on there will no more come into you the
uncircumcised and the unclean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2Shake yourself from the dust. Arise, Jerusalem.
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, captive daughter of Zion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3For thus
says I AM, \u201cYou were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.\u201d
We continue with 52.6-10:
6Therefore my people will know my name. Therefore in that day, that I am he who
says, \u201cBehold me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings
good news, who publishes peace, who bring good news of good, who publishes
salvation, who says to Zion, \u201cYour God reigns!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8The voice of your watchmen: they
lift up the voice. Together they sing, for they will see eye to eye when I AM returns to
Zion.
9Break forth into joy. Sing together, waste places of Jerusalem, for I AM has
comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10 I AM has made bare his holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of
our God.
V. 13 then tells us, \u201cLook, my servant will deal wisely, he will be exalted and lifted up and
will be very high.\u201d But only after the events of 52.14-53.10b, that glorious but
heart-rending passage of the Savior suffering for our salvation. Then 53.10c-12 tells us of
the Savior\u2019s reward for his obedience even to death:
76<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10c\u2026 he will see his seed. He will prolong his days, and the pleasure of I AM will
prosper in his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11He will see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. By his
knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their
iniquities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the
spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with
the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the
transgressors.
And his people, the Jews and we as Christians, will share with him in his reward.
Is. 54 is another entire chapter prophesying the great blessing of the millennium for
God\u2019s people:
1\u201cSing, barren woman, you who never bore a child. Burst into song, shout for joy, you
who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than of
her who has a husband,\u201d says I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2\u201cEnlarge the place of your tent; stretch your
tent curtains wide; don\u2019t hold back. Lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
3For
you will spread out to the right and to the left. Your seed will dispossess nations and
settle in their desolate cities.
4\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. You will not be put to shame. Don\u2019t feel disgraced. You will not be
humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the
reproach of your widowhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5For your Maker is your husband. I AM of hosts is his
name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the God of all the
earth.
6
I AM will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit,
a wife who married young, only to be rejected,\u201d says your God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7\u201cFor a brief moment I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8
In a surge of anger I
hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have
compassion on you,\u201d says I AM your Redeemer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9\u201cTo me this is like the days of Noah
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I
have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10Though the
mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not
be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,\u201d says I AM, who has compassion on
you.
11\u201cAfflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of
antimony, your foundations with sapphires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12I will make your battlements of rubies,
77<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13All your<\/p>\n\n\n\n
children will be taught by I AM, and great will be their peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14In righteousness you
will be established. Tyranny will be far from you. You will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed. It will not come near you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15If anyone does attack you, it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will not be my doing. Whoever attacks you will surrender to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16See, it is I who
created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its
work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17No weapon forged
against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the
heritage of the servants of I AM, and this is their vindication from me,\u201d declares I
AM.
V. 5 says that \u201cyour Maker is your husband.\u201d Remember our discussion about the bride
of Christ and the marriage supper of the Lamb? Just as the Lord Jesus is pictured as the
bridegroom to be of the church, so God in the Old Testament is seen as the husband of
Israel. God likes marriage.
Is. 55.6-11 urges the Jews to seek the Lord while he may be found, and vs. 1-5 and 12-13
show the result of doing so:
1Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy
and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2Why do
you spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not
satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness.
3
Incline your ear and come to me. Hear and your soul will live and I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4Look, I have
given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.
5Look,
you will call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you will
run to you because of I AM your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he has
glorified you.
12For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills
will break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the fields will clap their
hands.
13Instead of the thorn will come up the fir tree and instead of the brier will
come up the myrtle tree, and it will be to I AM for a name, for an everlasting sign
that will not be cut off.
Is. 56.4-8:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
78<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4For thus says I AM of the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that
please me and hold fast my covenant,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5\u201cTo them will I give in my house and within
my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give them
an everlasting name that will not be cut off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6Also the foreigners that join themselves
to I AM, to minister to him and to love the name of I AM, to be his servants, everyone
who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it and holds fast my covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Those I will
bring to my holy mountain, and I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their
burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be
called a house of prayer for all peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8The Lord I AM, who gathers the outcasts of
Israel, says, \u201cYet will I gather to him, besides his own who have been gathered.\u201d
I have already quoted Is. 60. You might want to refer to it again.
Is. 61.1-2a is quoted of the Lord Jesus in Lk. 4.18-19, actually read by him in the
synagogue. He in effect announces that he is the Messiah, though he does not use that
word. Why did he stop with v. 2a rather than continuing with the rest of the passage?
Because v. 2a is as far as he went with his first coming. 1\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord I AM is
on me because I AM has anointed me to preach good news to the meek. He has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to
those who are bound,
2
to proclaim the year of I AM’s favor\u2026.\u201d V. 2 goes on to deal with
matters coming at the end of the age, beginning with \u201cthe day of vengeance of our
God.\u201d When the Lord Jesus came the first time, he was here to proclaim the good news
of salvation in that day. When he comes back he will judge the wicked and bring great
blessing to his people as we see in the rest of chapter 61:
2b\u2026 to comfort all who mourn,
3
to give to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a
garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of I AM, that he
may be glorified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4 And they will build the old wastes, they will raise up the former
desolations, and they will repair the waste cities, the desolations of many
generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5And strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your plowmen and your vine dressers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6But you will be named the priests of I AM.
Men will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations, and
in their glory you will boast.
7
Instead of your shame, double, and instead of dishonor
they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double.
Eternal joy will be to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8For I, I AM, love justice. I hate robbery with iniquity,
and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9And their seed will be known among the nations, and their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
79<\/p>\n\n\n\n
offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are
the seed which I AM has blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10I will greatly rejoice in I AM. My soul will be
joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has
covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a
garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11For as the earth brings forth
its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the
Lord I AM will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Is. 62.1-5:
1For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest until
her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that
burns.
2And the nations will see your righteousness and all kings your glory, and you
will be called by a new name which the mouth of I AM will name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3You will also be a
crown of beauty in the hand of I AM and a royal diadem in the hand of your
God.
4You will no more be termed Forsaken, nor will your land any more be termed
Desolate, but you will be called \u201cMy Delight is in Her,\u201d and your land \u201cMarried,\u201d
for I AM delights in you, and your land will be married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5For as a young man marries
a virgin, so will your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
Is. 62.8-9:
8
I AM has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, \u201cSurely I will no
more give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your
new wine for which you have labored,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9but those who have garnered it will eat it and
praise I AM, and those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my
sanctuary.
Is. 62.12: \u201cAnd they will call them the holy people, the redeemed of I AM, and you will be
called \u2018Sought out, a city not forsaken.\u2019\u201d
Is. 65.15c-25:
15c\u201d\u2026 but to his servants he will give another name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16Whoever invokes a blessing in
the land will do so by the one true God. Whoever takes an oath in the land will swear
by the one true God. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.
17See, I will create new skies and a new earth. The former things will not be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
80<\/p>\n\n\n\n
remembered, nor will they come to mind. The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19I will rejoice over
Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of weeping and of crying will be
heard in it no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few
days, or an old man who does not live out his years. The one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child. The one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered
accursed.
21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and
eat their fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and
others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. My chosen ones
will long enjoy the work of their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23They will not labor in vain, nor will they
bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be a people blessed by I AM, they
and their descendants with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24Before they call I will answer. While they are still<\/p>\n\n\n\n
speaking I will hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat
straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent\u2019s food. They will neither harm nor
destroy on all my holy mountain,\u201d says I AM.
See Is. 66.7-8, quoted earlier (also v. 9). We will quote vs, 10-14c:
10Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice greatly with
her, all you who mourn over her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11For you will nurse and be satisfied at her
comforting breasts. You will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing
abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12For this is what I AM says, \u201cI will extend peace to her like a river, and
the wealth of nations like a flooding stream. You will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you will be comforted over Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14When you see this, your heart will rejoice
and you will flourish like grass. The hand of I AM will be made known to his
servants\u2026.
Jer. 33.6-13:
6Look, I will bring it health and healing and I will heal them, and I will reveal to them
abundance of peace and truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
captivity of Israel to return and will build them as at the first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8And I will cleanse
them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me, and I will pardon
all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and by which they have
transgressed against me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9And this city will be to me for a name of joy, for a praise
and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
81<\/p>\n\n\n\n
do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I
procure to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10Thus says I AM, \u201cYet again there will be heard in this place of which
you say, \u2018It is waste, without man and without beast,\u2019 even in the cities of Judah and
in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and
without beast,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom
and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, \u2018Give thanks to I AM of hosts,
for I AM is good, for his lovingkindness is forever,\u2019 and of those who bring sacrifices
of thanksgiving into the house of I AM. For I will cause the captivity of the land to
return as at the first,\u201d says I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12Thus says I AM of hosts, \u201cYet again there will be
in this place which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities of it,
a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13In the cities of the hill
country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of
Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, will the flocks
again pass under the hands of him who numbers them,\u201d says I AM.
Ezk. 28.26: \u201cAnd they will dwell in it securely. Yes, they will build houses and plant
vineyards and dwell securely when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise
them round about them, and they will know that I am I AM their God.\u201d
Ezk. 34.13b-16:
13b \u201d\u2026 and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the watercourses and in all
the inhabited places of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14I will feed them with good pasture and on the
mountains of the height of Israel will their fold be. There they will lie down in a good
fold, and on fat pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15I myself will be the
shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,\u201d says the Lord I AM.
16 \u201cI
will seek that which was lost and will bring back that which was driven away, and I
will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick, but the
fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ezk. 34.22-24, 26-31:
22 \u201c\u2026 therefore I will save my flock and they will no more be a prey, and I will judge
between sheep and sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23And I will set up one Shepherd over them and he will feed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
them, my servant David. He will feed them and he will be their Shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24And I, I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
82<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AM, will be their God, and my servant David, Prince among them. I, I AM, have
spoken it\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing.
And I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of
blessing.
27And the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its
increase, and they will be secure in their land. And they will know that I am I AM
when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them out of the hand of
those that made bondmen of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28And they will no more be a prey to the nations,
nor will the beasts of the earth devour them, but they will dwell securely and none
will make them afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29And I will raise up to them a renowned plantation. And they
will no more be consumed with famine in the land, or bear the shame of the nations
any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30And they will know that I, I AM their God, am with them, and that they,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the house of Israel, are my people,\u201d says the Lord I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31\u201dAnd you my sheep, the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,\u201d says the Lord I AM.
Ezk. 36.28-30:
28And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you will be my people
and I will be your God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29And I will save you from all your uncleanness. And I will<\/p>\n\n\n\n
call for the grain and will multiply it and lay no famine on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30And I will multiply
the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the
reproach of famine among the nations.
Ezk. 36.33-38:
33Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cIn the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities I
will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places will be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34And the land
that was desolate will be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that
passed by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35And they will say, \u2018This land that was desolate has become like the garden
of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and
inhabited.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, I AM,
have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate: I, I AM, have
spoken it, and I will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37Thus says the Lord I AM, \u201cFor this, moreover, will I be
inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like
a flock.
38As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so
will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men and they will know that I am I AM.\u201d
Hos. 2.14-23:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
83<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14\u201cTherefore, look, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her
heart.
15And I will give her her vineyards from there and the valley of trouble for a
door of hope. And she will make answer there as in the days of her youth and as in the
day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16And it will be at that day,\u201d says I
AM, \u201cthat you will call me my husband and will no more call me my Baal.
17For I
will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no more be
mentioned by their name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the
beasts of the field and with the birds of the skies and with the creeping things of the
ground, and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will
make them to lie down safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19And I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will
betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice and in lovingkindness and in
mercies.
20I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness and you will know I
AM.
21And it will come to be in that day that I will answer,\u201d says I AM, \u201cI will
answer the skies and they will answer the earth,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22and the earth will answer the grain<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the new wine and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23And I will sow her to
myself in the land. And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy, and I
will say to them that were not my people, \u2018You are my people,\u2019 and they will say, \u2018You
are my God.\u2019\u201d
Hos. 14.4-8:
4
I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely, for my anger has been turned
away from him.
5
I will be as the dew to Israel. He will blossom as the lily and cast<\/p>\n\n\n\n
forth his roots as Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6His branches will spread and his beauty will be as the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
olive tree and his smell as Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7Those who dwell under his shadow will return.
They will revive as the grain and blossom as the vine. Its scent will be as the wine of
Lebanon.
8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I have answered and will
look on him. I am like a green fir tree. From me is your fruit found.
Joel 3.18, 20:
18And it will come to be in that day that the mountains will drop down sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk and all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters.
And a fountain will come forth from the house of I AM and will water the valley of
acacias\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20But Judah will abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
generation.
Amos 9.11-15:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
84<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11\u201cIn that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen and close up its
breaches. And I will raise up its ruins and I will build it as in the days of old,
12that
they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that are called by my
name,\u201d says I AM who does this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13\u201cLook, the days are coming,\u201d says I AM, \u201cthat the
plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that sows seed. And
the mountains will drop sweet wine and all the hills will melt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14And I will bring back
the captivity of my people Israel and they will build the waste cities and inhabit them.
And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will also make gardens and
eat the fruit of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15And I will plant them on their land and they will no more be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
plucked up out of their land which I have given them,\u201d says I AM your God.
Mic. 7.18-20:
18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of
the remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights
in lovingkindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities<\/p>\n\n\n\n
under foot, and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20You will
perform the truth to Jacob, the lovingkindness to Abraham, which you have sworn to
our fathers from the days of old.
Zeph. 3.9-20:
9\u201dFor then I will turn to the peoples of a pure language, that they may all call on the
name of I AM, to serve him with one consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, will bring my offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11In that day you
will not be put to shame for all your doings in which you have transgressed against
me, for then I will take away out of the midst of you your proudly exulting ones, and
you will no more be haughty in my holy mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12But I will leave in the midst of
you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in the name of I AM.
13The
remnant of Israel will not do iniquity nor speak lies nor will a deceitful tongue be
found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and none will make them
afraid.
14Sing, daughter of Zion. Shout, Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all the heart,
daughter of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15I AM has taken away your judgments. He has cast out your
enemy. The King of Israel, I AM, is in the midst of you. You will not fear evil any
more.
16In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, \u2018Don\u2019t be afraid, Zion; don\u2019t let your
hands be slack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17I AM your God is in the midst of you, a mighty one who will save.
He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over you with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
85<\/p>\n\n\n\n
singing.
18I will gather those who sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of you, to
whom the burden on her was a reproach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19Look, at that time I will deal with all them
that afflict you, and I will save that which is lame and gather that which was driven
away. And I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame has been in all the
earth.
20At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you, for I will
make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back
your captivity before your eyes,\u2019\u201d says I AM.
Zech. 14.16-21:
16And it will come to be that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against
Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, I AM of hosts, and to keep
the Feast of Tabernacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17And it will be that whoever of the families of the earth that
does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, I AM of hosts, there will be no rain
on them.
18And if the family of Egypt does not go up and enter, neither will it be on
them. That will be the plague with which I AM will smite the nations that do not go
up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the
punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles .
20In
that day there will be on the bells of the horses, Holy to I AM, and the pots in I AM’s
house will be like the bowls before the altar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah
will be holy to I AM of hosts and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them
and boil in them. And in that day there will no more be a Canaanite in the house of I
AM of hosts.
Mal. 3.16-18:
16Then those who feared I AM spoke with one another, and I AM listened and heard,
and a book of remembrance was written before him for those who feared I AM and
who thought on his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17\u201cAnd they will be mine,\u201d says I AM of hosts, \u201cmy own
possession, in the day that I make, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son
who serves him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18Then you will return and discern between the righteous and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve him.
Ezk. 40-48 tells us that there will be a temple in Jerusalem in the millennium. Will this
be the temple defiled by the antichrist in 2 Thess. 2.4, purified and but back into service?
Will that temple be destroyed, perhaps in the invasions of Jerusalem at the end, and a
new one built? It would seem to me, from reading Ezk. 40.1-43.12, that it will be a new
temple. Ezk. 43.1-5 says that Ezekiel saw in vision the glory of the Lord filling that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
86<\/p>\n\n\n\n
temple, as it did the tabernacle (Ex. 40.34-35) and the first temple (1 Ki. 8.10-11). There is
no record of the glory filling the second temple (Ezr. 6.16-18), but Hag. 2.9 does tell us
that one day the \u201c\u2019latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,\u2019 says I AM of
hosts, \u2019and in this place I will give peace,\u2019 says I AM of hosts.\u201d This would seem to apply to
Ezekiel\u2019s millennial temple.
Ezk. 43.13-27 gives directions for animal sacrifices in this millennial temple. I must say
that I do not believe that animal sacrifices will continue in the millennium. At this point
the Jews will have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. They will recognize him as
the sacrifice for their sins. I believe this reference to animal sacrifice in the millennium
means just that \u2013 the Lord Jesus has fulfilled all that the Old Testament sacrificial system
typified and has been accepted as such.
There is another question about the millennium. Where will the Jews and the Christians
be during this time? Will both be in Heaven, on earth, the Jews on earth and the
Christians in Heaven? I do not think that Scripture answers this question directly, but
there are statements that give hints, we might say. First, the land of Israel has been
promised by God to the Jews from the beginning, and it is inalienable. God promised
Abraham that he would give the land to his seed, his descendants (Gen. 12.7). Each Jew
or Jewish family had a lot of land in the Promised Land and it was theirs in perpetuity.
If they had to sell it because of poverty it was to come back to them, either by
repurchase or in the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25.23-28). In one sense the land was everything
to the Jews. Thus it would seem logical that the Promised Land would be the eternal
home of the Jews. We just saw that there will be a temple in Jerusalem in the
millennium.
There is a passage in Is. 29.22-23 that bears on this question:
21And it will come to be in that day that I AM will punish the host of the high ones on
high and the kings of the earth on the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22And they will be gathered together, as
prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison, and after many
days will they be attended to [punished].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23Then the moon will be abashed and the sun
ashamed, for I AM of hosts will reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his
elders will be glory.
The last verse shows that this is the time of the return of the Lord in judgment with its
cosmic disturbances. The rulers on high are the spiritual forces of evil under Satan who
govern this world (Eph. 6.12) from the air (Eph. 2.2). The kings of the earth are human
rulers who have misused their authority. God will deal with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
87<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point is that the evil spiritual rulers and corrupt kings will be replaced by
overcoming Christians (Mt. 19.28, Lk. 22.30, Rev. 2.26-27, 20.4, 6) who will reign with
Christ from Heaven while the Jews will occupy their ancient land on the earth, all under
the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.
(I am indebted to G.H. Pember, The Great Prophecies Concerning the Gentiles, the Jews, and
the Church of God for calling my attention to this passage.)
The Final Rebellion
The Apostle John tells us in Rev. 20.7-9 that at the end of the millennium Satan will be
released from hades and will raise up a final rebellion against God and the messianic
King:
7And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison
8
and he will go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9And
they went up on the breadth of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the
beloved city, and fire came down from Heaven and consumed them.
It is generally agreed that the reason for this final rebellion is that despite a thousand
years of perfect rule by the Lord Jesus in which there is a true golden age, there will still
be in the hearts of some a desire to displace the Lord Jesus and take the rule of the
world away from him. Who these people are is unclear to me. When the Lord returns it
is Christians who are caught up to meet him in the air. Surviving Jews will be those
who owned him as their Messiah at his coming, so they are saved people. The Gentiles
of Mt. 25.31-46 are divided into sheep and goats, the sheep being those Gentiles who
will inherit the kingdom. Where do the lost come in? This reveals what can still be in
the heart of man no matter what. Satan certainly would like to do this, as he always has,
and will use his remarkable powers of deception (Jn. 8.44) \u201cto deceive the nations that
are in the four corners of the earth.\u201d He will gather them for war against the saints and
the beloved city, Jerusalem, but he will be thwarted once for all when fire comes down
from Heaven and consumes his army. Satan, however, will not be consumed by this
fire.
The End of Satan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
88<\/p>\n\n\n\n
V. 10 of this passages says, \u201dAnd the devil, the one deceiving them, was thrown into the
lake of fire and brimstone where also the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be
tormented day and night into the ages of the ages.\u201d At last, after who knows how many
millennia of Satan\u2019s opposition to God and pouring out misery on mankind, Satan will
come to his end as far as his relationship to the heavens and the earth. No more will he
blaspheme God in this world. No more will he tempt mankind to sin and drag him
down to the depths of sin. His career is over. He will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
The Great White Throne Judgment
Then we read in Rev. 20.11-13, 15 of the final judgment. V. 11 reads, \u201cAnd I saw a great
white throne and the one sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled and a place
was not found for them.\u201d Hold that thought. We will return to it.
Vs. 12 and 13:
12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls
were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is of life, and the dead were judged
from the things written in the scrolls according to their works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13And the sea gave the
dead that were in it and death and hades gave the dead that were in them, and each
one was judged according to his works.
This is the judgment of the lost dead. All those who died without Christ, or who were
not faithful Jews or Gentiles who were considered worthy (the sheep Gentiles of Mt.
25.33-34), will be condemned to hell, but this passage makes it clear that just as
Christians will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, not for salvation, a matter
already settled, but to give account of their works and to be rewarded or not rewarded,
so will the lost be judged by their works. There will be lesser and severer punishment in
hell depending on works.
V. 15 says that \u201cif anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.\u201d The scroll of life is the scroll of salvation. All saved people have their names
written in the scroll of life. Those who do not will be lost. The other scrolls are scrolls of
works, we might say, used to determine reward and punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The End of Death and Hades<\/p>\n\n\n\n
89<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we have one of the most wonderful statements in the Bible: \u201cAnd death and hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u201d We know what
death is. Hades can be death or the grave or the prison of the lost dead awaiting final
judgment, the Great White Throne judgment which we have just considered. All of us
have known that grief-stricken walk to the grave as we have lost loved ones. All of us
will face that same moment when life ends unless we are raptured before the Great
Tribulation or are alive at the Lord\u2019s coming. The grief, the hopelessness, knowing that
death is final to this life, the heartache, the bitter tears. Glory to God, that will all be cast
into the lake of fire. 1 Cor. 15.26 says, \u201cThe last enemy is destroyed \u2013 death.\u201d That will be
the end of death and hades, the end of sorrow and grief. The greatest scourge of us all
will be no more.
The verse also mentions the second death. The first death is physical, the one we will all
face until the Lord\u2019s return. The second death is spiritual, one from which there is no
escape. It will not be annihilation. Those who experience the second death will be
conscious, but it will be a living death, or a dead living. No relief. No hope. Thank God
for life, spiritual life, God\u2019s life.
Rev. 20.5-6 speaks of the first resurrection. V. 13 says that after the final rebellion and at
the beginning of the Great White Throne judgment the sea and death and hades will
give up the dead in them. This is the second resurrection. In Jn. 5.29 the Lord says,
\u201c
28Don\u2019t marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all those who are in the tombs will
hear his voice,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29and they will come out, those who have done good things, to a resurrection of
life, but those who have done bad things, to a resurrection of judgment.\u201d The first
resurrection, the resurrection of life, comes at the return of Christ when the dead in
Christ rise and those alive at his coming go with them to meet the Lord in the air. The
resurrection to judgment is this second resurrection.
For the sake of completeness I want to bring up another controversial matter, and one
that is rarely mentioned. It has been assumed that all those raised in the second
resurrection are lost people who will be judged and condemned. However, Rev. 20.6
says, \u201cBlessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection.\u201d Vs. 12 and 15 say
that the book of life will also be opened at the second resurrection, and that if anyone\u2019s
name is not written in the book of life he will be thrown into the lake of fire. Why v. 6
would even bring up the point of those participating in the first resurrection being
blessed when it is obvious that all such are blessed? Couple this with v. 15 and it raises
the question as to whether there will be Christians, those written in the book of life, who
will miss the first resurrection and therefore not be present in the millennial kingdom.
These would be Christians who were not overcomers and thus were not counted<\/p>\n\n\n\n
90<\/p>\n\n\n\n
worthy of the kingdom of God (Lk. 20.35, 2 Thess. 1.5, 11). There are conservative, Bible
believing Christian writers who believe this will be the case. I confess I can see
arguments for this belief as well as for the belief that all Christians will be raised in the
first resurrection of 1 Thess. 4.16. Lk. 20.35 and Phil. 3.11 would seem to indicate that
the first resurrection is something to be attained to, not something automatic, but 1
Thess. 4.16 says that the dead in Christ will rise. It does not say that some of them will,
but it does not say all either. My own conclusion is as follows. Remember the judgment
of the Gentiles in Mt. 25.31-46? We are told there that there will be Gentiles who were
not Christians in name, having never heard of the Lord Jesus or the good news, who
will nonetheless be saved. It seems to me that these saved ones who are raised from the
dead after great white throne judgment are Gentiles who had died before the return of
the Lord. They are not at the judgment of Mt. 25.31-46. The Gentiles there are alive at
the Lord\u2019s return. Those who had died before that will not be raised until after the great
white throne judgment. But I also say that if you have any doubt as to whether or not
you will share in the first resurrection, don\u2019t take any chances! Make sure you are ready
to meet the Lord in faith and obedience at all times. None of us are perfect, but if it is
your heart to walk with the Lord in submission and faith you will have nothing to
worry about. It is not about how much or how little you \u201cdo for the Lord.\u201d It is your
heart relationship with him and your faith and obedience that matter.
The New Skies and New Earth
We saw in Is. 65.17 in our section on the millennium, these words, \u201cSee, I will create new
skies and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to
mind.\u201d Is. 66.22 adds, \u201c\u2019For as the new skies and the new earth, which I will make, will
remain before me,\u2019 says I AM, \u2018so will your seed and your name remain.\u2019\u201d Then we have 2
Pt. 3.7, 10-13:
7But by the same word the present skies and the earth, have been stored up for fire,
being kept for a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in which the skies will pass away with a roar, but the
elements, burning, will be destroyed, but earth and the works in it will be burned up.
11All these things being thus destroyed, what sort ought you to be in holy conduct and
caution in the things of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12looking for and hastening the coming\/presence of the
day of God, because of which the skies, burning, will be destroyed and the elements,
burning, are to be melted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13But we are looking for new skies and a new earth in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
which righteousness dwells according to his promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
91<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Rev. 20.7-15 just considered we see the purifying of God\u2019s creation of Satan and the
wicked people who follow him and of death and hades. This occurs at the end of the
millennium. Then in Rev. 21.1 we have, \u201cAnd I saw a new sky and a new earth, for the
first sky and the first earth went away, and the sea is no more.\u201d In between these two
passages we have 2 Pt. 3.10-13. Having done away with Satan and wicked people, the
Lord purifies his creation of any defilement caused by their presence and activity. Every
trace of evil is burned up and a new sky and a new earth in which only righteousness
dwells become the fitting dwelling place of the triune God, his angels, and his people.
Chapter 3 and verse 12 of 2 Pt. says that we should hasten that day. How do we do that?
By trust and obedience. By overcoming. By sharing his good news. By prayer for that
day.
What is next?
Eternity
Rev. 21.2 and 10 tell us that after this final judgment and purification of the universe,
John was shown \u201cthe holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God.\u201d
What we are not told is where the city comes to. Does it stop in the air? Does it come to
earth? Will there be heavenly and earthly Jerusalems in eternity? Will it \u201cmerge\u201d with
the earthly Jerusalem? Perhaps we are being told that Heaven and earth will become
one, with no division in God\u2019s creation. As one of my favorite authors often wrote, \u201cThe
day will tell.\u201d
I will not quote them here, but read Rev 21.1-22.5. We do not know everything that will
take place in eternity, but keep two things in mind. One is that God is the most creative
being there is, to say the least. Everything that exists he thought of before it existed. If a
person has one really original idea he may be thought a genius, or at least a very
intelligent and creative person. Do you think God has exhausted all his ideas? He has
an eternity of new ideas. Only eternity will reveal all that is in the divine mind and
heart.
The second thing is that God had a plan in mind for his creation when he made man
and woman. That plan was interrupted by the fall into sin. Since then he has been about
redeeming people and dealing with evil so that he can bring his creation back to the
point at which it was before sin came into it. When that has been fully accomplished he
will take up his original plan and get on with it. We are often told that God\u2019s purpose is<\/p>\n\n\n\n
92<\/p>\n\n\n\n
redemption. That is not really the case. His original plan did not include sin and
redemption. Only eternity will begin to show us what God had in mind at the start.
With all of this being true, let me close these thoughts with the words of Peter recorded
just above: \u201cAll these things being thus destroyed, what sort ought you to be in holy conduct
and caution in the things of God, looking for and hastening the coming\/presence of the day of
God? Purify your hearts (1 Jn. 3.3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copyright \u00a9 2020 by Tom Adcox. All rights reserved. You may share this work with
others, provided you do not alter it and do not sell it or use it for any commercial
purpose. \u201cFreely you have received, freely give\u201d (Matthew 10.8). Also you must include
this notice if you share it or any part of it.
Old Testament quotations are the author\u2019s updates of the American Standard Version
unless otherwise noted. New Testament translations are the author\u2019s unless otherwise
noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unfulfilled Bible Prophecy A very popular area of Bible study is prophecy. The Bible tells us much of what willtake place, especially at the end of this age. It seems that for many the study ofprophecy is a matter of curiosity, wanting to know the future for the sake of knowingthe future. There may be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-617","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=617"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":701,"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/617\/revisions\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomadcox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}