THE TIME AFTER
JACOB’S TROUBLE
The
Untold Story of the Future Exodus!
Many expect a ‘rapture’, others expect a place of safety
for the Church or the Jews. We address this but more importantly, we answer questions that
you never thought to ask, spanning hundreds of scriptures that have a direct bearing on
your future. Is there a “place of safety” for the remnant the twelve tribes of Israel
after the Great Tribulation? Who will escape the Tribulation entirely? Can one suffer
through the Tribulation but be spared the Day of the Lord? Does the Bible mention the
United States and the British people? The Two Witnesses’ will spearhead a Second Exodus!
You simply must read about that Exodus and the “her”
involved in which “the
LORD, ‘will be a WALL OF FIRE all around her,
and I will be the glory in her midst.” (Zechariah
2:5)
The original inspiration for this article came after I read an article by a rather influential writer on the theme of “Anglo-Israel”, as some refer it to. The writer utilized passages from most of these same chapters, in an effort to ‘prove’ that the twelve modern nations, descended from the original twelve tribes of ancient Israel, would in the end time, of this present evil age, enjoy great prosperity. The very idea that those ancient tribes did not vanish from the face of the earth is new to most of you who find this article on a search engine. That being the case, one only has to read all of Genesis Chapter 49, to see a thumbnail description of the national identities that depict these twelve nations during the very “end time”.
Genesis 49:1 “And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather
together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in
the last days…” (NKJV unless noted.)
The article concluded that this Israel, (which has lost its very identity due to a lack of desire to know their God), would not only be spared captivity, but that she would be victorious over all aspiring conquers. While his happily ever after conclusion would appear to be far more desirable than the one that I am presenting here, it would be a great disservice to the God of Israel, and to you, to let this cleverly distorted and calculated account stand unchallenged. No additional effort on my part was necessary to locate all of the scriptural evidence necessary to reveal the whole story of what will happen to all twelve of our predominantly English speaking Israelite brother/nations in the coming few decades. All that I had to do was include the context of the scriptures that were so masterfully taken out of their context. The first few pages are a synopsis of the entire seven year period immediately preceding the Day of the Lord, the latter half of which is commonly referred to as the “Great Tribulation”. The lack of love toward our God is the very reason for the terrible prophetic consequences described in this article.
Proverbs 26:2 “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a
curse without cause shall not alight.”
The reason that I refer to Israel as “her” is prophetic in itself. You have probably been taught that the woman in the following passage is a reference to the Church. Please note that this woman gave birth to Christ! As in Joseph’s dream, from which this symbolism comes, these twelve stars represent the twelve tribes/nations of Israel! (Genesis 37:9-11)
Revelation 12:1 “Now
a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on HER head a garland of twelve stars.
2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor
and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery
red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
This article should be the sequel to the story of the ‘Great Tribulation’ that immediately precedes this time line, and indeed I will write that prequel as time permits. I will write about the rise of ten Beastly kings in Europe who will over a period of perhaps fifteen years, become so powerful and arrogant that they will even seek to challenge the God of the Universe to the ultimate battle with their Star War technology. This will take place just as that God is returning to seize His inheritance (that they are so masterfully destroying) away from them, but before the fiery red Dragon, who is using the Beast, totally destroys the “elect”.
“Matthew 24:22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh
would be saved; but for the elect’s sake
those days will be shortened.”
Again, you have probably heard that the “elect” is the church. Sure there is a small spiritual remnant of Israel, but do not assume that they are the primary focus of end time prophecy. The prophecies almost exclusively pertain to nations - as they interact with Israel!
Isaiah 45:4 “For Jacob
My servant’s sake, and Israel My ELECT,
I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though
you have not known Me.”
Isaiah 65:9 & 22 “I
will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and
from Judah an heir of My ‘mountains’ (symbolic of nations); My ELECT shall
inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there…v.22 “They shall not build and another
inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the
days of My people, and My ELECT shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”
2 Timothy 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect,
that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
One observation would be good to mention at this point, now that you are aware of who the elect really are. The following quotation from Matthew has been used to support the theory that the “elect”, ostensibly the Church, will be raptured “from the four winds” to “heaven” before the tribulation.
Matthew 24:31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Notice where the expressions “from the four winds” and “four winds of heaven” came from, and to which “elect” they actually refers.
Ezekiel 37:9 “Also He said to me: Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."
This verse is not in reference to the resurrection of every Israelite who has ever died. Ezekiel 37 is an amazing chapter. Look it up! It pertains to the gathering the surviving Israelites from captivity to the Promised Land after the Great Tribulation and their ‘restoration’ to national statehood. All of which occurs before the onset of the Day of the Lord.
Zechariah
2:6-10 "Up, up! Flee from the land
of the north," says the LORD; for I have spread you abroad like the four
winds of heaven," says the LORD. 7 Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the
daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus says the LORD
of hosts: He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you
touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they
shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent
Me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I
am coming and I will dwell in your midst,
says the LORD. 11 Many nations
shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And
I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to
you. 12 "And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy
Land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
When you compare these verses from Zechariah to Matthew 24:31, you can see that the gathering of the elect is from the land of the north, the modern ‘Babylon’, described in Revelation chapters 17 and 18, and elsewhere. “The four winds of heaven” from which God gathers these elect, in this instance, is everywhere that Babylon has scattered Israel.
The other scripture which is used to support the rapture theory is this one:
1 Thessalonians 4:17
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Notice some things about this passage. This is the time of the first (actually “best”) resurrection. The gathering does take place in the EARTH’S atmosphere among the clouds; after all we will be composed of ‘spirit material’. We will always be with “the Lord” but we need not float on cloud nine with harps for eternity!
Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying: Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
The rapture theory is a decoy that only serves to cover up the real story! The elect are being taken to Jerusalem, not heaven! Why go to heaven when you can be here with God? He is coming to “dwell in your midst”. For a more comprehensive ‘second opinion’ about the legendary Olivet Prophecy, and the elect, check out The Actual Message of Matthew 24.
Who Are The Two Witnesses and What is Their Message?
The scriptures reveal that two powerful prophets will arise
just before the ‘Great Tribulation’ on Israel, which is perhaps better described as “the time of Jacob’s trouble”. Mark this chapter down for a closer look later. This article is not about the
two witnesses, but their influence marks the turning point in world history. I can almost
hear them quoting the following verse:
Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it;
and it is the TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE, but he
shall be saved out of it. 8 ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD of
hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners
shall no more enslave them. 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.”
Daniel chapter twelve is another of several accounts
mentioning “ the time of trouble”.
Daniel 12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great
prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at
that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.”
The “two witnesses” of Revelation 11 will reveal to our people that because of our continuous abandonment of the Ten Commandments, we will have to learn the hard way to trust in our God. Israel is still destined to exemplify the way of life that was previously handed to them: they are to be the very first nation truly under God, with liberty and justice for all.
Then, after these witnesses have dramatically captured the attention of our nations with the same exact message of the Hebrew prophets of old, for precisely 1260 days, they will be slain by the Beast in Jerusalem.
Revelation 11:7 “When
they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make
war against them, overcome them, and kill them.”
Killing God’s prophets has always been a popular pastime in Jerusalem. (Matthew 23:34,37) But martyrdom emboldens people and will further the cause of God.
The disunited nations of Israel will become the nation that
God claims to be His “woman”, His wife!
Under the threat of death, the nations of Israel will begin to keep the Ten Commandments
(including the 4th)! Here is God’s plea:
Jeremiah 3:10-14
"And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her
whole heart, but in pretense," says the LORD. 11 Then the LORD said to me, "Backsliding
Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 "Go and
proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return,
backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For
I am merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not remain angry forever….14
Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for
I am MARRIED to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I
will bring you to Zion”.
Ezekiel 37:16-28 expressively describes the time when Israel and the tribe of Judah will be reunited as one nation.
Some of the remnant of Israel will be spared both the Tribulation, which is only dealt to Israel, as well as the Day of the Lord, which is literally Judgment Day for Israel’s conquers and slave holders, and slow learning Israelites! The following explanation now begins at the time immediately following the Tribulation. The survivors will again be presented with an opportunity to begin to serve their God, and they will have had 1260 days of absolute hell on earth to reconsider the witnesses’ offer of protection. At this point on the timeline I will begin this commentary on the end time prophecies just after our people have taken a beating, but immediately before God steps in to destroy all of the armies still extant on the planet. All of the end time battles are foretold in scripture, yet these armies still desire to pick fights with God!
Three
Departure Dates to the Place of Safety!
Is there a “place of safety” for the remnant of the twelve Israelite nations following the ‘Great Tribulation’ on Israel? (Revelation 7) Might much of Israel escape the plagues of the Day of the Lord, which immediately follows the Tribulation? You may have been taught that the Day of the Lord was included in the 1260 day Tribulation. This article is a chronicle of the evidence demonstrating that our Israelite brethren, if they survive the three and one half year long ‘Great Tribulation’, will be spared the much worse Day of the Lord, that will be poured out on the other Nations of the world. It should greatly relieve you to know that our loved ones may have the opportunity miss out on the "year" long "wrath of God", which I believe I will prove, follows the 1260 days!
Bible prophecy is like a jig saw puzzle. You have to gather
pieces “here a little and
there a little”, and fit them together. The bulk of this article is dedicated
to, as the title expresses, the time after
Jacob’s Trouble. Safety will be made available before “the
great and awesome Day of the Lord”. Yet there is to be a place of safety from
Satan’s Great Tribulation, as well as the Day of the Lord for the few people who
understood and believed the witnesses’ message as it was being delivered. In all
probability, many of these people will even understand the prophecies before the
messengers are given “power” by God. (As an aside, one of the two witnesses may become a “Governor of Judea” as paralleled by
Haggai 1&2.)
The “holy people” of Israel will need to be “shattered”, during the time of trouble, but it is for their purification! They are “holy”, yet they are neither “pure” nor “refined”!
Daniel
12:7 “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of
the river, when he for a time, times, and
half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished…10 Many shall be purified,
made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand.”
Daniel
12:11 "And from the time
that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set
up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety
days.”
Notice carefully that the danger is far from over once the Great Tribulation is finished. It is after the Tribulation that the wrath of God begins!
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. 30 …and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn…”
Satan will oppose some individuals who comprise this “woman” all the way to her place of safety.
Revelation 12:17
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman,
and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, WHO
KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS of God AND have the TESTIMONY OF JESUS (the)
CHRIST.”
Some people will have been anticipating the miraculous signs of God’s power that are to be displayed by the two “prophets”, (Rev.11:10) as well as their message, and be aware of the significance of the timing. They will avoid the Great Tribulation entirely, not just the Day of the Lord. The witness’s message will include the entire testimony of Jesus Christ, which includes the prophecies that He inspired previous prophets to write:
What is the “testimony of Jesus”? Here is the exact Biblical definition!
Revelation 19:10
“…For the TESTIMONY of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.”
The Bible says that Israel will return to the Promised Land. The vast majority of the survivors of the next holocaust will be offered life and liberty, and the attainment of happiness before the Day of the Lord! Another much larger remnant of Israel will remember the Two Witnesses warning message, but unlike some of their more discerning brethren, it is only after 3 ½ years of Tribulation that they decide to heed the warning! I challenge you to examine this evidence. Once we realize that the Day of the Lord is not a part of the 1260 days, we can realize that there is a much happier ending to the saga.
Now consider some implications of this scenario. It allows us to comprehend that we have totally misunderstood the outcome of the Two Witnesses’ message. We can establish that millions of people, many of whom believe that they are truly ‘Christians’, prepared for a ‘rapture’, will actually be a remnant of Israel: survivors of the Tribulation. They will finally acknowledge that the witnesses’ message was authentic, largely because it was combined with astonishing miracles that got their attention, and because they will have had 1260 days of “Trouble” to reconsider the prophecies that were boldly expressed to them . No amount of reasoning today is sufficient because people are so caught up with the cares of the world that nothing impresses them. That is why whole pages of prophecies that explain our future go totally unnoticed. Today’s distractions will all be taken away!
The message that the witnesses delivered was not given so that God could say ‘I told you so’, rather it is for the sake of encouraging and emboldening Israel to literally "come out of her My people”, in time to be protected during the entire time of the Lord’s wrath, if not sooner. This other “her”, (Rev.18:3) will be a counterfeit Kingdom of God politically supervised by a bogus Theocracy.
There are actually two Places of Safety! Where is the better
Place of Safety, the one that protects people from both Satan’s wrath against Israel and
then God’s wrath upon her enemies? The better ‘where’ is yet another story.
Yet before going on I will note a few passages concerning these places for you to
ponder. For most of the remnant of Israel, the new
and greatly expanded Land of Israel, as well as the New Jerusalem, will be their place of
safety! (Ezekiel 47:13-21; Isaiah 65 & 66)
The departure described in Isaiah 52 is a very interesting scripture that differs greatly in circumstances from this familiar passage:
Matthew
24:17-21 “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of
his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes…20 And pray
that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no,
nor ever shall be.”
Contrast the above to this:
Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who
proclaims salvation, who says to Zion: Your God reigns! 8 Your watchmen
shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see
eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you
waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed
Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11Depart!
Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go
out from the midst of her, be clean, you who
bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For you shall
NOT go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of
Israel will be your rear guard.”
The Matthew account appears to be an earlier departure than
Isaiah. The Matthew account refers to the opportunity to avoid the Great Tribulation as
described below. Perhaps this is the 1335 day countdown of Daniel 12:12.
Revelation 12:6 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (this would be the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation on Israel, it is after this 3 ½ years that Jerusalem will become home to Israel)
The first place of safety is strictly a “strong city”,
not the whole of New Israel!
Psalms 31:19-21
“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for
those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence
of the sons of men! 20 You shall HIDE THEM in
the SECRET PLACE OF YOUR PRESENCE from the
plots of man; You shall keep them SECRETLY in a ‘pavilion’
(Literally, ‘a TABERNACLE’) from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be the Lord, for
He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a STRONG CITY!”
Psalms 27:1-6 “A
Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked came against me to eat
up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though
an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against
me, in this I will be confident. 4 One thing I have
desired of the Lord, that will I seek:
that I may dwell in the HOUSE of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in HIS
temple. (Yet to be built!) 5
For in the time of trouble (the time of Jacob’s trouble)
He
shall hide me in His ‘pavilion’ (masculine word form: ‘TABERNACLE’)
in the SECRET
PLACE of His TABERNACLE He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a ‘rock’ (Compare to Psalms 31:2-3 “Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock
of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. 3 For You are my rock
and my fortress…”). 6
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will
offer sacrifices of joy in His Tabernacle
(at his resurrection); I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the
Lord.”
Israel’s
Permanent Place of Safety:
This place of safety is for those who have suffered by the hands of “the Northern Army” “before” “the Day of the Lord”.
Joel 2:16-32 “Gather the
people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children and
nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her
dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and
the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people,
O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ 18 Then the Lord will be
zealous for His land, and PITY His people. 19 The Lord will answer and say to His people, ‘Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among
the nations. 20 ‘But I will remove far from you
the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his
face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up,
and his fowl odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things. …28 ‘And
it shall come to pass AFTERWARD (after the Beast’s ‘Northern Army’ is
defeated) that
I will pour out My Spirit on ALL FLESH
(Israel); your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My
Spirit in those days. 30 ‘And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood
and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, BEFORE
THE COMING of the great and awesome DAY OF THE LORD. (To
miss the timing here is to miss the entire point!) 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be (physically) saved.
For IN Mount Zion and IN Jerusalem (I believe this to
be New Jerusalem) there
shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”
Notice two things in particular about the following passage. The
Middle East is presently a desert wilderness. It became that way due to horrific
overgrazing begun in Roman times. It was forested when this prophecy was made. This ties
in with the “woman” of
Revelation 12:14-17, being taken into the “wilderness”. Secondly
notice who will be then married to God in this place of safety! Many will tell you that
the Church is to be the bride of Christ. This is the topic of a separate article. I
won’t take time to elaborate, but several plain scriptures show who the bride really is.
Hosea 2:14 “Therefore,
behold, I will allure her, will bring her into
the WILDERNESS, and speak comfort to her. 15 I will give her her vineyards from there, and
the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth,
as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be, in that day,
says the LORD, that you will call Me ‘My
Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’17 For
I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by
their name no more. 18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the
field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and
sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely. 19 I
will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will
betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; 20 I will
betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD.”
Incidentally, the “great multitude”, of Revelation 7, is comprised of the Israelite survivors of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, returning from captivity, as well as anyone else who is desirous of obeying God and escaping the Day of the Lord!
Revelation 7:9 “After
these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, salvation belongs to
our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb…Then one of the elders answered, saying
to me: Who are these arrayed in white robes,
and where did they come from? 14 And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me:
These are the ones who come out of (survived)
the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night
in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger
anymore nor thirst
anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any
heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne WILL shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of
waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
These will not be Biblically knowledgeable people; after all, how much will they be able to learn about true Christianity under the worst living conditions in human history? They will be, however, people willing to allow “the Lamb” to "shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters”. They will have a perfect opportunity to live out a Christian life. They will actually appear before God’s throne in the New Jerusalem that will come to earth (Revelation 21:1-3). They will live through the Great Tribulation and on into the Everlasting Kingdom. The references to not hungering and not thirsting, or being harmed by the sun, or even crying tears, are references to the fact that they are indeed still quite human - but that they are now being protected! (See the article about Revelation 7 and the Great Multitude for a full biblical explanation on their identity.)
Some would have you believe that this multitude is assembled after “the millennium”. If you believe that, then I would encourage you to carefully read the entire chapter and see how inappropriate that conclusion really is.
The
Final Battle?
Actually, there is not one final battle to come! In fact,
several major end time battles will take place. First, the United States, as well as the
rest of the descendants of Israel will be defeated. Later, the King of the North (the
federation of the Beast) will also fight the King of the South (a future Arab federation),
and win. Then there is “Armageddon” (which is actually fought in the “Valley of
Jehoshaphat”), and a significant
part of this involves Gog and Magog (of Asia), which is the incredible story about another
attack on Israel, after their release from captivity but before the peaceful Kingdom. This
is the sole topic of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Some teach that this occurs during the
Everlasting Kingdom. Yet the context is saturated with statements dating it to the events leading
up to that time, the Second Exodus.
Ezekiel 38:16 "You will come up against My people Israel like a
cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may
know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes…”
Ezekiel 39:25 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will
bring back the captives of Jacob, and have
mercy on the WHOLE house of Israel (notice
that this is not the Jews!);
and I will be jealous for My holy name - 26 ‘after they have borne their shame, and all
their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their
own land and no one made them afraid. 27 ‘When
I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands,
and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 ‘then they shall know that I
am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity
among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them
captive any longer. 29 ‘And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have
poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD."
Before you stop reading, first consider these next two
passages, for they are important proof texts illustrating that the remnant of the Children
of Israel are gathered to their ‘place of safety’ at the VERY SAME TIME that God is
gathering the armies of the world for their destruction in “the
Valley of Jehoshaphat”!
Joel 3:1-2 "For
behold, in those days and at that time, WHEN I bring back the captives of JUDAH and
Jerusalem, 2 I will ALSO GATHER all nations, and bring them down to the Valley
of Jehoshaphat;
and I will enter into judgment WITH THEM there ON ACCOUNT OF MY PEOPLE, My heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations;
they have also divided up My land.”
“Armageddon” is merely the gathering point for the annihilation that God will perform on His enemies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat!
Continuing in Joel
3:12-16, "Let the nations be wakened, and
come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the SURROUNDING
NATIONS. 13 Put in the sickle, for the
harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for
the winepress is full, the vats overflow - for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter
His voice from Jerusalem; the
heavens and earth will shake; BUT
THE LORD WILL BE A SHELTER FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL.”
I have included a great many scriptures in this article, rather than simply footnoting all of them, so that you will actually read them. They tell the real story. I have only commented upon them to get you to consider explanations other than you may have heard concerning them.
I will elaborate on Jeremiah 51 later, but here is the
condensed essence of what he had to say about the remnant.
Jeremiah 51:6-50 “FLEE FROM THE MIDST OF BABYLON, AND EVERYONE SAVE HIS LIFE! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, FOR THIS IS THE TIME OF THE LORD’S VENGEANCE; (By this time the first wave of those who believed the message of the Two Witnesses is either a the place of safety or has been martyred.) He shall recompense her. 7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. (This is an exact parallel to Rev. chapters 17-19) ...Babylon has suddenly FALLEN and been destroyed...FORSAKE HER, (literally) and let us go everyone to his own country...19 The Portion of JACOB is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name. 20 You (Israel) are MY BATTLE-AX and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nations in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms; ... blow the TRUMPET among the nations! ...Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon shall become a heap...Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall… 45 MY PEOPLE GO OUT FROM THE MIDST OF HER! And let everyone DELIVER HIMSELF from the fierce anger of the Lord. (Not the ‘Great Tribulation’ from Satan, but the Day of the Lord) ...50 You who have escaped the sword, (the remnant) GET AWAY! DO NOT STAND STILL! Remember the Lord afar off, and LET JERUSALEM COME TO YOUR MIND.”
Notice the admonition to “let
Jerusalem come to your mind”. If these passages don’t cause you to want to
reconsider the prophecies, then you might as well quit reading now.
As an aside, it is worth noting that there is a warning to
flee Jerusalem mentioned by Matthew. This is a time for Sabbath keeping Christians, many
of whom will by then have journeyed to Judea (probably
to help restore God’s latter temple) to flea away from the vicinity of Jerusalem, rather than toward it!
Matthew 24:15 "Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of
desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then
let those who are in Judea FLEE to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop
not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go
back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing
babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in ‘winter’ [Literally:
inclement weather - it won’t be winter] or
on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be.”
If a person only went by Daniel’s account, he might conclude that he should “wait” right where he was, rather than wait in the mountains!
Daniel 12:11 “And from
the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination
of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed
is he who WAITS, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.”
I’ve mentioned the Time of Jacob’s Trouble; here is the rest of the story. There is only one chapter in the Bible that uses the term "Jacob’s Trouble", to describe the “time of Trouble”, we all know that this will be the most terrible period of time in history for the millions of descendants of Israel, however ironically, this ‘only place in the Bible’ is more focused on the time AFTER the trouble than on the trouble itself! Here is the good news of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 30: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ (The good news is first.) "4 Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. 5 "For thus says the Lord: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? 7 Alas! For that DAY IS GREAT, so that NONE IS LIKE IT; and it is the time of JACOB'S TROUBLE, (That was the bad news.) BUT HE SHALL BE SAVED OUT OF IT. 8 ‘For it shall come to pass in THAT day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave them. 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10 'Therefore DO NOT FEAR, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord, ‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I WILL SAVE YOU from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you; THOUGH I MAKE A FULL END OF ALL NATIONS where I have scattered you, (by gathering them into the Valley of Jehoshaphat) yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished.’ 12 For thus says the Lord: ‘Your affliction is incurable, your wound is severe. 13 There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up; you have no healing medicines. 14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased. 15 Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. 16 ‘Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will make a prey. 17 For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘because they called you an outcast saying: This is Zion; no one seeks her.’ 18 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; the city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan. 19 Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish ALL who oppress them. 21 Their nobles shall be from among them, and their governor shall come from their midst; then I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach Me; for who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’ says the Lord. 22 ‘You shall be My people, and I will be your God.’ 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord Goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it, and until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will CONSIDER it.”
Start Considering!
After reading the entire account about Jacob’s trouble, it is quite apparent that the time after Israel’s captivity is a great part of Jeremiah’s message. Misplacing a prophecy by a year or a thousand years, as some do, could cost a person his life. I am just as capable of ad-libbing as the next person, but the scriptures do such a fantastic job that there is no reason for me to ‘make anything up’.
AN
OVERVIEW OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN:
This chapter describes the mindset of God on bringing about
this terrible “trouble” or “tribulation on His people. Many more references could be
cited.
Jeremiah 14: "The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah
concerning the droughts.
2 Judah mourns, and her gates languish; they
mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 Their nobles have sent their lads for water; they
went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for Your name’s sake; for
our backslidings are many, we have sinned against You. 8 O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the land, yet You, O
Lord, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name; do
not leave us! 10 Thus says the Lord to this people: "Thus
they have loved to wander; they have not
restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does
not accept them; He will remember their iniquity
now, and punish their sins." 11 Then the Lord said to me: Do not pray for this people, for their good.
(God has made up His mind at this point, as these three chapters so vividly
indicate. To pray for an alternate solution, when God has made His decision so resolutely
would be praying against the will of God!) 12
When they fast, I will not hear their cry;
and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them.
But I will consume them by the SWORD, by the FAMINE,
and by the PESTILENCE. 13 Then I said, ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘YOU
SHALL NOT SEE THE SWORD, nor shall you have FAMINE,
but I will give you assured peace in this place.’
14 And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I
have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they
prophesy to you A FALSE VISION, divination, a
worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 15
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, WHOM
I DID NOT SEND, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’ - ‘By
sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16 And the people to whom they prophesy
shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they
will have no one to bury them - them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters - for
I will pour their wickedness on them.”
The vivid description of the Great Tribulation heaped upon Israel’s descendants is unbroken as we read on into the next chapter. Notice that some people are destined to live while others are destined to die. The following segment describes the death that many will suffer. God will be deliberately selecting, and destroying, the wicked people of Israel. Jeremiah 24 describes this selectivity of God in this time of crisis. Of course some prophecies are dual, referring to the original destruction of the twelve tribes.
Jeremiah 15: "Then
the Lord said to me,: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be
favorable toward this people. Cast them out of
My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall
be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says
the Lord: "Such
as are for death, to death; and such
as are for the sword, to the sword; and such
as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
‘ 3 And I will appoint over them four forms of destruction, says the Lord: the
sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to
devour and destroy 6 You have forsaken Me, says the Lord, You have gone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am weary of relenting! 7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the
gates of the land; I will bereave them of
children; I
WILL DESTROY MY PEOPLE, since they do not
return from their ways.”
But an incredible intervention occurs for those of Israel who heed the message of the two witnesses!
Jeremiah 14:20 “We acknowledge,
O Lord,
our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers (whom they now recognize),
for we have sinned against You. Do
not abhor us, for your names sake; do not
disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, do
not break Your covenant with us. (From this point on Israel is safe but the
World’s armies come under fire - quite literally!) The
Lord said: Surely
it will be WELL with your REMNANT; surely
I will cause the enemy to intercede with you IN THE TIME OF ADVERSITY and IN THE TIME OF
AFFLICTION. 12 Can anyone break iron, the
northern iron and the bronze? 13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder
without price, because of all your sins, throughout your territories…19
Therefore thus says the Lord: If you return,
then I will bring you back; you shall stand
before Me; if you take out the precious from the
vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let
them return to you, but you must not return to
them. (Flee Babylon!) 20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze
wall; and they will fight against you, but they (Babylon) shall
not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and deliver
you, says the Lord. 21 (Finally)
I will
deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grip of
the terrible."
The Day of the Lord will parallel the time when God delivered ancient Israel out of bondage; the armies of their enemies were totally destroyed! This time though God has made His point!
Jeremiah 16 continues
describing Jacob’s trouble: "The
word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have
sons or daughters in this place....6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land.
They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make
themselves bald for them. 7 Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort
them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their
father or their mother. 8 Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with
them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I
will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth
and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. 10 And
it shall be, WHEN YOU SHOW THIS PEOPLE ALL THESE
WORDS, and they say to you: Why has the Lord
pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin
that we have committed against the Lord our God? 11 then
you shall say to them, Because your fathers
have forsaken Me, says the Lord; they have
walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and
not kept My law. 12 And YOU have done worse than
your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that
NO ONE LISTENS TO ME. (God proclaims that the people are responsible for their behavior in His own way.)
13 Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a
land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other
gods day and night, where I will not show you favor. 14 Therefore
behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord lives
who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, 15 but, The Lord lives who
brought up the children of Israel FROM THE LAND OF THE NORTH (north of Jerusalem) and from all the
lands where He had driven them. For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to
their fathers. (The Second Exodus will far exceed the first one!) 16: Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says the
Lord, and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall
hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. The [Nations]
shall come to you from the ends of the earth and say: Surely our fathers have inherited
lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things. 20 Will a man make gods for himself, which
are not gods? 21 Therefore behold, I will this once (for the first time) cause them to
know, I will cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is
the Lord."
ISRAEL’S TRIBULATION - DESTRUCTION, CAPTIVITY
AND ESCAPE:
The book of Micah is very much focused on The Day of the
Lord and the return of our Lord and His Christ to earth. It begins by stating that: "For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread the high places of the earth.
The mountains will melt under Him...(Micah 1:3-4) This opening statement by
Micah gets right to the point of his book. It has to do with the time when the Lord will "come down" and rescue Israel! Later in the book, he prophesied further about the "latter days" and specifically described the Tribulation, when the whole House of Israel will be
invaded by a federation led by Assyria
(Germany).
Micah
5:5-8 continues:
“When THE
ASSYRIAN COMES INTO OUR LAND, and when he
treads in our palaces, THEN WE WILL RAISE AGAINST
HIM SEVEN SHEPHERDS AND EIGHT PRINCELY MEN.
6 They shall waste with the sword the land of
Assyria, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads
within our borders. Then the remnant of Jacob
shall be in the midst of many peoples, (survivors of the captivity) like
dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, that tarry for no man nor wait for the sons
of men. 8 And
the REMNANT OF JACOB shall be AMONG the [Nations],
in the midst of many peoples, LIKE A LION among
the beasts of the forest, like a young lion
among flocks of sheep, who,
if he passes through, both TREADS DOWN and
TEARS IN PIECES, (their captors)
and none can
deliver.”
Note from the writer: I am likely a grafted in Israelite since my ancestry is German and English. You don’t have to be Israelite to worship the God of Israel and be spared the end time plagues (and maybe even live forever as a bonus!)
One problem with interpreting scriptures is the "here a little, there a little" principle. God deliberately wanted to make understanding a challenge that few would bother with! Scripture jumps from the Great Tribulation, to the Day of the Lord, to the ‘Millennium’, to the time leading up to the end time, often with no apparent line of distinction. The delineation between these time periods, especially the Day of the Lord and the Great Tribulation is not that difficult to discern once you determine that they are fixed periods of time with no overlap. At times, a single sentence is split into two topics spanning millennia, such as Daniel 9:27. Then there is the concept of duality, where we may not always be sure if ‘history will repeat itself’ in a particular instance or not.
Another example of confusion is how the Bible translators and editors determine chapter breaks and paragraph breaks, and in recent years the insertion of captions. For example, in my NKJV, there is a caption entitled “The Day of the Lord” above Isaiah 2:5, however the time period between verse 5 and 9 is actually a description of the wealth and wickedness of Israel before the end time disasters. But verse 10 does ‘fast forward’ right into the Day of the Lord:
Isaiah 2:10 "Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty."
Isaiah chapters 3 and 5 are among the many other passages showing that God will strip away every blessing from the "daughters of Zion" which are the descendants of the original Kingdom of Israel. Here are a couple more examples:
Daniel 11:6 "He shall enter the Glorious land (the nation of Israel) and many [people] shall be overthrown!"
Zechariah 13:1 "In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. 2 It shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, This is My people; and each one will say, The Lord is my God.”
THE
TIME OF ASSYRIA’S TROUBLE:
The descendants of ancient Assyria are the German people of
today. It is they who will spearhead the ten nation Beast power.
In Isaiah 10, God "will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria" (just before He gathers the survivors of Israel.) "The remnant will return, the remnant of JACOB (all 12 tribes this time!) to the mighty God.: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations. 8 For he says, 'Are not my princes altogether kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (meaning after He is finished punishing Israel) that He will say, I will (now) punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. 13 For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries; so I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. 14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep. 15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones; and under his glory He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18 And it will consume the glory of his forest (the Black Forest) and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest will be so few in number that a child may write them. (Verses 20-23 fast forwards to, for contrast, the time of the Second Exodus, then back to the Assyrian (German) invasion.) 24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. (As when Moses and Aaron led the first Exodus) 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction. 26 And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt. 27 It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. 28 He has come to Aiath, he has passed Migron; at Michmash he has attended to his equipment. 29 They have gone along the ridge, they have taken up lodging at Geba. Ramah is afraid, Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30 Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Cause it to be heard as far as Laish - O poor Anathoth! 31 Madmenah has fled, the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge. 32 As yet he will remain at Nob that day; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. (Germany will hate to see Israel in the soon-to-be Holy Land.) 33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will lop off the bough with terror; those of high stature will be hewn down, and the haughty will be humbled. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.”
Isaiah 29 describes the first wave of the attack by the
World’s nations against our brother and ally, Judah. (v.8) However "Ariel,
the city where David dwelt" (v.1) symbolically
represents all of the nations of Israel.
Isaiah 29:22 "Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed
Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: (Israel)
"Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 but when he sees his children, (all twelve of them in the
resurrection) the work of
My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and
fear the God of Israel. 24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who
complained will learn doctrine."
This takes place after the Holy Spirit is poured out on all of Israel.
Isaiah 30 tells
us of a time when "the
people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more (v.19) "And
though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers
(144,000 of them: the Revelation 14 “firstfruits”)
will not be moved into a corner anymore" (v.20)
"This is the way, walk in it" (v.21) (But look at what else happens in this context.)
"Behold
the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with anger (v.27)
"to sift the nations with the sieve of futility (v.28) For through the voice of the Lord ASSYRIA
WILL BE BEATEN DOWN as He strikes with a rod."
This time God Himself is the "rod". Much of prophecy is explained in cause and effect style: Because you did this, God will do that.
Joel 3:1-16 "For behold, in
those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I
will also gather ALL NATIONS, and bring them
down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage
Israel, whom they (all other nations)
have scattered among the nations; they
have also divided up My land. (Military
occupation) 11 Assemble and
come, ALL you nations, and gather together all
around. Cause
your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. 12
Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the DAY
OF THE LORD is NEAR in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; BUT THE LORD WILL BE A SHELTER FOR HIS PEOPLE,
AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.”
Who
Are the Saints?
We notice that the “saints” are “given into [the Beast’s] hands” for a period of time. Might these “saints” simply be a reference to Israel? After all they were, and shall be, “set apart”, which is what “saint” literally means. There are three different numerical ways to express the 3 ½ year period known as Jacob’s Trouble, relevant to the “saints”!
Revelation 11:3-14 "But
leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been
given to the [Nations].
And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two
months. 3 And I will give power to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. (42
X 30 days = 1260 days. Referring to this same period) Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given
authority to continue for forty-two months. He
shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall
persecute the SAINTS of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.
Then the SAINTS shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. (Commentaries and lexicons
readily explain that this is three and one half years.)
14 But
the woman was given two wings of a great eagle,
that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a
‘time’ (year)
and ‘times’ (two years) and half a ‘time’, from the presence of the serpent."
Is a saint a
super Christian, any Christian, or is a saint simply one of the ‘chosen
people’ – an Israelite?
Psalms 148:14 “And He has exalted the horn of His
people, the praise of all His saints - of the children of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the LORD!”
Daniel 7:25 “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
and shall intend to change times and law. Then the SAINTS shall be given into his (the
Beast’s) hand for a time and times and half a time.”
These SAINTS must suffer thru the 3 ½ year Tribulation also referred to as "time and times and half a time.” (Compare to Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 12:14) We have been misled as to what a ‘saint’ is. Originally, a saint was strictly an obedient Israelite. However, today a saint is anyone who strives to serve the God of Israel.
The key to understanding who the woman represents (another
reference to the saints) is found in Genesis. Again, this woman represents the twelve
tribes (now nations) of Israel. Compare the following verses. (Revelation 12:1-16)
Genesis 37:9 “Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to
his brothers, and said: Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun,
the moon, and the eleven stars
bowed down to me. 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked
him and said to him: What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers
indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?"
The context of the sun, the moon and the stars above is identical to the symbols associated with the woman of Revelation, so often misinterpreted as “the Church”. This is the best direct clue as to what these symbols represent. Here is another clue:
Micah 4 "Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your
midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman
in labor. 10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O
daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth
pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to
Babylon you shall go. THERE you shall be delivered; there the Lord will redeem you from
the hand of your enemies. 11 Now also MANY NATIONS have gathered against you, who say: Let
her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion."
Revelation 18 describes how the end time Babylon will sell the "bodies and souls of men" and "all the nations of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."
WHY
THESE THINGS MUST HAPPEN:
"Why
has the Lord done so to this land?"
The following three chapters are often called the “Blessings and cursings chapters”, because God promised either blessings or cursings on ancient Israel strictly dependent on their behavior. While this may not be technically intended for modern Israel, nevertheless, virtually every blessing and curse mentioned here is reiterated toward Israel, in reference to the time of the end.
Deuteronomy
28: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the
voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you
today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey
the voice of the Lord your God: 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of
your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be DEFEATED
BEFORE YOUR FACE; they shall come out
against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 15 But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God,
to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that
all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16
Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the
increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand
to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of
your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21
The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which
you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will
strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever,
with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew;
they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And
your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you
shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain
of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven
it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and
you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth,
and no one shall frighten them away. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes
shall look and fail with longing for them all day long;
and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33
A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your
labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. The
Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor
your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods - wood and stone. 43
The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down
lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but
you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head,
and you shall be the tail. 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you,
until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep
His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants FOREVER. (As long as
Israel is a nation, these blessings and curses may be enforced.)
47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the
abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will
send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything;
and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation
of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.
51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until
you are destroyed; they shall not leave you
grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks,
until they have destroyed you. 52 They shall
besiege you at all your gates until your (note) high and fortified
walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; (Military defenses)
and
they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God
has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your
daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in
which your enemy shall distress you. 58 If you
do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you
may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD
YOUR GOD, 59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary
plagues - great and prolonged plagues and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 63
And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you,
so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall
be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. 64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to
the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have
known - wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot
have a resting place; but there the Lord will
give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.
66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you
shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. 68 And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said
to you: You shall never see it again. And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female
slaves, but no one will buy you."
To be sure, the majority of Israel will not survive the coming holocaust. Slaves without monetary value will be euthanized.
Deuteronomy 29:1-29
“These are the words of the covenant which the
Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the
covenant which He made with them in Horeb. 10
All of you stand today before the Lord your God:
your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11
your little ones and your wives - also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who
cuts your wood to the one who draws your water - 12 that you may enter into covenant with
the Lord your God, and into His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today, 13
that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you,
just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. 24 All nations would say: why has the
Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people
would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the
covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them
out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not
know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, to bring on it every
curse that is written in this book. 28 And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great
indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children FOREVER, that we may do all the words of this law.”
This is a perfect example of scriptural duality.
Deuteronomy 30:1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things 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 the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. 11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say: who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say: who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Isaiah 1 "Hear,
O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken:
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; 3
The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but
Israel does not know, My people do not consider.
4 Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who
are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of
Israel, they have turned away backward. 5 Why
should you be stricken AGAIN? You will revolt
more and more. The whole head is sick, and the
whole heart faints. 7 Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by
strangers. 8 So the daughter of Zion is left as
a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like
Sodom, 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, (the visible means of
reckoning months and therefore Holy Days) the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the
sacred meeting. (Could there be "iniquity" in the way we determine our "sacred" meetings?)
14 YOUR New
Moons and YOUR appointed feasts
My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, (The days presently called Christmas
and Easter, anciently commemorated [as in when this prophecy was written], solstices and
equinoxes rather than God’s Feasts, as counted from the New Moons. The Jews celebrated
God’s Feasts on the correct days until the 4th century AD! Do you celebrate “your
appointed feasts” or God’s Feasts?) I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood. 24 Therefore the
Lord says, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will rid Myself of My
adversaries, and take vengeance on My enemies. 25
I will turn My hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all
your alloy. 26 I will restore your judges as at
the first, and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness.
28 The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, and those who
forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”
Isaiah chapters 2, 3 and 4 also describe the fall of Israel.
Isaiah 4:3-6 "And it shall come to pass that he who
is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy - everyone who is recorded
among the living in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord
has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from
her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will
create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and
smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For
over all the glory there will be a covering. 6 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place
of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain."
This prophecy is definitely in the future! This "tabernacle for shade" is actually the “cloud” of God and would be the same “cloud” that protected ancient Israel during the exodus from Egypt so long ago.
The Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord prophecy continues
through verse 18, which then extends into the Everlasting Kingdom. Again, the Day of the
Lord, year 6000, is the transitional Jubilee year, the last year of this
age. Israel is saved out of captivity and returned to their land in time to be actual
participants in the final battle and witness the mighty works of God saving them. This is
reminiscent of the time when ancient Israel watched God drown the Egyptian army that was
bent on their destruction.
Jeremiah 30:12-24 continues: "For thus says the Lord: ‘Your affliction is incurable, your wound is severe. 13 There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up; you have no healing medicines. 14 All your lovers (Europe in particular) have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased. 15 Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. 16 ‘Therefore all those who devour YOU shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will make a prey. 17 For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘Because they called you an outcast saying: "This is Zion; No one seeks her." ’18 "Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; the city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan. 19 Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; (Here is the happily ever after part.) I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all who oppress them" 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it, and until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it.”
THE
SECOND EXODUS:
The Second Exodus marks Israel’s first serious endeavor to serve their God in thousands of years. The great multitude on the road to Jerusalem is the first step toward the realization of the everlasting “government”.
Isaiah
9:6-12 "And the government will be on His shoulder. And His name will be
called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the
increase of His government and peace there will be no end …But
before this happens: 12 And
they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away,
but His hand is stretched out still. 13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes
them, nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.”
This is very typical of the contrasting scriptures showing the both the painful news as well as the wonderful news about the salvation of Israel. This liberation of the world, from tyrannical governments, will be like the domino theory. All governments in opposition to God will readily be eliminated once the Kingdom of God is established in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 11:4-11 "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth…6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb…11 It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again THE SECOND TIME to recover the remnant of His people who are left from ASSYRIA.”
Isaiah 27 "Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him?" (v.7) "And you will be gathered one by one, O YOU CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet shall be blown; (at the Lord’s return to wage a year of retribution) they will come who are "ready to perish" (KJV) in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." (vs.12-13)
Ezekiel 38:8 "After many days you will be visited. In
the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and
GATHERED FROM MANY PEOPLE on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they
were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely."
Ezekiel 38 explains that this entire chapter is describing the Day of the Lord AFTER the Great Tribulation!
Ezekiel 38:18-23 "And
it will come to pass AT THE SAME TIME…22 And
I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on
his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones,
fire, and brimstone."
Incidentally, Zechariah 14 is a parallel chapter complete
with "Behold the Day
of the Lord is coming” and "the
earthquake". "And no longer shall there be utter
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited."
A large portion of the Book of Revelation consists of a prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon, the Great Whore. Editors have arbitrarily divided it into chapters 17, 18 and 19. This prophecy explains that there will be an alarming warning to "Come out of her my people." This is not a generic admonition to avoid evil influences! This is a specific warning to Israel while still in captivity about being spared the Day of the Lord. The context is unmistakably toward the very end of Babylon’s existence. God has placed a term limit on her political power. There are no Christians left in Babylon to "Come out". This woman is "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Wouldn’t a ‘martyr’ of Jesus be a ‘saint’, unless this is referring to both physical Israelites and Christians, right? The plea in Revelation 18:4 is to the remaining physical Israelites to ‘come out’.
Why is God taking vengeance on the world?
Isaiah 34:8 “For it is the Day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year
of recompense FOR THE CAUSE OF ZION.”
Jeremiah also described the time of the Second Exodus.
Jeremiah 51:36 “Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon shall become a heap...45 MY PEOPLE GO OUT FROM THE MIDST OF HER! And let everyone DELIVER HIMSELF from the fierce anger of the Lord....50 You who have escaped the sword, get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lord afar off, and LET JERUSALEM COME TO YOUR MIND.”
Zechariah 8 “Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her. 3 Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’ 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. 5 The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.’ 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in My eyes? Says the Lord of hosts. 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save My people from (BOTH!) the land of the EAST and from the land of the WEST; 8 I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness. But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. 12 For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew - I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these. 13 And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Just as I determined to punish you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I would not relent, 15 So again IN THESE DAYS I am determined to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 20 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities; 21 the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying: let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also. 22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
Jeremiah 30:8-11 "I will break his yoke from your neck, and burst your bonds; foreigners will no more enslave them. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them! 10 ‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob, says the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished.”
How will God remove the latter day children of Israel from their end time oppressors? It appears that the parallels to coming out of Egypt will be many. History will indeed repeat itself!
Deuteronomy 4:26-38 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the LATTER DAYS, (hint!) when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. 32 For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day.”
Here again is an important proof text illustrating that the
remnant of the Children of Israel are gathered to their ‘place
of safety’ at the very same time that God is gathering the World’s armies for
destruction!
Joel 3:1-2 "For
behold, in those days and at that time, WHEN I
bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I
will ALSO GATHER all
nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and
I will enter into judgment with them there on
account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations;
they have also divided up My land.”
Armageddon is merely the gathering point for the annihilation that God will perform on His enemies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat!
Continuing in Joel
3:14-21
“For the DAY OF THE LORD is NEAR in the valley of decision. 15 The
sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will
diminish their brightness. (Could the sun, moon and stars {symbols of
Israel} being diminished also imply retribution on the world for diminishing the
population of Israel?) The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice
from Jerusalem; the
heavens and earth will shake; BUT
THE LORD WILL BE A SHELTER FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
(It is the whole house of Israel that will be spared DURING the "Day of the Lord", after having been ‘targets’ for three and one half years!)
17 "So you
shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.
…Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence
against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20
But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
Only false prophets deny that these events will occur!
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming
to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly
and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. (A brief mention of
Christ’s first coming: long after the first captivity) 10
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem;
the battle bow shall be cut off. He
shall speak peace to the nations; (second
coming) His
dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River (of New Jerusalem)
to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free
from the waterless pit. 12 Return to the
stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I
declare that I will restore double to you. 13
For I have bent Judah, My bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, O
Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and made you like the sword of a mighty man."
The remnant of Israel and Judah will indeed fight in the final battle and be victorious but only after having been greatly humbled in military defeat! Judah will be the bow and Israel the arrow in the Day of the Lord!
Continued “14 Then the Lord will be seen over them, and His arrow (fitted to the "bow"- Judah) will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south. 15 The Lord of hosts will defend them; they shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine; they shall be filled with blood like basins, like the corners of the altar. 16 The Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land - 17 For how great is its goodness and how great its beauty!”
Malachi4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet BEFORE the
coming of the great and dreadful Day of the
Lord. (Notice the dated context.)
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest
I come and strike the earth with a ‘curse’…”
(Literally ‘utter destruction’!)
You may have assumed that this was a message to the church, but it specifies that the coming of "Elijah" is to be "before" "the Day of the Lord", rather than necessarily before the Tribulation. In any event, “the woman" will already be in the place of safety by then!
THE
DAY OF THE LORD:
The Day of the Lord is specifically the final one year (for purposes of this article it is presumed to be of ‘one’ year duration) period of this millennium:
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, (indicating that the Day of the Lord is about to begin) and all of the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
The book of Joel immediately begins to describe the uniqueness of this final year.
Joel 1:2 "Hear
this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this
happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it,
let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 6
FOR A NATION HAS COME UP AGAINST MY LAND, strong, and without number;
his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7
HE HAS LAID WASTE MY VINE (Israel),
and ruined My fig tree; he
has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white. 8 Lament
like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Wail, you who minister before the altar; come,
lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God 14 Consecrate a fast, call a sacred
assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord
your God, and cry out to the Lord. 15 Alas for
the day! For the Day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty.”
Joel chapter 2 continues without any pause. “Blow
the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of
the land tremble; for the Day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning
clouds spread over the mountains. A people come,
great and strong, the like of whom has never been;
nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden
of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; surely
nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is
like the appearance of horses; and like swift steeds, so they run. 5 With a noise like chariots over mountaintops they leap, like the noise of a
flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain; all
faces are drained of color. 7 They run like
mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every
one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks. 8 They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down.
9 They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall;
they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble;
the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. 11
The Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for
strong is the One who executes His word. For the
Day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it? 12 Now, therefore, says the Lord: Turn to Me with all your
heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness; and He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him - a grain
offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 15 Blow the trumpet
in Zion, (I hope to be there.) consecrate a fast,
call a sacred assembly;
16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children
and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out
from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. 17
Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say: Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to
reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples: Where is their God? 18 Then the Lord will
be zealous for His land, and pity His people. And
My people shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I
am the Lord your God and there is no other. My
people shall never be put to
shame."
It is only after Babylon "has come up against My land" and "laid waste" Israel, that the survivors seriously plead for deliverance, as the two witnesses had told them to do for the previous three and one half years.
GOD’S BATTLE AX, ISRAEL, DESTROYS BABYLON:
Jeremiah 51 is almost exclusively about the destruction of Babylon, but there is a fantastic opportunity offered to Israel! Jeremiah did not hesitate to prophecy against Babylon by name, in fact this, and the parallel accounts in Revelation 17-19 and other places, describe the most detailed destruction of any nation found in the Bible. However in order to say this, and not be killed, he had to flea to Egypt!
Jeremiah 51 All “Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, a destroying wind. 2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall be against her all around. 3 Against her let the archer bend his bow, and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 6 FLEE FROM THE MIDST OF BABYLON, AND EVERYONE SAVE HIS LIFE! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is THE TIME OF THE LORD’S VENGEANCE; (By this time those people already enjoying the place of safety have been there for 3 ½ years, the others were martyred.) He shall recompense her. 7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. (This is an exact parallel to Revelation 17-19.) The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations are deranged. 8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed. 9 We (Christ and the Father) would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. FORSAKE HER, (literally) and let us go everyone to his own country; (It appears that all of the present day nations of Israel will be resettled immediately.) for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. 10 The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God. 11 Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for His temple. 12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; make the guard strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O you who dwell by many waters, (comp. Revelation 17:2) abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. 14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you....19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name. 20 You (Israel) are MY BATTLE-AX and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nations in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms; 21 with you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; with you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; 22 with you also I will break in pieces man and woman; with you I will break in pieces old and young; with you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; 23 with you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; with you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers. (Get the point?) 24 And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight, says the Lord. 25 Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain. 26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord. 27 Set up a banner in the land, blow the TRUMPET among the nations! Prepare the nations against her; call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. 28 Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his dominion. 29 And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, they have remained in their strongholds; their might has failed, they became like women; they have burned her dwelling places, the bars of her gate are broken. 31 One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; 32 the passages are blocked, the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are terrified. 33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come. 34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a monster; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies, he has spit me out. 35 Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion will say; And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!" Jerusalem will say. 36 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions, they shall growl like lions’ whelps. 39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts; I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake, says the Lord. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. 41 Oh, how Sheshack is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! 42 The sea has come up over Babylon (Babylon is the metaphoric “Tyre” of Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27) What city is like Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea. (v.32); she is covered with the multitude of its waves. 43 HER CITIES are a desolation, [Babylon is an empire!] a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes. 44 I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; and the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45 MY PEOPLE GO OUT FROM THE MIDST OF HER! And let everyone DELIVER HIMSELF from the fierce anger of the Lord. (Not the Great Tribulation, but the Day of the Lord) 46 And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (A rumor will come one year, and after that, in another year a rumor will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler), 47 Therefore behold, the days are coming that I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; her whole land shall be ashamed, and all her slain shall fall in her midst. 48 Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the Lord. 49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. 50 You who have escaped the sword, GET AWAY! DO NOT STAND STILL! Remember the Lord afar off, and LET JERUSALEM COME TO YOUR MIND. 51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house. 52 Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, That I will bring judgment on her carved images, and throughout all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven, and though she were to fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me plunderers would come to her, says the Lord. 54 The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, 55 because the Lord is plundering Babylon and silencing her loud voice, though her waves roar like great waters, and the noise of their voice is uttered, 56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, and her mighty men are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; for the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay. 57 And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. 58 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; the people will labor in vain, and the nations, because of the fire; and they shall be weary. 59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever. 63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say: Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”
It is certainly worth noting, concerning I Thessalonians 5,
that this attack occurs during the Day of the Lord, following the 3 1/2 year “Great Tribulation”.
I Thessalonians 5:1-6
"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should
write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief
in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace
and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant
woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you,
brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6
Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”
The comparison to this time period to labor pains is also
used to describe the Day of the Lord in Micah in vivid detail.
Micah 4:8-13 "And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. 10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. (Emphasis is placed on this analogy!) For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. 11 Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say: Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth."
Joel 3, however, tells us about the time immediately preceding the end of warfare. I mentioned this chapter before
Joel 3 "For behold, in those days and at that time, WHEN
I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and
bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
and I will enter into judgment with them there on
account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations;
they have also divided up My land. 3 They have
cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for
wine, that they may drink. 4 Indeed, what have
you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate
against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your
retaliation upon your own head; 5 because you
have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My prized possessions.
6 Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that
you may remove them far from their borders. 7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will
return your retaliation upon your own head. 8 I
will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will
sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off; for
the Lord has spoken. 9 Proclaim this among the
nations: Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty
men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ 11 Assemble
and come, all you nations, and gather together all around.
Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. 12
Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come,
go down; for the winepress is full, the vats
overflow - for their wickedness is great. 14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision! For the Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem;
the heavens and earth will shake; but
the Lord will be a sh elter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 17 So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy
mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no
aliens (armies)
shall ever pass through her again."
Notice again: "The Day of the
Lord is near", "but the Lord will BE A
SHELTER for His people, and the strength of THE
CHILDREN OF ISRAEL!"
Some might suppose that some of these prophecies were fulfilled in the distant past. However, once ancient Israel divorced God, He turned His back on them. Others think that the modern secular Jewish state, calling itself Israel, is the fulfillment of these prophecies. These feeble attempts to ‘help God fulfill His word’ in no way fulfils these many specific statements from God!
Zechariah 10: “The diviners envision lies, and tell
false dreams; they comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wend their way like sheep;
they are in trouble because there is no shepherd (spiritual as well as decent
political leaders). 3
My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goatherds. For the Lord
of hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse
in the battle. 4
From him comes the cornerstone, (The
Lord will replace today’s leadership.) from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him
every ruler together.
5 They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets
in the battle. THEY SHALL FIGHT because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall
be put to shame. 6 I
will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will
save the house of ‘Joseph’ [Israel]. I will bring them
back,
because I have mercy on them.
THEY SHALL BE AS THOUGH I HAD NOT CAST THEM ASIDE; for
I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. 7
Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as if with wine.
Yes, their children shall see it and be glad; their
heart shall rejoice in the Lord. 8 I will
whistle for them and gather them, for I will redeem them; and they shall increase as they once increased. 9 I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember Me in far countries;
they shall live, together with their children, and
they shall return. 10 I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt, and gather them from ASSYRIA (Germany). I
will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, until no more room is found for them.
11 He shall pass through the sea with affliction, and strike the waves of the sea: All the depths of the River shall dry up. Then the pride of ASSYRIA shall be brought
down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
12 So I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in His name,
says the Lord.”
Try cramming these scriptures, especially verse 10, into the modern state of “Israel”.
Zechariah 12:1-11 “The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. ["Jerusalem will be trampled by {the Nations}" (Luke 21:20-24)] 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart: The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God. 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place -Jerusalem. 7 The Lord will save the tents of Judah FIRST, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. (Imagine the grief when Israel realizes that they crucified and "pierced" their Savior!) Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”
Zechariah 14:1 "Behold, the Day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the REMNANT of the people shall NOT BE cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee (This may include you!) as you fled from the earthquake 8 And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea ("sea to shining sea" in the Holy Land); in both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. 13 It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand; (This will make Israel’s fighting the other nations much easier.) 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered together: Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. 16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”
THE NEW COVENANT IMPLEMENTED:
People who think that the New Covenant has been implemented
have not read the fine print!
Jeremiah 31:31-40 "Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah (Hint: Are the Jews Christian yet?) -
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says
the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and
write it on their hearts; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. 35
Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and
the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The Lord of
hosts is His name): 36 If those ordinances
depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being
a nation before Me forever. 37 Thus says the
Lord: If heaven above can be measured, and the
foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done, says the Lord. 38
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord from
the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb;
then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the
whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, (Day of the Lord) and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the
corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be
plucked up or thrown down anymore forever."
This is the true New Covenant. Now read more about the situation immediately preceding the New Covenant’s implementation by starting in verse 1!
Jeremiah 31:1-30 "At the same time, says the Lord, I will be the God
of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
2 Thus says the Lord: The people who survived
the sword found grace in the wilderness - Israel, when I went to give him rest.
3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: Yes,
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore
with loving kindness I have drawn you. 4 Again I
will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned
with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. 5
You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; the
planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. 6 For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise,
and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’
7 For thus says the Lord: Sing with gladness for
Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel’! 8 Behold,
I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labors with child,
together; a great throng shall return there. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I
will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not
stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and
Ephraim is My firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the
Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel
will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
11 For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the
goodness of the Lord - for wheat and new wine and
oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; their
souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old,
together; for I will turn their mourning to joy,
will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied
with My goodness, says the Lord. 15 Thus says
the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted
for her children, because they are no more. 16 Thus says the Lord: Refrain your
voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears;
for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of
the enemy. 17 There is hope in your future, says
the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border. 18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You
have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained bull;
restore me, and I will return, for You are the Lord my God.
19 Surely, after my turning, I repented; and
after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I
was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I
earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart
yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,
says the Lord. 21 Set up signposts, make
landmarks; set your heart toward the highway,
the way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin
of Israel, turn back to these your cities. 22
How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new
thing in the earth - a woman shall encompass a man.
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I
BRING BACK their captivity:
‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ 24 And there shall
dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with
flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul,
and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. 26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. 27
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the
house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28
And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to
throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,
says the Lord. 29 In those days they shall say
no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his
teeth shall be set on edge."
This was another chapter that pretty much summarized it all.
THE
KING OF THE NORTH:
In order to understand who the ‘players’ are in this
battle, the entire story must be read. This means that you would we advised to begin
reading in the book of Daniel. Daniel 11 tells us about the Beast Power at the time of the
end. Notice that the Beast will spare Edom,
Moab and Ammon when he invades the soon to be Holy Land. The reason that these wicked
people are spared at this time is because they are the betrayers of the Children of
Israel. They will gain the favor of the Beast, which is the reason that God will single
these three groups out for destruction later on! Notice:
Daniel 11:5 "Also
the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall
gain power over him and have dominion. His
dominion shall be a great dominion. 6 And at the
end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall
go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but
she shall not retain the power of her authority.”
The story flow goes on for centuries and up to the near future. If a person were to correctly identify all of the previous kings of the North, but not recognize the one reigning in this end time, what good would it do him?
Continued 29 “At the appointed time (God has dates in mind!) he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant (commandment keepers), and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who FORSAKE the holy covenant. 31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress (the end time Temple of God’s people); then they shall take away the daily sacrifices (of modern day Israelites, this begins the final 1290 day countdown to the return of our Lord and His Christ mentioned in Daniel 12:11!) and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out [great exploits]. 33 And those of the people who [have insight] shall [understand much]; yet for many days they (Israel) shall fall by sword and flame by captivity and plundering. (Yes, even some of the Israelites presently in God’s Ekklesia will be conquered) 34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. (Even during the Great Tribulation this "Time of the End" is yet future!) 40 At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."
THE
EVERLASTING KINGDOM BEGINS
Isaiah 2 tells us about the time following these events,
when God will abolish warfare:
Isaiah 2:1-5 “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, (What law? Could it be the one that some think was done away? Could there be 10 of them?) and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
This is one of the two scriptures that apply the term "latter days" to the Everlasting Kingdom; the other has to do with the period including all of the now historic World Empires. The other twelve or so prophetic uses of the phrase describe the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.
Micah 4 "Now it shall come to pass IN THE LATTER DAYS that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. 2 Many nations shall come and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, (Yep!) and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. 6 In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; 7 I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever. 8 And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of ZION, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem."
PROPHESIES
CONCERNING ESAU:
Isaiah 34:1-8 "Come
near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you
people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come
forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the Lord
is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He
has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3 Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted
with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall
be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from
a fig tree. 5 'For
My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people
of My curse, for judgment. 6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with
fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty
bulls; their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their dust saturated with fatness.' 8 For it
is the Day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of
recompense for the cause of Zion."
Why is there to be Punishment on the Edomites?
Ezekiel 25 ‘Thus
says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir say, 'Look! The house of Judah is like all the nations,’
9 therefore, behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of cities, of the cities on its
frontier, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim.
10 To the men of the East [Not the Far East.
Compare Isaiah 11:14] "But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the WEST;
together they shall plunder the people of the EAST;
they shall lay their hand on Edom
and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them.]
I will give it as a possession, together with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be
remembered among the nations.
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12 ‘Thus says the Lord God:
Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly
offended by avenging itself on them," 13 therefore thus says the Lord God: I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and
make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the
hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according
to My fury; and they shall know My
vengeance," says the Lord God.”
Israel will be a weapon in the hands of God in the Day of the Lord against Edom, Moab and Ammon.
Numbers 24 contains an unusual end time prophecy that God inspired through Baalam, of all people. "And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. This is after "A Star shall come out of Jacob (Christ); a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab" (v.17) "Out of Jacob One shall have Dominion”. (v.19) This is another indication that Israel will fight during the Day of the Lord. The only alliance that God ever wanted for Israel to make is the one between their God and themselves, as will ultimately occur when Israel sees God saving them!
Amos 1 “Thus
says the Lord: For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its
punishment, because they took captive THE WHOLE
CAPTIVITY to deliver them up to Edom. 7 But
I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. 8 I will cut off
the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn
My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Tyre (the modern Tyre of
Isa.23), and for four, I
will not turn away its punishment, because they
delivered up the whole captivity TO EDOM,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. 10 But I will send a fire upon the wall
of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces. 11 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions
of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother
with the sword, and cast off all pity; his anger tore perpetually (thousands of years) and
he kept his wrath forever. "
THE
TIME OF GOG AND MAGOG’S TROUBLE:
Many of those who understand the national identities of the
modern day Nations of Israel, have taught that Gog and Magog would wage a mighty attack
against the nations of the children of Israel at some time early in the “millennium”.
But how could that be true? They also freely acknowledge that:
Isaiah 2:4 "He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke
many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning
hooks; NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST
NATION, neither shall they learn war anymore."
There is a fascinating explanation to this question. Ezekiel 38 and 39 are two more entire chapters of scripture that describe the one year period of time, following the Great Tribulation and just prior to the Eternal Kingdom. These scriptures concern the Nations of Israel, following their rescue from Modern Babylonian captivity, when they are safely dwelling in their own land. After much anguish, God will finally intervene in Israel’s favor as promised. Israel will even help fight against their enemies and win, in a manner unlike anything that has happened in the history of the world. And they may not use any weapons larger than the jawbone of an ass! Here is a familiar end time passage of prophecy, but look at the concluding statement about the supernatural strength that Israel will have:
Zechariah 12 “The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; THEY shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place - Jerusalem. 7 The Lord will save the tents of Judah FIRST, so that the glory of the house of David (the other tribes) and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; THE ONE WHO IS FEEBLE AMONG THEM IN THAT DAY SHALL BE LIKE DAVID, AND THE HOUSE OF DAVID SHALL BE LIKE GOD, like the Angel of the Lord before them.”
The world’s nations will no longer be allowed to hurt Israel during this time!
Micah 5:1-8 “And the REMNANT OF JACOB (tribes other than Judah) shall (still) be AMONG THE [NATIONS], in the midst of many peoples, LIKE A LION among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, BOTH TREADS DOWN AND TEARS TO PIECES, and none can deliver.”
At the appointed time, God will simply make the remnant of His chosen people impervious to destruction! Though few in number, they will simply be allowed to depart from "among the [Nations]!" in a similar, but different fashion to the exodus from Egypt.
Amazingly, soon after God rescues our people from the German led end time Babylon - Asiatic hordes, lusting for Israel’s newly acquired wealth, will sweep in on the newly liberated slaves. They will attempt to destroy these people whom they misperceive to be ‘easy marks’ to take their spoils before they can regroup. Israel will have pillaged their captors, just as when ancient Israel exited Egypt. This is not robbery, it is back pay! There will be a great deal of "booty" in the form of “silver and gold” and “livestock and goods” that they will "plunder". The multi-million man Asian army, unleashed upon Israel, will have grossly underestimated Israel’s new ‘ally’!
The reason that some teach that these prophecies will occur within the thousand year period is because of the statement that Israel would be a nation of unwalled villages. They are just brought back from captivity, having been sold to enemies all over the world. Because these individuals teach that both the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord last a combined total of 1260 days, there would, under that scenario, be no time period for these prophecies to occur prior to the thousand years. Ezekiel 38 and 39 are just one place where it becomes apparent that the Great Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, lasts the full 1260 days, followed by the Day of the Lord, a separate year, the year of the Lord’s vengeance:
Isaiah 34:1-8 "Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter… 7 Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”
During this transitional year, year 6000, the Jubilee year immediately prior to the Eternal Kingdom, (See: Jubilee 2031 A.D.) God will be punishing the world’s military powers, but unarmed Israel will have returned to their own land, "and now all of them dwell safely" (Eze.38:8). The defeat of the European super power is prophesied in great detail in Rev. chapters 17 thru 19. This is also to occur during the Day of the Lord.
Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39 are quoted in their entirety because this is a primary source of information about the conclusion of this Jubilee Year for Israel:
Ezekiel 38 “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, (Russia) Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords (not yet beaten into plowshares). 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops - many people are with you. 7 "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the LATTER YEARS you will come into the land of those brought BACK FROM THE SWORD and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had ‘long been’ (Literally: ‘had continued to be’) desolate; they were brought out of the nations, (former POW’s) and now all of them dwell safely. 9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you. 10 ‘Thus says the Lord God: On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: (The plan to conquer the nations of Israel has been in the works for years, this is something different, perhaps this reckless “evil plan” is the result of a sense of urgency that will cause them to blunder more than they might have. The statement: "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army." indicates that their attack is divinely made to be premature, but they would have eventually attacked anyway.) 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages (Israel is without defensive military weaponry! This is in sharp contrast to Deuteronomy 28:52. Their weapons have been lost in the war and God didn’t give His remnant people any more because they don’t need them now); I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’, (a people with no military defense capability) - 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are AGAIN inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? 15 Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, (which they don’t up until this point) when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes. 17 Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in THOSE days that I would bring you against them? (God is making a distinct point of showing that after dozens of specific prophesies have already occurred, as expounded by the two witnesses, these hordes are like stupid animals, marching to the slaughter, not knowing the certainty of their demise.) 18 And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be A GREAT EARTHQUAKE in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, AND ALL MEN WHO ARE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH SHALL SHAKE at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and *every wall shall fall to the ground (due to the earthquake). 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God. *Every man’s SWORD will be against his BROTHER. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, GREAT HAILSTONES, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord."
It is extremely important to notice the significance of
Ezekiel’s reference to the Great Earthquake in this context. It is necessary to compare
the references pertaining to the Day of the Lord and this Great Earthquake, because this
is a primary benchmark in time, essential to correctly understanding the prophetic
sequence of events. It is a very specific and unique event, accompanied by hail and the
highly unusual occurrence of "Every
man’s SWORD will be against his BROTHER".
This is the fulfillment of Revelation
14:14-20; 16:17-21;
19:11-21; 6:17.
This other virtually unique occurrence is plainly identified as a Day of the Lord prophecy in Zechariah 14:1,13
Haggai 2:6,7, 20-22 “ONCE
MORE (not
two or three times) (it is a
little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;
7 and I will shake ALL NATIONS, and they shall
come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory… 21
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:
‘I will shake heaven and earth. 22 I will
overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I WILL OVERTHROW THE STRENGTH OF THE [WORLD’S NATIONS].
(Israel is dwelling safely now.) I
will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the SWORD
of his BROTHER.”
Paul expounded on this event as well:
Hebrews 12:26-27
“…but now He has promised, saying, "Yet ONCE
MORE I SHAKE not only the earth, but also heaven. 27 Now this, Yet once more, indicates the removal of those things that are being
shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.”
John tied this earthquake to "Armageddon"
the "great
day of His wrath" and the Seventh Bowl:
Revelation 16:16-21
“And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
17 Then THE
SEVENTH ANGEL POURED OUT HIS VIAL into the air, and a loud voice came out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying: It is done! 18 And there were noises and
thunderings and lightnings; and there was a GREAT
EARTHQUAKE, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on
the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of
the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And GREAT HAIL from heaven fell upon men,
each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men
blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”
This "GREAT EARTHQUAKE" exactly pinpoints the timing of the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39: The timing is about as pinpointed as you can get.
Zechariah 14 “Behold, the Day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem (staging point: Armageddon); the city shall be taken, the houses rifled. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Isaiah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You. 6 It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day which is known to the Lord - neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light.10 All the land shall be turned into a plain (the mountains are leveled by the earthquake) from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel to the king's winepresses. 11 The people (of Israel) shall dwell in it (immediately); and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. 13 It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand.”
Revelation 6:12-13,17 “I looked when He opened THE SIXTH SEAL, and behold, there was A GREAT EARTHQUAKE; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth... For the GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH has come...”
Ezekiel 39: “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken, says the Lord God. 6 And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, (In the Eternal Kingdom, Israel will already know the name of their God.) and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Surely it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord God. This is the day of which I have spoken. (The Day of the Lord is mentioned about 40 times in prophecy.) 9 Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons (again Israel now has no need of military weapons under God’s protection, in contrast to now!), both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them, says the Lord God. 11 It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13 Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord God. 14 They will set apart men ‘regularly’ [Literally: ‘continually’] employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. 15 The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land. 17 And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: Assemble yourselves and come; gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat till you are full, and drink blood till you are drunk, at My sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you. 20 You shall be filled at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men and with all the men of war, says the Lord God. 21 I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment (Yahweh and Christ are just now coming back to Earth!), which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God FROM THAT DAY FORWARD. 23 The [Nations] shall know that the house of ISRAEL WENT INTO CAPTIVITY for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they ALL fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them. ‘25 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; (This is undeniably in the immediate context of the Second Exodus!) and I will be jealous for My holy name - 26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemy’s lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have POURED OUT MY SPIRIT (on who?) on the house of Israel,’ (This is the promised “New Covenant”!) says the Lord God."
Actually, every last verse between Ezekiel 34:1 and the end of the book has to do with the time period between now and the Lord’s return, as well as with events that take place after the Kingdom of God is established.
Joel 2 is an entire chapter about the plight of the captive house of Israel during the Great Tribulation and an incredible message of hope given during this Time of Jacob’s Trouble when it is almost over. The remnant of Israel will be given the opportunity to escape The Day of the Lord, which is God’s punishment of the Nations for what they did to Israel!
Joel 2 “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My
holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
for the Day of the Lord is coming, for
it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the
mountains. A people come, great and strong, the
like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many
successive generations. 3 A fire devours before
them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and
like swift steeds, so they run. 5 With a noise
like chariots over mountaintops they leap, like the noise of a flaming fire that devours
the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before them the people writhe in pain; all faces are drained of color. 7 They
run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every
one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks.
8 They do not push one another; every one
marches in his own column. Though they lunge
between the weapons, they are not cut down. 9
They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them, the
heavens tremble; the
sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish
their brightness. 11 The Lord gives voice
before His army, for His camp is very great; for
strong is the One who executes His word. For the Day of the
Lord is great and very
terrible; who can endure
it? (Just prior to the Day of the Lord,
this audience will hear the horrible description of what is about to occur. Here is what
they must do to avoid the punishment that God wants to heap on
their enemies) 12 Now,
therefore, says the Lord: Turn to Me with all your
heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness; and He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him - a grain
offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; 16
gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and
nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from
his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say: Spare Your people,
O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ 18 Then the Lord
will be zealous for His land, and pity His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people: Behold, I will send you grain and new wine
and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
20 BUT I WILL REMOVE FAR FROM YOU THE NORTHERN ARMY,
(Modern Babylon) and
will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back
toward the western sea;
his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because
he has done monstrous things. (Jacob’s
trouble is ending and the Northern army’s trouble is about to begin!)
21 Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! 22 Do not be afraid, you
beasts of the field; for the open pastures are
springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the
fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23
Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for
He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for
you - the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine
and oil. 25 So I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the
chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who
has dealt wondrously with you; and My people
shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall
know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the
Lord your God and there is no other. My people
shall never be put to shame. 28 And
it shall come to pass AFTERWARD that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions. 29 And also on My
menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (First
physically from the "Northern
Army", then spiritually with "My
Spirit".) For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord
has said, AMONG THE REMNANT whom the Lord calls.”
There are spiritual parallels in this chapter, and others,
concerning the remnant of the church, much of which has presently gone into spiritual
Babylon, but these are only analogous to the
actual intent of these scriptures! Joel 2 typifies the time after
Jacob’s trouble. Our Israelite nations will have suffered tremendously, but will be
spared from "The
Great and Awesome Day of the Lord"!
“My House Shall Be Built”!
Zechariah presented an end time narrative that is packed
full of significance. Here are some developments to watch for that describes the Great
Escape! We begin at a time when the whole world is at ease - except
for the vicinity of Jerusalem!
Zechariah 1:11-21“So
they answered the Angel of the LORD, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said: we have
walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly. 12 Then the Angel of the LORD answered and
said, O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem
and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years? 13 And
the LORD answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words. 14 So the
angel who spoke with me said to me: Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am
zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. 15 I am exceedingly angry with the
nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped - but with evil intent.”
This is the time when some of God’s people will build a
temple for God. The entire story on this is covered in Ezekiel chapters 40 thru 48. This
does not mean just the Jews, in fact the words “Jew” and “Judah” do not even
appear anywhere in the book of Ezekiel. A salient caption from that extremely detailed
account is summarized in Ezekiel 43:10 “Son
of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel,
that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.”
Continuing Zechariah
1:16
“Therefore thus says the LORD: I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My
house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and
a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”
To further illustrate that this is a parallel account, notice the Revelation version as it pertains to the Two Witnesses:
Revelation 11:1 “Then
I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And
the angel stood, saying: Rise and measure the
TEMPLE of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which
is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the [other
Nations]. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”
Notice the context. The enemies of Judah and Israel who captured them and sold them into slavery, “scattered” them, are still a threat to be reckoned with, but notice who God is going to send to help make possible the rescue - four “common” tradesmen.
Continuing in
Zechariah 1:17 “Again proclaim, saying: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My
cities shall again spread out through prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion, and
will again choose Jerusalem. 18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four
horns. 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, what are these? So he answered me,
these are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 20 Then the LORD
showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said: what
are these coming to do? So he said, these are the horns that scattered
Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen
are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn
against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
Continuing into Zechariah 2:1-5
“Then I
raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring
line in his hand. 2 So I said, where are you going? And he said to me, to measure
Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length. 3 And there was the angel
who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to
him: run, speak to this young man, saying:
Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and
livestock in it. 5 For I, says the LORD, WILL be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her
midst.”
A literal “wall of fire” surrounding the many cities of Israel, is to become a place of safety! Israel will need protection from her many enemies at this time. This is not “the millennium”; this is the time of the Second Exodus! Notice:
Continuing in verse
6 “Up, up! Flee
from the land of the north, says the LORD; for I have spread you abroad like
the four winds of heaven, says the LORD. 7 Up, Zion! Escape,
you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: He sent
Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you;
for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand (we would say fist)
against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the
LORD of hosts has sent Me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming
and I will dwell in your midst, says the LORD. 11 Many (Israelite) nations
shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell
in your midst.
Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And
the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again
choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His
holy habitation!"
Zechariah chapters 3 and 4 are exact parallels of the two witnesses, but that is another story. Here is the concluding remark about those chapters:
Zechariah 3:14 “So he said: These are the two
anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
You may have heard of a highway to the twenty first century. This is the one! In the end, former enemies will blaze a trail to the doorsteps of their neighbors!
Isaiah 11:16 “There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was
for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.”
Isaiah 19:23 “In that day there will be a highway
from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into
Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.”
Isaiah 35:8 “A
highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway
of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever
walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.”
The
Feast of Tabernacles Connection!
There is a seven day long Biblical Feast that commemorates the Exodus. It is called the Feast of Tabernacles. The following passage is what Moses was commanded by God to tell Israel. What does Tabernacles commemorate? Notice verse 42-43 carefully. They were to celebrate it to memorialize the time of the First Exodus! It portrays the great escape of God’s people from slavery in Egypt. The stay in tents, or temporary dwellings, represents the makeshift housing that they used on their way to the Promised Land. ! Will the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) always commemorate the Exodus of ancient Israel?
Leviticus 23:34-43 “Speak
to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the
Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the
LORD. 35 ‘On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary
work on it. 36 ‘For seven days you shall
offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the
eighth day (commemorating a great occurrence to follow the Exodus) you shall have a
holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred
assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. 37 ‘These are the feasts of the LORD
which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the
LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything
on its day - 38 ‘besides the Sabbaths of
the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill
offerings which you give to the LORD. 39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the
LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day
a Sabbath-rest. 40 ‘And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of
beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the
brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 ‘You shall keep
it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in
your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 ‘You
shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
43 ‘that your generations [posterity]
may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in
booths when I brought them out of THE LAND OF EGYPT: I am the LORD your God.”
Do you fully appreciate the significance of the last two verses? They reveal the true purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is worth emphasizing because there are literally thousands of people who keep a Feast each year, who don’t know its true significance, or even the exact days to celebrate it. You may be surprised to discover that, like the other Holy Days of God, the little noticed meaning of Tabernacles has more than one fulfillment. The primary purpose for observing this great Feast is soon going to change forever! In the Kingdom the celebration will involve millions of descendants of Israel, in a new Exodus, escaping the armies of the Beast, (rather than the Egyptians) as they flee to Jerusalem toward a New and much larger Promised Land!
Some teach that the Feast of Tabernacles “pictures” “the Millennium”. Aside from the fact that the next thousand years concludes the first ‘millennial week’ of God’s plan for mankind, the only prominent features of that period are the punctuations in history brought on by Satan! It is Satan’s rebellion that will literally “mark” the conclusion of this millennium, and it will also be Satan’s final rebellion that demarcates the end of the next millennium. In fact, here is the only reference to that thousand years in the entire Bible.
Revelation 20:6-7
“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second
death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with
Him a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years
have expired, SATAN will be released from
his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of
the sea”.
Too much emphasis is placed on the “millennium”, which is not even a Biblical term. There is not going to be just a “thousand year reign”. Adolph Hitler proclaimed a thousand year “Reich”. The Kingdom of God is an EVERLASTING KINGDOM! (Psalms 145:13, Daniel 4:3, Daniel 4:34, Daniel 7:27, 2 Peter 1:11)
Daniel 7:14 “Then
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall
be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
Isaiah 9:7 “Of the increase of His government and peace THERE
WILL BE NO END, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and
establish it with judgment and justice, FROM THAT
TIME FORWARD, EVEN FOREVER. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
These Feast Days were intended for all time, for all of God’s people, not just for Israel.
Jeremiah 23:5
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of
righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in
the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, AND
Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days
are coming, says the LORD, that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought
up the children of Israel from THE LAND OF EGYPT, 8 but, as the LORD lives who brought up
and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country [Europe] and from all the
countries where I had driven them.’
And they shall dwell in their own land."
I can’t help but put in a plug for God’s Sabbath. Notice the things that will be established following Israel’s captivity when there are “New Heavens” and a “New Earth”: God will select some of the survivors to be “Priests and Levites”! And you thought that God was finished with them! And “from one Sabbath to another” everyone will worship God. I would seriously recommend that you check out the allegations that Sunday has ever had any merit with the God of Israel!
Isaiah 66:19 "I will set a sign among them; and those among
them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the
bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen
My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the ‘Gentiles’ [Nations].
20 Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules
and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, as the children of Israel
bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21 And
I will also take some of them for PRIESTS and LEVITES, says the LORD. 22 For as the New Heavens and the New Earth which I will make shall remain before Me,
says the LORD, So shall your descendants and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to
pass that from one New Moon to another, and from
one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the LORD. 24
And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against
Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an
abhorrence to all flesh."
Egypt, representative of the Arabs, is not going to be totally forgotten in the next go around. However, the entire world will be commanded to keep God’s Feast of Tabernacles in the Kingdom of God. God takes His Feast Days seriously and will soon let it be known that He will accept no substitute celebrations!
Zechariah 14:16-19
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts,
and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 And it
shall be that whichever of the families of the
earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them
there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall
have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do
not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles.”
Why wait until the next Exodus for a reason to celebrate the great purpose of the God of Israel on His Feast Days? The churches reject the scriptures, will you?
Zechariah 8:22 “Yes,
many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to
pray before the LORD. 23 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every
language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying: Let us go with
you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
There is much more information on God’s seven annual Holy Days on this site.
Conclusion
An understanding of the salvation of Israel is the
foundation of Biblical knowledge. Without this understanding your spiritual house is built
on sand. Israel will have to be saved physically before she can be saved spiritually.
Romans 11:25 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you
should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to
Israel until the fullness of the ‘Gentiles’ [Nations] has
come in. 26 And so ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as
it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from
Jacob [Israel];
27 for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
The salvation of Israel is the first step into eternity for mankind. The journey since Abraham has been fraught with setbacks. “Blindness…has happened to Israel”, and it will continue until the prophecies detailed here have been fulfilled. However, once a trail to destiny has been blazed, other nations will follow in Israel’s footsteps.
The following scripture is the admonition that was given to ancient Israel, after the First Exodus, just prior to the time when they were to inherit the Promised Land. Israel failed miserably. The advance knowledge of a Second Exodus, and a Second Promised Land, if you believe the scriptures, is a great blessing. After the coming Exodus, Israel will fulfill the role that she should have fulfilled in the following text. And yes, the national statutes and judgments will again be inaugurated as explained in Ezekiel 40-48.
Deuteronomy 4:1-14
"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to
observe, that you may live, and go in and possess
the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the
word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD
your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal Peor; for
the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me,
that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 6 Therefore be
careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who
will hear all these statutes, and say: Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people. 7 For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as
the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 And what great
nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law
which I set before you this…13 So He declared to
you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote
them on two tablets of stone. 14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you
statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to
possess.”
The two witnesses will echo these words to our people declaring:
Romans 11:26 “And so ALL
ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED, as it is written: The
Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from [Israel]; 27
for this is My covenant with them, when I take
away their sins.” (Matthew
2:6, 10:5-6; 15:24; Hebrews 8:8)
Romans 11:2-5 reminds us that some of God’s people are not
physical Israelites but are spiritual Israelites by the grace of God. (See also Galatians
6:15-16; Romans 9:6)
The Hebrew Scriptures are saturated with the story of Israel. Yet the Greek Scriptures (“New Testament”) also build on God’s Master plan to save all of Israel: from the beginning in Matthew to the climax in Revelation! This is the very reason for the Book! The Church is not the apple of God’s eye or a replacement for Israel. The spiritual “Israel of God”, His Church through the ages, is the all volunteer rescue team. We are in training to work under the Apostles and will literally rule over cities (Matthew 19:11-27).
Matthew 19:28 “So
Jesus said to them: Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man
sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Judging in this instance would be in the sense of the judges who presided over ancient Israel before she had kings. Zechariah 2:8
Revelation 21:10 “And
he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God.
Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also
she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names
written on them, which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the children of Israel…”
February 13 edition, 2003