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Feast of Trumpets─2009
Fred R. Coulter─September 19, 2009
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Welcome to the Feast of
Trumpets, 2009. Now, the Feast of Trumpets is an unusual Feast, as is are all
the Feasts of God. They all have a special, particular meaning; and in the
framework of the Holy Days of God, it tells us what is God doing and
approximately when God is doing it. Let's look at the Scriptures here in
Leviticus 23, and we will see that this is very unusual, and we"™ll ask a couple
of questions:
1. What kind of Feast is this?
Leviticus 23:23: "And the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying" [and always remember: Moses didn"™t make any laws of
himself. God told him what to say, and he said it.]""˜Speak to the children of
Israel saying, "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you
shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of ram's horns, a holy
convocation"." (vs 23-24). Now here's another way we can understand that the
Feast of Trumpets is not the resurrection day. Rather, it is Pentecost because
(as we will see in just a little bit) the trumpet is blown, but not as a
memorial, on every other of the Holy Days. And the last trumpet, the seventh
trumpet, is the one of Rev. 11.
Now the Feast of Trumpets
is different, and of course, the last trumpet takes place on Pentecost. And when
you understand about Pentecost being the first resurrection, then you understand
even more about Trumpets and the events of Trumpets and the events leading up to
Trumpets.
A memorial of blowing of
trumpets is this: They were to blow the trumpets from sunrise to sunset-hundreds
of them, all day long-like a blasting of all the ram's horns and the silver
trumpets and every kind of trumpet that could be blown. Question: If you believe
that trumpets is the resurrection day, since the trumpets are blown from sunrise
to sunset, the last trumpet (of how many ever there are), and they"™re all blown
up until that time so you don"™t know which one is the last one-do you? No! But here's the problem: you can"™t figure out which trumpet is the last trump,
and if they"™re blown till sunset, then the resurrection takes place after
the Feast of Trumpets. Now maybe you"™ve never thought of that. So
that"™ll give people something to think on and chew on concerning the last
trumpet.
2.
When is the last trumpet on the Feast of
Trumpets?
Since it is a memorial of blowing of trumpets all day long. And if the
dead are not raised until the last trump, then it's not on Trumpets at all, it's
on the day after Trumpets.
Verse 25: ""˜"You shall do
no servile work therein but you shall offer an offering made by fire to
the LORD.""™" And because of this injunction and the command when we come before
God on the Holy Days, we take up an offering for God. This is a special offering
in addition to tithes and other offerings that we give during the year; but on
the Holy Days we always take up this special offering. So we"™ll pause now and
take time to take up the offering.
(pause)
As we will see, there are
many uses for the official trumpets of the priests; so let's come to Numbers,
the tenth chapter, and let's see what those official uses are. And we will see
that this is different from the memorial of blowing of trumpets. However, we
will see that one of the uses is when there is war! As we will see, from what
the Bible teaches us, the Feast of Trumpets is a war feast.
Numbers 10:1: "And the LORD
spoke to Moses saying, "˜Make two trumpets of silver for yourself". [That's in
addition to the ram's horns that they used.]"You shall make them of beaten
work. And they shall be used for the calling of the assembly and for the
journeying of the camps". [This was their way of communication. They didn"™t have
Sprint or Nextel at that time so they could just beep everyone and let them know
it's time to go.]"And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall
gather themselves to you at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation".
[Now, they couldn"™t all get there. But what they would do, they would all face
the tabernacle because the "˜pillar of cloud by the day"™ would be there, or at
night there would be the fire.]"And if they blow with one, then the leaders who are heads of the thousands of Israel shall gather themselves to you"™" (vs
1-4).
So apparently, not only
were there the two trumpets, but when one was blown there was a special signal
for the leaders. And obviously, there would be different tunes that they would
play. For example:
·
With the trumpet, in blowing taps for the dead today, that's one
tune.
· In
blowing the trumpet for a charge would be another tune.
·
In
blowing a trumpet for retreat would be another tune.
·
And in
this case, another tune would be for the gathering of the leaders.
Verse 5: ""˜When you blow an
alarm" [that is let's get ready! Trouble is at hand! Maybe even
war.]"then the camps that lie on the east parts shall set out. When you blow an
alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall set out".
[So this then was the orderly departure of the children of Israel when they were
to travel-and all the way with the rest of them.] (v 7):"But when the
congregation is to be gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an
alarm"™" (vs 5-7). So that was a different tune.
""˜And the sons of Aaron,
the priests, shall blow with the silver trumpets. And they shall be to you for
an ordinance forever throughout your generations. And if you go to war in your
land against the enemy who attacks you". [So definitely a signal for war. And
that's why it's a memorial of blowing of trumpets all day long on the Feast of
Trumpets, because it a day of a war feast.]"Also in the day of your
gladness, and in your appointed feasts, and in the beginnings of your months,
you shall blow with the silver trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the
sacrifices of your peace offerings, so that they may be to you for a memorial
before your GOD. I am the LORD your God"™" (vs 8-10).
Now let's learn something
concerning the blowing of the trumpets-Psalm 81. Let's also clear up something
else here, as we go there. This tells us about the new moon, the full moon; and
it also tells us when the beginning of the year is. Psalm 81:3: "Blow
the trumpet in the new moon" [just like we read in Num. 10]"also at the full
moon, on our solemn feast day". [So that has to be on the Feast of Unleavened
Bread; and that has to be for the Feast of Tabernacles, which then are the
full-moon feast days or solemn feast days-both of them.]"For this was a
statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God
of Jacob. This He ordained in Joseph for a testimony when He went out through
the land of Egypt; I heard a language
that I understood not" (vs 3-5). Now, this also tells us, at the beginning of
the calendar year, the Feast of Trumpets is the first day of that month.
Now, let's see some other
things concerning the blowing of trumpets. Let's see how they were used in war
against the city of Jericho in the book of Joshua. So let's come to Joshua, the
sixth chapter, and let's see what they were to do, and let's see the commands
here that we have, and we will see what God commanded them to do and how it was
done. Now, another thing that is important to realize is this: Israel could not declare war on its own. God had to be the One to tell them when to go to
war, so that He would be with them, so that they would win the battle. We have
the example in the book of 1-Sam. where the sons of Eli-Hophni and Phinehas-went
out on a war that God did not send them on. And because of their corruption and
disobedience, God let the Philistines take the
Ark.
Joshua 6:1: "And Jericho
was completely shut up because of the children of
Israel. None went out and none
came in". [They had them totally surrounded]"And the LORD said to Joshua, "˜See,
I have given Jericho into your hand, and its king, and the mighty men of
war. You shall go around the city, all the men of war. Go around the city once.
So you shall do for six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of
ram's horns in front of the Ark". [That's in addition to the two trumpets]"And
the seventh day you shall go around the city seven times, and the priests shall
blow with the trumpets. And it shall be when they make a long blast with
the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall
shout with a great shout. The wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the
people shall go up, each man straight before him"™" (vs 1-5). So that's what they
did. They took the Ark of the Covenant, the priests did this, and they walked
around it seven days. Then on the seventh day they blew the trumpets and
everything fell down. God gave them the victory!
Now in another case, in the
next one, at the city of Ai, because Achan stole some of the golden spoil that
was to go the tabernacle, they lost that battle. And they had to learn a
lesson. You"™d better believe what God says; and when He says don"™t do this-don"™t
do that. And when He says do something else-you do it!
All right, let's see
something else here; let's tie it in with today. Let's come to Ezekiel 33-let's
see an alarm. Ezekiel 33 is very important because God's people, by this
example, are to be warned. It's not there for every man to come along and say,
"˜Well, I"™m preaching a warning message so I"™m Ezekiel's watchman on the
wall."™ Not so! But we have the example, so we are to warn-and the Feast of
Trumpets gives us a warning. Christ is returning. He's going to rule on this
earth with the saints. And the great last battle to end all wars is what this
Feast pictures; and that will end all wars for a thousand years. We"™ll talk
about that final battle later on.
Now notice how similar that
this to how God spoke to Moses. None of the prophets either spoke their own
words, just like Moses did not speak his own words. Neither did the prophets.
Ezekiel 33:1: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, "˜Son of man, speak
to the children of your people, and say to them, "When I bring the sword upon a
land" [God is responsible for sending war and swords for correction; because of
the rebellion of people and their rejection of God. And that clearly answers the
question why we"™re in trouble today.]"and the people of the land take a man
from among them, and set him for their watchman; if, when he sees the sword come
upon the land, he blows the ram's horn and warns the people" [that's his job-warn
the people!]"Then whoever hears the sound of the ram's horn and does not
take warning, if the sword does come and take him away, his blood shall be on
his own head""™" (vs 1-4).
So we all have a solemn
responsibility to warn when things are dangerous, when war is at hand, when sin
is confronting us. But if you don"™t pay any attention to it-just like the Flood,
the people didn"™t listen to Noah-"˜Oh, that's not going to happen."™ And God
pulled a surprise on them. When Noah and all the animals were in the ark, it
didn"™t rain until seven days after they entered into the ark. And I just imagine
a lot of people said, "˜Oh, what do you mean, this rain. We"™ve been here a whole
week."™ Well, it came. Likewise, when you hear the alarm, and when God tells us
to be alert, to pay attention, to understand what's going on. When Jesus tells
us to watch! We are to watch! When Jesus tells us we are to warn, we are to
warn! And that's what the whole Feast of Trumpets is all about.
Now, if you don"™t pay
attention to it, v 5: ""˜"He heard the sound of the ram's horn and did not take
warning. His blood shall be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would
have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not
blow the ram's horn and the people are not warned" [everything's nice and warm
and fuzzy and good and wonderful!]"if the sword comes" [and, brethren, let's
understand the sword is coming. We know that God's hand of correction is upon
the world. It's not just here, it's every place in the world.]"and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But I will require his
blood at the watchman's hand""™" (vs 5-6). So we have a responsibility.
And I know some people have
commented, "˜Well, Fred's pretty hard."™ Let me tell you something. I"™m not hard.
You just don"™t understand how bad it's going to be. And you also need to
understand something else: if you"™re going to stand for the Truth, those who
don"™t want the Truth are going to say, "˜He's hard."™ So we need to understand
that.
""˜And you, son of man, I
have set you as watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear the
Word from My mouth, and warn them from Me". [So we"™re not supposed to do
anything but what God wants us to do.]"When I
say to the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die;" if you do not speak to
warn the wicked from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I
will require his blood at your hand". [So every minister and elder and teacher
has a responsibility to teach and to warn.]"But, if" [and
here's why, because in spite of being a God of love, God is also a God of
judgment. But when judgment comes, judgment comes for a specific reason: that there may be repentance. That's why, as we have seen, the saving of
the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude (Rev. 7)-because they heeded the
warning, they repented, God spared them any further of the Great Tribulation.]"But, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he does not turn
from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul"™" (vs
7-9).
""˜And you, son of man,
speak to the house of Israel. Thus shall you speak, saying, "When our
transgressions and our sins are on us" [Which they are!]"and we are
wasting away in them" [Which we are!]"how then shall we live?"". [That's going
to confront all of us!]".Say to them, "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I
have no delight in the death of the wicked, except that the wicked turn from his
way, and live. Turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O
house of Israel?""™" (vs 10-11). That's why, as I said in the ad and the sermon
that went with it, It's Not the Economy Stupid-It's God!We
need to pay attention to God!
Verse 12: ""˜Therefore, son
of man, say to the children of your people, "The righteousness of the righteous
shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of
the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day he turns from his wickedness".
[So all of this is to bring people to the understanding that they need to repent
to God. And yet, as we will see when we read in the book of Rev. with all of
these plagues and all of the things that happen-they don"™t repent! So there you go.]"Nor shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins." When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits
iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity
that he has committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say to the wicked,
"You shall surely die;" if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful
and right; if the wicked restores back the pledge, gives back again what
he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, then
he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed
shall be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right; he
shall surely live"™" (vs 12-16). That's why God's way is always fair.
Now let's come to Isaiah
58:1 (pg. 546)-and let's see what God commands His servants to do. There are
times when the warning must be given. There are times when we must say, "˜Watch
out! The time is at hand!"™ ""˜Cry aloud, do not spare" [what does that means when there's trouble, when people are sinning, when things are going
wrong you do not consider the emotions of the people to try and make it
tender for them. Because the people are considering their own emotions instead
of repenting to God. They are considering their feelings rather than the truth
of what God wants them to understand. They are looking to how they feel rather
than examining themselves and repenting.]"lift up your voice like a ram's horn"
[if you"™ve ever heard a ram's horn, that is piercing! It just goes right through
you!]"and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob
their sins." That's what God requires us to do.
And here's the quirky thing
about the Israelites: they"™re religious, living in sin, committing adultery,
perversion, robbing, lying, cheating, stealing. They say, "˜We believe in God!"™
Verse 2: "Yet they seek Me daily, and seem eager to know My ways, as a nation
that did righteousness, and one that did not forget the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they seem eager to draw near to God."
They even fast-but rather, God wants repentance. So that's why there's "˜crying
aloud and sparing not."™
Let's come to Joel, the
first chapter. Let's see, again, how there is a warning to be given, brethren.
And this warning is to go out to the world. And don"™t forget, not only what
we"™re able to do, but my hope and prayer is all the Churches of God will be able
to do what they"™re supposed to do, and give the warning that they have to give,
and that people will repent-that God will be merciful to those who repent as He
has promised. But we are heading into the time of the end where it's going
to get very intense, and it's going to be very difficult! Times we have never even thought would happen! And let me tell you, when
those days come, hearing the ram's horn is a very mild experience.
Joel 1:14: "Sanctify a
fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the people of the land unto the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. Alas for
the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand" [And that's what this day
pictures.]"and it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty" (vs 14-15).
That's what this day pictures. A feast of war announces death, doom,
gloom, destruction, obliteration! And yet, we"™ll see He holds out the offer of
repentance, yet, even in the midst of it.
Joel 2:1: ""˜Blow the ram's
horn in Zion, and sound an alarm in My Holy mountain!"™". [And also in the
Churches of God.]"Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of
the LORD comes, for it is near at hand-a day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. As the morning is spread across the mountains, so comes a great people and a mighty
people" [as you have seen in the sermons that I have given concerning China and
all the nations of the East and North.]"there has never been the like, nor
shall there ever be again, even to the years of many generations" (vs 1-2). A
one-time, end-time event where God is warring and fighting against the nations
of the earth.
Here's what it's going to
be like: "A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness-and nothing shall escape them. Their appearance is as the
appearance of horses; and as war horses, so they run.
They shall leap with the noise of chariots on
the tops of mountains, with the noise of a flame of fire that devours the
stubble, like a mighty people set in battle array". [That's what the
Feast of Trumpets is all about.]"In their presence the people shall greatly tremble; all faces shall grow pale. They shall run like mighty men". [and the
warriors that we"™re going to have at the end-time, they are going to have
equipment; they are going to have abilities such as no army has ever had
before.]"They shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march each
one in his path, and they shall not break their ranks. And each one shall not
crowd another; they go every one in his own path. And when they fall upon
the sword, they shall not be wounded" (vs 3-8). Going to be quite a time!
"They shall run to and fro
in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses;
they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before
them; the heavens shall tremble. The sun and the moon shall grow dark, and the
stars shall withdraw their shining". [Never has this happened before in the
history of the world. But we are drawing closer and closer to that day,
brethren. And we can see the building up of these things through all the nations
and what's happening in the world.]"And the
LORD shall utter His voice before His army; for His camp is exceedingly
great; for powerful is He who executes His Word, for the day of
the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can endure it?" (vs 9-11).
So that's what we"™re looking at. Unprecedented! Unique! Never before found in
history. And that's not counting all the troubles that lead up to it.]
Now, here's what God
says-again, right in the middle of all the judgment, death and destruction,
gloom and doom, dark clouds, the earth shaking, the heavens trembling, notice
what God says-v 12: ""˜Therefore even now,"™ says the LORD, "˜turn to Me with all
your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning". [Not just
bewailing the fact that troubles are happening; He wants true, deep repentance.]"Yes, rend your heart and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God:
for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and He repents of the evil"™" (vs 12-13). That's something, brethren! That's
really something to understand!
In all of this, please also
understand, my whole purpose in explaining these things is for the same reason: that we all repent and we all get right with God. That we yield to
Him. That we ask Him to place His angels about us, to protect us from the
pestilence, to protect us from those who are falling down all around us; and
those days are coming!
Verse 14: ""˜Who knows if He will return and repent and Blow a ram's horn in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a
solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the
elders, gather the children and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom
go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room.
Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,
weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "˜Spare Your people, O
LORD, and give not Your inheritance to shame, that the nations should rule over
them. Why should they say among the people, "Where is their God?""™
Then the LORD will be jealous for His land and pity His people" (vs 14-18). And
that's what it's going to bring. But it's going to take some deep repentance.
Joel 3:9-and let's see what
God is going to do. This is also what is coming, and we are going to see it
develop at an amazing speed. "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. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let
the weak say, "˜I am strong."™". [And that's what we"™re seeing develop.
Just like it says there in the Psa. 2, the nations are angry against God! They
rail against Christ!]"Gather yourselves and come, all you nations" [And God is
going to bring them.]"and gather yourselves together all around; cause Your
mighty ones to come down there, O LORD. Let the nations be awakened and come up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations all
around. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe". [So we"™ll see this again a
little later in Rev. 14]"Come, come down; for the press is full; the vats
overflow-for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision; for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision!" (vs
9-14). Yes, it is! Because all the saints will be resurrected on the Sea of
Glass with Christ. We"™re going to see how God is going to draw them. We are
going to see what is going to happen to them.
Verse 15: "The sun and the
moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD
shall also roar out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens
and the earth shall shake. But the LORD will be the hope of His people
and the strength of the children of Israel" (vs 15-16). So that's going to be
the end result of it. So this Feast of Trumpets pictures some tremendous,
tremendous things!
Let's come back here to
Jeremiah 25-we cannot forget Jeremiah 25 on the day of Trumpets, because that's
what God says is the reason that the Day of Trumpets is going to happen, and His
judgment against this world. He told Jeremiah to take this cup and all nations
of the world were to drink of it.
Jeremiah 25:28: "And it
shall come to pass if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink" [Now,
that is being carried out by the Word of God because Jeremiah didn"™t get there.
Also, this is probably one of the missions of the "˜two witnesses"™ in helping
fulfill this.]"then you shall say to them, "˜Thus says the LORD of hosts, "You
shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is
called by My name; and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished. For
I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth," says the LORD of
hosts."™ And prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, "˜The LORD
shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His Holy habitation. He shall
mightily roar over His dwelling place". [because the Sea of Glass is over
Jerusalem and the Valley of Jehoshaphat.]"He shall give a shout, like those who
tread out grapes, against all the people of the earth. A noise shall come
to the ends of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He
will plead with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the
sword,"™ says the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, "˜Behold, evil shall go forth
from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred up from the
farthest corners of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day
from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they
shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on
the ground. Howl, you shepherds, and cry" [all you leaders of the world; all of
you sanctimonious, religious leaders]"and wallow yourselves in the ashes, you
lords of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and of your scatterings are
fulfilled; and you shall fall like a choice vessel"™" (vs 28-34).
God really means what He
says. And let's understand something, too, that we need to really realize: every
prophecy that God has is not fulfilled just a little, little bit; it is
fulfilled to the maximum, to the very top! That's what's going to happen in all
of these things. Let's see how God is going to handle it; let's see what He's
going to do. Let's come to Isaiah 13. It's the judgment against Babylon, and
Babylon is this whole world. And if you look at all the cities of the world
today, they are almost identical-their buildings, their factories, their houses,
their businesses-almost all identical.
Let's pick it up here in
Isaiah 13:1-here is the judgment that God is going to bring upon the world: "The
burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw: "˜Lift up a banner upon the
high mountain, exalt the voice to them, wave the hand, so that they may go into
the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My Holy ones, I have also called My
mighty ones [angels] for My anger, even those who rejoice in My
triumph"™". [Because Jesus is coming in victory!]"The noise of a multitude in
the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of
nations gathered together; the LORD of hosts gathers an army for the battle".
[That's quite a statement; that's quite a thing to understand.]"They come from
a far country, from the end of heaven, the LORD and the weapons of His
indignation, to destroy the whole earth". [Like it says there in Isa. 40: every
mountain is going to come down; every valley is going to be exalted; all the
cities of the world are going to fall-they will be nothing but junk and trash.
There"™re going to volcanoes going. Tsunamis going! Earthquakes going! Woe!
Plague! Death! and misery of an unprecedented way!]"Howl! For the day of
the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty. Therefore, all hands shall be faint, and every man's heart shall melt;
and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall
be in pain like a woman who travails. They shall be amazed at one another, their
faces are like blazing fire. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel
both with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation; and He
shall destroy the sinners out of it" (vs 1-9).
"For the stars of the
heavens and their constellations shall not give light; the sun shall be darkened
in its going forth, and the moon shall not reflect its light. "˜And I will
punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their
iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the tyrants. I will make man more scarce than gold; even man
more than the fine gold of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the
earth shall move out of its place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the
day of His fierce anger"™" (vs 10-13). That's what this day pictures-the
taking over of the world by God!-against a hostile mankind, worldwide;
that have
·
rejected
Him,
·
rejected His laws,
·
hated
Christ,
·
hated Christianity,
·
hated
Christians,
·
martyred
them,
·
mocked
them,
·
killed them!
Yes, Christ is coming, and
the Kingdom of God is going to be setup-and we have been called to be a
part of that.
(go to track #2)
Let's go to Isaiah 24-and
these chapters are here to show us how absolutely awesome and colossal all of
the things are going to be that are pictured by the Day of Trumpets. And of
course, a day fulfilled in prophecy can be the specific day itself, but also one
year in fulfillment, and we"™re going to see both apply; both apply in
understanding right here.
Isaiah 24:1: "Behold, the
LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and
scatters its inhabitants". [Doesn"™t mean He flips it over from north pole to
south pole; but everything on the earth is turned upside down.]" And as it
is with the people, so it shall be with the priest; as with the slave, so
with the master; as with the handmaid, so it is with her mistress; as with the
buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the
creditor, so with the debtor". [no one's going to be exempt]"The earth shall
be completely laid waste, and utterly stripped; for the LORD has spoken this
word". [We"™re going to see in just a little bit in the book of Rev. how
these things are going to come to pass this way.]"The earth mourns and languishes; the world withers and languishes; the proud people of the
earth wither. And the earth is defiled under its people; because they have
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the everlasting
covenant" (vs 1-5). So, it all lays like in the sermon that I gave: who is
to blame? It all lays right at the feet of religious teachers. They"™re the ones.
They have changed the laws. They have changed the ordinances. They have changed
and said, "˜Oh, let's keep the Lord's day Sunday"™-that's changing the fourth
commandment and cutting them off from God. They are the ones, they have done it!
Their philosophies! And then the leaders follow right along with war and mayhem!
Yes, they have broken the everlasting covenant!
"Therefore the curse has
devoured the earth, and they who dwell in it are desolate; therefore the
people of the earth are burned, and few men are left" (v 6). Is it
going to be that there will only be ten-percent of humanity left by time we come
back to the earth with Christ and take over the reigns of rule of this earth?
Don"™t know! It doesn"™t tell us!
Now, let's come down here
to v 16: "From the ends of the earth we have heard songs, "˜Glory to the
righteous."™ But I said, "˜Leanness to me! Leanness to me! Woe to me! Deceivers
deceive, even treacherously. Deceivers deceive! Dread and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be, he who flees
from the sound of dread shall fall into the pit. And he who comes up out of the
midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare, for the windows from on high are
opened, and the foundations of the earth quake". [That's where we saw in the
prophecy in Isa. 34, that "˜the heavens are rolled back like a scroll"™ and that
fits in with Rev. 6 and the sixth seal.]"The earth is broken, yea broken down!
The earth is crumbling, yea crumbling to pieces! The earth is tottering, yea
tottering! Like a drunkard the earth is staggering, yea staggering! And it rocks
to and fro like a tree hut! And its transgressions are heavy upon it; and it
shall fall and not rise again"™" (vs 16-20).
·
Never again is there going to be a Babylon the Great.
·
Never
again is Satan the devil going to rule.
·
Never
again are these things going to happen.
But it has to end this way
because men will not learn! Men will not listen!
And stop and think about
the end-time. How many Bibles are out there today? Being printed, distributed? In great, vast amount! The Word of God is there for them to have-to read,
to understand if they would do it. And how much could they avoid of this? I
don"™t know, but God says if there's repentance, He"™ll honor it.
Verse 21 [transcriber's correction]: "And it shall come to pass in that day, the
LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high [demons] and
the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered, as prisoners are gathered in a dungeon. And they shall be shut up in the prison,
and after many days they shall be punished". [That's exactly what's going to
happen to the leaders of this world, and to Satan and the demons. They"™re going
to be put back in their prison, called the abyss.]"Then the moon shall
be confounded, and the sun shall be ashamed, for the LORD of hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, and gloriously before His elders" (vs 21-23)-and
that means all of His people.
Now, let's come back to the
book of Revelation (now that we"™ve read this) and let's see how it unfolds
beginning with the trumpet plagues. We"™ve covered this just recently so
I"™m not going to go into it in great detail. So let's come to Revelation, the
eighth chapter, and let's see this day of the Lord as one year from
Trumpets to Trumpets. And of course, then we have from the 144,000 on Pentecost
to the Pentecost of the first resurrection. So we have an overlapping of
Pentecost and Trumpets. Let's see how this takes place here.
First of all, Revelation
8-we have the beginning of the trumpet plagues. Do they start on the
Feast of Trumpets? It would seem that that's probably when they would start. The
seven angels are the ones who sound these trumpets, and it is WAR against the
earth, against men, against the religionists, against all nations. The only ones
who are spared: 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude and those who are in
the place of safety. That's it! It's coming upon everyone else. So they
sound their trumpets and now we have a new thing taking place: the angels of God
fighting against men and the demons and Satan the devil. And you see that
everything that we read there about what happens to the earth being burned up,
what happens to the sun and the moon and the stars not shinning-the first four
of these trumpet plagues carry all of that out. But the last three of the trumpet plagues are called "Woes!"
And in Revelation 9, when
we see the fifth angel sound his trumpet. And the abyss is opened up by an angel
who has a key to the abyss. And the king over the abyss is Satan the devil, who
is called "Apollyon or Abaddon"-depending whether it's Greek or Hebrew. And they
come out and they bring to the armies of men a secret weapon that is like a
scorpion that stings and, in those days when that happens, men will seek death
but won"™t find it.
Then we have a tremendous
thing take place with the sounding of the sixth seal. Let's read this, because
this is something! This ties right in with Joel 2, that I read. Here is an army
of 200-million. And as we"™ve seen in sermons leading up to this, before the Day
of Trumpets, the groups of nations including: Russia, China, Southeast Asia,
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekhstan-all of those nations are together now
in an economic group. And that economic group constitutes the kings of the north
and the kings of the east. And that's where the army of 200-million is coming
from. In order for these things to take place, as we see in the book of
Revelation, there has got to be a tremendous economic revival among those
nations as Israel comes down. And this will give them the ability to make the
weapons, to develop their armies, and to have the army of 200-million. Now, it's
not going to be all in one place at one time. It's going to be strung out from
the River Euphrates all the way back to the east. And when they come to the
River Euphrates they"™re going to stop right there until an event happens. So
these armies will be strung out and go all the way back. And even some of the
armies will not come and fight on the day of the Lord in Jerusalem, or the Holy
Land, but those of Gog and Magog are going to come again after the Millennium
has been already in action for about seven years. Because, as we will see with
the Feast of Tabernacles, Christ has to rebuke strong nations that afar off, and
force them to "beat their implements of war into plowshares and pruning-hooks."
And He has to judge them. Part of those armies are going to be reserved for Eze.
38 and 39 of Gog and Magog.
So, this is a tremendous
thing, brethren. Don"™t think that there's going to be 200-million in one
place-it's going to be strung out. So let's read it here: Revelation 9:12: "The
first woe [fifth trumpet] is past. Behold, after these things two more woes are
still to come. And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a
voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God; and it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, "˜Loose the four angels who are
bound in the great river Euphrates"™". [So they"™ve been
there, waiting for this moment and this time.]"Then the four angels, who had
been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were loosed, so that they
might kill a third of men" [Remember, already a "˜fourth part of men"™ have been
killed, now here's a "˜third part of men"™-that's not talking about what were
killed with the "˜second woe."™ Though, for a while, it was with the sting of
scorpions and they didn"™t die.]"and the number of the armies of the
horsemen was two-hundred-thousand-thousand" [200-million-never has there
been an army that great.]"and I heard the number of them" (vs 12-16).
Then it talks about the
fierceness of them. It talks about, in descriptive language, the kind of awesome
weapons that they will have. Now, I want you to tie this together with Joel 2,
that this is the army of God and it's coming to punish the world, and it's also
being gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Valley of Decision, for the
final battle against Christ and the saints. So this is a continuous movement
that takes place.
Verse 17: "And so I saw the
horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, who had fiery breastplates,
even like jacinth and brimstone. And the heads of the horses were like
heads of lions, and fire and smoke and brimstone shoot out of their mouths".
[have you ever seen the fiery dragon or the fiery lion from the east?-you can
almost see the pictures of it from Chinese wall-paintings and so forth.]"By
these three, a third of men were killed: by the fire and the smoke and the
brimstone that shoot out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouths;
for their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them
they inflict wounds". [So this is really awesome war-making machines. Remember,
there are demons with them. There are demons and men fighting the angels of
God.] (But notice why this happens):"But the rest of the men who were not
killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands, that
they might not worship demons, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone
and wood, which do not have the power to see, nor to hear, nor to walk. And they
did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornications, nor of their thievery" (vs 17-21).
Just exactly as God dealt
with Pharaoh in Egypt, when He was getting the children of Israel ready to take
out of Egypt, what happened? Pharaoh hardened his heart because he didn"™t
repent. Given an opportunity to repent, but don"™t repent, so God hardens the
heart. That's going to happen here on a mass scale. They"™re not going to repent.
They"™re going to be absolutely, if I could use the expression, hell-bent to come
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and fight against this great Sea of Glass that is
up in the clouds where Christ and all the resurrected saints will be.
So then we have the next
thing to happen, which then are the seven thunders. We are told that John
was not to write what the seven thunders would be. So no one knows what
they are. And I saw a stupid interpretation of a man who's supposed to be one of
the two witnesses-and his wife is the second one-and that's been about two years
already that this has been, and he says he knows what the seven thunders are. What does he say they are? He says they"™re the sixth seal. How could that
be? They"™re different! And yet, people like lemmings follow such stupidity-it's
amazing!
Revelation 10:4: ""˜Seal
what the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them."™ Then the angel whom I had
seen standing on the sea and on the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and
swore by Him Who lives into the ages of eternity, Who created the heaven and the
things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in
it, "˜There shall be no more delay"™" (vs 4-6). Now we"™re coming down to
the very last thing. There's going to be one last push of prophecy to be spoken,
as we find here in the last part of Rev. 10 where John took the "˜little book"™
and "˜ate it"™ and he was told "˜go preach."™ So that must be one of the messages
going from the two witnesses.
Then we come to Revelation
11. What I want you to do is this: I want you to see how much takes place after
the seventh, or last, trump is sounded; before we come back to the earth. I"™ve
already covered that during Pentecost, so I"™ll just briefly review it here so we
can come to see how the seven last plagues are going to be poured out; because
that's going to happen from Pentecost to Trumpets-and then we come back to
the earth!
Revelation 11:7-After they
finish their witness-the two witnesses: ""the beast who ascends out of the abyss
will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them". [God
does this lots of times to let Satan thinks that he wins! He thought he won when
Christ was crucified-but He was resurrected from the dead. So likewise, he going
to think, "˜Now we can win, right here at the last minute, we can have a victory,
we have killed them."™ So what do they do?]"And their bodies will lie in
the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where
also our Lord was crucified". [That's what God thinks of Jerusalem today.]"Then
those of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations shall see their bodies
three and a half days, for they will not allow their bodies to be put into
tombs" (vs 7-9). So this shows they"™re still going to be some kind of worldwide
network of television and cell-phone operation. So when God shakes the earth and
so forth, He's probably going to leave intact a lot of these satellites that are
out there for this very specific purpose.
Notice what they do after
all that has happened-all the wars, all the fighting, finally here's a little
respite; here's a time when "˜we can all get together and celebrate how wonderful
it is-now we can stop this thing. The two witnesses are dead, we finally got
them."™ Verse 10: ""˜And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and
will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets
had tormented those who dwell on the earth."™ Then after the three and a half
days, the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on
their feet" [what a sight that is going to be!]"and great fear fell upon those
who were watching them" [that is the whole world! And those that are
right there in Jerusalem: "˜What is this? How can it be? Are you sure they were
dead?"™ Yes, we verified they were dead. "˜Look, they"™re alive. They"™re
standing up."™ What it really is, it is the last two who were martyred are the
first two who are resurrected.]"And they heard a great voice from heaven, say,
"˜Come up here!"™ And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw
them rise" (vs 10-12).
We"™ll see, they"™ll be
changed at the last trump. So if they go up there and they"™re still in the flesh
on their way up that shows that the Sea of Glass where Christ and the saints are
is in the part of the atmosphere where there's still enough oxygen for them to
live. So the last trumpet sounds just right here. Notice what happens when that
takes place:
"And in that hour there was
a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were
killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to
the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming
immediately". [So right when they"™re on their way up into heaven-now there are
probably angels taking them up that the world couldn"™t see-the seventh trump is
sounded-the last trump-this is on Pentecost.]"Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, "˜The
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His
Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity."™ And the twenty-four
elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped
God, Saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who is, and Who was, and
Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power,
and have reigned. For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the
time for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and to all those who fear Your name, the
small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth"™" (vs 13-18).
Hasn"™t yet happened. He
hasn"™t destroyed them. We"™re going to see how the events unfold and how, from
the Sea of Glass, where also the throne
of God is. Now this also tells us that the throne of God is a whole lot closer
to the earth at this time than we have supposed that the throne of God would be.
But nevertheless, the resurrection takes place and I suspect that the whole
world's going to see that and they"™re going to wonder what on earth is this
that's happening! Body-snatchers! How many are going to be resurrected? We don"™t know.
Let's come
over here to Revelation 14-we"™re going to see the two harvests:
1.
The
harvest of the righteous at Pentecost
2. The harvest of the wicked
-right after that to the seven
last plagues and then the Feast of Trumpets when we come back to the earth. All
right, let's read it.
Revelation 14:14: "And I
looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one like the Son of man
sitting on the cloud, having a golden crown on His head; and in His hand was a sharp sickle". [that's the harvest of the righteous.]"And another angel came
out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him Who was sitting on the cloud,
"˜Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap; for
the harvest of the earth is ripe."™ And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust
forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped". [the trumpet is
blown, and then this happens and the dead are raised.]"Then another angel" (vs
14-17). After the resurrection and those who are righteous are on the Sea of Glass, there is another
harvest to come.
Let's go to Revelation 15
for just a minute and then we"™ll come back to Rev. 14 and look at that second
harvest. We"™ll just repeat this again because this is such a great thing that's
going to take place. We"™re all resurrected, the angels carry us up to the Sea of
Glass to meet Christ, to meet all the saints and there we"™ll probably see God
the Father. Why not? We"™ll be spirit beings, we can-after all we"™re His
children-are we not? Yes, indeed!
Revelation 15:1: "Then I
saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven
last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is filled up". [We"™ll see this in
just a minute]"And I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had
gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the lyres of God" (vs 1-2). That's exactly what's going to take place]"And they
were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb, saying, "˜Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God Almighty;
righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints. Who shall not fear
You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are holy; and all
the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been
revealed"™" (vs 1-4).
Now, let's go back to
Revelation 14:17-and let's read about the other harvest, the harvest of the
wicked. "Then another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the temple
that is in heaven."™ And out from the altar came another angel, who had
authority over fire; and he called with a loud cry to the one who had the sharp
sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the
earth, because her grapes are fully ripe."™". [These are the wicked being drawn
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Valley of Decision, where there will be blood,
which will flow as deep as a horse's bridle.]"And the angel thrust his sickle
into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast its fruit into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden
outside the city, and blood spewed out from the winepress as high as the horses"™
bridles, to the distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs" (vs 17-20).
Mammoth!
Now, let's see how that's
going to happen. Revelation 15:5: "And after these things I looked, and behold,
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the
seven angels who had the seven last plagues came out of the temple; they
were clothed in linen, pure and bright, and girded about the chest with golden
breastplates. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels
seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, Who lives into the ages of
eternity. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from
His power; and no one was able to enter inside the temple until the seven
plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled" (vs 5-8).
Revelation 16-here's how
God deals with the world. Remember, He has a controversy with the nations. He's
going to gather them all to the Holy Land. He is going to judge them, and here
is the judgment that is coming-and this happens from the time after the
resurrection of the saints on Pentecost until Rev. 19 when, on that Trumpets, we
come back to earth.
Revelation 16:1: "Then I
heard a loud voice from the temple say to the seven angels, "˜Go and pour out the
vials of the wrath of God onto the earth."™ And the first angel went and
poured out his vial onto the earth; and an evil and grievous sore fell upon the
men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who were worshiping his
image". [God is letting it be known:
·
you will
not mock God!
·
you will
not serve Satan the devil!
·
you will
not do these things and "˜despise Me"™!-Who's the Creator of heaven and earth
and all of mankind!
"And the second angel went and poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood, like that of a dead man; and every living soul in the sea died". [God
is going wipe this earth clean of all the sins of men.]"And the third angel
poured out his vial upon the rivers, and into the fountains of waters; and they
became blood" (vs 1-4).
Now notice how the angels
view this, because they have seen what men have done through all the years, and
the killings and the wars, and everything like that. Verse 5: "Then I heard the
angel of the waters say, "˜You are righteous, O Lord, Who are, and Who was, even
the Holy One, in that You have executed this judgment. For they have poured out the blood of saints and of prophets, and You have given them blood to
drink; for they are worthy."™ And I heard another voice from the altar
say, "˜Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."™ And
the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to
it to scorch men with fire. Then men were scorched with great heat". [Just like
a firestorm coming from the sun! And the temperature rises greatly and scorches
men-just a big blast coming!]"and they blasphemed the name of God, Who has
authority over these plagues, and did not repent to give Him glory. And the
fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom
became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; yet they
did not repent of their works" (vs 5-11).
"And the sixth angel poured
out his vial into the great river Euphrates; and its waters were dried up" [so
the Euphrates began to flow again and now it has to be dried up again.]"so that
the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared".
[Because those armies are still strung out all the way to the east. Now, in
order to convince them to do this, this looks like kind of a little respite.]"
Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the
dragon [Satan], and out of the mouth of the beast [antichrist], and out of the
mouth of the false prophet; for they are spirits of demons working miracles,
going forth to the kings of the earth, even of the whole world, to gather them
together to the battle of that great day of the Almighty God" (vs 12-14).
Here comes the last battle
that's going to be. This is Armageddon! Notice there's a little warning here-v
15: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is the one who is watching and is
keeping his garments, so that he may not walk naked and they may not see
his shame". [Sounds an awful lot like another warning message to the Laodiceans-correct?
· We
are never to let up!
· We
are never to let down!
·
But
always go forward with the help and Spirit of God!
"And he gathered them
together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon". [that is the sixth
angel who poured out the sixth vile.]"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 FINISHED."™ And there were voices and thunders and
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were on
the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great". [God is going to shake
this earth so many times during the time that He rolls back the heavens as a
scroll that this earth is going just like a drunken man-staggering to and fro.]"And the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the nations
fell" (vs 15-19). All of their great skyscrapers, all of their great projects;
everything that man has done is going to be destroyed! And we"™re going to be the
ones with Christ to show them what they need to do. Those few who live through
it are going to be quite a case to deal with. But at that point, those who
remain there, they"™re going to get the message and repent!
"And every island
disappeared, and no mountains were found" [Why? Because they"™ve been laid
low, like it says there in Isa. 40. Now, you think about that! Think about
what's going to happen to this earth!]"And great hail, each stone the
weight of a talent, fell down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God
because of the plague of the hail, for the plague was exceedingly great" (vs
20-21).
Even that,
that still doesn"™t kill all of them. NO! Let's see what happens then, after the
marriage of the Lamb, we all receive our rewards, we all view the seven last
plagues going on, on the earth, from our vantage point up on the Sea of
Glass. We"™re
all organized. Christ tells us what we are to do. We are given our horses. We
know how to handle them. And we are now ready to fight, because Jesus said, "˜If
My kingdom were of this world then would My servants fight."™ And of course,
Christ is going to lead the way! So this is the finality of the last Feast of
Trumpets before the beginning of the Millennium.
Revelation 19:11: "And I
saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse; and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. And
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many
crowns; and He had a name written that no one knows except Him. And He
was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of
God". [Goes right back to John 1:1-3-"˜In the beginning was the Word and the Word
was with God and the Word was God."™]"And the
armies in heaven" [that's us! Probably with a lot of angels, too.]"were following Him on white horses; and they were clothed in fine linen,
white and pure". [That's the righteousness of the saints.]"And out of
His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He
shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury
and the wrath of the Almighty God" (vs 11-15). That fulfills the last part of
Rev. 14; Joel 2 & 3.
"And on His garment
and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I
saw an angel standing in the sun" [we see on our way down]"and he cried out
with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of
heaven, "˜Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God so
that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chief
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of
horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and
bond, and small and great."™" (vs 16-18). Zech. 14 shows that in that day that
Jesus comes and puts His feet on the Mt. of Olives and all the saints with Him,
that weapon that He has is so powerful that it the word goes out of His mouth
and the flesh falls right off their skeletons. So here's all the flesh and the
blood and all of these human skeletons, and guts and all of this just there in
one big quivering mess! So God, He's going to clean it up, so He calls for all
the birds, all the eagles, all the vultures, all the birds of prey; and they are
going around in circles waiting, coming down, looking at this great feast that
God has given them!
Verse 19: "And I saw the
beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war
with Him" [the final battle]"Who sits on the horse, and with His army". [That's
us!]"And the beast was taken" [and angel took him]"and with him the false
prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived those who
received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Those two were
cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone; and the rest were
killed by the sword of Him Who sits on the horse, even the sword that
goes out of His mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh" (vs
19-21).
So that's how the Kingdom
of God is going to start, after the destruction of the kingdom of Satan and men.
No more will there be defying against God. No more will there be rebellion
against God. Christ and the saints are going to rule and reign as kings and
priests and we are going to take the pitiful people who suffer through all of
this and remain, and they are going to start afresh. And then there will be a
thousand years of peace and prosperity and plenty; but only after Satan is put
away.
So come back on the Day of
Atonement and we will see the judgment of Satan the devil, because this is God's
judgment against men; God's judgment against the Beast and the False Prophet;
and now God's judgment will come-on the Day of Atonement-against Satan and the
demons.
Scriptural References:
-
Leviticus 23:23-25
-
Numbers 10:1-10
-
Psalm 81:3-5
-
Joshua 6:1-5
-
Ezekiel 33:1-16
-
Isaiah 58:1-2
-
Joel 1:14-15
-
Joel 2:1-18
-
Joel 3:9-16
-
Jeremiah 25:28-34
-
Isaiah 13:1-13
-
Isaiah 24:1-6, 16-23
-
Revelation 9:12-21
-
Revelation 10:4-6
-
Revelation 11:7-18
-
Revelation 14:14-17
-
Revelation 15:1-4
-
Revelation 14:17-20
-
Revelation 15:5-8
-
Revelation 16:1-21
-
Revelation 19:11-21
Scriptures referenced,
not quoted:
· 1
Samuel
·
Revelation 11, 7
·
Psalm 2
·
Isaiah 40
·
Isaiah 34
·
Revelation 6
·
Ezekiel 38, 39
·
John 1:1-3
·
Zechariah 14
Also referenced:
Sermon: It's Not the Economy Stupid-It's
God!
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