The First Feast of the Seventh Month: Trumpets
The Jews have two overlapping years, the religious year beginning with the month of Passover and the civil year beginning with Trumpets. The civil year begins in the seventh month of the religious year.
The Blowing of Trumpets occurs on the first day of the civil year. Today the observance is termed Rosh Hashanah (the head of year). The blowing of the trumpets calls attention to the nearness of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is celebrated on the tenth day of the first month of the civil year (the seventh month of the religious, ceremonial year).
The name of the seventh month of the Jewish sacred, ceremonial year is Tishri. Tishri is the first month of the agricultural (civil) year. Since the blowing of Trumpets is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the agricultural or civil year, Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah ) is celebrated as New Year’s Day. The shofar (ram’s horn) is sounded in the local synagogues.
We see, then, that when the Church arrives at the three subfeasts of the third major convocation of Tabernacles (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the week of Tabernacles itself) we have arrived at the beginning of a new year in the Lord.
It is not that we forsake the previous lessons and ways in which the Lord has worked in and with us. The previous experiences have brought us to the place of newness in Christ. We are becoming new creations in Christ.
Just as the Jews have two overlapping years, so it is in the Kingdom of God. We have in our experience a "religious year" of faith, doctrines, and observances. These have to do with our "coming out of Egypt."
When we come to Trumpets we are entering the "civil year" of doing business for the Lord in the earth. Trumpets heralds the coming of the Kingdom of God into the earth.
First, the Lord of Armies enters our heart and establishes His throne there. After this He will come in the kingdom-wide fulfillment of the blowing of Trumpets. The Trumpet of the Lord will sound and the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, will descend from Heaven with His saints and holy angels.
Every eye will behold Him and we, to the consternation, confusion, and utter terror of our enemies, will be caught up in the clouds along with the dead in Christ to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Blowing of Trumpets is the fifth of the seven Levitical feasts described in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:24)
The number five symbolizes the beginning of the Kingdom of God. You may recall that animal life was begun on the fifth day of creation. The bronze Altar of Burnt Offering (Exodus 27:1) was five cubits square. The height of the linen fence (Exodus 27:18) that surrounded the Tabernacle of the Congregation was five cubits.
Both the bronze Altar and the linen fence stood at places where an individual first encountered the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Five pillars supported the door of the Holy Place. The fifth article of furniture, the Altar of Incense, was placed directly before the Mercy Seat.
The blowing of Trumpets (feast number five) signifies the beginning of the conquest of the material creation by the Lord Jesus Christ working in and with His anointed Body.
The greatest things in Christ are yet ahead of us!
The sounding of trumpets, in the Scriptures, often is in connection with warfare.
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. (Joshua 6:20)
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. (Judges 7:20)
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (Jeremiah 4:19)
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? (I Corinthians 14:8)
The forces of righteousness and the forces of sin and rebellion are drawing near to the battle of the ages. Although sin is yet to reach a hideous flowering in the earth, nevertheless the end of darkness is at hand. The Christian Church is in travail today, bringing forth the Body of Christ. As soon as Christ has attained the necessary level in His saints the battle will be joined. The kingdom of darkness will be cast from the heavens and then from the earth.
The end is in sight. The full redemption of the Year of Jubilee is at hand. The wrestling match will be concluded when Christ in the Church pins the adversary to the mat, totally destroying Satan for all eternity.
Christ is passing among the members of His Body in these days, looking for those who will be faithful enough to be in His army. He requires officers and men of the sternest discipline. Will you be one of these?
The coming of Christ is the coming of the King, the Lord of Armies. His appearing is that of God’s Conqueror who will set up His reign on the earth. The trumpet of God will sound, announcing the Presence of the rightful King and Heir.
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. (II Samuel 6:15)
Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand; (Joel 2:1)
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (I Thessalonians 4:16)
The trumpet of God announcing the return of the Lord Jesus is made up of seven trumpets.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2)
The Lord will appear and we shall be changed, at the sounding of the last of the trumpets.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:52)
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)
The Blowing of Trumpets is celebrated by each of us when we welcome the Lord Jesus into our heart as King of kings and Lord of lords. The Blowing of Trumpets will be celebrated in the kingdom-wide fulfillment as He descends from Heaven to take over the rulership of the earth.
The eighth chapter of Revelation reveals the connection between Trumpets, which is the fifth Levitical feast, and then the Altar of Incense, which is the fifth of the holy furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
As the Spirit-empowered, Christ-filled prayer and praise ascend to the Father from the Body of Christ in the days in which we now live, the hand of God Almighty will be moved and He will command His angels to sound the trumpets announcing the return of the King. This marks the entrance of the Kingdom of God into the earth.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Revelation 8:2,3)
The trumpet was employed to alert Israel and to prepare the nation for the march.
Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. (Numbers 10:2)
Also, the trumpet was blown by the Church toward God to remind Him of his promise concerning His chosen people.
And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)
The trumpet represents the worship, supplication, and intercession that must proceed from the Church as it assembles to serve the Lord Jesus. We need to direct our attention toward Heaven and not become too occupied with our earthly needs and desires. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. (Numbers 10:10)
The Lord remembers us when we praise Him and pray to Him. It is possible to go through all the activities of the churches and then forget to worship the Lord and beseech His help. Prayer comes before even the ministry of the Word. (Acts 6:4).
The Glory of God will be present among us when we pray.
It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God. (II Chronicles 5:13,14)
If such worship and praise ascended to God under the old covenant, what should worship and praise be like under the new covenant?
The voice of the prophet was employed as the trumpet of God to reveal to the Israelites their sins and to warn them of the consequences of sin against the Lord their God.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)
The close relationship between the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the coming judgment and deliverance (redemption) of the earth and its people, can be seen in the trumpet of the Jubilee.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. (Leviticus 25:9,10)
The trumpet of the Jubilee was sounded on the Day of Atonement. The spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement includes the removal of sin from God’s elect and finally from the entire creation. Therefore it is fitting that the trumpet of the Jubilee, of release from slavery, should be blown on the Day of Atonement.
We have seen, then, the importance of the trumpet in the Scriptures. We are discussing the third death and resurrection of redemption, our dying to self so we may realize the will of God more perfectly.
We are being raised into the fullness of God’s purposes in Christ, particularly those purposes having to do with the destruction of Christ’s enemies and the judgment and deliverance of the nations of the earth.
The concepts associated with the blowing of the trumpet have direct bearing on the Kingdom purposes of the Lord God. The Blowing of Trumpets is the New Year’s Day of doing business in the Kingdom of God. We are emerging from the ecclesiastical forms of religion and coming into the union of the spiritual and the material in such a way that the material realm is brought under subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of God shall have been established when God’s will is done in the earth (the material realm) as it is in Heaven (the holy part of the spirit realm). We have seen that the earth always is governed by spiritual forces and that the purpose of the redemption in Christ is to change the governing spiritual forces from those of wickedness to those of righteousness.
The trumpet, as mentioned in the Scriptures, is related to spiritual warfare. The next feast after Pentecost is Trumpets, signifying that after we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit we are to enter the war against the Lord’s enemies.
The greatest of all battles, Armageddon, is yet ahead and is associated with the return of the Lord Jesus from Heaven. The Battle of Armageddon will result in the destruction of the armies of wickedness and the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Meanwhile Christ is being formed in the heart of every true Christian. Each time we are willing to go through the death that the Lord requires, and the accompanying resurrection, Christ is strengthened in our inner man.
If we cooperate totally with the Holy Spirit, the process of death, resurrection, and strengthening of our inner spiritual nature will continue until Christ is reigning in us and with us in complete power and glory.
We are to consent voluntarily to Christ’s Lordship. It is not that we lose our own will. It is true rather that His will and our will are ground together in the mill of tribulation until the two wills become one.
In this sense the Day of the Lord, the thousand-year Kingdom Age, has its beginning in the heart of each saint. There is coming in the future a kingdom-wide Day of the Lord including a jubilee of release for the prisoners of the earth. But the true essence and quality of the Day of the Lord are obtainable now to "whosoever will." The personal fulfillment in our life of the Blowing of Trumpets brings us into our personal day of the Lord, our personal rule of Christ.
Holy Spirit-empowered prayer and praise play a large role in our experience of the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. The feast of Tabernacles is the third death and resurrection we encounter in the program of redemption.
We cannot stand up under the pressure being brought to bear on us as we are being pruned back, and still further back unless we are willing to keep on praising the Lord and praying instead of fainting. "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
We are tempted to blame other people and to grumble as the Lord brings us through the fires of judgment. We must keep seeking His face in prayer and keep praising God for His faithfulness—even when we cannot see the end of the tunnel. Otherwise we shall be defeated just before the fullness comes.
There is no way to enter the land of promise, the fullness of Christ, other than through spiritual warfare. God does the fighting when we come from Egypt but we do the fighting in order to enter Canaan.
The climactic spiritual battles cannot be fought by people who are alive in their own wills, their own ambitions, their desire for preeminence, their own plans and ways. The battles of God can be fought only by those who have been through death and resurrection in the Lord God.
The River Jordan represents the third death of redemption and the land of promise is the third resurrection. We have come to the end of all we are attempting to be and do and now are ready to accept the suffering of Christ. The Lord’s army consists of warriors who have died and been raised in God.
Because they have been resurrected, in this spiritual sense, they are invincible. The Lake of Fire has no authority over them. They fall on the sword, the Word of God, and cannot be wounded. The sword of the Lord already has accomplished its final work in them. They can be hurt no longer. They are free in the Son and alive eternally.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:14)
We are "called" in the first death and resurrection. We are "chosen" in the second death and resurrection. We are proven "faithful" in the third death and resurrection.
Joel’s Army and the Day of Christ. The Day of the Lord will be marked by the army of Christ descending with Him to wage war against the wicked forces of the earth, judging and destroying them and delivering the peoples of the earth from the oppression of the wicked spirits who currently are occupying vantage points in the heavenlies.
Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand; (Joel 2:1)
The trumpet of the Spirit of God is blowing in the churches today. An alarm is sounding throughout Zion, the Body of Christ. The Spirit is not saying to us, Sleep on. Everything is fine. Do not bother to seek the Lord because no matter what happens on the earth you will not be disturbed during your pursuit of material rewards and advantages.
Rather the Spirit of God is speaking to us to seek Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to stir up our gifts, to pray, to praise, to arm ourselves to suffer in the flesh and endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.
Now is the time for us to allow the Holy Spirit to make us wise and tough spiritually because the Lord Jesus is preparing to tear down the forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. These forces are not going to be pleased with the removal of their ancient privileges of ruling the earth. We need to stay close to the Lord Jesus so that we will not lose sight of the Lord and be swept away or deceived during the heat of the conflict.
"The day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand."
The Day of Christ will not be a dainty era during which we sit on fleecy clouds playing golden harps. The Day of the Lord, the period when God judges the earth through Christ, Head and Body, will be the most terrible intervention of Divine wrath and judgment yet known on the earth— far more terrifying than the flood of Noah.
The people of Noah’s day did not have to bear the sight of the Son of God in the heavens, the innocent Lamb executed without cause, now returning in the fullness of His wrath to avenge Himself on the sinners and rebellious of the world.
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joel 2:2)
Before the Lord Jesus appears, the earth will experience a period of apparent security and peace for everyone. There will be one worldwide government. There will be a religious organization, void of the Spirit of God, that will work together with the government to keep everyone in control.
Unity and order will be brought about and war will be absent. The peoples of the earth will be occupied with buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage. They will assume that peace and prosperity have come to stay. It will be a time of peace and prosperity apart from Christ.
Then, as a thief in the night, the Lord Jesus and His "great people" will appear. All who have made a covenant with Him and have accepted Him as their Savior and lawful King will be protected during the invasion. This will be a frightful period of violence and destruction.
Can you imagine the reaction of the rulers of the earth, and the peoples under their administration, when all realize that Christ actually is the Son of God and the rightful ruler of the earth? If Christ never did anything else other than appear in the clouds and call up His army, the nations of the earth would destroy themselves in their wrath and frustration. However they will not have that opportunity. Judgment will be brought upon them through the Lord and His army.
There are several passages of Scripture that emphasize the fact that the Day of Christ will be a period of darkness on the earth. One of the more prominent of these passages is found in Isaiah:
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:2)
At the time of the coming of Christ the world will be in total spiritual darkness. The appearing of Christ will be as the morning sun arising to burn away the mists and bring the light of the Day of God.
We notice the same description in Zephaniah:
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, (Zephaniah 1:15)
Again, we find in the Book of Revelation that this darkness is the judgment of God on the forces of evil in the earth.
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, (Revelation 16:10)
The concept here is that God will pour out His wrath directly on the "peace and safety" that have been created in the earth apart from the Lordship of His Son. At the climax of the wrath the Son Himself will appear with His army of faithful saints. Then will be brought to pass the onslaught described in Joel 2:1-11. Those who ride with Christ in that day will be "a great people and a strong." The world never before has witnessed an army like this. These are the mighty men of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are "called, chosen, and faithful." God has tested and proved them in every manner conceivable. Their training has not been an easy one.
Like Joseph of old they have been shut up in prison for a long period of time while being tested by the Word of the Lord.
David’s mighty men were formed and bound to him in the wilderness before Saul died in battle. Many mighty men of the Lord Jesus are being formed and bound to Him now, at this time, so they may be prepared to ride with Him at His appearing.
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:4,5)
The concept of not being defiled with women has to do with the freedom of Christ’s "firstfruits" from the defilement produced by Christ-displacing union with institutions, things, situations, and people. The firstfruits are the first reaping of the vine of mankind. There is no guile, no Jacob-like supplanting, trickery, knavery, in their behavior. They are simple, clear, direct, forthright—just like their Lord, Christ. The warriors of the Lord Jesus stand without fault before the throne of God.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles [nations] in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. (Micah 5:8,9)
The above passage is a picture of the savagery of Christ acting through His Body in the Day of the Lord. At that time, those of earth’s peoples who resist His rule will be overcome and destroyed.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2:3)
The Lord Jesus and His army will descend from Heaven to an earth that has achieved peace and prosperity under an ungodly rule—the rule of a government that has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. The land is as the Garden of Eden before them, meaning that all the fair works of the flesh are in the path of the Lord’s soldiers. They could inherit the fair works of the flesh if they wished but the sons of God will accept none of these because the stench of demons and of the appetites of flesh and human self-will is on them.
The flaming judgment of God issues from them. They leave behind them a burning desolation. Before the members of the Body of Christ can rebuild the earth the works of the flesh must be consumed with fire and the remains plowed into the ground.
Nothing shall escape the army of Christ! When Israel invaded Canaan they won some excellent initial victories; but soon their will to conquer began to weaken as they met determined resistance from the Philistines.
This will not be the case with Christ’s soldiers. They have been trained, trained, trained by the Holy Spirit. They are tough, well-disciplined, organized in the Spirit to perfection. They will follow Christ and none other.
Christ’s soldiers possess His love of righteousness and hatred of sin and rebellion. They are invincible and have an unconquerable desire to please Christ. They never will show mercy to the enemies of God. They cannot be stopped or appeased. On and on they will march until every enemy of Christ has been judged and destroyed.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel 2:4)
The army of the Lord is a mobile striking force. Their charge is that of a cavalry. The horses are spiritual creatures and transport their riders with speed and strength unparalleled in the material realm. There are other passages where the same vision is described:
Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. (Habakkuk 3:15)
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
God’s horses of war are as fierce as their riders.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. (Job 39:24)
The appearing of Christ with His mighty men will occur with the sound of a furious onslaught.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:5)
Christ will descend from Heaven as the advance of a roaring fire that consumes everything and everyone in its path.
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (II Thessalonians 1:8)
The world will have established a well-developed culture and imposing institutions under the guidance of the lords of darkness. The culture and institutions will possess none of the saving Presence of Christ in them. They all shall be destroyed at the appearing of the Lord and His saints.
Anyone who thinks that the members of Christ’s army are anything like the double-minded, pleasure-loving, churchgoers of our day has no concept of the Divine strength and fury being created in the personalities of God’s saints in the present hour.
David had many extraordinary warriors in his army. Notable among them were the Gadites.
And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; (I Chronicles 12:8)
The Gadites exemplify several characteristics being created in the saints in the present hour. First, they were separated to David, that is, they gave themselves wholly to their lord.
The Gadites did not attempt to satisfy both Saul and David so that they would be accepted by whichever side prospered. They chose one side. The true saints of God always must go outside the camp with Christ, bearing His reproach. In one way or another this decision will be forced on each of us.
Christ is "in the wilderness" today and King Saul (the flesh) is on the throne. Saul tolerated the growing popularity of David as long as Saul profited and was not injured in any way. But soon Saul’s true murderous instincts for preeminence revealed themselves.
So it is today that organized Christianity may accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the days to come, as the Body of Christ begins to emerge from the Saulish sectarian structures, the true nature of all sectarianism will come out of hiding and show itself to be the murderer of Christ.
How many contemporary religious organizations do we see possessing the pure desire to allow the Holy Spirit to exalt Christ to absolute preeminence in the Body of Christ?
The Gadites were men of strength and experience in battle. They were swift and courageous. The saints of today are being made strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. The strength of the saints is the strength of faithfulness, holiness, and obedience. By many methods of His own choosing the Holy Spirit is guiding us into ever-increasing faith and strength in Christ.
Little by little we are maturing in the ability to resist the flesh, the world, and the adversary. We are gaining skill in using the shield of faith to quench the fiery arrows of the wicked one. We are learning to pray, to praise, to meditate in the Word, to look to Jesus for solutions instead of to other people. We are not as easy to frighten or to deceive as when first we were saved.
We are learning to lean on the wisdom and strength of the Lord Jesus.
The Gadites were men of war, fit for the battle. They always were prepared for war. They were skillful in warfare. We Christians are being alerted by the trumpet of the Lord. We understand that we are being prepared for the conflict of the ages. To this end we are learning to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ. We are refusing to entangle ourselves with the affairs of the world.
The Gadites could handle shield and buckler (a small, round shield). They were excellent in defending themselves against thrusts of the sword. Many times each day there are thrusts of the enemy aimed at us. As the Lord teaches us we learn how to parry each thrust. Hard words from the world. Harsh treatment from Christian people. We learn to turn all this aside in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ sets a table before us in the presence of our enemies and we are enabled to look only to Jesus and to forget those who would do us harm. We may live in an ocean of envy and perversity, but we ignore the venom and press forward with our eyes fixed on Christ.
The faces of the Gadites were like the faces of lions. The saints who ride behind Jesus will have the same ferocity of countenance that will characterize His appearance. This is not a committee of kindly philosophers. These are the Lord and His warriors. They are intent on establishing the Kingdom of God in the earth.
The soldiers of Christ have endured rugged training under the watchful eye of the Lord God. Now their hour has come. The conquering saints have one objective, and that is to please Christ and to bring all power into subjection to Him. They will show no mercy on sin. All whom they confront either will receive the rule of Christ or will be destroyed. There will be neither softness nor wavering in their attack on sin. Each has the visage of a charging lion.
The Gadites were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains. Jesus charged some of His listeners with being slow to believe. There is a sluggishness of understanding that characterizes people who nominally are Christians but who still are longing for the things of the world. They are slow to move, slow to believe, slow to receive, slow to learn, in the area of spiritual warfare.
Such is not the case with Christ’s warriors. They are swift to obey, swift to believe, swift to learn, swift to hear the voice of Christ and to move in savage fury against the enemy. The army of Christ will move with a speed not attainable in the material world. Its descent from the heaven with Christ will come upon the earth with such speed and force that no power available to the ungodly will have any chance of slowing its charge. This is the end of the kingdom of darkness but the bringing of deliverance and peace to every person on earth who is willing to obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. (Joel 2:6)
When the conviction of the Holy Spirit comes upon people they appear to be in pain. Their faces reveal their inner torment. This conviction and pain will be multiplied many times during the appearing of Christ. Like Judas of old, the peoples of the earth will hurl down the gold and silver for which they were willing to trade Christ. But, as in the case of Judas, it will be too late for those sinners. The doors of mercy will be closed eternally against them. The frightful fate of Judas Iscariot will be theirs.
The rebellious will rage against God in that day and the screams of anguish will be a thousand times more intense than in the days of Noah. It will be too late for those who have rejected Christ and chosen Antichrist. The year of the Lord’s redeemed has arrived.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: (Joel 2:7)
The "mighty men" mentioned above are those who have allowed God to deal with them until their own strength has been brought down to weakness. They have been faithful to the point of death to their self-will. Therefore God has clothed them within and without with His eternal strength. They can run and never grow weary of running. They can walk and never become tired. They possess in themselves the inexhaustible, eternal Life of God Almighty.
They have learned how to surmount obstacles by the Lord’s wisdom and power. While nominal Christians are blaming other people, Satan, and God for their pain, the members of the Lord’s army have been taught to look only to Christ for the solution to each problem no matter how great or how small that problem may appear to be.
Christ’s soldiers waste no time grumbling about their circumstances or blaming other people. They bring each matter to the Lord Jesus. Through Him they receive the ability to overcome each difficulty. They will carry this ability and all other training given them by the Lord into the Day of battle that is coming.
Each of Christ’s soldiers marches on his individual way. He has learned the voice of the Spirit and he does not make side excursions into areas that interest him but are of no profit to Christ. He has learned to follow the Spirit of God each day with intense concentration.
He is not easily led off the track. When he does get off the path the Lord reproves him and leads him back to the way of truth. There is no place among the ranks of Christ’s soldiers for people who can be led away easily from the mission that is before them. The Lord’s warriors come straight ahead and their concentration, their singleness of purpose, is terrible to behold.
They do not break their ranks. They do not allow the enemy to penetrate their wall at any point as he attempts to drive a wedge between brothers and thus become able to wound some Christians from the side or back. They understand that the main tactic of the enemy is to accuse their brothers in the Lord. These soldiers have had created in them such a holy wisdom and Divine hatred of sin that evil is destroyed at every point at which it comes against them.
No matter how fierce the defense against them becomes they do not stop their advance. They possess the certain knowledge that Christ is invincible. They trust Christ with their whole life as well as with their eternal salvation in God’s Presence. Therefore they cannot be frightened into yielding.
The conquering saints have come to realize that God always will support the Word of Christ and that there is no other power as great as Christ’s. As a result, their ranks never break or weaken. They are an irresistible tide of Divine fury rolling across the earth—a global holocaust. This is the Lord Jesus Christ and His army.
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. (Joel 2:8)
One of the principal devices of the enemy is to tempt Christians to thrust one another. Not only are there a thousand divisions in the Body of Christ, but in many local assemblies the envy, jealousy, criticizing, backbiting, gossip, slander go on continuously. The pressure for such behavior comes from the "accuser of the brothers."
The Holy Spirit is teaching us today concerning the unity of the Body of Christ. He instructs us that all division in the Church originates in the Satan-inspired fleshly nature.
The Holy Spirit commands us to cease from all criticizing of one another as individuals. We are not permitted to blame, criticize, or otherwise find fault with another person.
There occur instances when we must rebuke (or even separate ourselves from) a fellow Christian because of his or her sin against us or against God. This is different from maintaining a critical, judgmental attitude toward our fellow saints because they do not always behave in a manner we deem proper.
Freedom from criticizing other people can be a difficult place in Christ to achieve. Such personal victory is necessary if we expect to ride with Christ in the Day of the Lord. We are not allowed to join with Satan in the accusing of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Whatever evil is directed toward us through the world or through Christians we are to take to the Lord. We achieve victory over each problem by Christ’s wisdom and strength.
Sometimes it becomes necessary for us to speak and defend ourselves. In such cases the Lord will lift us up from the realm of criticizing and hatred and help us act as a true Christian. In most instances we are wiser if we wait for the Lord to take care of the evil that is attempting to wound our spirit.
The members of the Lord’s army do not thrust each other when they become irritated or provoked. They move as one in Christ, having learned how to look only to Him for the solution to every problem, for the healing of every wound. They do not attempt to assign blame to other people.
Each soldier of Christ has learned to walk in his own path. There are many experiences in life that are lawful for Christians. But for the saint there is only one will of God for the moment. The will of God extends down to the smallest detail of our life.
Either we are in prayer at any given time and seeking the will of the Spirit or else we are living carelessly according to our own impulses and thoughts. The true son of God walks straight ahead in the Spirit, praying over each step he takes, continuing in supplication and thanksgiving.
There is only one acceptable path for each Christian. It is our responsibility to look to the Lord Jesus continually, insuring we are in the center of His will in every circumstance.
The Word of God, the sword of the Holy Spirit, tests our way, tests our deeds, tests our words, tests our motives, tests our imaginations. The sword of the Word cuts deeply into us, dividing the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow of our bones. The thoughts and intentions of our heart are revealed.
Every part of our personality must be tested by the Divine fire until only the gold of God’s Substance remains. Then when we ride with the Lord in that day the sword of judgment no longer can wound us.
The Day of the Lord is the day of the judgment of all spirits and people. The sword of the Spirit will turn this way and that, piercing and slaying all in its path. The army of Christ can fall on the sword and not be wounded. Even the Lake of Fire has no harmful effect on the Lord’s conquerors.
They have been crucified with Christ and it is Christ who is living in them. Neither sword nor fire can in any manner injure the Lord Jesus Christ.
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. (Joel 2:9)
The evil forces of the end-time will rule from the cities of the earth, or perhaps all the cities will be combined into one large city. It seems that the major portion of the frightful judgments of the last days will be poured on the cities, on the headquarters of the rule of Antichrist and the great Babylon (man-directed Christianity).
The Lord and His army will invade these centers of demon rule. They will tear down every wall, every defense that people will erect against Christ’s appearing. The sons of God will enter every home, judging the inhabitants concerning their attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the horror stories with which we entertained ourselves as children there are descriptions of monsters coming to our windows and peering in. We shrieked in horror at the imaginary sight of weird faces as we huddled in our house in terror.
The reverse of this will come to pass during the Day of the Lord. The practitioners of every ungodly, filthy, demoniacal wickedness will be cowering in their houses in that day. Then at the windows of their dwellings will appear what will be to them the most tormenting sight in the universe—the faces of God’s saints radiating a pure light as bright as the sun. The Divine brightness will expose every filthy practice, every unclean deed, word, and fantasy in which the demon-possessed revel.
The peoples of the earth already are practicing in their homes filthy works that the saints are not allowed to mention. In that day the filth will have reached its climax. The Spirit-filled saints of the Lord will break into every dwelling, bringing the Divine light into the private moral cesspools.
The demon-possessed will crouch in their dark corners in terror just as the demons screamed in fright whenever Jesus of Nazareth came close to them. Their homes may be barricaded in those days but the righteous will break into their privacy unhindered.
The Day of the Lord will surprise the hypocrites like a thief in the night.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: (Joel 2:10)
So great will be the onslaught of Christ and His army that the earth will shake. The heavens also will tremble. The army of Christ will affect not only the wickedness in the earth but in the heavens as well.
Every person, spirit, and thing in the universe, physical and spiritual, will tremble when the army of the Lord begins its march. All acts of men and angels will be brought into judgment. Nothing will be able to stand before the advance of this army. It is the avenger of all the sin and rebellion against God that has ever occurred. The army is filled to overflowing with the power and fire of Divine judgment. God has delegated to His army the execution of His wrath, and the army is instantly obedient to God.
The sun, moon, and stars will cooperate with the saints by ceasing to give their light, just as in the time of Joshua. Darkness will cover the earth, but the light coming from the sons of God will be as many suns.
The Light of the Lord’s Presence will bring into terrible contrast the distinction between what is holy and what is unholy, what is clean and what is unclean. The brightest light in the world in that day will be the Light of God Almighty in Christ radiating from the invading troops.
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)
Christ will shout from the mouths of His troops just as a warrior gives his battle cry. The Lord will roar from Zion in anticipation of the battle. Those who are riding with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. The camp of the Lord is very great. Remember that God promised Abraham that his Seed (Christ) would be as the "stars of the heaven" and that His Seed would "possess the gate of his enemies."
There are many saints in the Lord’s army, disciples who have been set aside for this hour from the time of the creation of mankind. It truly is the greatest of all armies, some of the soldiers already having had thousands of years of experience in the knowledge of Christ. Each warrior has been tested in every area of personality and conduct and has been proven to be faithful.
God the Father has assigned all authority and power in Heaven and on the earth to His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This authority and power is resident in the Lord’s army. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth will be able in any manner to withstand the march of the army whose Commander in Chief has the full support of God the Father.
The Day of the Lord indeed will be both "great and terrible." The only persons who will be able to endure the terror of that Day will be those who have made their covenant with God through the blood of Christ. Only those who have obeyed the Lord God will be able to survive the onslaught of the Lord Jesus and His troops.
The Spirit is testifying that the marching orders soon are to be issued to Christ and His army.
Antichrist will be given the power to make war against the saints and to overcome the testimony. After Antichrist has revealed in the earth the depth of the foulness and destruction that is in the personality of Satan, the Lord and His army will put an end to the reign of Antichrist throughout the world.
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21,22)
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. (Daniel 7:26)
Habakkuk portrays the Day of the Lord. Another account of the army of Christ can be found in the third chapter of Habakkuk:
O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2)
When we hear what God is speaking concerning the wrath to be poured out on the sin in the world, on the arrogance of the nations, we pray for mercy. We ask God to revive His work by pouring out His Spirit on us. Today is a day of revival. If we will beseech the Lord Jesus He will pour out the Holy Spirit in an unprecedented manner.
When we listen to the Holy Spirit He speaks to us not only of the present revival but also of the great and terrible Day of the Lord just over the horizon. When we hear the Lord’s speech we tremble because of the wrath to come, as did Habakkuk, even though we understand we shall be saved through the holy atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. (Habakkuk 3:3)
Teman (Edom) and Mount Paran (Sinai region) represent the wilderness area. When the Church has wandered in the wilderness of instruction long enough, the Lord God will reveal Himself in the Day of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord will affect both the heavens and the earth. The Glory of the Lord God Almighty will shine through the heavens and there will come an answer of praise from the saints in the earth. The Lord God will appear in the Body of Christ on the earth and also will appear visibly in the heavens.
The fact that God came from the Sinai region reveals to us that the Lord always moves from the place of the Law. The Law was given on Mount Sinai. Whenever the Lord acts, the moral law must be in operation. The Lord God never will perform His works in an atmosphere of uncleanness or disobedience. When revival comes it always brings with it a return to purity of deed, word, and thought.
We cannot know the Glory of the Lord in the realm of victory in battle until first we have had our wilderness experience. Each of the Lord’s conquerors will have had a rigorous testing in the wilderness of tribulation. The Glory of God comes out of the wilderness.
And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. (Habakkuk 3:4)
The coming of Christ and His army will be characterized by an exceedingly brilliant light streaming from the Lord God, who will be dwelling in and working through and with the Head and Body of Christ—just as He dwelled in and worked through and with Jesus of Nazareth, the Head of the Body. The light will be extraordinarily bright in contrast with the oppressive spiritual darkness that will be covering the peoples of the earth.
Flashing from the Presence of Christ and His army will be the rays of the power of God Almighty. "Horns" are spoken of several time in the Scriptures. Horns represent the power to overcome resistance, just as the horns of bulls and goats overcome whatever is in their path.
The power of God in the exercise of judgment never before has been revealed to the degree that will be true during the onslaught of the army of the Lord against the rebels of the heavens and the earth.
Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. (Habakkuk 3:5)
The Day of the Lord is the day of fire. It is a baptism of fire on the works of the flesh, on the willfulness of mankind, on the uncleanness and rebellion of wicked spirits. All will be baptized in the fire of God.
The members of Christ’s Body are to be baptized with fire now, in these days, so that we will not be harmed in the Day of the Lord. Ours is a baptism that burns away from us all that is not of Christ. The fire on sinners is a baptism to destruction.
We noticed the fiery judgment when we were discussing Joel’s army: "A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth." The Presence of Christ, the Consuming Fire, is a blessing to the saints but a horror to the ungodly.
He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. (Habakkuk 3:6)
The measuring of the earth refers to the judgment on the peoples of the world that will be exercised through the saints at the coming of Christ and His army from Heaven. The authority and power of the national governments of the earth will be dissolved in that day.
The rule of men will be torn asunder and scattered. All the powers and institutions of the earth will bow in homage to Christ. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11).
The ways of God come to us from eternity. Our own ways are new and untested. God’s ways are eternal and they will be established in the earth. The ways of the world to which we are accustomed will be tested by fire. The practices that cannot survive the Divine fire will be consumed by it.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. (Habakkuk 3:7)
All of the glamour of the rule of the flesh in the earth will tremble in terror before the Lord Jesus in that day. The inhabitants will be punished for their sins.
Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? (Habakkuk 3:8)
The rivers mentioned here are the hearts of men, and the sea represents the nations of the earth that roll back and forth according to the winds that blow on them. There will be no "sea" on the new earth. There will be no mass of mankind that can be swayed by forces of error. Each saved person will be an individual who has Christ in him, who is known personally to God, and who knows God as Father and Friend.
There are many "rivers" spewing from the hearts of men today, and the billions of mankind are as a sea that is beginning to swell in agitation and disturbance because of the filth and violence being poured into it. The rivers of lust, murder, drunkenness, covetousness, and sorcery are gushing from the hearts of the ungodly.
The wrath of God is against the sea of mankind and against the rivers of ungodliness that swell the sea with foulness of every sort; but especially against the demon powers that are the real source of the murder, perversity, lust, drunkenness, and rebellion.
Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. (Habakkuk 3:9)
The making naked of God’s bow portrays the coming of God to make war against His enemies. Every true saint of Christ prays for this to happen soon. We cannot in our own strength overcome the forces of Satan. They make war against us all the time, causing pain and sorrow. It is God who will avenge us and chastise the wicked and rebellious.
God has promised that all evil will be put under our feet and we shall inherit the Kingdom of God. We have the Word of God for that. No matter what happens to us, no matter how our faith is tested, we are to maintain our hold on the oath of God. He has promised us victory in the end.
The cleaving of the earth with rivers signifies the rivers of living water of the Holy Spirit that will flow from the hearts of those who believe in Christ. In place of the rivers of lust, murder, covetousness, drunkenness, and sorcery will flow the rivers of eternal life, healing, righteousness, peace, and joy. The nations of the earth will be moved to worship God because of the abundance of the Holy Spirit in the earth.
The rivers of the Spirit pouring from Christ, Head and Body, will unite to form one clear River of Life that will flow throughout the earth as soon as the enemies of God have been judged and destroyed by the fire of God’s wrath.
The saints will bring both the fire and the water, judgment and deliverance, the curse and the blessing, death and life. Christians are baptized in both the Holy Spirit and the fire of God’s judgment. Therefore they are able to administer both blessing and judgment.
The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed through: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. (Habakkuk 3:10)
The established institutions and governments of the world will behold God. They will witness the dead and the living in Christ ascend before their eyes just as Jesus ascended up to Heaven in the sight of people. In stark terror the wicked will observe the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens.
They will see the face of the Lamb of God as He surveys the peoples of the earth. They will witness the vengeance of God in that face. They will behold the Son of God riding at the head of the fiercest army ever to appear on the earth or in Heaven.
The "overflowing of the water" passing by speaks of the tide of judgment that will wash over the earth in destroying fury. The judgment will be administered under the direct supervision of Christ and His saints. The "deep" refers to the world spirit in the mass of mankind. The meek of the earth will lift up their hands in worshipful recognition of the glory, wisdom, and power of God Almighty.
Throughout all the earth the inhabitants will realize that God has sent Christ and that God loves the saints as He loves Christ.
They will behold the Lord God as He reveals Himself in Christ, Head and Body. The nations will worship God, as we are told so many times in the Book of Psalms (Psalms 148, for example). The whole earth will be full of the glory and praise of God. The physical landscape, the mountains and oceans, the hills and rivers of the earth, will be affected by the coming of Christ and His army of saints. The spiritual changes will be reflected in the material universe.
The creation will demonstrate an animation that has not been seen on the earth since the Garden of Eden. All nature will join with the saints in spewing out the rottenness with which the wicked who practice sin and rebellion have destroyed God’s handiwork (Romans 8:21).
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. (Habakkuk 3:11)
The sun and moon stood still at the word of Joshua. We notice the sun and moon working together with the sons of God as the judgment continues over the face of the earth. The stars in their courses will fight against the forces of darkness in that day. We see this effect on the heavenly bodies, in other passages of Scripture.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: (Joel 2:10)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (Matthew 24:29)
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. (Isaiah 13:10)
During the Day of Christ that is to come there will be massive shakings of the mountains and the hills. The oceans and rivers of the earth will be affected. The sun, moon, and stars will behave in unusual ways at the word of Christ and His saints.
Every seemingly substantial element in which people trust will be shaken and moved from its place so mankind will understand that the rule of man has been concluded and Christ now is installing a new government and a new way of life.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. (Habakkuk 3:12)
It is the Lord God Almighty who will be striding through the land in Christ and the Body of Christ. It is the judgment of God on His creatures. God is coming in the fire of His royal indignation because of the despising of His commandments and edicts, just as would any other emperor.
The word thresh portrays separating the wheat from the chaff. In the Day of His judgment God will remove all that is undesirable from the creation. God will judge the world in anger in the Day of Christ.
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. (Habakkuk 3:13)
The coming of Christ will be a time of judgment and destruction for the rebels in the heavens and the earth. It will be the greatest period of salvation for every individual who puts his trust in Christ. "To them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28).
One of the significant aspects of the Day of Christ is that Satan will be sealed in the bottomless pit. The evil forces in the heavenlies will be torn down from their vantage points and then lowered yet further to the caverns within the earth.
No more will we be dealing with the symptoms of evil, obtaining minor deliverances here and there. In that day God will give us the necks of our spiritual enemies. We shall cut off the head of the forces of darkness. The Church will crush Satan under foot. There will be total victory over the power of sin. Everything after that will be a mopping-up operation. God will enable us to strike the fatal blow.
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. (Habakkuk 3:14)
This verse has to do with the conflict between Christ and Satan. The enemy is rejoicing in his wickedness but God has pierced the head of the wicked one with his own spears.
The evil princes did all in their power to destroy Christ while He was being tested by the Father, and they do all in their power to devour each saint while he or she is being tested by the Lord.
The lords of darkness will gather together the leaders of the earth to resist Christ at His appearing. God Almighty will pierce them through with their own arrows, as God always does to the wicked when the righteous cry out for deliverance.
If we will keep our situation before the Lord and not fight back against the wickedness that is done to us, the Lord Jesus will make certain that every arrow directed against us will find its way back into the heart of the one who shot it. The wicked will set traps for us but they will fall into their own traps.
This is the manner in which God’s judgment works on our behalf, provided we do not avenge ourselves. When we avenge ourselves we rob God of His rightful role of avenging sin and rebellion.
Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. (Habakkuk 3:15)
Here, as in Joel, we see the Lord Jesus and His saints on the white horses of war. These are spiritual horses, perfectly equipped to enable their riders to execute the Lord’s vengeance. The horses of God love the conflict and rejoice as they charge against the enemies of God. They prance with excitement when they hear the shouting of the captains. The thunder of the battle is the sweetest sound heard by their ears.
The horses and their riders will move through the mass of mankind executing the judgment of Christ. No power on earth or in the heavens can withstand Christ’s army. Michael will lead the army of Heaven in coordination with the army of Christ on the earth. This is a double camp, able to destroy all enemies both in the heavens and on the earth.
When the "Shulamite" returns there will be a double camp.
Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? as it were the company of two armies. (Song of Solomon 6:13)
One army is made up of Christ and His saints. The other army is composed of Michael and his angels.
When Joshua began the invasion of Canaan the captain of the Lord’s army came to meet him. The Church of Christ cannot drive Satan from the land of promise until God directs Michael to coordinate his activities with those who are leading the Church.
When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. (Habakkuk 3:16)
The above passage parallels: "let all the inhabitants of the land tremble," of Joel 2:1. There is a weakness and decay that enters our bones, even as Christians, when God appears to us in the kind of anger, war, and judgment recorded in Habakkuk, Chapter Three. Habakkuk sought "rest in the day of trouble," in the Day when the Lord invades the earth with His troops.
This is the passage Paul was thinking of when he was comforting the saints in Thessalonica.
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (II Thessalonians 1:7)
Habakkuk had learned from the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:11) that the Day of Christ will be a period of destruction on the earth.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: (Habakkuk 3:17)
Yet God has promised those who love Him and who abide in Christ that their bread and waters will be sure (Isaiah 33:16). They will be clothed (Matthew 6:30). They will be protected from all harm and danger (compare Psalms 91—a Psalm prepared for the Day of Christ).
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:18)
We Christians can rejoice at the thought of the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord because we shall be under the watchful protection of the Lord God no matter where we are or in what circumstances we may find ourselves.
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:19)
This last verse is important to us. It reveals the fact that in the Day of the Lord, each member of the Body of Christ will be especially equipped to move with the speed and strength of the Lord. The strength of the Christian in that day will be the strength of God. This is why God spends so much time teaching us to wait for Him, giving our strength and wisdom in exchange for His Divine, supernatural strength and wisdom.
Human wisdom and strength will be of no avail in the Day of the Lord.
The purpose of the third death and resurrection is that we may die to our own ways and gain the strength and wisdom of God. The members of the army of Christ no longer are alive to themselves. They have denied themselves in Christ to the point they are crucified with Christ. It is Christ who is living in them, as Paul stated.
Therefore their strength rises in God and flows along with God’s purposes. They are invincible in the Day of Christ because the strength in them is proceeding directly from the Lord God Almighty. God Himself is their strength in that day.
The Day of the Lord in Revelation, Chapter Nineteen. We have seen the coming of Christ in Joel, Chapter Two and Habakkuk, Chapter Three. Let us turn now to Revelation, Chapter 19 and examine how a prophet of the New Testament describes the same burden, the same vision.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)
Notice that the army of the Lord will descend from Heaven to the earth. Christ is ready at this point to judge and make war in righteousness.
The names "Faithful and True" are worthy of special note. We know well that Christ is faithful and true. In Revelation 17:14 we learn that "they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Not only must the disciple be "called" in salvation, and "chosen" because of his remaining with the Lord Jesus, as did the first apostles (John 6:70), he also must be proven "faithful." The faithful area is that of the third death and resurrection.
We must be tried, tried, tested, proven, shaken, everything in us brought under the searching eyes of Him with whom we have to do. God is looking for absolute faithfulness of the type that Abraham demonstrated. Every soldier who rides with Christ will be called, chosen, and faithful. Some are called and chosen, and now are enduring tests to demonstrate the quality of their faithfulness. There can be no mistakes once that army commences its charge.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. (Revelation 19:12)
Again we notice the reference to the "flame of fire" that characterizes the army of the Lord as it invades the "paradise" that has been put together under the guidance of unclean spirits. The nations will be speaking of peace and security just before the Lord comes, but it will be a filthy, perverse, abominable peace, like that which people are attempting to manufacture in the world in the days in which we are living.
There is no righteous, lasting peace apart from Christ!
On the head of Christ are many crowns. The many crowns speak to us of two facts. First, they signify that Christ is absolute Head over all nations and over all facets of life—material and spiritual.
Second, they reveal that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. The kings and lords over whom Christ is King and Lord are God’s saints. Each saint is being prepared to be a king and priest of God. Each saint gives his crown to Christ in token of the fact he voluntarily and personally has chosen Christ as the Lord of his life.
Remember how the elders in Heaven remove their crowns and give them to the Lord? Christ is King over all of God’s kings and Lord over all of God’s lords. Christ does not desire to be king over the ungodly, fleshly politicians of the earth. They soon are to be cut down like grass unless they choose to receive Christ as their rightful King.
The "name written, that no man knew" is significant. In other passages of Revelation we find reference to the giving of new names to Christ and to the victorious saints. The giving of a new name, which Jesus of Nazareth occasionally would do to His disciples, indicates that God has revealed to the one who receives the new name something concerning his character and destiny.
No person knows of the new character and destiny other than the person to whom God assigns the new name.
Sometimes God brings us through a difficult period and we "die" in the Lord. Then He raises us up by His power. When He does, He sometimes reveals to us new facts about what we have become in Him and what our role in His purposes is to be.
We do not tell others the secrets of the Lord. We watch and wait prayerfully to see how God will interpret what He has spoken. It is a new name, a new identity, and we must wait for God to confirm it and to bring forth into reality what He has spoken in secret.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
The blood of Christ always must go before the saints into battle. We overcome the adversary by the blood of the Lamb. The blood stops the mouths of all the accusers of God’s people. The blood enables God to work with us and it keeps us under Divine protection.
When the angel of destruction sees the blood he passes over us. This protection is ours when we first are saved. The blood perseveres throughout our Christian discipleship and will continue to guard us during the Day of Wrath.
Christ’s name in that day is the Word of God. Christ possesses many names. He is the Lion of Judah, the Lord, the Savior, the Bridegroom, the Good Shepherd, the King.
In the Day of Christ His name will be The Word of God. This also must be true of every saint who rides with Christ in that day. He must be the Word of God. The Word of God is the weapon with which the Holy Spirit will judge and liberate the peoples of the earth.
Christ is the Word made flesh. We are the flesh being made the Word.
It is the Word of God that is testing us as it did Joseph. It is in terms of the Word that we are being proven faithful. Only as we are willing to deny ourselves and allow God to resurrect the Word of God in us will we be prepared to ride with Christ in the Day of the Lord.
In Joel, Chapter Two we learned that "when they fall on the sword, they shall not be wounded." The reason the Lord’s saints cannot be wounded in that day is that they already have been judged by the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit no longer can harm them. The Church in that day will have become the sword of the Holy Spirit of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
The "fine linen, white and clean" portrays the righteous actions of the saints. The fine linen is not the imputed (ascribed) righteousness that is assigned to us at the first level of redemption but rather the righteousness fashioned in us at the sanctification and conquest levels of redemption.
The army of Christ is not a group of people who are gossiping, backbiting, murdering, hating, lusting, and hoping that somehow the grace of God is covering their ungodly conduct. This is an army of saints, of holy ones who have laid hold on the grace of God in Christ until their deeds, motives, words, and imaginations have been brought into subjection to Christ.
Every self-seeking motive in them has been brought under the feet of Christ. They are holy as He is holy. They walk as He walks. They are without guile as He is without guile. They have been found faithful. They have overcome the accuser by the grace of God. They are the army of the Lord. Their raiment is not merely white with the innocence of Adam and Eve, their garments are dazzling—radiantly brilliant with the militant righteousness of Christ.
They love righteousness and hate sin and rebellion, therefore God has anointed them with the oil of gladness.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:15)
All the nations of the earth will be forced to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. A rod of iron represents the irresistible power and determination with which the Spirit of God will compel obedience to the Lord. The full measure of the fierceness of wrath of Almighty God—a fierceness and wrath that has been held in reserve for thousands of years—will be administered through Christ and the saints.
The Word of God in judgment will prevail throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age.
The power of the Word to destroy will be manifest, especially in the beginning when the Kingdom Age is being installed. The death of Ananias and Sapphira is a portrayal of the operation of the Word of God in judgment during the Day of Christ.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)
There is a difference in the appearance of Christ, and of those who ride with Him. His army is clothed in sparkling white linen like that of the transfigured Christ—robes created from and reflecting the godly conduct of the saints.
The saints have achieved this godly conduct by confessing their sins, receiving the forgiveness and the cleansing that proceed from the blood of Christ, and then resisting the adversary.
In that day the saints will be clothed in their own righteous conduct.
Christ Himself is not robed in white but in material dyed red by dipping it in blood. The saints of Christ’s army are invincible because Christ, their Commander in Chief, overcame the accusations of Satan by the shedding of His innocent blood.
On Christ’s garment is emblazoned the title: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Satan has always desired this preeminence, and he attempted to be the god of Jesus while Jesus was in the wilderness of temptation. Jesus has redeemed His followers by the shedding of His blood. His title no longer can be questioned. The kingship lawfully is His.
If the saints were led by anyone except someone clothed in blood, the exercise of the wrath of God could lead into danger those who were exercising it. It is a fearful thing to wield the two-edged sword of the Spirit. God is righteous, and if there were a trace of lawlessness in any of Christ’s soldiers, and Satan understood it, the battle would falter at that point.
Since the Leader of the saints is clothed in His own innocent blood that was shed on behalf of the saints, and since those who are with Him are faithful, and since the blood will keep on appeasing the wrath of God as far as the saints are concerned, the attack will not falter at any point.
At the present time we are not allowed to exercise vengeance against wrongdoing. Vengeance belongs to God and we must never avenge ourselves. Whenever we attempt to avenge ourselves, to justify ourselves, God becomes displeased with us. The judgment with which we are judging falls back on us. We are wounded by the two-edged sword we are wielding. With what judgment we judge we ourselves are judged.
In the Day of Christ the struggle against wickedness will be different. In that day we will be permitted to exercise the vengeance of God against the enemies of God. The vengeance we have been forbidden to exercise in the present hour will then be placed in our hands.
However, one principle will remain the same: we ourselves will be judged as we are judging others. Because our Leader, Christ, is robed in His own blood, and we are under His covering, His authority, the judgment of God will not harm us. The Day of Christ will be a fearful time indeed. We need to know exactly what we are doing when we enter the administration of the release of the wrath of God Almighty.
The title King of Kings and Lord of Lords is inscribed on the thigh of Christ. The third death and resurrection has to do with the "thigh" of man, to speak figuratively. Jacob was lame in the area of his thigh after he wrestled with the angel. The thigh is the area of strength and reproduction in mankind.
In the third death and resurrection we are brought down to death, as God requires that we keep on denying ourselves for Christ’s sake and for the Gospel’s. Our natural power and fruitfulness are destroyed in the process. In their place appear the strength of God and the fruitfulness of God.
Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords in His thigh because He died on the cross, being made lower than any other man. He suffered shame and humiliation. Therefore God has exalted Him above every other man. Because He became barren for God’s sake, God has made Christ fruitful above every other man. Now He is King and Lord of all who likewise have died and become barren in God, and whom God has raised in His power and His fruitfulness.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. (Revelation 19:17,18)
So much rebellion and perversity will have been sown in the earth during the reign of Antichrist that many people, although they have been visited with the wrath of God until the earth is reeling under the destruction, still will hate Christ and will suppose they can resist His coming. As always, men and women in their perversity and rebellion will imagine they will be able to repair the damage caused by the Divine wrath during the great tribulation and the outpouring of the bowls of wrath, and then be able to continue in their Christ-rejecting ways.
Thousands of years before, Pharaoh of Egypt demonstrated the rebellion and perversity that will be shown by the nations of the earth when Jesus returns to call out His people. We can observe the same rebellion and perversity in our own behavior. God deals with us severely until we repent. As soon as the pressure is removed we begin to scheme how we can return to our life as it had been previously.
Plague after plague descends on "Pharaoh." While the plague is present Pharaoh is willing to repent. As soon as God withdraws the plague, Pharaoh will begin to scheme how he can restore "Egypt" (the world) apart from obeying God.
It will be necessary that multitudes of people be slain in the Day of Christ. They will hate the appearing of Christ just as they hated the first coming of Christ and the presence of the early Christians among them. His appearing will destroy those rebels. The birds that feed on carrion will have the greatest banquet of all time during the Day of Christ because of the dead bodies lying about in heaps.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. (Revelation 19:19)
The above verse is hard to picture. First of all, for us who long for the coming of the Lord above all else it is difficult to conceive of people deliberately resisting His return to the earth.
Second, it would seem that when the peoples of the earth saw the Lord Jesus and His saints, each manifestly being full of the power and wrath of God Almighty, they would throw down their weapons and cast themselves on His mercy. However, being led of demons, they will attempt to resist Christ and His army.
Whether earth’s peoples will be so foolish as to shoot at spiritual beings with material weapons (something like putting Peter or Paul in jail after they have risen from the dead), or whether they will attempt to utilize supernatural methods to repel Christ and the saints, remains to be seen. Some combination of the two undoubtedly will occur.
Perhaps earth’s leaders will call on the assistance of those who deal in occult matters, as did Balak, hoping to enlist supernatural support against the takeover of Christ and His army of kings and lords. In our own time we see political leaders and the police asking assistance from those who demonstrate psychic power, in order to obtain wisdom and knowledge, or to learn of the future, or to solve some crime that has not yielded to ordinary police methods.
It may seem strange to us that anyone would be so foolish as to attempt to repel the onslaught of Christ and His army. When we come in contact with evil spirits, and with people who have been deceived by them, we soon realize that they will proceed onward in all confidence, persuaded they can accomplish their goals and prosper in joy and peace while they are disobeying Christ.
The forces of evil live and move in such deception they trust that somehow the Scriptures will not prove to be true concerning the destruction of sin and rebellion in the Day of the Lord Jesus.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)
We are encouraged when we understand that although our wrestling against sin seemingly is an endless struggle, a final, decisive victory is at hand. God will give us the necks of our enemies. Satan will be crushed under the feet of the Church.
If we follow the Lord Jesus faithfully we have no reason to fear the coming of the Day of the Lord or the events and circumstances surrounding that coming. God’s covering and provisions are sure.
If we are not serving the Lord faithfully we do have reason to fear the Lord’s coming. We are facing fiery judgment whether or not we profess belief in the Lord Jesus!
The army of Christ, in Second Thessalonians. We have studied the army of Christ in Joel, Chapter Two, Habakkuk, Chapter Three, and Revelation, Chapter Nineteen. Christ’s army appears also in Second Thessalonians.
The church at Thessalonica was enduring persecution and tribulation. Paul wrote to inform the saints that these troubles are proof of the righteous judgment of God and that the saints of Thessalonica were suffering so they may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God:
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; (II Thessalonians 1:6)
The Church will suffer persecution and tribulation throughout its history, particularly in the days just prior to the appearing of Christ. The coming of Christ will bring a recompense to Christians because of the distress and afflictions they have received at the hands of the ungodly. The distress and afflictions will be heaped a hundredfold on the enemies of Christ and His saints in that day.
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (II Thessalonians 1:7-9)
This is the coming of the army of the Lord. Notice again the "flaming fire," as we found in Joel, Chapter Two. It is the fire of God’s vengeance on His enemies administered under the supervision of Christ and His army of saints.
We can observe also the army of Heaven—the "mighty angels" who will wage their own part of the warfare. It is the Day of the power of Christ, the Day of redemption, the avenging of the blood of all of God’s prophets and saints. It indeed will be a frightful time for all who have not obeyed the Gospel of Christ.
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (II Thessalonians 1:10)
Compare:
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)
Christ will gather together His elect from the four corners of the earth, with the trumpet blast of God. After that, He will descend from Heaven with His army, being glorified "in his saints" and "admired in all of them that believe." All the peoples of the earth will witness the exodus of the dead and living saints, and then the return of Christ with His army. At that time they will understand that God has sent Christ and that He has loved the saints as He has loved His own Son.
Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (II Thessalonians 1:11,12)
It is not enough that a person make an initial profession of Christ and then wait passively for the Lord to come. Passive believers will never ride with Christ in the Day of the Lord. God must count us "worthy of this calling." He must "fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power." We must adopt an attitude of militant faith and press forward in the power of God; always, however, watching carefully for the Lord’s will.
If persecution and tribulation come, and we fall away in coldness and unbelief, we are not to suppose that Christ will return and be glorified and admired in us.
He who endures throughout tribulation will be saved. The task of overcoming the accuser lies before us. No matter what trouble comes upon us we are to lay hold on the promises of God and continue to be strong in faith, praying to Christ for wisdom and strength.
The quality of patient enduring is one of the many factors that go together to ensure success in the Christian pilgrimage. It is relatively easy to make an initial show of salvation. It is quite another matter to attend patiently to Christ each day of our lives—particularly when we are suffering testing and trouble of all kinds. Those who ride with Him are "called and chosen and faithful."
Events of the end-time.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (II Thessalonians 2:1,2)
In the second chapter of II Thessalonians, Paul informs the believers of the events that must occur before the Lord comes and we are gathered together to Him. Notice that Paul is speaking of the "day of Christ."
Apparently some teachers were emphasizing to the church at Thessalonica that the Lord Jesus suddenly was going to appear. As a result, some of the believers were not working at their jobs. Also, they were growing impatient with the persecution and afflictions they were enduring. They felt that Jesus should come immediately so they no longer would be required to endure the laborious pilgrimage to which each Christian has been called.
We can observe a similar attitude in some of the assemblies of today. People are hoping they will be caught away to be with the Lord so they can escape the problems of this life. As a result they take an unprofitable attitude toward trials, not realizing that the trials are the means through which God is making them worthy of His Kingdom.
The saints will not seek the will of Christ for their lives if we advise them that they will be leaving any minute. They become impatient with the work of the Spirit in their lives. They are not willing to go through the deaths and resurrections of redemption.
Some of the churches of our day practice for the "rapture" by jumping up and down next to their pews. They would do better to practice for the first resurrection by counting themselves crucified and risen with Christ.
Any doctrine that turns us away from a patient cross-carrying discipleship, away from bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, away from seeking God for worldwide revival and for our part in that revival, is not of the Spirit of God.
Some false teachers had worked the Thessalonians into a troubled frame of mind regarding the coming of Christ. Their teaching was that the Lord was coming immediately. The result was (as might be expected) that the Thessalonians ceased taking seriously their labors in the Lord. They believed that everything would terminate at any moment. Why bother making an effort to seek the will of God for one’s life?
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [destruction]; (II Thessalonians 2:3)
The Lord Jesus will not come for us until worldwide lawlessness occurs and Antichrist has been revealed, according to this teaching of Paul. It seems to us, after comparing the many passages throughout the Scriptures that refer to the Day of the Lord, and after waiting on the mind of the Holy Spirit, that—generally speaking—the events of the end-time are as follows.
We are entering a time of revival without precedent in the history of all of God’s working with His creatures. The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached for a witness to every nation under the heaven. All the peoples of the earth will see and hear the Gospel. Tremendous works of power, miracles, manifestations of the Spirit, will abound as never before.
It is our understanding that this double anointing of power is the fulfillment of the "two witnesses" of Revelation, Chapter 11. Their testimony will be a "John the Baptist" ministry, preparing the way of the Lord.
The first coming of Christ was announced by John the Baptist (Elijah). The second coming of Christ will be announced by the power of the Spirit of God moving through each member of the Body of Christ (Elisha). It is the latter (harvest) rain, far surpassing the revival of the first century in power and glory. The Book of Acts, which concludes with Paul preaching the Kingdom of God, will be continued gloriously.
At the same time, and increasing all the while, there will arise persecution and lawlessness. Both lawlessness and revival will exist side by side; but the lawlessness will be held in check while God brings forth His Word in power.
The power of the Spirit of Christ in the saints will prevent the mature expression of Antichrist (the man of lawlessness; unrestrained freedom of expression), until the fullness of time has come. The saints will preach the Gospel with signs and wonders and the whole world will behold the witness that God will give concerning the coming of His Kingdom.
The message of the saints will be, "The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel."
While sin is coming to maturity in the earth, and the Gospel is being preached in the fullness of the Spirit, the Church at the same time will be bringing forth in the hearts of the saints the image of Christ, the coming Ruler of the nations, the "man child" of Revelation, Chapter 12. As soon as God has determined that everyone on the earth has had an opportunity to understand His purpose in Christ, the lawlessness and trouble in the earth will greatly increase. The members of the Body of Christ, who up to this time had been allowed to bring their testimony to every nation under the heavens, will be forced to go into hiding, just as happened in the early centuries of the Church.
Because lawlessness will be widespread at that time, many of the newly converted believers will be deceived and their love will grow cold. Spiritual deadness and unbelief will corrupt the hearts of the majority of Christian people. The coldness and unbelief, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, is the "falling away" of II Thessalonians 2:3. Through much tribulation the Body of Christ will come to unity and maturity. The true disciples of the Lord, those who will be faithful to Christ no matter what happens to them, will be forced to flee for their life. They no longer will be accepted by the nations of the earth.
The people of the world, in many instances, will help shield the Church from the dragon (Revelation 12:16). When the Church Age has been concluded, Christ will judge the nations on the basis of how they have treated His brothers—especially during the difficult period just ahead (Matthew 25:31-46).
God is preparing strong Christians today who will be able to assist the weaker disciples in the day of trouble (Daniel 11:33). It is God’s will that the strong come to the aid of those in need. When Christians are gifted and blessed it is so they may strengthen others. The strong are to help the weak, just as Joseph fed and protected his family in the time of famine.
The persecution of the saints and the deceiving of multitudes of believers by the growth of lawlessness will coincide with the ascent of Antichrist to the temporary rulership of the world (II Thessalonians 2:3). The deceived "believers" will compromise with the moneymaking spirit of the world and form the church of lawlessness and self-will. This powerless "Babylon" (man-directed Christianity) will be a vicious persecutor of the saints, for such is the pattern of history.
Antichrist is the evil world-ruler whose spirit has been in the world since the first century. The spirit of Antichrist is mentioned by the Apostle John in his first Epistle. Antichrist is not yet free to ascend in his corrupt glory before the eyes of the world. Before Jesus returns, God will allow Antichrist to deceive the peoples of the world.
The spirit of Antichrist is that of libertarian democracy. It is the self-rule of man. The idea of man governing himself and being free to express himself as he will, appears on the surface to be almost a Christian ideal. However libertarian democracy is thoroughly and incurably anti-Christian. Since people are only the dust of the ground, self-rule quickly becomes Satan-rule. The demons take advantage of our weakness and do our thinking for us.
In the nations of the earth that strive for libertarian democracy we may observe every possible form of depravity. The debauchery in the so-called "free" nations is becoming more foul each day.
The Scriptures do not teach libertarian democracy. The Scriptures teach that we must repudiate our self- centeredness, self-will, self-love, and become the slaves of Christ. It is only as we become one with the will of God that we find liberty. The stricter our discipline under the Lord’s hand the more glorious our freedom to truly be ourselves. Such a concept is abominable to those who pursue freedom of speech, thought, and action.
Freedom to speak results in profanity and moral filth. Freedom to act results in fornication and drunkenness. Freedom to think results in abominable fantasies and motivations. Complete servitude to the Lord Jesus in each of these areas leads to wholesome, constructive speech, godly behavior, and a pure mind.
Through his union with the governments of earth and with the formalized, Spirit-less, Christ-less churches, Antichrist will achieve what has not been achieved before on the earth. The world finally will be united. At last, people will come to experience the absence of war.
There will be peace, prosperity, and security for every man, woman, boy and girl (Revelation 11:10). Many so-called Christians will accept the world order. They will keep the name of Christ but they will be worshiping in a form of godliness without Divine power. They will accept this compromise just as people do today.
The peoples of the earth will settle down to rest. The ancient dream of mankind has been realized. People now are free to occupy all their time with buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage.
At this point the saints of the Lord will be in hiding, being protected by the promises of the Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first Psalms as well as by the remainder of the promises of God’s unchanging Word.
As calamities of nature begin to express the wrath of God concerning the hideous maturing of rebellion and sin in the earth, the Lord Jesus will come into the saints to a far greater extent than has been true previously. The inner coming of Christ and the Father is the fulfillment of the Levitical feast of Tabernacles. The spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is spoken of by the Lord Jesus in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)
Antichrist will express his personality in the peoples of the world. God will take up His abode in the hearts of His saints before the Lord Jesus returns.
One of the acts of the Lord Jesus upon entering His people to this increased extent will be to open the eyes of the Jewish people. Just as Joseph took care of his family throughout the famine, so will the Lord Jesus, ministering through His Body, take care of the elect of the Jewish race—those whom Antichrist at that time will attempt to destroy.
The saints and newly reconciled Jews will await the return of the Lord Jesus from Heaven. The world will be exclaiming, Peace and safety!
Then there will appear signs in the heavens. The sun and the moon will be darkened. The sign of the Son of Man will appear for all to see. The heavenly Moses has appeared to call His people out of Egypt.
"Pharaoh" will attempt to reassure his people, but plague after plague will descend on the world. The people of the Lord will be hidden under the hand of protection of the Lord God, just as Israel in Goshen was not harmed by the plagues that fell on Egypt.
Darkness will cover the earth and oppressive spiritual darkness the people. Suddenly, light will appear on the people of God. The Lord God now is ready to "roar from Zion." The trumpet of God will begin to peal, shaking the earth. Michael will give his war cry. Suddenly the saints of all time will be filled with resurrection life. Their dead bodies will arise and stand on their feet.
To the consternation of the rulers and peoples of the earth, every dead saint will come from his place of burial and stand on the earth. There will be a time of rejoicing among God’s people as they are reunited in holy fellowship, that will far exceed in glory any previous occasion in the history of God’s dealings with mankind.
Antichrist, the rulers, the peoples of the earth, who one moment before had been declaring peace and safety, must now stand and—to their excruciating horror—watch the saints of God embracing each other and praising the Lord (Revelation 11:11).
God has prepared a table before His people in the presence of their enemies. The living Christians will gather together with all who have died in Christ. Such a time of praise! Such a time of rejoicing, of reunion of family members! There is nothing the peoples of the world will be able to do about it other than to look on in trembling—and tremble they shall!
The most awful thing yet will then occur. The most powerful sound ever to stir the air will be heard. Christ will cry: "Come up here!" (Revelation 11:12).
The saints of God will begin to ascend just as Jesus ascended in the sight of witnesses. They will go up through the air to be with the Lamb of God, their bodies having been changed so there is no injury to them. There will be multiplied millions of them—as clouds that hide the face of the sun.
The people left on earth will now proceed to destroy each other. They will turn on their rulers with cursing and murderous hatred. They will hurl down the pieces of silver with which they have betrayed Christ, so to speak, and demand an answer of the evil forces.
Like Judas, they will realize they have betrayed Christ and are lost forever. The result will be anguish of spirit, weeping, gnashing of teeth. Just as Judas was driven by despair to commit suicide, so people will attempt suicide but will not be able to take refuge in death (Revelation 9:6).
The bowls of God’s wrath will be poured out. Plague after plague will strike the earth. Humans will howl in torment, cursing God, cursing Christ, cursing the Christians. They will be mocked by the demon hordes. The most frightful visions of Hell ever witnessed by anyone will be a Sunday-school picnic compared to the earth after the saints are lifted out and the wrath of God is poured on the rebellious.
After the world has writhed in pain for a season, the ungodly must endure another great terror. Down from the heavens with the speed of light will thunder the Lord and His army. Filled to overflowing with the wrath of God, invincible, ready to avenge the injustices of the world, will appear the sons of God (Jude 1:14,15). Men will scream in terror for the mountains and rocks to hide them from the face of the Lamb. Death itself will flee away in fear in that day.
The coming of the saints seen by Enoch, Joel, Isaiah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Micah, Malachi, John, and others of the Prophets is the Day of Vengeance of our God and the release of the creation from the bondage of evil.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (II Thessalonians 2:8)
We Christians are to have no fear of Antichrist. The spirit of Antichrist has been in the world since the first century. It is the spirit that attempts to create a world order apart from the lordship of Christ. It is man making himself God.
We understand from the Scriptures that the spirit of Antichrist will be personified in the end-time in a very talented administrator, perhaps a deceived Christian, perhaps a woman. The kingdom of Antichrist may be a material kingdom or he may rule in the hearts of men as does the Lord Jesus Christ. Most likely both will be true. In any event, every trace of Antichrist will be destroyed by the brightness of the appearing of the Lord Jesus.
We Christians are to have no fear of the Beast, his mark, or the False Prophet. The spirit of the mark of the Beast has been in the world since the first century and today is stronger than ever. The spirit of the mark of the Beast is dependence on the world system for our survival, with an emphasis on the seeking of money.
Under the spirit of the world, mankind strives to attain security without reference to God. The trinity of sixes (666) in the mark of the Beast means that man has exalted himself to the place of God—six being the number of man and three the number of God.
In some countries of the world today there are complicated financial systems that attempt to insure that people will have enough money for all the necessities and luxuries of life on the earth. Every kind of welfare and pension plan is in effect, both in the government and also in industry. The idea is to secure the individual against any condition that will leave him or her without the means to obtain the desired things and circumstances.
One of the most important characteristics of the man or woman of God is the ability to look to God for all necessities and desires. It is a difficult lesson to learn, being the first temptation of Christ, especially if we live in a country that has been accustomed to prosperity.
Perhaps we cannot imagine what it would be like to look to God for our daily needs, but this is the pathway of life in Christ. While the Lord Jesus was on the earth He was independent of the economic order. He looked to God for every need and desire. The mark of the Beast is revealed when we are unable to perform God’s will because doing so will deprive us of material security.
In His Word, God has promised to supply all our needs if we will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Antichrist informs us that such an approach to life is impractical and we must rely on the world economic system for our survival. Antichrist further advises us that there is no need to live by the Word of God; we can survive and prosper apart from God and Christ.
Whom are we to believe, God or the world economic system? Christ or Antichrist? We have made our final choice. How about you?
As we have seen, Antichrist will be destroyed by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in and with His saints. Antichrist is the ruling spirit of the world. The mark of the Beast will be a means by which Antichrist will gain control over people by giving them or withholding from them economic security.
Although we Christians make excellent employees and work hard and faithfully when we have the opportunity, we must never allow the world economic system to hinder our obedience to the will of Christ.
The fulfillment of the Blowing of Trumpets.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:16,17)
Notice that the trumpet figures prominently in the Day of Christ:
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:51,52)
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30,31)
The sounding of the trumpet of God in the Day of the Lord is the kingdom-wide fulfillment of the Blowing of Trumpets. We discover in Revelation that the Lord’s trumpet will sound seven times.
When we examine the blowing of trumpets, as described in Revelation, we notice the events leading up to the Day of Christ. When the seventh angel begins to sound, the mystery of God will be finished, and the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of God and of His Christ. At the time of the sounding of the seventh trumpet the saints will be resurrected and then ascend into the heaven in a cloud.
And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Revelation 11:11,12)
Standing upon their feet is the resurrection. Rising into the heaven in a cloud is the ascension. The saints will experience resurrection and ascension. (There may be an interval of time between the two experiences; there were forty days between the resurrection of Christ and His ascension.)
The "Spirit of life from God" entering them is described in Romans, Chapter Eight:
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11)
Let us review what has transpired prior to the resurrection and ascension of the saints.
It is our understanding, from the fourth chapter of Zechariah, that the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter 11 are a symbolic portrayal of the double portion of God’s Holy Spirit that will be poured on the members of the Body of Christ, in order to serve as the forerunner of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The measuring of the Temple of God, Revelation 11:1, refers to the fact that God at this time will be refining in judgment those closest to Him. Divine judgment always begins in the household of God, and it commences in His sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6).
The world system will be left unjudged for a season and the nations will be heading toward the revealing of Antichrist. The flood of filth that already has begun in the earth will keep on rising in anticipation of the hideous flowering of sin that is to come.
The double portion of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of God’s holiness and power, is coming to the Church so that it may give one last trumpet call to all the peoples of the earth: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
It is our belief that the double anointing already is descending on the Church.
There will be increasing persecution and affliction in the earth and the saints will be sustained miraculously during this period of time. The Word of God will be as fire in the mouths of God’s people. Whoever attempts to harm the saints in those days will come under judgment and be destroyed.
If a city refuses to hear the Gospel, and the servants of Christ shake off the dust of their feet as a testimony against it, it will be more pleasant in the Day of Judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for that unbelieving and rebellious city.
As soon as the Lord has determined the testimony has been sufficient, days of trouble will set in. Antichrist will rise against the Church. There will be religious persecution and a further rise in lawlessness. The members of the warlike remnant of saints will be driven from the cities of the earth.
At this time the Jewish people will be brought into trouble, but Christ will come to their aid, ministering to them through the remnant of true Christian saints. It will be a period of reconciliation between the elect Jews and their Christ.
Satan will attempt to finish the task of destroying the Christians but will be unable to do so. Multitudes of the recent converts will fall away and their love for Christ will grow cold because of the deceiving miracles performed by Satan and the temptations offered by the exceedingly wicked practices of the peoples of the earth.
The peoples of the world under the advice of their leaders will not allow the Christian religion to be "put in graves," that is, to be destroyed from the earth. They will tolerate and support many "Christian" institutions, but those institutions will be destitute of the Spirit of God. The wicked of the earth will rejoice because the power of the testimony of the end-time Church had been a constant reminder of judgment to come, preventing the full flowering of the abominable sin and perversity in which the wicked delight.
The nations of the earth will be judged at the feet of the enthroned Christ on the basis of how they treated Christ’s "brothers" during the closing days of the Church Age and during the previous eras of history.
Before the Church Age closes the saints will take part in the most powerful witness of the Kingdom ever experienced on the earth. Then they will be scattered, and many converts will grow cold because of the rule of Antichrist and the economic system imposed by Antichrist.
The "dead bodies" will lie "in the streets of the city," meaning that the world will permit the Christian churches to exist as part of an ungodly religious system. The form of godliness will be permitted to remain but the churches will be void of the power of Christ.
The "great city" will be called "Sodom and Egypt." "Sodom" represents the fullness of the lusts of sin. "Egypt" signifies covetousness and materialism. Our Lord was crucified in "Jerusalem," in the city of religious pride, envy, and self-seeking.
When the world finally has achieved peace and security at the hand of the Antichrist, having put down the testimony of the Church, the trumpet of God will sound and the Spirit of life from God will enter the dead and living saints and they will stand on their feet (Ezekiel 37:10; Daniel 12:13; Revelation 11:11).
The first resurrection will be the greatest time of reunion of God’s saints ever seen on the earth. All the peoples of the nations will see them raised and fear will fall on the onlookers.
The confusion and panic that will accompany the worldwide realization that the Christian testimony is true, and that the peoples of the earth were deceived by their leaders and teachers, will result in ugly scenes of bitterness and recrimination. The anguish and remorse, as people realize they have sinned against the Spirit of God, will result in a terrifying wail of despair arising from every continent.
The enemies of the saints, those who persecuted them, must endure seeing the hated Christians pass from mortality into resurrection life in the body, and then rise up gracefully, clothed in the Glory of Christ. The ascending saints will depart from sight into the clouds, there to be united forever with the Lord Jesus.
The wicked will gnash their teeth and scheme how to prevent the ascension of the saints, but their plans will be hopeless. The Lord God will grasp the saints in His hand, and there is no power that can resist that withdrawing force.
Now the wicked must endure the bowls of the wrath of God. Then, most terrible of all, will come the onslaught of the Rider robed in red and His army of faithful saints, descending on the earth in thunderous fury and power, ready to crush all signs of resistance to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The fearful sight of the resurrection of the saints and then their ascension into the clouds will be followed by a massive earthquake. Immediately the seventh angel will sound, signaling the finishing of the "mystery of God." The mystery of God is the creation of Christ in human beings, and then the indwelling of the Father and the Son through the Spirit of God in each of the members of the Body.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)
The saints now are with Christ for eternity, being part of the Personality of Christ (the marriage of the Lamb). Soon the Lord’s called, chosen, and faithful will ride with Him in the administration of God’s vengeance on the earth.
Meanwhile the wrath of God will fall so horribly on the earth that people will blaspheme the name of God and gnaw their tongues in pain. The judgments of God will be poured without mercy on the world order of Antichrist and on the ungodly church.
As soon as God has finished judging the "great whore," the worldwide institutionalized church, the time will be at hand for the rule of the Lamb and His Wife over the nations of the earth.
The Body of Christ is passing now from the feast of Pentecost into the Blowing of Trumpets, speaking figuratively in terms of the Levitical feasts. Whoever chooses to do so may participate in the Divine redemption. Following on to know the Lord is not the special possession of some little group hidden away in a parlor. The trumpet of the Lord is announcing to all who have ears to hear, the glorious events of which we have been speaking.
If we are willing to press forward to the fullness of self-denial and obedience, participating in the death and resurrection of total consecration, we will inherit all things. Who, then, will dedicate his service this day to the Lord? Will you? If so, the fullness of Christ is yours. You have this one chance in life to demonstrate your love for the Master. Soon your opportunity will be gone forever.
You may be in the place of Abraham. You were saved from the world, just as Abraham was called from Ur of the Chaldees. These many years God has required of you to walk before Him in perfection. You may have done this. You may have brought forth your "Ishmael" by your own works and may have learned through experience that God fulfills His Word by His own wisdom and power, not by our own well-meaning attempts to fulfill the vision.
You may have arrived at the place where "Isaac" has been born, that is, you have received from the Lord the promise He made to you as an individual—the promise of fruitfulness and strength.
Now God is requiring of you to put the knife to your Isaac, so to speak. This is almost more than you can bear. You have become a walking dead man. You are being crucified with Christ, and yet you are living because Christ is living in you.
You are being given the opportunity to ride with Christ in that day.
Have you ever considered what would have occurred if Abraham had refused to give Isaac back to the Lord? If Abraham had been unwilling to sacrifice Isaac, it is likely that Isaac would have been the cause of sorrow to Abraham and Sarah for the remainder of their days.
There would have been no Jacob, no Israel, no Joseph, no Moses, no children of Israel, no Seed, no Christ who could crush the head of the adversary.
What fruitfulness and strength would have been lost to Abraham and Sarah, and to the nations of the earth, if Abraham had not obeyed God in the matter of Isaac! What fruitfulness and strength will be lost to you and to me, and to countless multitudes yet unborn, if we do not obey God in all He requires of us!
Let us be like faithful Abraham and do whatever God is demanding of us. If God insists that we become barren and weak, let it be so. In God’s time, our barrenness will be replaced with the most extraordinary fruitfulness and our weakness with the most extraordinary strength.
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