View source for To be continued Participation in the Parousia 6

''And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites''. (Judges 7:23)

After the ''parousia'' of Gideon and the 300, many more Israelites were invited to pursue the enemy. But, as in the case of David and Goliath, the victory was won by the men of God's choice. The Israelites were unable to boast that their courage or ability was responsible for the overcoming of the enemy.

Each of the three hundred was given a trumpet in his right hand, and in his left hand a pitcher with a torch inside. The trumpet signifies the Spirit of prophecy. The pitcher represents our mortal personality. The torch portrays the Life and Light of Christ that are hidden behind the veil of our flesh, awaiting the Day of revelation.

Gideon instructed his men to watch him and to do as he did. So it is as we approach the ''parousia'' of the Lord that we are to watch Jesus carefully and do only what we see Him do (Judges 7:17,18).

The midnight hour came. Gideon blew His trumpet. Those who were with him (a type of the saints in glory) blew their trumpets. The remaining two hundred (a type of the disciples on the earth) blew their trumpets.

It is possible that the "trumpet of God," of Matthew, Chapter 24, and I Thessalonians, Chapter Four, is speaking in part of the Spirit of prophecy in Christ and in His saints. The Lord will "roar" out of Zion (Joel 3:16). The voice of God will shout from within the Lord's army.

''After'' the trumpets were blown they "brake the pitchers that were in their hands" (Judges 7:19). The mortal bodies of those who are alive when the Lord returns will "break" and the Glory of the Lord will be seen.

''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)

"We shall be ''changed "''!

The saints will not be raised from the dead and ascend to meet the Lord in the air until God first has secured the attention of all the nations of the earth by the colossal signs in the heavens that will precede the Lord's appearing. The resurrection of the saints and their gathering together to meet the Lord in the air will be the greatest witness of His Person, Glory, and will that God has ever given mankind.

This order of events is important. First, God gains the attention of the nations so they will observe what He will perform. God will gain their attention by signs in the heavens.

''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)

Next, the saints will be transformed and transfigured. They will pass from mortality into immortality, the dead saints receiving back their bodies from the grave. The Light of God Almighty will abide on them. Then they will ascend upward in full view of the nations of the earth to be joined with the greater Light who will be in the sky over the earth.

All of the nations on all sides of the sphere that is the Earth will witness this spiritual event.



[[To be continued Participation in the Parousia 7]]