The Journey of Israel 6

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalms 24:7,8)

We are passing from the twenty-third Psalm to the twenty-fourth Psalm. We have known Christ as the good Shepherd. Now the trumpet of war is sounding and the Kingdom of God and His Christ are at hand. The good Shepherd is becoming the Lord, strong and mighty in battle. The earth is the Lord's and He is ready to redeem it.

We are to lift up the "everlasting gates" of our heart and welcome the Lord of Armies. He is the King of Glory. All those who have clean hands and a pure heart will ride with Him in the day of vengeance of our God.

While Israel was camped in the plains of Moab, Joshua sent two spies across the Jordan to assess the strength of Jericho. The new covenant counterpart of the two spies of the Book of Joshua is the two witnesses of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation.

The two witnesses and two olive trees of Revelation symbolize Christ, Head and Body, bearing witness under a double portion of the Holy Spirit of God. The two witnesses may bring healing and deliverance to multitudes of people. However, it is Divine judgment that is emphasized in the eleventh chapter of Revelation. The two witnesses will torment those on the earth who insist on living sinful lives—even church people!

And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. (Revelation 11:10)

The reason Divine judgment is emphasized in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation is that the witnesses will be accurately portraying the Day of Judgment that is at hand. God always sends two witnesses whenever there is to be a significant change in His working with mankind. The two witnesses portray in themselves the new day that is at hand and they themselves are the origin, the source of the new day.

Adam and Eve were the two witnesses that announced and were the source of the coming of mankind to the earth. Abraham and Sarah were the two witnesses that announced and were the source of God's elect, of Israel, and finally of the coming of the new Jerusalem to the earth. Moses and Aaron were the two witnesses that announced and were the source of the coming of the eternal moral law of God to the earth.

So it is that Christ, Head and Body, will reveal in themselves the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth and will be the source of the Kingdom.

After the witness has been concluded the Lord will permit Antichrist to drive the Christian witness from the major cities of the earth and the saints will be forced to flee into the wilderness to await the return of the Lord in the clouds of glory. In that day it will not be possible to seek God or to experience the Holy Spirit in the cities. All deliverance and salvation will then be residing in the remnant of the elect, both Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ, who are waiting in the wilderness for the Lord's return.

Continued. The Journey of Israel 7