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The day of the Lord is the return of Jesus.
His prophecy, in Luke The army of the Lord covers the earth as a flood;
and destroys all nations. "And
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress,
even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred
furlongs." (Rev. 14:20) These
will be immortals fighting against mortals.
John gave the number of such an army.
"And the number of the army
of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand [200 million]: and I heard
the number of them." (9:16) "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon
the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown,
and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying
with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap:
for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And
he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was
reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also
having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had
power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle,
saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into
the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the
city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by
the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." (Rev. 14:14-20) "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. 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 brimstone.
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse,
which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their
flesh." (Rev. 19:19-21; see also 11-18) "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thess. 4:2, 3) "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?" (2 Pet. 3:10-12) "Alas for the day!
for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the
Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and
gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the
garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
How do the beasts groan! the herds
of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep
are made desolate. O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the
field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are
dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." (Joel
1:15-29) “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against
the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the
sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it
shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein
shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is
refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I
will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my
God.” (Zech. 13:7-9) “For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though
I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I
not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not
leave thee altogether unpunished.” (Jer. 30:11)
“Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee;
for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee:
but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I
not leave thee wholly unpunished.” (Jer. 46:28) "A noise shall come even to the ends of the
earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all
flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and
a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain
of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other
end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they
shall be dung upon the ground." (Jer. 25:31-33) "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; 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. 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. The appearance of them is as the appearance
of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 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. Before their face
the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 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: 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. They shall run to and fro in the
city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they
shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them;
the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars
shall withdraw their shining: 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 2:1-11) "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until
the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the
nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation,
even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of
my jealousy." (Zeph. 3:8) "For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is
near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword
shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall
fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall
be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and
Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the
sword. Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the
heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward
shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so
shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall
swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion
shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall
possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house
of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in
them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of
Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it." (Obad. 1:15-18) (See also Isa. 66:15-17; Ezek. 36:5; Joel 3:9-17; Micah
5:8-15) "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the
inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as
with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as
with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be
utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. The
earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the
haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the
inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured
the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants
of the earth are burned, and few men left." (Isa. 24:1-6) "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as
an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and
the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch." (Mal. 4:1) "Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord,
saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the
highways, Alas! alas!
and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful
of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will
pass through thee, saith the LORD. Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD!
to what end is it for you? the
day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion,
and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and
a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light?
even very dark, and no brightness in it." (Amos 5:16-20) "And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day
from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not
be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the
ground." (Jer. 25:33) (See also Isa. 2:12-19; Isa. 30:30; Isa. 63:1-7; Jer.
46:10) Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt; after 400 years of
bondage. When they reached Mount
Sinai they were given the Ten Commandments by God's own voice.
God also renewed the temporal covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob to inherit the promised land of Canaan.
Their great sins caused them to spend forty years in the wilderness;
until that generation passed away. They remained the covenant people of God.
Moses offered them the blessings and the curses of obeying the law of God
(Deut. 28). "And
Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity
of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to
appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt
read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together,
men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that
they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe
to do all the words of this law." (Deut. 31:10-12) When they rejected the authority of Jesus, and had Him
crucified, the curses of the law fell upon them.
Exactly forty years later, in 70 AD, the Roman army came on them; and
destroyed over ninety percent of Israel. The
rest were taken as slaves. "I call heaven and earth to
witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the
land whereunto ye go over "So that the generation to come of your children
that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land,
shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the
LORD hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt,
and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein,
like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD
overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore
hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what
meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have
forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them
when he brought them forth out of the The bulk of Old Testament prophecy addresses the dispersion
and gathering of the house of Israel. When
the Bible speaks of the chosen people of God, the elect, it refers to the house
of Israel. The promises of the last
days are not to the Gentiles; but, to the house of Israel.
"For I would not, brethren,
that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own
conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written,
There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."
(Rom. 11:25-27) The
"fullness of the Gentiles" is the end of Gentiles having any claim as
the people of God. Jesus will return to Jerusalem.
The people will flee from the army of the world into a great valley
created when mount Olives is divided. Here
they will greet and recognize their Savior.
God will recognize them as His people, destroy the army, and gather the
remnant of Israel from the four corners of the world.
God will renew His covenant, forgive their sins, and be their God.
They will, again, be the people of God.
God will be known as the God of Israel by the remnant of the Gentiles.
"Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be
known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the
LORD." (Ezek. 38:23) "So
the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and
forward." (Ezek. 39:22) "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the
house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall
not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall
die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. In
that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up
the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in
the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the
heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this."
(Amos 9:9-12) "And they [the house of Israel] shall know that I
am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in
the countries. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the
famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their
abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am
the LORD." (Ezek. 12:15, 16) "Behold, I will gather them out of all countries,
whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath;
and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell
safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give
them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of
them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant
with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put
my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my
whole heart and with my whole soul." (Jer. 32:37-41) (See also Deut. 30:1-8) Those who remain among the Gentile nations of the world
will have to honor the God of Israel. Israel
was required to keep the "feast of the tabernacles."
"Speak
unto the children of "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for
the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the
beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or
in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the
rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years." (20:4-6) This great time has been the hope of every saint of God
since Adam. "And
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;
though my reins be consumed within me." (Job 19:26, 27) All things will be restored; as they were at the first;
both the earth and the people. "And
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts
3:20, 21) "And I will restore thy judges as at the first,
and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The
city of righteousness, the faithful city. "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that
shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the
house of the LORD. For I will cause
to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD. Thus saith
the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and
without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of
shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, in
the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of
Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall
the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which
I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah." (Jer.
33:11-14) The whole earth will be restored as a paradise.
In the days of Adam the land was not divided.
"And God said, Let the
waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry
land appear: and it was so." (Gen. 1:9)
The Bible speaks of two distinct lands:
Zion and Jerusalem. Biblical
descriptions identify the Americas as the land of Zion.
The Eastern and Western Hemispheres may be joined; as they apparently
were in the days of Adam. "For In the days of Adam the whole earth yielded its fruit.
There were neither scorching deserts, nor frozen wastes.
There are no seasons recorded in the Bible; until after the days of Noah.
There will evidently be massive asteroid (comet) impacts on the earth in
the days before Jesus returns. These
will most likely rotate the earth on its axis and make the whole surface of the
world will become temperate. All of
the curses will be taken from the earth. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be
glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall
blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of There were neither weeds, poisonous plants, thorns, nor
thistles. The earth brought forth
its bounty with the least of effort. "And
God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the
face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and
to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was
so." (Gen. 1:29, 30) All of creation was at peace; and shall be again restored
to peace. Man, the beasts, fowls,
and creeping things all ate fruits, grains, and herbs for meat.
"The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the
cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole
of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Isa. 11:6-9) "For, behold, I create [restore] new heavens and
a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be
ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create
Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an
old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years
old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall
build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the
fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant,
and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine
elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain,
nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD,
and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call,
I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD." (Isa.
65:17-25) This is the end of mortal man; and the beginning of the
eternal state of man, "death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire." "And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former
things are passed away." (Rev. 21:4) Those who remained with the dead are raised in the second
resurrection. As these worshipped
not God, and obeyed not the gospel, they can only be judged according to their
works in the flesh. "And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:12-15) "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and
the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of
his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels
as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before
him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." (Dan. 7:9, 10) Satan, his angels (spirits), and all the sons of perdition
are cast into the bottomless pit for eternity.
"And
the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day
and night for ever and ever." (Rev. 20:10)
This fire and brimstone is the mental anxiety which these must suffer for
eternity; never again having an opportunity to live with the rest of creation. John described this holy Jerusalem, "And
the building of the wall of it was of jasper [diamond]: and the city was pure
gold, like unto clear glass... And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and
the Lamb is the light thereof." (21:18, 22, 23)
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