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Pt 4 Does Jesus return? Who comes with him? (the succession of events that occur) The greatest event for planet earth is yet in the future. “Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You” (Zech. 14:5).1 Thess. 3:13 “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” After the wedding in heaven of the church saints we all return with him to earth as he leads us in the second coming. Jude recalls the oldest prophecy of the Second Coming spoken by Enoch before the judgment of the flood, (Jude v.14-15) “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all…” The Bride, the Church (and God’s angels, 2 Thess.1:7) accompany the Messiah (Bridegroom) back to earth from heaven and watch the nation of Israel being saved. The saints, the whole church, and the angels all watch. As God’s right hand (God’s arm) brings salvation to all the remnant of Israel and removes all the wicked. 2 Thess. 1:7-8 “the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is spoken here is from the Old Testament as told by Isaiah, “For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many” (Isa. 66:15-16). The ‘all’ is specified by other scriptures (Mt.25). When it says in 2 Thess. 2:8, it says the Lord, “will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” It refers to our God as a consuming fire in his wrath. Isa 30:33 speaks of “the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone.” Ps. 97:2-3 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.” Not everyone, but his enemies. Rom. 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” Paul says Rom 11:26-27 “He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." So Adams is wrong about God destroying Israel with the rest of the nations. He saves them on this day of judgment. His destruction upon mankind's zenith of evil What all the prophets have spoken of comes to pass. Zeph. 3:8 Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD,"Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation.” As lightning comes from the east (Mt.24:27), Zechariah prophesies in chapter 9:14-16 “Then the LORD will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south.” The LORD of hosts will defend them; They shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine; They shall be filled with blood like basins, Like the corners of the altar. The LORD their God will save them in that day, As the flock of His people” (Mt.24:27: Lk.17:24). All the world’s armies come against Israel and the Lord, in the end, and the Lord himself comes to rescue them. God will “defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:8). Zech. 12:7-9 “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Israel, the remnant, is gathered together, living in tents. God promises that He will save those in Petra first. Jesus’ return is to first rescue his people who have taken refuge in (Petra) Bozrah, He goes then to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, Megiddo to annihilate the armies of the world gathered together. ‘In that day,’ is used 7 times throughout Zech.12; it is the day of the Lord’s consummation of victory. What starts in Bozrah ends in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12-13), Jezreel, where it will becomes the winepress of blood (Rv. 14:19-20). Zech. 14:3-4 “Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.” V.12 “And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.” It’s not just specified in the area of Israel, but throughout the earth Jer. 25:33 “The LORD … He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise will come to the ends of the earth--For the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD.” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. “And at that day the slain of the LORD shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.” Psalms 110:5-6 “The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries.” Isaiah 9:19 “Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.” God is in control to the end, not mankind. Zech. 14:2-4 “For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east.”“Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations.” Rev 1:7 “all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” Matt. 24:30 “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” Jesus comes back visibly, bodily, to this earth and destroys the false messiah first and then his armies. Which means Jesus personally returns, the Lord himself, fights against the nations that come against Israel, his people, and him. Isa. 34:1-2 “For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them” Israel’s day of salvation Dan. 12:7 “that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; (3 ½ years) and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished” God still calls them holy, for they are separate from others by his covenant. As he completes the great trial upon them and the world (Rev.3) to fulfill his covenant promises. Jesus comes back to save Israel, not destroy them. Who says? The Bible says, God says so. Rom. 11:25-26 “that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.” God has promised, and he has never broken a promise. Let God be true and every man a liar. Jer. 46:28 “Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the LORD,” For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.” He promises to fully restore Israel who is then saved by the new covenant. 2,500 years ago, the prophets in unison spoke “In that day I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.… For I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem” (Zech. 12.3, 14.2). “The kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. V.16 “And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” Lev. 26:40 The lord speaks to them, to confess “their iniquity,…God “will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land… when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them.” Joel 2:11-13 “Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.” Zech. 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Notice the same people who are said to be guilty of crucifying him will accept him, and God, by his grace, gives them his Spirit. The same group of people in Jesus’ day that denied him (Zech.12:10 ‘those who pierced him’) mourn to receive him. Let me address the replacement argument of guilt. If you blame Jews for his death, then you must be consistent and attribute Jesus’ return on their repentance. Grasp the word, God is going to save the Jews in the end just as the bible teaches. In preparation for his kingdom that will shortly commence, Ezek. 36:25-29 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” “I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord GOD.” (40:1) “And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The Lord of Hosts is His Name” (Jer. 10:16; 51:19). They are as one, in unity. The last war battle, gathering of the wicked according to the Bible Zeph. 1:7-8 “the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests.” “That I will punish the princes and the king's children…” He then describes, “that day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities And against the high towers. “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.” Isa. 46:12-13: “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; my salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” (Rom.11:26) God came down at the tower of Babel to scatter, and now he comes to gather. Isa. 31:4-5: “For thus the LORD has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise), so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.” 2 Thess. 1:9-10 “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe” Israel IS SAVED, these are the Jews of our day. Isa. 45:17 “Israel shall be saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever.” Ezek.39:21-22 “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward.” Israel’s willing to accept the new covenant, calling upon the Lord will cause the return of Christ Jesus to earth. Yes Israel will be rescued and saved, Psalm 121:1-4 “Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.” God watches over Israel, He will allow her enemies to go only so far, for they are ‘the apple of his eye.’ God is watching every move the world makes, by word and deed. Judgement time Matthew 25:31–46 After Jesus ends the tribulation by his coming, the Lord Jesus will sit in judgment over the Gentile nations. They will be judged according to their treatment of Israel during the Tribulation. This is called the judgment of the sheep and the goats because of the imagery Jesus uses in the Olivet Discourse. Those who showed faith in God by treating Israel favorably (giving them aid and comfort during the tribulation) are the “sheep” who will enter into the Millennial Kingdom. Those who instead followed the Antichrist persecuting Israel are the “goats” who will be consigned to hell, which he does before the kingdom begins. My bible says Jesus comes back to those who occupy Israel, to save them, not destroy them. Who says? The Bible says, The whole worlds armies comes against Israel and the Lord comes to rescue Israel and destroy them. Speaking to the nations, Isa. 46:12-13: “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; my salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” Isa. 35:4 “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.” As stated in Micah 2:12-12 “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture.” Bozrah (Petra) is called the sheepfold. Isaiah speaking of the Lord’s return vanquishes the armies of the world that were about the crush the gathered remnant of his people in Bozrah. This is the antichrists final attempt to eliminate the Jews who are huddled together in the sheepfold to stop them from calling upon Messiah to return and save them. Israel will be saved both spiritually and physically as Jesus fights a portion of the armies of the Antichrist there. The Winepress Israel will be spiritually, and physically saved and the evil ones of the nations will be utterly crushed by Jesus’ return. Armageddon has the largest army in history ever assembled, and it will be the bloodiest and quickest battle ever won in all of history. Ps 75:8 “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.” Rev. 17:2 “the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” Rev. 18:3 “all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” The city and system that rules over all the earth comes to an end, Rev. 14:8 “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. V.10 “shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” “all the wicked of the earth drink it (this wine). What this means is that they all participate in the wrath as part of the armies that withstand the Lords return (Ps. 101:8) Isa. 34:5-8 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood.” V.6 “For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Their land shall be soaked with blood,…V.8 “For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, The year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Jer. 49:20-22). Rev 19:13 He (Jesus) was clothed with a robe dipped in blood , and His name is called The Word of God. V.15-16 “out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. …He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” This is what is spoken by Isaiah “Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?--” I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.” I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me.” (Isa. 63:1-4) It’s not just in the area of Israel but throughout the earth. Jer. 25:33 “The LORD will roar from on high, And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise will come to the ends of the earth--For the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD.” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. “And at that day the slain of the LORD shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.” Mt.24:31 “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” He will bring his people who survived the Tribulation to be judged. It is on this day the nations will be punished for participating in the last battle with the Antichrist and their attitude toward Israel. Mt.25 contains the description of the judgment of all those who were not killed, and where they will be sent. Some enter Israel, Israel is still there and the people whom Jesus rescued enter it. Daniel 9:19: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” That name being Zion! Isa. 52:9-10: “Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” This is what the Lord does to those who try to vanquish Israel. Mic. 4:11-12 “Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, “Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion.” But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, Nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.” As always, the Scripture foretells the prophetic future of Israel and the nations. Joel 3:2 tells us God is going to gather all nations, and “bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.” He will punish them for their mistreatment of Israel (because they kept them from returning to their land) AND for dividing his land (Lev. 25:23, which includes a two-state solution). That is God’s Word, not a man’s opinion. This is what takes place at the end in no uncertain terms. Any nation involved in dividing His land will be punished. God refers to Himself as “the God of Israel” more than any other description. He is also called: The Shepherd of Israel, Rock of Israel, Father to Israel, Stone of Israel, King of Israel, Mighty One of Israel, Holy One of Israel, God in Israel, God Over Israel, God to Israel, God for Israel, God of Jacob, Holy One of Jacob, Mighty One of Jacob. Clearly, he speaks of his relationship with those whom he watches over his Word and the people he spoke His word to. Zech. 8:2-3: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.' “Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain.' “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!” (Ps. 135:21). Joel 3:17: “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.” Isa.52:1“Jerusalem in that day will become the Holy City, and nothing unholy will ever enter into it.” Micah 4:7: “so the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever” (1 Chron. 23:25). Matt. 25:21-22 after those on his left are sent away into the fire, The lord turns to those on his right “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' (excerpts taken from the book ‘the Day of the Lord and the Salvation of Israel’)
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