Isaiah 34:1
The Advent Is More Than An Event
The coming of Jesus that you and I are looking for is the rapture. It
is the church’s blessed hope and the last earthly event for the
church; but the rapture is not important just to the saved. It is
important to the lost., as well; for the rapture will open the door
for God’s wrath upon the planet, the seven years of Tribulation which
God has promised.
And it is also important for the whole world, as to the best of my
knowledge, it will place the world in a situation that it has only
been in once in all of the history of mankind. Namely, the rapture
will leave the world so that every living human being on the planet
is under the condemnation of God. Not one single soul on this planet
will be saved.
Much as it was in the Garden of Eden, I do not think that condition
will last long. God will start saving souls, and He will save a lot
of people in a short period of time. The Bible indicates a seemingly
innumerable host will be saved during the Tribulation, many—probably
most of them—will be killed; but those who are saved will also have a
desire to see Jesus. They will have missed the rapture so that will
not be their hope. No, the Advent of Jesus will be their hope.
Last week, I shared that the Advent is more an event. The Bible
speaks of at least seven things the Bible makes clear must still
happen:
1. There will be some additional battles fought.
2. There will be some judgments given.
3. There will be Jews to bring home.
4. There will be a Jewish temple either purged or built.
5. The land will be redivided.
6. The priesthood will be restored.
7. There will be some dead raised.
8. The land of Israel will be renovated.
We also looked at \\#Da 12:11,12\\ which speaks of some extra days.
It seems God connects it to the Tribulation by counting the time in
days and connecting them to the number of days in the last half of
the Tribulation, possibly allowing some of these things to either be
done or at least begun BEFORE the Millennial Reign of Jesus actually
begins. Let’s consider some of what MIGHT happen during those days.
I. There are some additional battles to be fought.
A. The Tribulation closes with Jesus’ return to Jerusalem,
more specifically to the Mount of Olives.
1. There He destroys the armies that fought against
Jerusalem.
a. What carcasses are left will be so many that the birds
and beasts will be summoned to eat the flesh.
b. From the battle Ezekiel described that takes place in
the mountains, probably the Battle of Armageddon,
human remains will be found and buried there for
seven more months.
2. Yet, not all the enemies of God and Israel have been
defeated.
a. That army came from all across the globe. They may
have sent their young men and women to the battle,
but the hatred did not start or stop with them. It
would still brew in their homelands.
b. And the Jews that fled to the mountains have probably
been hunted as well.
(1) I mentioned Petra as the place to which some
believe the Jews will flee.
(2) If that is true and we know it today, won’t the
anti-Christ know it too? Will he not send his
armies there as well? I believe he will.
B. I believe there are more battles to be fought and more enemies
to be conquered, and I believe the Old Testament gives us
glimpses of them.
1. Of course, we all know that God does not have to defeat or
destroy the wicked by the physical means of war, but I
believe He will. Why?
a. Because both the Lord and Israel have some vengeance
to claim and…
b. Because God allows us to do for ourselves what we can
do for ourselves.
2. The Book of Isaiah is a powerfully prophetical book, but
it—and other Old Testament prophetical passages—are
very hard to decipher. Why?
a. Near-at-hand and end-time prophecies are mixed
together, making them very hard to separate from one
another.
b. The prophecies are not categorized, they jump around
in time and among different events.
c. They are often written so cryptic that even if we
think we understand them, we may not.
3. Yet, I believe there are many Bible passages that reveal
Jesus Himself will lead a literal, physical army to the
nations of those who have fought against Israel.
a. Probably one of the first battles will be to Edom,
perhaps to Petra, to deliver those who obeyed our
Lord and fled to the mountains and need to be
rescued.
Isa 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and
hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all
that is therein; the world, and all things that
come forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all
nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he
hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered
them to the slaughter.
(1) Notice the verb tense is PAST, the army had been
DESTROYED.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their
stink shall come up out of their carcases, and
the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
and the heavens shall be rolled together as a
scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as
the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a
falling fig from the fig tree.
(2) The sign of the Tribulation, the hosts of heaven
not giving their light.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: be
old, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon
the people of my curse, to judgment.
(3) Idumea is Edom.
(4) Notice the verb tense has switched to FUTURE now.
6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood,
it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood
of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys
of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,
and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
(5) Notice the verb tense is now PRESENT.
(6) Bozrah was a city in Edom.
(7) The whole land is filled with a great slaughter.
7 And the unicorns shall come down with them,
and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land
shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made
fat with fatness.
8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and
the year of recompences for the controversy of
Zion.
b. Other Bible passages speak of a similar conflict.
(1) Notice, this passage speaks of One who leads the
battle.
Isa 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious
in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his
strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to
save.
(2) Who could that be other than the Lord?
(3) He has lead His army to defeat the enemy!
(4) And what is His apparel dyed in? The blood of
the slain!
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and
thy garments like him that treadeth in the
winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the
people there was none with me: for I will tread
them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury;
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my
garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
(5) This is not to be a winepress of grapes but of
the wicked.
4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and
the year of my redeemed is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and
I wondered that there was none to uphold:
therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me;
and my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the people in mine
anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will
bring down their strength to the earth.
c. This will not be Jesus alone.
(1) As soon as Jesus returns, the men of Israel will
join with Him to form an unstoppable army.
(2) Zechariah 12 takes us back to the Battle of
Jerusalem to see this army come to life:
Zech 12:4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will
smite every horse with astonishment, and his
rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes
upon the house of Judah, and will smite every
horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their
heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my
strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah
like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a
torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour
all the people round about, on the right hand and
on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited
again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
d. As this army of Jews goes forth, it will slay the
wicked, deliver the Jew, and return them to the home
land.
Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root
of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his
rest shall be glorious.
(1) Jesus is that ROOT, and both Jews and Gentiles
will see that in that day.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the Lord shall set his hand again the second time
to recover the remnant of his people, which shall
be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from
Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from
Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea.
(2) The first regathering was small and simple
(the return from Babylon) compared to this one
for the Jews will be brought back from every
place where they have been scattered.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather together the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and
the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off:
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall
not vex Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of
the Philistines toward the west; they shall
spoil them of the east together: they shall lay
their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children
of Ammon shall obey them.
15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue
of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind
shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall
smite it in the seven streams, and make men go
over dryshod.
16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant
of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria;
like as it was to Israel in the day that he came
up out of the land of Egypt.
(3) It looks like so many Jews will have been
scattered into Egypt that God will dry up some
type of river or rivers so that the Jews can
again leave Egypt and enter the Promised Land
on dry ground!
16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant
of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria;
like as it was to Israel in the day that he came
up out of the land of Egypt.
e. These are not the only references to this events.
(1) Isaiah is full of them!
\\#Is 19:23, 27:13, 35:8-10, 41:11, 42:13, 49:25-26, 52:12\\
(2) And that is not all of them.
(3) Go back and read through all Isaiah and the Bible
and realize that God literally meant it when He
promised Israel vengeance for their suffering.
C. Perhaps you are familiar with the Judgement of the Nations as
Jesus described it: \\#Matt 25:31-46\\
1. I suspect that will take place AFTER Christ’s army has
defeated all opposition, rescued every redeemed victim,
and returned every Jew to the land.
2. By that time, those who resisted will be destroyed—
perhaps entire nations.
3. I anticipate that the number of goats left to show up will
be few; but the righteous God, whose judgments are not
limited to the actions of wicked men but can also discern
their hearts, will judge those nations that are left.
4. And apparently some will not survive.
II. Then God’s Millennial Temple will be built (Ezekiel 40-43), the
priesthood established (Eze 44), offerings and sacrifices will
be instituted (Eze 45), and God’s worship will begin.
III. Ezekiel 47, Israel’s land will be redivided.
Somewhere in the midst of all of this, Jesus will setup His throne,
Satan will be cast into the Bottomless Pit, and the Millennial Reign
of our Lord will commence.
No. The Advent is much more than an Event.
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