Say Goodbye to Life As You Know It (Part 2)
;tldr We continue to look at Scripture dealing with the day God rises up in judgment.
While many passages in the prophets speak of the events that will occur when God stands up after a long age of grace, we're only going to deal with those passages that explicitly mention that rising up.
“Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
‘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.”
...
And the peaceful dwellings are cut down
Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
He has left His lair like the lion;
Jeremiah 25
If we are attentive to God's word, we will know what signs to look for. This promise of some sort of audible "noise" is repeated throughout the prophets. And while people have already been hearing strange noises from the sky, like an orchestra warming up, for the past few years, I think we can expect something in addition to that as God begins to arise after a long 2000 year age of grace.
the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God...a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself...Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures
...
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
Ezekiel 1
From the trailer of an upcoming movie called Greenland..."Look, the sky's on fire." Coincidently, the movie deals with the subject of large and numerous meteorites hitting the earth. It has a release date of September 25. Will God stand up before then? Will this movie even be released?
For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
...
Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,
Micah 1
"Therefore I will wail and howl..." This sounds a lot like Isaiah 42.
God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;
The LORD avenges and is furious.
The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.
The LORD has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
Who can stand before His indignation?
Nahum 1
While this does not explicitly mention God arising, we see it's a perfect picture of such.
He stood and measured (to shake, move, agitate) the earth;
He looked and startled (to tremble, palpitate) the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
Habakuk 3
All throughout the minor prophets we see this recurring theme, describing the day when God stands up to intervene in a most dramatic way.
“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,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
Zephaniah 3
What a grave mistake the world is making, to allow themselves to be lulled to sleep by God's grace, and ignore His promise to return with sudden destruction. But hasn't everyone been sufficiently warned by now? Even many christians refuse to examine their lives by His word. Will any further warning do any good at this point?
Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!
Zechariah 2
Several times throughout the prophets we see this command to "be silent" as God is rising from His place to judge the inhabitants of the earth. What do you think it means? When a king or important dignitary enters the room, a hush falls upon the crowd. How much more honor and respect does the King and Creator of all deserve?
And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
Zechariah 11
Few might realize that the word for "beauty" here can also mean grace. All throughout the prophets there is predicted a day when God promises to end his age of grace, vanquish the wicked, and correct the deeds and thoughts of his people who have strayed so far from His ways. Even fewer might understand why temple sacrifices are re-instituted during the first half of Tribulation, after the two sticks of Ezekiel 37, Judah and Ephraim, Jews and Christians, are rejoined in the land of Palestine.
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Ezekiel 44:23
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Malachi 3
"But who may abide the day of his coming?" Many christians today just don't get it. They consider only the love and goodness of God and none of His severity.
Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 11:22
He's coming to His temple first! Where does judgment begin?
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:17
But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
...
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Malachi 4
Praise God for healing to those who fear His name! Coincidently, we know that God stands up before He sends out Elijah. Isaiah 59, 63 and 64 lets us know that no one is with Him when he arises.
“I have trodden the winepress alone,
And from the peoples no one was with Me.
...
For the day of vengeance is in My heart,
And the year of My redeemed has come.
Isaiah 63:3-4
Habakkuk 3 tells us that after He arises, He then goes forth with His anointed, for the salvation of His people. The tribes of Jacob (both houses) must be "raised up." (Isaiah 49) Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem... (Isaiah 51)
In Malachi we see that Elijah arrives before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, when, I believe, Babylon will be destroyed at the sixth seal of Revelation. (Rev. 6)
God arises (day of vengeance, year of My redeemed) ->
days of Elijah (seals 1 to 5) ->
Sixth seal / Great day of the Lord / Babylon destroyed ->
Remnant returns to Palestine ->
Gog/Magog hook in the jaw, fills the land ->
Two-thirds defect to him ->
Gog of Magog destroyed, and all those with him ->
burn the weapons for 7 years ->
Anti-Christ peace treaty 7 years ->
God returns to bless His people ->
God pours out His Spirit, all nations flow to the Lord's house ->
3.5 years ->
peace treaty broken, temple sacrifices stopped, abomination of desolation ->
3.5 years , trumpet and bowl judgments ->
return of Christ
For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
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