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Scripture Reading: Joel 3:2, 9, 11-12; Zech. 12:2-4, 9-10; 3-4, 14:12-13; Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45a; Rev. 14:17-20; Isa. 63:1-6; Rev. 16:12-16; 17:12-14; 19:11-21; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 11:15; Rom. 11:25-26; Jer. 3:17; Isa. 11:10; 2:2-4a; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:16-19
Mankind, according to 1 Corinthians 10:32, is divided into three groups of people: the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church. The church is composed of the regenerated persons who are saved and separated from the world. Among the Christians, some are overcomers, but many are not. The overcomers will have been fully transformed by the time the Lord comes back. Because they have been living in the present reality of the kingdom, they will be transferred into the manifestation of the kingdom to enjoy the marriage feast and reign with Christ in the millennium.
Many Christians, however, will not have been transformed by that time. They will have to be dealt with during the time of the millennium so that they also can be transformed. Such defeated Christians will have to settle their accounts with the Lord. They will suffer a loss and a kind of punishment from the Lord. The false Christians, the tares, will be bound and thrown into the fire.
Now we need to see how the Lord will deal with the nations, the peoples, and the Jews at His second coming. Let us read Joel 3:2: “I will gather all the nations / And will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat; / And I will enter into judgment with them there / Because of My people and My inheritance Israel, / Whom they have scattered among the nations. / And they have divided My land.” This verse indicates that the Lord Jesus will gather all the nations and bring them down. This will include even the armies of the Antichrist in the future. Verses 9 and 12 go on to say, “Proclaim this among the nations: / Prepare the battle; / Rouse the mighty men; / Let all the men of battle / Draw near; let them go up / ...Let the nations rouse themselves and come up / To the valley of Jehoshaphat. / For there I will sit to judge / All the surrounding nations.” These verses indicate that, at the time of the Lord’s coming back, the nations will be stirred up to attack Jerusalem. According to their realization, they will gather to attack Jerusalem, but in God’s purpose they will be gathered there to be judged. Zechariah 12:2-4 says, “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples; and when what happens in siege is upon Jerusalem, it will be upon Judah as well. And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples; all who burden themselves with her will be cut up. Indeed all the nations of the earth will be gathered against her. In that day, declares Jehovah, I will strike every horse with bewilderment and its rider with madness; and I will open My eyes upon the house of Judah and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.” These verses also show us that when the Lord Jesus comes back, the nations will be gathered to attack Jerusalem. At that time the Lord Jesus will come down from the air to defeat and destroy them. At the same time a wonderful and gracious thing will also occur. This is covered in verse 10: “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplications; and they will look upon Me, whom they have pierced; and they will wail over Him with wailing as for an only son and cry bitterly over Him with bitter crying as for a firstborn son.”
The Lord Jesus will return at the very time Antichrist will have gathered all his armies to attack Jerusalem. The Jews will be under siege by the armies of the Antichrist and will have no way of escape. But the Lord Jesus will appear, smite all the besieging armies, and pour out His Spirit upon the Jewish people. All the house of Judah will repent and mourn, weeping because of their rebellion against Christ. They will realize that He was the One whom they crucified and pierced on the cross. They will repent and receive Him as their Savior. Thus, by His descending, the Lord Jesus will accomplish two things: He will smite all the armies of the nations, and He will deliver all the repenting and believing Jewish people. According to Zechariah 14:3-4, when the Lord Jesus returns to rescue the Jewish people, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. When the Lord Jesus was ascending, the angel told His disciples, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you beheld Him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Since He ascended from the Mount of Olives, He will also return to the Mount of Olives. When the Lord Jesus stands with His feet on the Mount of Olives, the mountain will be split, and a highway will be opened for the besieged Jewish people to escape. If you are an overcomer, you will be there with the Lord.
During the time of the exodus, the children of Israel experienced in principle the same kind of deliverance. Pharaoh and his host pursued the children of Israel to the shores of the Red Sea. When it seemed there was no escape, the Lord parted the waters of the Red Sea, and the Israelites marched through the midst of the sea. In the future, the people of Israel will be besieged by the Antichrist and his army, but the Lord will come and deliver them by splitting the Mount of Olives and making a highway in the midst. How marvelous! Zechariah 14:12-13 says, “This will be the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. And in that day a great panic from Jehovah will be among them; and each will seize his neighbor’s hand, and his hand will rise up against his neighbor’s hand.”
According to 2 Thessalonians 2:8, the Lord Jesus will slay Antichrist and his armies by the breath of His mouth. The breath of the Lord’s mouth will consume the rebellious people. Their eyes will be dried up, and their tongue will be destroyed. By defeating and destroying Antichrist and his armies, the house of Israel will be rescued.
Now we need to read Daniel 2:34-35: “You were watching until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image at its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at once, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” No doubt, the stone that was cut out without hands is the Lord Jesus. He is the stone cut out by God who will smite the image. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had seen an image with a golden head, silver shoulders, a bronze abdomen, two iron legs, and ten toes partly of iron and partly of clay. The vision of that great image covers the entire Gentile period beginning with Babylon and ending when the Lord Jesus returns.
In Exodus 19:5-6 God revealed His desire for the Jewish nation to be His kingdom on the earth. But due to their idolatry and degradation, God sent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. The temple, the city, and the whole nation were lost. This means that the kingdom of God on the earth was also lost. In Ezra and Nehemiah, God is called the God of the heavens because His kingdom on the earth had been terminated. On the contrary, when Abraham prayed, he prayed to the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Because Abraham was there standing for God’s dominion, God was also the God of the earth. But at the time of Nebuchadnezzar, there was not a kingdom standing on the earth for God’s dominion. Therefore, God was called the God of the heavens.
The age of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar, who was typified by the golden head in the great image. After him came Persia and Media, signified by the silver shoulders. Persia is today’s Iran. Those two nations worked together as two shoulders. Because their authority was not as high as that of Nebuchadnezzar, they were signified by silver. Following these two empires was the empire of Greece, signified by the bronze abdomen. Alexander crossed the Mediterranean Sea and defeated Persia and Media. After Greece came the Roman Empire, signified by the two legs. According to history, the Roman Empire was divided into the western part and the eastern part. Thus, the two parts are the two legs. While the dignity of the Roman Empire did not compare with the others who were signified by the gold, silver, and bronze, it was very strong as signified by the iron. Iron in the Bible signifies strength and power (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15; Psa. 2:9).
Both Daniel and Revelation tell us that after the Roman Empire there will be ten nations, signified in Revelation by the ten horns (chs. 13; 17). In those two chapters the ten horns signify the ten nations under the rule of the Antichrist. These ten nations are also the ten toes. Daniel 2 says that the stone will fall upon the image, that is, upon the Gentile powers. The Lord Jesus will strike the image. By falling upon the ten toes, the Lord Jesus will strike the entirety of the Gentile power. Christ is the stone who will strike the Gentile nations. What Daniel spoke corresponds to the Lord Jesus’ words concerning the stone which the builders rejected in Matthew 21:44: “On whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff.”
After the Lord strikes the entire image, representing the whole Gentile world, the stone will become a great mountain that will fill the whole earth. This means that Christ as a stone will become the kingdom. A mountain in the Bible signifies a kingdom. The Lord Jesus will become the kingdom filling the whole earth. This word is fulfilled in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” After the Lord Jesus terminates the Gentile dispensation, the whole earth will be filled with His kingdom. His kingdom is just the enlargement of Himself. The stone becomes the mountain. This means that Christ becomes the kingdom. The kingdom of the heavens is simply the enlargement of Christ. The Lord Jesus Himself is the King; when He gets into all of us, He becomes the kingdom. Thus, the stone becomes the mountain; Christ becomes the kingdom. While there are many other verses in the Old Testament concerning this matter, these are the representative verses.
In the Old Testament the kingdom was a matter of prophecy. But in the New Testament it is a matter of fulfillment. Revelation 14 reveals both the firstfruits and the harvest. In addition to this harvest of wheat, there is also a harvest of grapes. In God’s eyes there are two fields, or farms, on the earth. One is the wheat farm representing His people. The other is the vine farm growing grapes representing the worldly people. The Christians are likened to wheat, and the unbelievers are likened to grapes. According to Revelation 14:17-20, the clusters of the vine of the earth were gathered and cast into the great winepress of the fury of God. The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress up to the bridles of the horses. It does not say that the juice of the grape came out but that blood came out. Furthermore, it says that blood came out up to the horses’ bridles. This indicates that many horses will be there. The blood became a deep current for about two hundred miles. Millions of people of the armies of the earth will be put into this winepress and trodden like grapes.
Who will tread this great winepress? By reading Isaiah 63:1-6, we can see that it is the Lord Himself who will tread the winepress. That will be the day of the vengeance of the Lord; He will tread down the people in His anger, make them drunk in His fury, and bring down their strength to the earth. This will be the reaping of the grapes, the unbelievers.
Now we need to read Revelation 16:12-16: “The sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. And I saw, out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits as frogs; for they are spirits of demons doing signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth to gather them to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments that he may not walk naked and they see his shame.) And they gathered them to the place which in Hebrew is called, Armageddon.” The beast mentioned here is the Antichrist. While the Gentiles are preparing and collecting an army, the Lord Jesus will sound out a warning to the believers. This portion indicates that there will be believers still left on the earth at that time.
Armageddon, meaning the “the mountain of slaughter,” is very close to Bozrah and Jahazah. The mountain and the valley are quite close to one another. This indicates that at the very time the Lord Jesus will be coming back, the three evil spirits will go out to stir up the people from the Far East. Verse 12 says, “That the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” The kings from the rising of the sun will not be Europeans or people from the Middle East, but they will be from the east of the Euphrates.
Now we need to read Revelation 9:13-18: “The sixth angel trumpeted, and I heard a voice out of the four horns of the golden altar which is before God saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year that they might kill the third part of men. And the number of the armies of horsemen was two hundred million; I heard their number. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those sitting on them, having breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three plagues the third part of the men were killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone proceeding out of their mouths.” The river Euphrates is mentioned also in this portion. It says that the third part of the men will be killed and that the number of cavalry troops will be two hundred million.
This corresponds to the account in chapter 16. The evil spirits will be released to stir up the people from the Far East, who will come with their horsemen in the number of two hundred million. They will come from the Far East, passing through the Euphrates River to Armageddon. Armageddon is very close to Jerusalem, where the Antichrist and his armies will be. These armies will be killed at Armageddon by fire and smoke and brimstone. In principle, these are the same as a modern nuclear bombing. Remember that these are not the armies under the Antichrist but the armies from the East who have passed through the river Euphrates. These armies from the East will first come to the area of the Euphrates River, today’s Iraq and Iran; then they will come to Jerusalem.
While the Antichrist will be attacking Jerusalem, the two hundred million horsemen from the East will also come to Jerusalem. This means that the armies of the earth will be gathered together at one time just like grapes from the vineyard are gathered into the winepress. Then the Lord Jesus will come to tread the winepress. By His treading the winepress, the Lord Jesus will destroy the armies of the Antichrist and the two hundred million cavalrymen from the Far East.
According to Revelation 17:12-14, the ten horns, representing the ten kings, will suddenly receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast, the Antichrist. These will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them. Those with Him, His armies, will be those who are chosen and faithful. Who are the chosen and faithful ones? Remember the Lord’s words: “Many are called but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14). The chosen ones are those faithful to the Lord who will become His army.
According to Revelation 19, His armies will be dressed in fine linen, bright and clean. The fine linen garment is the garment for the marriage feast and is also the fighting garment. The marriage garment will be the fighting garment. The Lord will tread the winepress and prepare a feast for all the birds in the heavens. When the wicked one appears, the Lord will destroy him with a sharp sword out of His mouth. Thus, all the verses in the Old Testament and the New Testament are very consistent. The Lord Jesus will come to destroy all the rebellious armies by the breath of His mouth. This is why the blood will be so deep (14:20).
Then according to Revelation 11:15, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. The Gentile armies will be destroyed, and the whole image representing the Gentile age will be smashed.
Now let us consider how the Lord will deal with the Jews at His coming back. During the age of the church, the Lord has temporarily given up the people of Israel and treats them like the Gentiles. They must receive the gospel to be saved and become members of the church. But at the end of this age, according to Zechariah 13 and Romans 11, the Jewish nation will be revived and will turn to the Lord. Because it will occur during the tribulation, many will suffer and die. Zechariah 13:8-9 says that at least two-thirds of the living Jews will be cut off. This does not include the millions killed by Hitler. When the Lord Jesus comes back, the remaining one-third will repent and believe in the Lord. The house of Israel will be saved at that time.
After they are regenerated and saved, they will be translated into the millennial kingdom on the earth to be the priests teaching the nations how to serve God (Zech. 8; Isa. 2). The overcomers among the Christians will be the kings, the ruling ones, during the millennial kingdom, and the saved ones of Israel will be the priests. Although the Jews will be regenerated and saved, they will not be transformed, and their bodies will not at that time be transfigured. Later, just before the time of the New Jerusalem, they will be transformed and changed in body. Romans 11:25-26 says that all Israel will be saved. This is confirmed by Jeremiah 3:17: “At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations will be gathered to it because the name of Jehovah is at Jerusalem; and they will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” After the destruction of the Gentile armies and the salvation of the Jewish people, the Gentiles who are left will call Jerusalem the throne of the Jehovah. All the nations will be gathered to the name of Jehovah in Jerusalem. They will walk no more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. Today all the Gentiles are walking after the stubbornness of their evil heart, but in that day they will go to Jerusalem to the name of Jehovah.
Isaiah 11:10 also speaks concerning that time. “In that day the root of Jesse, / Who stands as a banner to the peoples — / Him will the nations seek, / And His resting place will be the glory.” Of course, Christ is the root of Jesse. Christ as the root of Jesse will stand as a banner to all the Gentile nations. The Gentile nations will all seek after Christ, and His resting place will be the glory.
Let us also read Isaiah 2:2-4a: “In the last days / The mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established / On the top of the mountains; / And it will be lifted up above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it, / And many peoples will come and say, / Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, / To the house of the God of Jacob, / That He may instruct us in His ways, / And that we may walk in His paths. / For from Zion will go forth instruction, / And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; / And He will judge between the nations, / And will decide matters for many peoples.” That will be the time of real peace upon the earth. No matter how much people talk about peace today, there is no peace. Peace on the earth will not come until the Lord Jesus is the King. These few verses tell us that after the Lord Jesus destroys the Gentile armies, He will save the Jewish people and take Jerusalem as His capital on the earth. He will set up His throne there, and the Gentiles who are remaining on the earth will come to seek after Him. Jerusalem will become a center to teach the Gentiles how to serve the Lord.
Concerning that time, Zechariah 8:20-23 says, “Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Peoples will again come, even the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, Let us go at once to entreat the favor of Jehovah and to seek Jehovah of hosts; and the other: I will go too. Indeed, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of Jehovah. Thus says Jehovah of hosts, In those days, from all the languages of the nations, ten men will take hold, indeed, they will take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
Among the ancient Jews, the priests were the minority among the people of God. The people received teaching and instruction concerning God from the priests. They taught the people how to worship and serve God. That was a picture of the future situation during the time of the millennium. During the millennium, the Gentiles will take the converted Jews as priests. Ten Gentiles will come to one Jew, asking him to teach them how to serve the Lord. Because they will hear that the Lord is with the Jews, they will come to learn how to serve the Lord. This means that, during the millennium, the Gentiles will be the nations, and the converted Jews will be the priests, teaching them to worship God.
The present situation in the Middle East is very significant! In 1948 the nation of Israel was re-formed, and in 1967 the city of Jerusalem was returned to the Jews. When I was saved more than fifty years ago, I read the prophecies concerning the re-forming of the nation of Israel. At that time I could hardly believe that the nation of Israel could be re-formed. It seemed impossible for Jerusalem to be returned to the Jews. But Hallelujah! What seems impossible to us is possible with God! And the Lord did it! It was the Lord’s doing, and it was marvelous in our eyes.
In 1948 the nation of Israel was suddenly re-formed. Then in 1967 in only six days the city of Jerusalem was returned to the Jews. For twenty-five centuries, since 606 B.C., Jerusalem had not been under the control of the Jewish people. But suddenly overnight it was put back into their hands. Surely this is the Lord’s doing. Today the focus of the world’s attention is upon the Middle East situation with the little nation of Israel as the center. All the Ishmaelites, the Arabs, are still plotting against the Jews. But Israel is being preserved by the Lord.
In addition to the Middle East situation there is the European situation. Soon Europe will have ten nations. Besides the Middle East and the European situation, there is the Far East. The dividing line is the river Euphrates. Surely the Antichrist will be the leader of the European powers. The Europeans will form armies under his hand. They will go forth to Palestine to fight against the nation of Israel in order to capture Jerusalem. At the same time two hundred million horsemen will come from the Far East, passing through the river Euphrates. All those powers will come together. While they are gathered together, the Lord will come to tread the winepress. The armies will be formed in the territory of Europe, and the horsemen will be assembled in the Far East during the time of the tribulation.
We have seen that some of the more matured saints will be taken as firstfruits to the third heaven before the tribulation. The harvest will be taken in the midst of the tribulation. The firstfruits will be taken away to the third heaven, God’s house. They will come with the Lord Jesus to the air, and the rest of the harvest will be caught up to the air to meet with them. There the Lord Jesus will exercise His judgment over all the believers to select the overcomers for His army. While the Lord Jesus is forming His army in the air, all the nations will be forming their armies on the earth and will be gathered to Jerusalem (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:19). This means that the grapes from every corner of the grape field will be collected to the center of the winepress (14:18-19). The Lord will come from the air with His army of called, chosen, and faithful ones, and He will destroy Antichrist with his army and the two hundred million horsemen from the Far East (19:11-21). At the same time, the Spirit will be poured out upon the besieged Israel (Zech. 12:10). They will repent, and the whole house of David will be saved.
The whole earth will become the kingdom of Christ (Rev. 11:15). The stone that strikes the Gentile world will become the mountain, the kingdom, filling the whole earth (Dan. 2:35). Some of the Gentiles will be left alive after the battle of Armageddon, and they will become the peoples, the nations, upon the earth. The converted and saved Jews will be the priests in Jerusalem teaching people how to serve the Lord. The Lord Jesus will set up Jerusalem as His capital, and from His throne He will reign as King over the whole earth.
