22. Plight of Rebels

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes Tagged with , ,

Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church

Adult Sunday School

5 August 2018

The Plight of Rebels

Zechariah 14:12-21 (KJV)

12And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, thathave no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

  • THE PLIGHT OF REBELS (1) 

12And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

KJV Judges 7:1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.2And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. 9And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 10But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 11And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 22And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. (Jdg. 7:1-22 KJV)

“In that day the nations’ wealth will come to Jerusalem.” 

The Lord at His coming shall send a plague to smite all the people that fight against His people in Jerusalem (v 12). Secondly, there will be seen mutual annihilation of Israel’s enemies through a supernatural panic like the time of Gideon and the Midianites (v 13, Jud 7:22). The third weapon that God employs against the enemy is Judah, the strength divinely given to the remnant to spoil the nations of their great abundance of wealth (v 14). The plague will also consume all the common animals (v 15). There will be a holocaust of the heathen armies in Jerusalem as God judges them. The word “holocaust” is made up of two Greek words “holos” meaning “completely” and “kaustos” meaning “burnt” derived from the Hebrew word “shoah” connoting catastrophe, calamity, disaster and destruction. It is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War Two, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler. The Jews were at first shot. Later the introduction of gas chambers quickened the killing process. They were stripped of all their valuables, even their gold teeth were being plucked out. These atrocities were unspeakably wicked. 

The death suffered by these whose “flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet and eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth” is most atrocious. This plague came upon them because they would not submit to our Lord Jesus Christ. They might have thought that the might of all the nations was sufficient to fight the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the ill-informed pride of a rebellious heart that caused their downfall. Have you been rebelling against God’s laws and there seem to be not sign of God’s judgment? Repent! 

“The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk 19:10) Help me, Lord, to see my sins as they are and to repent! 

  • THE PLIGHT OF REBELS (2) 

 18And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.19For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.22And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23Thus 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. 38:18-23 KJV)

“The sword of the Lord.”

The armies of the nations that take the mark of the beast will suffer terrible fate by a word from His mouth. All the weapons of war will be rendered useless. There will be a blood bath in the Holy Land that it will take 7 months for Israel to clean up and bury the dead (Ezek 39:12) and 7 years to destroy all the weapons (Ezek 39:9). 

On 26th September 2008, the Chinese Shenzhou VII (Ark of God) spacecraft blasted off at 9:07 p.m. Thursday, carrying three Chinese astronauts into space on the country’s third manned space mission in five years. The three-day mission included the country’s first successful attempt at a spacewalk. The Chinese government has spent billions of dollars in recent years building up a space program that it hopes will help China establish a space station by 2020 and eventually will put a man on the moon. Accomplishments that would certainly bring the country international prestige. The launching of Shenzhou VII from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, which is in western China, was shown live on state television. 

The only safe ark is not in the space station that China will build or the Shenzhou VII but in our Lord Jesus Christ. How can we escape the coming judgment? Certainly not by escaping to outer space, but by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. 

Have we great investments – stocks and shares, gold, money, cars, careers, properties, leisure? Are they won by dishonest means? Have they become our idols? The day of reckoning is coming! 

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” (2 Pet 3:11) Lord, grant me spiritual discernment. 

  • WORSHIP IN THE MILLENNIUM (1) 

34And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mk. 8:34 KJV)

“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Despite their mistreatment of Israel, the repentant nations will be spared and provided opportunity for regular worship. The feast of Booths (Tabernacles) was one of Israel’s three pilgrim feasts observed annually by the people of Israel (v 16; Deut 16:13-16). The feast commemorates the wilderness experience of Israel and celebrates the fall harvest (Lev 23:39, 42-43). True worship shall be universally established amongst a remnant of the nations. Any nation slack in their worship and acknowledgement of their King will suffer punishment by a plague. And if a nation fails to go to Jerusalem for worship, it will have no rain and suffer losses (v 17). 

It is the same for God’s people today who fail to worship and acknowledge Him in their lives. Remember the encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isa 58:13-14). 

Egypt is the nation that has caused much suffering to God’s people. In that day, Egypt will be subdued and in their obedience, they will also enjoy the blessings of salvation given to Israel. The rule of the Prince of Peace from Jerusalem will be most glorious because there will finally be lasting peace, Satan will be bound up for 1,000 years. What a blessed scene of true prosperity! 

May this study awaken us to the nearness of the Lord’s RETURN! Let us forsake the world and come to Jesus! 

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk 8:36) Save me, Lord, from straying from You! 

 (4) WORSHIP IN THE MILLENNIUM (2) 

“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 14:20-21) 

18For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. (Isa. 66:18-24 KJV)

 “In that day the nations shall worship at Jerusalem.” 

The mark of true consecration will be seen everywhere and practised in the millennium. It is “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” 

All are cleansed and holy in Jerusalem and among God’s people. There will be holiness in public life “bells of the horses,” in religious life “pots in the Lord’s house,” and all private life “every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah.” Truly, “blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). God dwells physically in the midst of His saints who will be appointed to rule with Him. Sin will no more have dominion. What glorious freedom! 

These last two verses of prophesy may well close not only this book but the whole history of Israel, for it shows God’s original purpose fulfiled in Exodus 19:6, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” All who enter the house of the Lord are recognized as regenerated born- again believers. There shall be no Canaanites (heathen, unbelievers) in the house of the Lord of hosts. Our Lord rules in our hearts today but the corrupt nature wars daily against the spirit of holiness. May God’s people wage a good warfare against the corruptness in us, daily practising holy habits, watching and working for the night comes when no man can work. God does not forget His own children. The Lord truly remembers! 

The hallmark of gratitude is remembrance. Lord, may You fill me fully with Your Spirit for today.