88. Day of the LORD’S Vengeance

Hymns: RHC 436 Sound the Battle Cry! 438 The Son of God Goes Forth to War 435 The Banner of the Cross

Isaiah 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. 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. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 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. 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. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

Day of the LORD’S Vengeance

OUTLINE

Judgment Upon the World (v1-7)
- Whole Armies Destroyed (v3)
- Great Commotion in Heaven (v4)
- Sacrifice of Men Like Animals – Edomites Representative of the World (v6-7)
Judgment Upon the Land (v9-17 cf. Rev. 6-19)
- Wasteland and Wilderness

The reason for the LORD’S vengeance was for the vindication of Zion who has suffered by a controversy, many an incursion by the enemies of the LORD’S people.

8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

Before our LORD’S betrayal and His crucifixion on the cross, suffering controversy with the Jews and their hatred for Him.

This hatred of the Lord and His mission, the gospel work is uncalled for. Our Lord was doing good. Why did this happen? Our Lord explained this to His disciples.

John 15:18-25 (KJV) If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

Why is in that the world hated? It is sin as summarized in the Ten Commandments that is characterized by the world.

1 John 2:16-17 (KJV) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

These are the enemies of God’s people, the enemies of God – John 8:42-47 (KJV) Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Isaiah shows us God’s judgment that will come upon the unbelieving world that is detailed in the Book of Revelation – Revelation 1:7 (KJV) Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

This is detailed in Revelation 6-19, a culmination of the description of the Lord’s return and the battle of Armageddon.

Judgment Upon the World (v1-7)
- Whole Armies Destroyed (v3)
- Great Commotion in Heaven (v4)
- Sacrifice of Men Like Animals – Edomites Representative of the World (v6-7)

The armies of the world marching in battle against the nation of Israel and the Lord coming to destroy the armies of the Antichrist gathered against Israel marching towards Jerusalem.

Armageddon is the place where the kings of the earth and of the whole world will gather to battle against God Almighty (Revelation 16:14-16). It is the culmination of man’s rebellion against the rule of their Creator God (Revelation 16:17) and God’s emphatic intervention to restore His sovereignty over His created earth through His Son Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11-21; Daniel 2:44-45; Zechariah 12-14; Joel 2:11; 3:2). It is history’s final war!

The objective of the world’s army (Revelation 9:13-16; 16:13-16) against Israel in this final war is to occupy Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2- 11; 14:2), the capital of the world. This will complete man’s ambition to be the master of God’s vineyard. The evil one behind man’s rebellion is none other than Satan himself, energizing the Antichrist and the false prophet, exerting control over the kings of the earth (Revelation 16:13-14). The first rebellion against God occurred in heaven by the archangel Lucifer who is Satan himself (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-19). The first rebellion on earth was by Adam and Eve who fell at Satan’s temptation (Genesis 3:1-7), plunging mankind into total depravity. The depraved nature in man, motivated by the prince of this world – Satan, will be dealt a fatal blow in this final battle.

It will be Israel and the people of God on the one side versus the nations of the world on the other. The armies of the world are led by Satan (dragon), the Antichrist (beast) and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13-14). Israel will be no match for the power of the

Antichrist and the armies of the world. But at the moment of their great distress, Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ, will come down from heaven to save a distraught Israel.

This final rebellion gathers momentum at the 6th vial judgment (Revelation 16:12). It is towards the end of the second half of the tribulation period and will culminate at the 7th vial judgment (Revelation 16:17) where “a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne” declares, “It is done”. This completes the series of God’s judgment (7 seals, 7 trumpets and lastly 7 vials) that began at the beginning of the 7-year great tribulation period recorded in Revelation 6. The church was already taken up to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Matthew 24:36- 41; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 17:26-30, 34-36). Now Christ will return with His raptured saints (Jude 1:14) and the heavenly hosts (Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) to quell man’s rebellion (Revelation 19:11-21) and to establish His earthly rule from Jerusalem. Jesus Christ will return physically on the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem will be topographically transformed. The great city, Jerusalem, will be “divided into three parts” (Revelation 16:19; Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14:4-5).

At the end of the tribulation, during the Armageddon conflict, the Lord shall return to earth in order to deliver Israel, His chosen people, from the invading army of the Antichrist. This is described in Revelation 19:11-14: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” And in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

In Revelation 19:15, we read of the Lord’s weapon of triumph, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

What is this sharp sword? It is the spoken word of Christ unleashed to destroy the advancing armies of the world. The destruction is described vividly in Zechariah 14:12: “And 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.”

The longsuffering of God has reached its limit. The judgment of God is swift and complete. For the unrepentant, there is no escape from the carnage to come.

During the time leading to the Lord’s return there will be great indications in heaven.

The Great Tribulation is mentioned once in the New Testament in Matthew 24:21, 21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

The word “tribulation” or “thlipsis” in Greek means literally a pressing, pressing together, pressure. Metaphorically, it means oppression, affliction, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits.^[1] It is derived from the noun “thláō” which means to break. The stress is so great that it reaches a breaking point. The divine Spirit included the adjective “great” to emphasize that it is an unprecedented period of affliction and suffering for all mankind that is in the coming future.

In the Old Testament it is called (1) The day of the LORD (Isa 13:6-9) (2) The indignation (Isa 26:20, 34:2) (3) The day of God’s vengeance (Isa 34:8, 63:1-6) (4) The time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7) (5) The overspreading of abominations (Dan 9:27) (6) The time of trouble such as never was (Dan 12:1) (7) The seveneth week (Dan 9:24-27) (8) The time of the end (Dan 12:9) (9) The great day of His wrath (Rev 6:17) (10) The hour of His judgment (Rev 14:7) and (11) The end of this world (Matt 13:40, 49).

The length of this tribulation can be understood from Daniel’s prophesy of the “70 weeks” in Daniel 9:24-27 given in 537 B.C., 69 years after Daniel was carried captive to Babylon (606 B.C.), a year before Cyrus, King of Persia and conqueror of Babylon, decreed freedom to the Jews to return to Jerusalem.^[2]

From the command to rebuild the Jerusalem down to Messiah the Prince is 483 years (69 x 7). This is calculated according to the Jewish calendar of 360 years according to Rev 11:2-3.^[3] The 69 weeks or 483 years will begin with the issuing of the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. (Neh 2), and ending with the crucifixion of the Messiah in about A.D. 30. The 69 weeks is divided into 2 parts: (1) the 49 years which saw Jerusalem rebuilt (Neh 6), and (2) the 434 years which ended with the crucifixion of Christ.^[4]Forty years after Christ was crucified saw Jerusalem destroyed by Titus the Roman general.

The Great Tribulation will also be a time where the wrath of God is outpoured upon the earth in judgment as never before. This is described in detail from Rev 6 – 19 with the series of judgment beginning with the 7 seals (Rev 6) followed by 7 trumpets (Rev 8-9) concluding with 7 bowls (Rev 16).

1^st seal: Rider on White Horse = The Antichrist

2^nd seal: Rider on Red Horse = Wars, Threats, Terrorism

3^rd seal: Rider on Black Horse = Famine, Economic Ruin

4^th seal: Rider on Pale Horse = Death

5^th seal: Martyred souls more persecutions

6^th seal: Physical disturbances Earthquakes

7^th seal: Silence 7 trumpets begin

Judgment Upon the Land (v9-17 cf. Rev. 6-19)
- Wasteland and Wilderness

9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

1^st trumpet: 1/3 Earth on fire, 1/3 Trees on fire, all grass burned.

2^nd trumpet: 1/3 Sea becomes blood, 1/3 ship sunk, 1/3 fish dead

3^rd trumpet: 1/3 A falling star poisons: 1/3 Rivers and 1/3 Fountains

4^th trumpet: 1/3 Sun darkened, 1/3 Moon dark, 1/3 Stars dark

5^th trumpet: Demonized locusts torture men 5 months

6^th trumpet: 1/3 Mankind dead, 200 million men from Asia goes to Middle East

7^th trumpet: Earthquake, 7000 die in Jerusalem

1^st Bowl: Boils on followers of Antichrist

2^nd Bowl: All Sea becomes Blood, All Fish Dead

3^rd Bowl: All Rivers turn into Blood

4^th Bowl: Sun scorches all Mankind

5^th Bowl: Total darkness on Earth

6^th Bowl: Euphrates dries, Asian kings goes to Middle East for Armageddon

7^th Bowl: Earthquake falls all cities, Babylon cited, big-sized hail^[5]

This is what happens…

The world will be battered under

God’s divine judgments of the 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls
Antichrist will issue absolute economic and political decrees which bring further woes;
Satan and his emissaries will concentrate activities on earth (Rev 12:12).

As the world begins to come apart, supernatural events transpire worse than ant ecologist’s nightmare.

Acts of man and judgments from God will combine to case:-

• Stars to fall

• Planets to run off course

• Unnatural climate changes

• Food production largely wiped out

• Strange new epidemics spread

• Gigantic earthquakes level cities

And destructions occur in other areas of human life:-

• Economic systems collapse

• Moral standards cease to exist

• Social structures breakdown

• A super-church absorbs all religion

• Satanism, occultism, witchcraft

• Humanism and human knowledge increase

• Terrorism, fear, destruction abound

Where are we in the prophetic clock?

Look at Israel!

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

The fig tree is the symbol for Israel. After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Israel became a nation again in 14^th May 1948, the bible says ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors…this generation shall shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. How long is this generation? 70-80 years? It is now 63 years. How many more years do we have before our Lord will come?

Figure adapted from A Pictorial Guide to Prophecy by Paul Lee Tan, page 82

Look at the complacency in the world!

Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

God’s Word tells us so clearly the world is going on business as usual. It is not business as usual. Like in the days of Noah, the prophetic clock is ticking away. The time of the reckoning is coming. But before that the rapture will take place.

Look out for the blessed hope!

Matthew 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

The rapture will be unexpected and the world will be caught by surprise! But not God’s people, they are exhorted to “Watch”. This is a command by Christ and we are to do so without let-up (the sense of the Greek present tense).

How to prepare?

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Make sure that you are a child of God!

Be double sure that you have received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Confess your sins and received Him today by faith that He died for you on the cross by bearing all your sins and rose victorious from the dead the third day to justify you in His resurrection.

Live a godly life!

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We are to be ready for we know not when the hour is when our Lord Jesus shall come. And our preparedness is seen by how we are using our time for His service and how we are treating the people around us. Are we showing forth God’s love? Jesus will bring His reward with Him when He comes. For the unfaithful servant, there is a loss of reward. For the false servant, there is not only no reward but punishment for He will not be receive on that day!

CONCLUSION

May we truly work out our salvation with fear and trembling! The Lord help us. Amen.

^[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament by Spiros Zodhiates

^[2] Ibid., 402.

^[3] 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Rev 11:1-3 (KJV)

^[4] Daniel’s 69 weeks: Historical Date: Start: March 14, 445 B.C. End: April 6 A.D.32 Total: 476 years. Total Days in Jewish Calendar 69 weeks x 360 days = 173, 880 days. Total Days in Western Years 476 years x 365 Days = 173,740 Days Leap Year = 116 Days Mar 14 to Apr 6 = 24 Days. Total = 173,880. Observation: Amazingly, Daniel’s 69 “Weeks” have been fulfilled to the exact number of DAYS! Similarly, Daniel’s 70^th Week or The Great Tribulation will be fulfilled in exact days. [Paul Lee Tan, A Pictorial Guide to Bible Prophesy, 78]

^[5] Paul Lee Tan, A Pictorial Guide to Bible Prophesy, 79.

88. Day of the LORD’S Vengeance

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