(2011) As we ended last week, we left three scenes each at a climactic moment First, we saw Jesus in the Heavenly Throne room SLIDE 19-15 SLIDE 19-16 He was prepared to take His Bride back to Earth for the wedding supper And they were surrounded by invited guests, the OT and Tribulation saints ready to join Christ on Earth in the Kingdom Secondly, Stage III of the War of Armageddon dominated events on Earth, beginning with Botzrah SLIDE 19-17 The refuge in Petra in the mountains was under attack from the nations armies The attack goes no where, since these are the believing remnant of God s people As such, they were promised protection and provision for 3½ years But though the attack hasn t succeeded, the attackers themselves have yet to be destroyed either SLIDE 19-18 Finally, the city of Jerusalem is the heart of the Antichrist s attacks The attack begins from the west according to Daniel 12, and then the armies proceed to surround the city The armies siege the city and bring it under severe distress But God comes to the defense of His people here as well, strengthening the people and confusing the attacking armies But as with Botzrah, the armies are still attacking and the Jews are still feeling the pressure Tonight we move forward along all fronts, beginning with the Lord moving from Heaven to alter events on Earth Let s begin by revisiting some important details of Tribulation we learned in past weeks May be copied and distributed provided the document is reproduced in its entirety, including this copyright statement, and no fee is collected for its distribution.
2! of! 18 First, we learned that the time of Tribulation is a period God has ordained as punishment for Israel s sins under the Old Covenant The nation failed to keep a covenant they agreed to keep perfectly And this agreement was binding on all generations of Israel according to the Law As a result, the nation must endure the curses God promised in His covenant Those curses are brought to their conclusion in the difficulties of Tribulation, a time called the time of Jacob s Troubles Above all, however, this time is intended to bring Israel back into the bond of the covenant As Paul promised in Romans 11, all Israel is to be saved upon the return of Christ Christ s return will bring an end of Tribulation along with an end to the Age of the Gentiles Having come through the refining fire, Israel will be purified and those that remain will be saved As Jesus promised when He spoke of the Tribulation SLIDE 19-19 Matt. 24:9 Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. Matt. 24:10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Matt. 24:11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Matt. 24:12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people s love will grow cold. Matt. 24:13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. So, for the Jew who lives through in Tribulation, enduring to the end of the seven-ear period offered a unique guarantee to be saved Jesus can make this promise not because the Jews earn the right to salvation by their efforts to remain alive (i.e., not by their works)
3! of! 18 On the contrary, Jesus promise means that those who are still alive on the last day will be included in God s grace when He keeps His promise to save all Israel There will be other Jews who are saved in Tribulation (e.g., the 144,000) as well But since all Jews are saved on the final day of Tribulation, so truly the one who endures to the end shall be saved Secondly, we learned that in the Law given through Moses, Israel was promised an opportunity to escape the curses by means of a loophole in the covenant SLIDE 19-20 Lev. 26:36 As for those of you who may be left, I will also bring weakness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a driven leaf will chase them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee as though from the sword, and they will fall. Lev. 26:37 They will therefore stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand up before your enemies. Lev. 26:38 But you will perish among the nations, and your enemies land will consume you. Lev. 26:39 So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their forefathers they will rot away with them. Lev. 26:40 If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me Lev. 26:41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, Lev. 26:42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. Israel could never escape the penalties of the Law they violated except by the grace of God And in their Law, God made provision for His grace...a loophole I called it The loophole in Lev 26:40-42 gives Israel a way to escape the penalties of the Old Covenant on the basis of another covenant First, all Israel must confess their own sin...a national confession of repentance Secondly, they must confess the sin of their forefathers
4! of! 18 Specifically, this future generation of Israel must confess that their forefathers were acting in sin and hostility when they crucified Jesus They must acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah who came to their forefathers but they rejected Him and put Him to death When this happens, God promises to respond in mercy and save Israel on the basis of His earlier covenant given through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Finally, we learned that Tribulation ends when Christ returns as His Second Coming But Jesus Himself declared in Luke 13 that He will not return until the entire nation of Israel calls out for Him as their Messiah Yet Paul said in Romans 11 that Israel s deliverer, Jesus, will come to remove ungodliness from Jacob So as we approach the defining moment of Tribulation, we face a bit of dilemma Israel is condemned to receive God s curses under the penalty of the Law until they repent, confess their sin, and recognize Jesus as Messiah Jesus return will put an end to the Tribulation and to the Age of the Gentiles and it will come in connection with the removal of ungodliness from all Israel, resulting in their collective salvation But Jesus won t return to save the Jews until they cry out for Him and recognize Him as Messiah So we re faced with what seems like an impossible Catch-22... To quote Jesus Himself: Luke 18:27 But He said, The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.
5! of! 18 The time has come in our study to witness this moment, the moment all Scripture leads us to...the moment of our Lord s return and Israel s glory In this study we ve divided Israel into four groups for the purpose of understanding God s plan SLIDE 19-21 There are those in Israel who have come to faith during the Tribulation They are believers God holds in protection in Botzrah until the end of Tribulation Secondly, there are those who remain orthodox Jews refusing to take the mark of the Beast Still, they are unbelieving because they have yet to accept Jesus as Messiah These Jews are the ones encamped in and around Jerusalem under siege, including some who fled from Babylon Third, there are the 144,000 Jews who were sealed for evangelism during beginning of Tribulation At mid-tribulation, we saw them all standing in Heaven having been martyred and taken from the Earth Finally, there will be those Jews who have taken the mark of the Beast They cease to be Jews and are forever lost along with the Gentile who have taken the mark Therefore, there is only one group of Jews on earth who can turn to Jesus in repentance and call out for Him The Jews in Botzrah have already experienced that moment They are the faithful remnant, which is why they received protection and provision in the wilderness They simply await Jesus arrival And the Jews with the mark of the beast are not eligible to receive mercy and will never call out for Jesus They simply await His judgment
6! of! 18 So to the question of which part of Israel will be those who call out for Jesus and bring about His return, the answer is the Jews huddled in Jerusalem To see the moment when they turn to Jesus and are saved, we return to a passage we visited last week in Zechariah 12 Zech. 12:8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. Zech. 12:9 And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. SLIDE 19-22 We read these verses last week as part of the first half of the chapter We paused after v.9 as we studied the moment when the Lord rouses the inhabitants of the city to defend themselves against the antichrist as when David fought Goliath In Zechariah, we receive a few more details of how the battle proceeds Zech. 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. Zech. 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. SLIDE 19-23 At some point in this battle, the antichrist s forces begin to prevail, at least enough to enter the city and assault the inhabitants Women are violated and half the city is captured My English translation reads exiled but the Hebrew word can be translated go into captivity It s unlikely they are taken anywhere, since there will be few places to go Half the city is captured and taken prisoners But half the Jews continue to fight for Jerusalem Now in the midst of this dark hour as Israel and Jerusalem look to be lost, we return to Zechariah 12 to see how the battle turns
7! of! 18 Zech. 12:10 I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. At the critical moment when the city is nearly lost, the Lord intervenes from Heaven He promises to pour out His Spirit upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem SLIDE 19-24 The House of David is a reference to the ruling class of Israel The leaders of Israel in that moment And the inhabitants of Jerusalem refers to the Jewish citizens of the city Both those who have been taken captive in the city and those who are still resisting the enemy s forces The critical phrase to note is in the second half of v.10 The Spirit of grace and supplication is poured out by the Lord upon Jerusalem so that... The reason for the Spirit s outpouring then follows So that Israel will look upon Me Whom they have pierced Obviously, the Lord is referring to Himself here Israel will look upon Jesus, the one their forefathers pierced And then they will mourn for Jesus, in the way one mourns for the loss of their only son This describes not only the depths of their mourning but it also reflects their recognition that Jesus was the only Son of God They crucified the one and only Lord, the Son of God There is only One Messiah, and they killed Him
8! of! 18 They mourn at the lost opportunity to have their Messiah They weep bitterly over their loss like we might weep over the loss of a firstborn This is a fascinating moment to imagine Again, Jesus is the firstborn of Creation and of the dead, according to Paul They deeply regret missing their chance to receive their Messiah The weeping and mourning of an entire nation at the sudden collective recognition that Jesus was their promised Savior, and yet their forefathers rejected Him And the mourning is amplified by their dire circumstances when they see their world collapsing and the enemy about to slaughter the last living Jew in Jerusalem Even more fascinating is the way in which the Jews in Jerusalem arrive at this recognition Zech. 12:11 In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. Zech. 12:12 The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; Zech. 12:13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; Zech. 12:14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. SLIDE 19-25 Zechariah lists four distinct groups of Israel, all of whom are mourning over this recognition that Jesus is Messiah First, the house of David with their wives and family David was a king of Israel, of course This family represent the rulers of Israel in that day coming to faith in Jesus Secondly, the house of Nathan with their family
9! of! 18 Nathan was the prophet to King David This family represents the prophets and teachers of Jerusalem coming to faith in Jesus Thirdly, the house of Levi and their family will mourn Levi was the priestly tribe, of course So the religious leaders of Israel will join the rest in faith Taken together these three groups represent the noble class of Israel society These noble classes are accompanied in mourning for Jesus by one additional group, the Shimeites and their family You may not recognize the name Shimei, but his story in 2Samuel provides a perfect footnote to Zechariah 12 Shemei was a relative of the deceased king Saul, After David assumed the throne of Israel, Saul descendants were bitter and angry with David and rejected his rule David is fighting with his own son, Absalom for control of Israel, and at one point, David must save himself by fleeing his palace in Jerusalem through the East gate He moves his army to Bahurim, a city of Benjamin, the tribe of Saul Many common men in Israel had aligned themselves with David s son, Absalom, and against David s rule And as David approaches Bahurim, he is confronted by a man, Shemei 2Sam. 16:5 When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came. 2Sam. 16:6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. 2Sam. 16:7 Thus Shimei said when he cursed, Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow!
10! of! 18 2Sam. 16:8 The LORD has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed! 2Sam. 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head. 2Sam. 16:10 But the king said, What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, Curse David, then who shall say, Why have you done so? 2Sam. 16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him. 2Sam. 16:12 Perhaps the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day. 2Sam. 16:13 So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him. Shimei curses David and says he is a worthless man and a man of bloodshed He blames David for the death of Saul s sons and refuses to accept David s rule over him, choosing to follow Absalom instead But David is the rightful king of Israel, according to God s annointing So in response to Shemei s insults, David s men suggest they should execute Shimei for his words But David objects, saying that Shemei s words are from God David saw Shimei s rejection and cursing as coming from God, so David received it voluntarily as from God As David goes along, Shimei continues to follow below the hillside cursing and throwing rocks and dust, making a spectacle of his rejection of David In that moment, Shimei becomes a picture for the common man of Israel, just as David himself is a picture of Jesus Shimei rejected David s rule, which pictures Israel s rejection of Jesus ruling over them And just as David accepted that rejection as a decree from God, so did Jesus accept the Jews rejection as the Father s plan for Jesus first coming But the story of Shimei isn t over
11! of 18! A short time later, David and his army are successful in defeating Absalom, at which time David departs Bahurim for Jerusalem to finally assume the throne as undisputed king of Israel And along the way, he encounters Shemei again 2Sam. 19:16 Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 2Sam. 19:17 There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. 2Sam. 19:18 Then they kept crossing the ford to bring over the king s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. 2Sam. 19:19 So he said to the king, Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart. 2Sam. 19:20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. 2Sam. 19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD S anointed? 2Sam. 19:22 David then said, What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today? 2Sam. 19:23 The king said to Shimei, You shall not die. Thus the king swore to him. We can easily see the picture through Shemei can t we? Upon David s return to Jerusalem, the common men of Israel, led by Shemei are the first to bow down and pledge their loyalty to their king And they ask the king for forgiveness for their past rejection In response, David s men suggest he should die again And again, David asks why should anyone in Israel die on the occasion of David s rise to power? Instead, all will live Once again, David pictures Christ upon His return to reign in Israel at His Second Coming And Shemei pictures the common man of Israel repenting of his prior rejection and coming to faith in Jesus
12! of! 18 Returning to Zechariah 12 once more, we can see that the four groups represent all levels of Jewish society The reason all four groups are called out so specifically is to communicate that this is a comprehensive moment There is no one in Jerusalem is excluded from the outpouring All inhabitants of Jerusalem are brought to the same understanding at once Finally, notice the way in which these families experience this moment They are all by themselves This phrase emphasizes that all the families of Jerusalem are isolated one from another at the moment of the Spirit s outpouring They are not found collected in one place where one group shares this truth with another Instead every family receives this revelation directly from the Lord, comparable to the way Saul was converted on the road to Damascus This is a mass conversion of all living Jews in Jerusalem by the power of the Holy Spirit to bring faith to a heart and without the intervention of men Scripture also gives us insight into the specific words the Jews will be using as they call out for their Messiah in this moment Psa. 79:1 O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; They have defiled Your holy temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins. Psa. 79:2 They have given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens, The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth. Psa. 79:3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem; And there was no one to bury them. Psa. 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and derision to those around us. Psa. 79:5 How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Psa. 79:6 Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You,
13! of! 18 And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name. Psa. 79:7 For they have devoured Jacob And laid waste his habitation. Psa. 79:8 Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us; Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, For we are brought very low. Psa. 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name s sake. Psa. 79:10 Why should the nations say, Where is their God? Let there be known among the nations in our sight, Vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed. Psa. 79:11 Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die. Psa. 79:12 And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord. Psa. 79:13 So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise. Notice in this call to God, Israel describes the attack on Jerusalem, the defiling of the temple and attack of the nations They ask God how much longer will He be angry Then importantly, they ask for forgiveness both for themselves in v.9 and for the sins of their forefathers in v.8 This is the requirement of the loophole in Leviticus 26 Once Israel makes this confession, God promises to heal them, forgive them and bring them into the Kingdom The confession continues into Psalm 80, of which we need examine only the final few verses Psa. 80:14 O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine, Psa. 80:15 Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself. Psa. 80:16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. Psa. 80:17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. Psa. 80:18 Then we shall not turn back from You;
14! of! 18 Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. Psa. 80:19 O LORD God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. Here we see Israel declaring that it will be the Son of God who will come to save them And they ask for the Son of Man to revive us as they call upon His name And they know that should God respond as they ask, they will be saved Can we pinpoint when this moment happens for Israel? According to Micah, it occurs in the midst of the attack on Jerusalem Hos. 5:14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. Hos. 5:15 I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. Hos. 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. Hos. 6:2 He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. Hos. 6:3 So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth. SLIDE 19-26 For two days, the city will endure the antichrist s attack and the city will suffers losses But on third day, the Lord will raise Israel up and they will live before Him And then He will come to them as the rain comes to water the earth, as a relief and a source of life from above So God keeps His promise and the Lord returns
15! of! 18 John gives us an overview of that event, as viewed from Heaven Rev. 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. Rev. 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. Rev. 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Rev. 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. Rev. 19:15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. Rev. 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. As we said last week, the return of Christ provided in Revelation 19 is just a summary of the events They details of His return as they appear on Earth are found in the Old Testament So today we ll conclude the study looking at the heavenly view in Revelation 19 Next week we ll move back to the OT to learn how His appearing will proceed from an earthly viewpoint First, John says that Heaven itself is opened up This is not just a doorway into Heaven, but all Heaven is opened and visible from Earth Jesus explained that at the very moment of His return, the world will grow completely dark Matt. 24:29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt. 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. SLIDE 19-27
16! of! 18 Then Zechariah tells us that at this moment, the opening of heaven and the arrival of Christ will result in His Glory illuminating the Earth Zech. 14:6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. Zech. 14:7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. Jesus is depicted in the glorified form that John first described in chapter 1 of Revelation He has flaming eyes, diadems reflecting His natural right to rule, and a name unknown to anyone else, a name above all names This suggests to us that the name we know today, the name Yeshua, which in Greek became Jesus, is not the name the Lord will bear in the Kingdom But His name will still be known as the Word of God He is riding a white horse as He appears Who else do we remember was pictured as entering the world on a white horse? The antichrist, the false ruler Now the true King appears Jesus is wearing a robe dipped in blood Why does Jesus robe have blood on it? The clue is given in v.15 Jesus comes to strike down the nations and rule with a rod of iron He is bringing the a sword and will tread the winepress of God s wrath This is a King prepared for a fight Remember, Jesus first coming was to preach salvation and to show mercy The Second Coming will be for judgment and to rule
17! of! 18 Therefore, He bears the title, King of Kings and Lord of Lords No one on earth or in Heaven will challenge Jesus rule All authority will bow to Him Finally, Jesus is followed by armies The army described in chapter 19 are clothed in fine clean white linen This type of clothing is commonly a picture or symbol of salvation by faith We put on the righteousness of Christ in the sense that we put on clothing So this army includes the saints from all history accompanying their Savior and King in His triumphant return to rule We are called an army, but as we see next week, we will do none of the fighting Still, it should excite every Christian to consider that day to come We are reading about a future event in which we are assured to participate We can t say with certainty what we will do tomorrow, but we can be assured by our faith that we will be there to descend with Christ from Heaven on this momentous future day There is also another army accompanying Christ, though that army isn t mention in Revelation 19 But we do see that army mentioned by Christ in Matthew 16 Matt. 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. The Lord is accompanied by His angels, which form another branch of His army But as with the saints, the angelic realm play no part in the battles that Christ will fight alone Remember our picture from 2Kings 19 last week When the Assyrian army is destroyed solely by the Angel of the Lord, Who is Christ
18! of! 18 Next week we move our focus from the heavenly realm to the trenches of the ongoing war We will study Stages IV and V of the War of Armageddon and follow it to conclusion and the destruction of the enemy s forces And with that lesson, our study of Tribulation will come to an end SLIDE 19-28