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KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

“Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God...”

THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE AND THE DAY OF THE LORD

Part 1 (Olivet Discourse #4)

Originally published around March 1974

INTRODUCTION

In this Study we shall take a look at God’s plan of the ages. Away back at the beginning God allowed the crowning masterpiece of His creation to fall, allowed him to lose a human perfection and dominion over the beasts and creeping things, and then brought into operation the provision for raising to the heavenly realm such of these fallen creatures as should be chosen to that estate through grace. Through grace they became actual representatives of the God of heaven, and as such were given the privilege of reigning, through the fleeting years of their natural lives, over all the races of the earth. This dominion and privilege, however, like that of their first dominion in the garden, depended on their obedience to the will of their sovereign Lord. And here, as in the garden, they also failed miserably. So God destroyed the whole faithless mass, beginning anew with Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and his seed. But this did not help, for man’s one obsession and inborn trait all through the centuries has been rebellion and backsliding and faithlessness. And so God again, in His wisdom and according to His own progressive plan and purpose, unfolded an entirely new provision. So far, His saints had freely mixed with the world. But now He purposed to segregate them from the world. He purposed to remove them from the idolatrous influence of the ungodly. And so, beginning with Abraham, He began this segregation. He called Abraham out from the world and promised him a land, an inheritance. When once in this land his seed were to destroy completely, even to the last man, the heathen who dwelt there. Here was a truly remarkable and wholly new provision. For in Egypt God took the seed of Abraham, His church of that day, and made a NATION out of them. (Gen. 46:3; Deut. 26:5; Acts 7:38).

In this new role, as God’s chosen earthly nation and people, they were promised, that upon continued disobedience, they would be scattered again over the face of the earth, not as masters of earth, but in judgement and as slaves: as the offscouring of the earth among their enemies throughout a period of 2,520 years (see THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, Part IV), known variously as the time of the Indignation, the times of the Gentiles, or the time of Jacob’s trouble. Continued disobedience brought the promised judgement, which became a stern reality in 586 B.C., when Israel was carried captive to Babylon. From this time forward, until their final dispersion in A.D. 70, they were almost continually under servitude, first to one kingdom, then another, as a vassal state.

During the closing years of Israel’s servitude to the Roman Empire, and only forty years before their final destruction as a nation and their dispersion among the Gentile nations, Jesus came, made of a woman, made of the seed of Abraham, and made under the law (Gal. 4:14; Heb. 2:16). The King came to his own. They received Him not. Having been rejected by God’s nation of that day Jesus closed His last public discourse, never again to open His mouth in public teaching, with these words: “Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate – abandoned and left destitute of God’s help. For I declare to you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed – magnified in worship, adored and exalted – be He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mat. 23:37-38, Amplified Bible).

Your house is left unto you DESOLATE! It is important to note that immediately following this declaration we read, “Jesus departed from the temple area and was going on His way, when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the buildings of the temple and point them out to Him. But He answered them, Do you see all these things? Truly, I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end… of the age?” (Mat. 24:1-3). This was indeed a new revelation, a shocking blow to the inborn hope which still held a prominent place in the hearts of these disciples. They had been brought up to believe that their Messiah was to come to restore Israel to her lost heritage of world dominion. Now they learn that Jerusalem is to be besieged – and that even the temple is to be so destroyed until not one stone would be left standing on top of another.

In Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21 we have one of the most unusual forecasts of events to be found anywhere in the Word. It is unusual in its simplicity and in the exactness of its detail. And the part of it that has already been fulfilled and is now history, was fulfilled with absolute precision right down to the last jot and title. A second part is being fulfilled in this our day (much has already been fulfilled during your lifetime) and the third part shall reach its consummation within the next years that lie before us.

In this Study we shall look at only one specific part of the disciple’s question and Jesus’ answer to them. Jesus had informed the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. They asked, “When shall these things be, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of the end… of the age?” In order to perfectly understand this question and Jesus’ answer to the question we must first lay an important foundation. It is vital that we UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE between two biblical terms which have come to be confused in the minds of a great many people. These two biblical terms have erroneously been used INTERCHANGEABLY by a great number of teachers of the Word. The terms of which we speak are “THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE” and “THE DAY OF THE LORD”. The average Christian believes these two events to be SYNONYMOUS. So-called Fundamentalist teachers see absolutely no difference between these two events. Both the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and the “Day of the Lord” are crowded into the last 3.5 years of a 7 year tribulation period at the end of this present age.

That THIS IS NOT THE CASE is so very evident from a close consideration of all the scriptures which speak of these two events. It is clear that the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and the “Day of the Lord” are two distinct and separate events taking place in two totally different periods of time. It is also true that the latter cannot commence until the former has been consummated!

THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE

To understand the exact meaning of this term, THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE, we must first believe that it is exactly what it says it is – the time of JACOB’S TROUBLE! The term is coined in Jer. 30:5-7: “For thus saith the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace… Alas! For that day is great… it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” God then declared in succeeding verses that immediately following this time of Jacob’s trouble He would deliver and restore Jacob (natural Israel). “For it shall come to pass in that day (when Jacob is saved out of his trouble), says the Lord of hosts, that I will break the oppressor’s yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more make slaves of the people of Israel. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up (resurrect) for them.”

Away back in Deuteronomy chapter 28 the Lord had spoken to Israel through Moses and told them that if they would not walk with God and keep His commandments, then, instead of being masters of the earth, “the Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies… thou… SHALT BE REMOVED INTO ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH.” (Deut. 28:15-25). And then in Leviticus chapter 26 we find one of the most significant statements ever directed by God to His ancient people. So important and emphatic was this declaration of the Lord that He repeated it four times in the context of His warning to Israel. Beginning with verse 14 we read, “But if ye will not hearken unto Me… and if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul shall abhor My judgements, so that ye… break My covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you a terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will NOT YET FOR ALL THIS HEARKEN UNTO ME, then I will punish you SEVEN TIMES MORE for your sins… I will bring SEVEN TIMES MORE plagues upon you… and will punish you yet SEVEN TIMES for your sins… I, even I, will chastise you SEVEN TIMES.”

When God says that He will punish Israel SEVEN TIMES for her sins, we must know that the Spirit is employing typical prophetic language. God has always chosen to speak prophetically through the use of symbols. When prophetic time is thus given in symbolic language the measurement of that time can only be calculated upon an understanding of the symbol. Here God warns Israel that He will punish her SEVEN TIMES more for her sins. Now a “time” in prophecy is always a year (see Dan. 7:25, 9:24, 12:7 and Rev. 12:14 etc.). A “time” is a year, but we must remember that the Bible year is the Jewish ecclesiastical year which contains 360 days. And a prophetic “day” is a year in world time. Therefore, “seven times” means “seven years,” but each year is made up of 360 prophetic days – each one standing for an actual year of world time! So, “seven times” are 7 x 360 prophetic days, which equals 2,520 prophetic days; and these 2,520 prophetic days are in world time, 2,520 YEARS. Therefore, God is telling Israel that He will punish her for a period of 2,520 years! So in Leviticus chapter 26 the Lord establishes a definite time period in which He chooses to accomplish a specific work. That specific work is to PUNISH ISRAEL!

Let us, therefore, understand clearly that “the time of Jacob’s trouble” IS the time of her PUNISHMENT AND CHASTISEMENT BY GOD, even the time when HIS WRATH and VENGENCE is poured out without measure upon JACOB – upon the whole house of natural Israel for their sins. Let us now cite several scriptures which establish this truth.

In Amos 9:8-9 the Lord says, “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon this sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly (totally) destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, AND I WILL SIFT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AMONG ALL NATIONS, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake us.”

The fact that God would JUDGE Israel for her sins, and the further fact that this extended judgement upon Israel CONSTITUTES that “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” is clearly set forth in Jer. 11:1-14: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be My people, and I will be your God… And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear My words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will BRING EVIL UPON THEM, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto Me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all IN THE TIME OF THEIR TROUBLE. For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars… unto Baal. Therefore pray not for this people… for I will not hear them in the TIME THAT THEY CRY UNTO ME FOR THEIR TROUBLE.”

Again in Jer. 2:26-28 the Lord solemnly declares that He will not save Israel in the “time of her trouble.” Other scriptures reveal that God would save Israel after the time of her trouble ends, but God totally forsakes her during that time of judgement. “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto Me, and not their face: but IN THE TIME OF THEIR TROUBLE they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee IN THE TIME OF THY TROUBLE…”

We cannot over-emphasize the truth that “the time of Jacob’s trouble” IS the TIME period of God’s WRATH AGAINST ISRAEL. Hear the word of the Lord, “Your turn – your doom – has come upon you, O inhabitant of the land, THE TIME HAS COME, THE DAY IS NEAR, a day not of joyful shouting, but a day of tumult upon the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out MY WRATH UPON YOU, and finish spending My anger against you; and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will recompense you WITH PUNISHMENT for all your abominations… they (Israel) shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be discarded like an unclean thing or rubbish; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord… I will bring the worst of the (heathen) nations, who will take possession of the homes of the people of Judah; I will also silence their strongholds and put an end to their proud might, and their holy places and those who sanctify them shall be profaned. Distress, panic and destruction shall come, and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none” (Eze. 7:7-8, 19, 24-25, Amplified Bible).

Finally, in Hosea 5:9-10 the Lord says, “Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke and punishment. Among the tribes of Israel I declare what shall surely be. The princes of Judah are like those who remove the landmark; I will pour out MY WRATH UPON THEM like water” (Amplified Bible).

We have set forth all the above scriptures to show that the unbroken testimony of the Lord, from the beginning, has been that He would pour out His wrath UPON JACOB (natural Israel), the He would PUNISH JACOB, that this punishment would include a DISPERSEMENT AMONG ALL NATIONS, that this judgement would extend over a period of 2,520 years, and that THIS PUNISHMENT IS the prophesized “time of Jacob’s trouble.” This would be abundantly clear even if we didn’t have Jesus Christ’s own word to confirm the truth of it, raising it once and for all out of the realm of disputation.

Let us note that when Jesus said, concerning the temple of old in Jerusalem, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” then the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, “Tell us, WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?” Now, we have purposely quoted only the first part of the question which the disciples put to their Lord, and the purpose in so doing is to avoid the confusion which is so rampant in the popular Church of today. The disciples are here informed concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Then they asked their Informer the time when this should come to pass. This question He then answered, and gave the signs which would precede this event. They then asked two other questions which He also answered in turn. But let us not get our eyes off this FIRST question, for the popular Church of today, as a whole, has done this very thing and because they fail to see that the signs Jesus gave in Mat. 24:2-22 and Lk. 21:8-24 are signs which were to PRECEED THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE, they are misapplying scripture with great abandon and looking forward to many events which were all perfectly fulfilled 2000 years ago and never to be repeated. But the simple fact is that when the disciples asked WHEN the temple of old would be destroyed, either Jesus answered their question or else He DIDN’T answer it. If He DID answer it then at least a portion of Mat. 24 and Lk. 21 is applicable to the SIGNS PRECEEDING THAT DOOM, which befell the Jewish nation in A.D. 70, when the Roman general Titus and his hordes stalked through Jerusalem and so demolished it, levelling it to the ground, that those who afterward passed by could not believe it was ever inhabited. The words of our Lord concerning that destruction were LITERALLY and COMPLETELY fulfilled. This happened, as we have stated, in A.D. 70, and if this event is NOT REFERRED TO in Mat. 24 and Lk. 21 then the popular religionists are correct in applying the entirety of these chapters to events which must yet transpire at some future time – down here at the end of the age. But, on the other hand, if the entire chapter is speaking of OUR DAY then Jesus NEVER DID ANSWER the disciple’s question: “When shall these things (the destruction of the temple) be?” And if Jesus did answer that question, then everything written in these chapters certainly CANNOT APPLY to this, our day!

In A.D. 70 a specific event predicted by Jesus Christ transpired. This event has far more significance than orthodox Bible teachers give it. Most of these Bible teachers transfer all the events accompanying this destruction of Jerusalem, and the words Jesus uttered concerning it, to our present time. This can only bring confusion, and such confusion does reign among God’s people today.

But let us SEE! After listing the battery of “signs” that were to precede the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus says, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the DESOLATION thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them which are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

Now let us especially take note of some important facts in these verses. Jesus says, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about with armies, then know that the DESOLATION THEREOF IS NIGH.” Jesus is NOT here speaking, by a stretch of the imagination, of the YET FUTURE battle to be fought in Jerusalem which is described in Zech. 14:1-16. For lack of time and space we shall not print that long portion of scripture here, but you would do well to read it and compare it with the prophecy of Jesus in Lk. 21:20-24. You will see that in the battle described in Zech. 14 God gathers ALL NATIONS against Jerusalem to battle – but – there is one important difference! In Zech. 14 God does not gather the nations against Jerusalem TO DESTROY JERUSALEM and make it desolate, but the gathering of the nations against Jerusalem is to the end of JUDGING AND DESTROYING ALL THOSE NATIONS that come against Jerusalem! In Lk. 21 Jerusalem is destroyed and the Jews are carried away captive INTO ALL NATIONS, which captivity would continue until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. But in Zech. 14 God fights against all the nations which come into Jerusalem, saves Jerusalem, and DESTROYS ALL THOSE NATIONS! So the outcome of these two battles in JUST THE OPPOSITE! The battle of Zech. 14 is yet future, but the battle of Lk. 21 is now a well documented fact of history and had as its purpose THE DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM. Where is the man bold enough to say this did not happen precisely as Jesus prophesized it?

Continuing in Lk. 21:22 Jesus identifies the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and the subsequent scattering of the Jews among all nations, as THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL THINGS WHICH HAD BEEN WRITTEN concerning God’s vengeance upon Israel! “For THESE BE THE DAYS OF VENGENCE, that ALL THINGS which are written may be fulfilled.” Would-be prophets of today are busy, loudly proclaiming to us that “the time of Jacob’s trouble” is about to break forth upon the world in a “seven-year tribulation period.” But our Lord, speaking of an event that transpired 2000 years ago, when Israel was dispersed into 2000 more long years of untold anguish, suffering, persecution and tribulation, says of that event: “THESE BE THE DAYS OF VENGENCE (on Israel), THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN may be fulfilled.” Our present day crop of prophets proclaim that those days of vengeance and trouble for Jacob ARE YET TO COME. Jesus says that they are ALREADY PAST! Now who shall we believe?

We are further informed in verse 23: “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and WRATH UPON THIS PEOPLE.” The wrath here is upon “this people” – the Jews. It is evident that the full scope of this wrath was initiated by the great catastrophe of A.D. 70 and EXTENDS THROUGHOUT the long period of their dispersion, for Jesus says in verse 24: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, AND SHALL BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles UNTIL the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” There are two important points in this verse: (1) The dispersion and punishment of Israel would last until the closed of the “times of the Gentiles,” the end of this age. (2) When Israel would become a nation once more, gathered out of the lands of their dispersion, and when they should recapture the ancient city of Jerusalem, THEN the “times of the Gentiles” WOULD END! In fact, that singular event, the re-possession of Jerusalem by the nation of Israel, in itself, would fulfill one of the most important time-prophesies in the Bible and herald the actual termination of the TIMES OF THE GENTILES!

The simple question is: “Has all this now taken place?” Has Israel again become a nation? Have they re-possessed the old city Jerusalem?” The answer, of course, is affirmative! Not only has all this taken place, but it has taken place BEFORE OUR VERY EYES! We are the generation which has witnessed the consummation of ALL the stupendous events outlined in Lk. 21:24! These marvelous things were published in the headlines of all the newspapers of the world and flashed on the screens of every television set in every nation under heaven! That which Jesus foretold 2000 years ago HAS HAPPENED. To the letter. And God, the Almighty, has thundered out of heaven, in the hearing of all the nations upon the face of the earth, that THE END OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES HAS ARRIVED! Hallelujah! And at the same time the long night of God’s PUNISHMENT, WRATH, and TROUBLE upon Jacob IS OVER!

Some would tell use that the prophecy of Lk. 21:20-24 has a dual application and applies BOTH to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 AND to another event yet future in the days of the Antichrist during a coming seven-year tribulation period. But that is simply NOT POSSIBLE. For if the prophecy applies to a future event, then it means that at some point in the near future God is going to do THREE THINGS: (1) Destroy Jerusalem (2) Disperse Israel throughout all the nations (3) Cause Jerusalem to be trodden down of the Gentiles. You need be no scholar, need no gift or discernment, need be no prophet to understand that all these things HAVE ALREADY TRANSPIRED and will not be repeated in our day. There can be NO DUAL APPLICATION OR FULFILLMENT here!

Therefore, let us understand that the time of God’s wrath upon the fleshly Israel has now ended. Israel cannot again go down in defeat. She cannot again be scattered among the nations. She cannot again incur God’s wrath upon her head! All things that were written of that wrath and punishment upon her HAVE BEEN FULFILLED. The time of Jacob’s trouble IS NOT COMING. IT IS OVER. It is just as simple as that. This is now the hour of ISRAEL’S RESTORATION as a nation… and ultimately her NATIONAL SALVATION. God, who cannot lie, has promised that! The first stage of the restoration is already underway. They are now being restored nationally. And I can prophesy to you that soon now, in coming years that lie before us, the great Spiritual Work will get under way and our Lord shall restore Israel spiritually, grafting them back into the true Israel of God, circumcising their hearts by faith, that they, along with ALL NATIONS, may prosper and serve God acceptably and joyously – under the gracious and beneficent RULE of the SONS OF GOD!

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from JACOB: For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins… For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy UPON ALL” (Rom. 11:25-27, 32).

“And I will set My glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see My judgement that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God FROM THAT DAY AND FORWARD. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me, therefore hid I My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid My face from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of JACOB, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name; after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses… When I have brought them again from among the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; THEN SHALL THEY (come to) KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THEIR GOD, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them into their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide My face any more from them: FOR I HAVE POURED OUT MY SPIRIT UPON THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, saith the Lord God” (Eze. 39:21-29).

“Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I WILL SAVE THEM out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their God… And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant… I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an EVERLASTING covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary (the glorified body of Christ) in the midst of them forevermore” (Eze. 37:23-26).

THE DAY OF THE LORD

This brings us to the consideration of our second term – “The Day of the Lord”. It is not really difficult at all to distinguish between these two events. The comprehension of two simple scriptural truths will put each of these events in its proper perspective. First, the time of Jacob’s trouble is just that – the time of JACOB’S TROUBLE! Nothing hard to understand about that. This is the time of God’s judgement against Israel, when He humbled her in the eyes of all nations, broke her power and pride in the earth, and reduced her to a proverb and a byword among all people (I Kings 9:6-9).

But now, let us see that “the Day of the Lord” is JUST THE OPPOSITE of this time of Jacob’s trouble. The Day of the Lord is nothing other than the day of God’s judgement, wrath, vengeance, and punishment UPON THE NATIONS… even the Gentile world powers which have ruled the earth throughout this long night of Jacob’s trouble. For God is not only dealing with Israel and the Church, He is dealing also with ALL NATIONS. Some of God’s saints would completely SPIRITUALIZE many of these prophetic scriptures, but we must understand that while the Lord has much SPIRITUAL TRUTH for His SPIRITUAL PEOPLE, yet He is at the same time dealing very literally with literal nations upon a literal earth during the literal time period of the ages. So, the Word has much to say about the destiny of NATIONS. God has decreed that there is a Day in which He shall deal with ALL THE NATIONS of men, to break their power, humble them, correct them, and bring them, as nations, into subjection to the Kingdom of God. David speaks of this day in Ps. 110:4-7: “The Lord has sworn, and will not revoke or change it: You are a priest forever after the manner and order of Melchizedek. The Lord at Your right hand (the Christ, head and body) will SHATTER KINGS in the DAY OF HIS INDIGNATION. He will execute judgement in overwhelming punishment UPON THE NATIONS; He will fill the valleys with the dead bodies; He will CRUSH THE CHIEF HEADS OVER MANY LANDS and far extended” (Amplified Bible).

An example of the fruit of this dealing of God with all nations is found in Isa. 19:21-25. “And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day… yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall SMITE EGYPT: He shall smite AND HEAL IT: and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall ISRAEL BE THE THIRD WITH EGYPT AND WITH ASSYRIA, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, BLESSED BE EGYPT MY PEOPLE, and ASSYRIA THE WORK OF MY HANDS, and ISRAEL MINE INHERITANCE.”

It is clear in the scriptures that God fully intends to SAVE ALL NATIONS during the Kingdom age which is now upon us. Haggai declares of that day: “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will SHAKE ALL NATIONS, and the DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME: and I will fill this house (the body of Christ) with glory” (Hag. 2:6-7). Micah points to this day of world-wide Kingdom blessing upon all nations with these words: “But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains (kingdoms), and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. And MANY NATIONS SHALL COME, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us HIS WAYS and we may walk in His paths… and He shall judge between many people, and DECIDE FOR STRONG NATIONS AFAR OFF; and they shall beat their swords (instruments of war) into plowshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Micah 4:1-5, Amplified Bible).

The scriptures reveal, however, that before such Kingdom conditions can prevail among nations of the earth, some other events must first take place. The Word portrays a time of great WRATH, INDIGNATION, and JUDGEMENT which is to come upon ALL NATIONS. This corrective judgement is necessary because the nations are presently under the sway of the god of this world, being controlled and motivated by the spirits of greed, selfishness, pride, arrogancy, hatred, fear, distrust, corruption, rebellion, and unrighteousness. And even as God PUNISHED ISRAEL for her sins, so all nations MUST BE PUNISHED for theirs. As God HUMBLED ISRAEL, so must ALL NATIONS be humbled. As God broke the power and pride of Israel, so must the power and pride of ALL NATIONS be broken. It is only thus that the nations can be corrected. The nations today are self-willed, stubborn, and implacable and do not know or care to learn the ways of true peace. The nations today are rebellious, corrupt, wicked and ungodly and do not know or care to learn the ways of true righteousness and virtue. This is true of ALL NATIONS. Therefore, God must deal with the nations in such a way as to break their wills and change their desires. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice. One of the principles of God’s just nature is revealed in Heb. 12:6. “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth EVERY SON whom He receiveth.” God not only loves His Sons, but “God so loved THE WORLD…” And because He does love the world – because He does, indeed, love ALL NATIONS – He shall be faithful to CHASTISE and SCOURGE all nations to CORRECT THEM! And it is this very dealing of God with the nations through punishment and judgement which constitutes the biblical “Day of the Lord”. How we praise God that this dark DAY OF THE LORD is but the prelude to the establishment of a new order when our Lord Jesus Christ shall reign on earth through His many-membered body of Sons who have come into His likeness and glory. How wonderful to realize that all of God’s judgements upon the nations are redemptive! The prophet Isaiah tells us, “My soul yearns for You O Lord of the night; yes, my spirit within me seeks you earnestly; for ONLY WHEN YOUR JUDGEMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH will the inhabitants of the world LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Isa. 26:9, Amplified Bible).

Now let us look at some of the scriptures which speak to us of this Day of the Lord. “The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of THE KINGDOMS OF NATIONS gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host to the battle. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a DESTRUCTION from the Almighty. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger… and I will PUNISH THE WORLD for THEIR EVIL, and the wicked for the iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isa. 13:4-11).

The intent of this judgement upon the unbelieving nations is found in Rev. 11:18. “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and SHOULDEST DESTROY THEM THAT DESTROY THE EARTH.” Here we see that the great purpose of this judgement is not simply to destroy a lot of people, but to accomplish a necessary end – to DESTROY THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH. God must BREAK THE POWER of all the organized governments, commercial interests, religious organizations, and every organized thing which is contrary to God and the ways of His Kingdom. It must all be brought to judgement. And this judgement IS the “Day of the Lord!”

To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY

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