THE APPEARING
Thus far we have been looking chiefly at judgments connected with the Lord’s second advent, and I might cite numerous other passages, for the prophecies, as well as other scriptures, are full of the details of these events. Let us now notice two or three which show how suddenly and unexpectedly, but surely, men will be overtaken in their sins when the Lord comes.
We have already seen that the world is getting worse and worse, and that open apostasy will be the climax, drawing down God’s judgment. In Matthew 24:27-28, the Lord told His disciples that, “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” The Jews are represented by the “carcass,” a corrupt people; the nations, like eagles, will gather together to feed upon them, and enrich themselves with the spoil of this people, when suddenly, as a flash of lightning, the Son of man will come in judgment upon them.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (that is, the last half-week), “shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man, in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:29-30).
This same truth is taught 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.”
And again in Zechariah 12:10-14: “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him”.
In Zechariah 14:3 we are further told of the Lord going forth to fight against the nations that have fought against His people and land, “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah” (Zech. 14:4-5).
The remnant of Judah, witnesses for Christ in the midst of the terrible scenes of the last days, holding, as it were, their life in their hand, being hardly pressed and in great straits, are miraculously delivered by the sudden manifestation of Christ; His feet stand on the Mount of Olives, which splits asunder, and a very great valley affords them a means of escape from their enemies.
“And,” continues the prophet, “the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light” (Zech. 14:5-7). Then, after a description of millennial blessing, in Zechariah 14:12-15, we get, “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. And 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 neighbor. And 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. And 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.”
(To be Continued)