The Old Testament has many passages that describe the Day of The Lord. Jesus' return is even more descriptive in the Old testament than it was in the New Testament. One thing to understand before we proceed in painting the picture of what is to come, is to understand that these prophecies from the prophets in the Old Testament is what lead to all their deaths. Every single prophet in the Old Testament was killed because of the things they foretold. Jesus even made the comment that a prophet is not welcomed in his own town. Most people don't want to hear the words of prophecy. For the sake of those who do, let it go forth.
The people of Israel were always looking pass the first coming of their Messiah. They were always looking past the first coming, to the second coming of the Messiah who would come in all His Glory to restore all things to Israel. They missed the first coming of their Messiah that Isaiah wrote about in his 53rd Chapter. In it, Isaiah wrote about the suffering servant who would come and give His life. Isaiah was writing about Jesus. Israel did not understand God's plan for them. This is one of the reasons why they rejected Him when He came. Another reason is that, for God's purpose, there has been a partial blinding to the house of Israel until all the number of Gentiles who would believe do. The apostle Paul revealed this in his letter to the Romans in the 11th Chapter, when he wrote in verse 25;
"For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be
wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."
When the house of Israel acknowledges Jesus as their Lord, then all things will be restored to them.
Jesus, when He was here on earth, read many times from the writings of Isaiah. Isaiah wrote many things pertaining to the end of this age and the 2nd coming of Jesus who, yes, will be in all His Glory, but first will execute His wrath with His saints before He restores all things. In Isaiah's 13th Chapter, verses 1-13;
(1)"The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amos saw.(2) Lift
up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that
they may enter the doors of the nobles.(3) I have commanded My consecrated
ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulted ones, to
execute My anger.(4) A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many
people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathered together! The
Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle.(5)They are coming from a far
country from the end of heaven, The Lord and all His instruments of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.(6) Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come
as the destruction from the Almighty.(7) Therefore all hands will fall limp, And
every mans heart will melt.(8) And they will be terrified, Pains and anguish will
take hold of them; They will writhe(move in pain) like a woman in labor, They
will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.(9) Behold the day
of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a
desolation; And he will exterminate its sinners from it.
Remember, these sinners are the ones who refused to believe the love of the truth as to be saved. They actually chose to still be here when Jesus returned with His wrath, instead of choosing to receive His free gift of eternal life, for they knew He was coming.
(10) For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their
light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light.
(11) Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, And abase the haughtiness
of the ruthless.(12) I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, And mankind
than gold of Ophir.(13) Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, And the
earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of Hosts in the day of
His burning anger.
The prophet Isaiah wrote in his 23rd chapter about the fall of Tyre. In my previous blogs, I have written about Tyre being the city described in Revelation as the place where the great harlot, Babylon the Great, will be built. In verses 5-9, Isaiah writes this pertaining to Tyre and its fall;
(5)"When the report reaches Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.
(6) Pass over to Tarshish; Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.(7) Is this your
jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet used to carry her to
colonize distant places?(8) Who has planned this against the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
(9) The Lord of hosts has planned it to defile the pride of all beauty."
This was how Babylon the Great was described in Revelation. I wrote how this city of Tyre would be like the capital city of the earth. If you notice, this city will colonize distance places. This means that its influence will go throughout the whole earth. From this city, leaders throughout the world will be given their authority. Their family members, the princes, will become the merchants because there will be a fortune to be made at this time by the trading that will be made with the honored of the earth. It looks here like Isaiah is saying that there will be a core group of people, probably the people that had a hand in the this city coming into existence, that will benefit the most from the wealth to be gained. This gain of wealth will overflow to create a false sense of prosperity to the inhabitants of the earth. This is part of the snare and deception that will captivate the inhabitants of the earth. This is the great city that will fall at Jesus coming. Isaiah follows Chapter 23 by writing about Jesus coming, when writing this in Chapter 24, verses 1-6;
"Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and
scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his
master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the
borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste,
and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns
and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth
fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws,
statues, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and
those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are
burned, and a few men are left."
An important thing to notice here, is that when it says that they polluted the earth, it had nothing to do with the environment. It wasn't polluted by waste or carbon, but by a disregard for the things of God. The things of truth which really matter. There is a big difference between being a good steward with the things God has provided verses worshiping what God created while denying His very existence. The apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the Romans in the 1st Chapter, verse 25;
"For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the
creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen."
Continuing in Isaiah 24, verse 18-22;
"Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, and
he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows above
are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder,
The earth is slit through, The earth is shaken violently. The earth reals to and fro
like a drunkard, and it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it,
and it will fall never to rise again. So it happen in that day, that the Lord will
punish the host of heaven (Satan and his demons), on high, and the kings of the
earth, on earth. And they will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon,
And will be confined in prison; And after many days will be punished.
When Jesus returns He will lock up Satan and the demons. The souls of those who die without making Jesus their Lord, will wait in a place, known as Hades, for one thousand years. Jesus will rule over the earth for one thousand years with His saints, from Mount Zion, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the place that Jesus said that He was going away to prepare. Jesus told of this in the gospel of John in the 14th Chapter, verses 1-3, when he said this;
"let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In My Fathers
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so. I would have told you; for I go
and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
In future blogs I am going to talk more about this heavenly kingdom, from which Jesus and His saints will rule over the earth for that thousand year period. When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released and will again deceive people into rising up against Jesus. Jesus will solve this problem quickly and throw Satan into the lake of fire, where only the beast and the false prophet are at that time. Then there will be a great white throne judgment, which we will cover later.
Isaiah completed Chapter 24 with this in verse 23;
"Then the moon will be abased and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will
reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders."
May Jesus' peace and understanding be with you.
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