The
Prophets Speak Of The 144 Thousand Sons of Israel
Obadiah, the first of the writing
prophets, wrote eight hundred forty years before the Lord’s virgin birth.
However, David, although not specifically called a prophet in the O.T., gave
the first lucid account of the 144 Thousand over a thousand years before Christ
in Psalm 110.
This Psalm contains some of the most
significant Messianic revelation ever penned by David who wrote in the Psalms about
the end times including the Day of the Lord. Although he does not use that
specific term in his writings he does in fact give much insight into that
period of time when God will pour out His wrath.
Psalm 110 provides a clear chronological
sequence of God the Father’s activity as He brings into submission the enemies
of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ which will occur during the Day of the Lord.
However, in this Psalm David also provides the most descriptive passage in the
Old Testament concerning the 144 Thousand:
“Thy people shall be willing in the day
of Thy power [Day of the Lord], In the beauties of holiness from the womb of
the morning, Thou has the dew[multitude] of Thy youth [young men].” (Psalm 110:3)
Psalm 110 is regarded as “The Crown Jewel” of Messianic truth in the
book of Psalms. This short but powerful revelation by King David provides the
believer with marvelous insight concerning David’s Lord, the Messiah, the King
of kings, our Great High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ.
While it is one of the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament, the
important fact here is the One Who quoted its truth as He dealt with the contentious
Pharisees concerning His identity as the Messiah, David’s Lord and the Son of
Jehovah God.
The Lord Jesus referred to this Psalm a number of times during His
earthly ministry (Matthew 22:44, 26:64; Mark 12:64, 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42,
22:69). It is also utilized over a dozen other times in the New Testament
demonstrating its vital importance in the overall scheme of God’s unfolding
revelation.
The focus in this brief look at Psalm 110 is prophetic, for the majority
of the subject matter covered in Psalm
110 has yet to take place in the course of history. This Messianic Jewel of the
Psalms, revealing past and present truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, also
provides the believer with vital truth in understanding the end times and the
144 Thousand in concert with the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The coronation of the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ is indicated
in its opening verse:
“The
LORD said unto my Lord, sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thy enemies Thy
footstool.”
This
clearly underlines Jehovah God’s certain intent to give the Lord Jesus Christ
eventual physical dominion over the entire earth (Psalm 2:6-9). This first verse
also pinpoints the specific timing of the Psalm as the Lord Jesus Christ has
just ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and is invited by His Father to sit at
His right hand.
He then sat down at the Father’s right hand and was exalted (Acts 2:33)
and subsequently sent “the promise of the
Father”, the Holy Spirit, to His
people (Acts 2:1-4) which He had earlier promised (Luke 24:49; John 14:16, 17,
26, 15:26, 16:7, 13, 14; Acts 1:4).
The second verse begins the progressive unfolding of end time events
which God the Father will bring to pass when He brings Christ’s enemies into
submission:
“The
LORD shall send the rod [tribe] of Thy strength out of Zion, rule Thou in the
midst of Thine enemies.” (Psalm 110:2)
The phrase “rod of Thy strength” some apply to the Holy Spirit for He was and
is now the Person Who empowers and strengthens believers thereby glorifying and
exalting the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Holy Instrument by which Jesus now
rules as Lord.
Others apply it to the Church for it came “out of Zion”, which is the city of Jerusalem, and appears to “fit”
the requirements of the passage. However, bringing the Lord Jesus Christ’s
enemies into submission is not the Lord’s primary purpose for the Church.
The Church’s primary purpose is to be a “witness” unto Christ as indicated by the Lord in all five of His
commissions: (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 15:16; Acts
1:8) which He gave to His disciples which now apply to His Body the Church.
Although it is through the Holy Spirit that God’s work and will are now
accomplished by the Church, the focus of this Psalm is in that future day when
Jehovah God brings into submission the enemies of His Son, not the present-day
witnessing of the Church of Jesus Christ.
God will ultimately bring the enemies of
the Lord Jesus Christ into submission during His day, the eschatological Day of
the Lord. This future end time event is clearly defined in Scripture as it is
the most prophesied period in the Word of God.
The Hebrew word “matteh” translated “rod”
in Psalm 110:2 is found in the Old Testament (251) times with (182) of those
occurrences translated “tribe”, (52)
occurrences translated “rod” and (15)
times it is translated “staff”.
Therefore, the vast majority of the time it is translated “tribe”.
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament supplies the following
information concerning this word: “Although the term properly means “staff” or
“rod,” it is usually rendered (some 180 times) “tribe”. The reference is
usually to one of the twelve tribes by name. At first, apparently, each tribal
ruler led his group with a staff. This suggests that the ruler’s staff may have
originally been a symbol of the tribe (cf. Num 17:2-10 [H 17-25] and eventually
betokened leadership and authority (cf. Ps 110:2; Jer 48:17).” p.574 Vol.1
Also, the Hebrew word “shebet” a synonym of “matteh” is the word
translated “rod” or “scepter” in all of the other Old Testament Messianic
passages which speak of the Messiah’s rod/scepter (Genesis 49:10; Numbers
24:17; Psalm 2:9, 45:6; Isaiah 11:4).
This is the word the Bible utilizes to define the ruling or smiting of
the nations by the Messiah, which will occur during the Day of the Lord. The
“shebet” passages above refer to the future rule and the accompanying
discipline of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes as “King of kings and Lord of Lords”
(Revelation 19:15).
The phrase “rod of Thy strength”
might be better translated “tribe of Thy
strength” indicating the tribe of Judah from which the Lord Jesus Christ
descended (Hebrews 7:14). To the tribe of Judah, “a lion’s whelp” (Genesis 49:9) a prolonged dominion is promised
[ISBE p.1738 Vol.3] through the Messiah, so it is listed first in Revelation
7:5 as the leader of the twelve tribes making up the 144 Thousand.
Judah will likely lead the assault upon “the Assyrian” [Antichrist]
(Micah 5:5) not unlike the days during Antiochus Epiphanes [type of
Antichrist] invasion of Israel in the past (168 B.C.). Then Judas Maccabeus
“The Hammer” of the tribe of Judah led his warriors to an incredible and most
miraculous victory over Antiochus Epiphanes, the ruthless ruler of that day (I
Maccabees).
The Lord Jesus Christ as “The Lion
of the Tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5), appears to lead His forces into
battle in that future day. This is indicated in Micah’s “last days” (Micah 4:1) passage recorded in his second message
(Micah 3:1-5:15) of the book, which focuses upon the Coming King, the Lord
Jesus Christ:
“And this Man [The Lord Jesus Christ/Messiah] shall
be the Peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall
tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight
principal men.” (Micah 5:5)
That period of time follows the present
age of grace which is “the day of Thy
power” also known as the Day of the Lord, when Christ returns “in power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). During
the Day of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ will have “with Him” (Revelation 14:1,
17:14) a group of obedient followers (Revelation 14:4) known as these 144
Thousand “servants of our God”.
Psalm 110:3 describes them, providing some distinct qualities and duties
of this group of God’s servants who “Shall
be willing in the day of Thy [Lord Jesus Christ] power”. The word “people” (Psalm 110:3) appears in the
Old Testament over 1800 times and is variously translated. On occasion, as
recorded in I Samuel 11 where it is found six times, it has the emphasis of “troops” specifically in (v.11) when “Saul put the people [troops] in three
companies”.
The following information is recorded in the Theological Wordbook of the
Old Testament p.676 Vol.2. “There are also a number of passages where the word
[people] means ‘troops’”. In keeping with the dominating militant theme of this
Psalm the NIV provides this interpretation:
“Your
troops shall be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from
the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.”(Psalm 110:3)
The NASV translates this same verse:
“Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy
power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the
dew.”
The willing obedience of the 144 Thousand is recorded in Revelation 14:4
where they “follow the Lamb wherever He
goes”, having already surrendered themselves to His Lordship long before
when they decided to follow Jesus, giving themselves as literal bond-servants
of the King of kings (Revelation 7:3).
Their personal holiness before God “In
the beauties of holiness” (Psalm 110:3) also is confirmed in the book of
the Revelation of Jesus Christ:
“These
are they which were not defiled with women...And in their mouth was found no
guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” (Revelation 14:4,
5)
Their physical purity and spiritual
holiness affords them the ability to continually “follow the Lamb” giving them unbroken access to the throne of God
where they fulfill their ministry priority as priests unto God.
The last phrase of Psalm 110:3 “Thou hast the dew of Thy youth”
provides additional information concerning the 144 Thousand. The word “dew” can indicate their great number,
and, as the dew provides refreshment and blessing to the earth, they too, will
give these same benefits to those to whom they minister:
“And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of
many people as a dew from the
Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarries not for man, nor waits for
the sons of men.” (Micah 5:7)
As priests unto God they will be a
blessing direct from God, not dependent on men. The word “youth” of Psalm 110:3 is only found in the Old Testament three times
with the other two occurrences penned by David’s son Solomon in Ecclesiastes
11:9, 10:
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from they heart, and put away evil from thy
flesh: for childhood and
youth are vanity.”
This word in Psalm 110:3 indicates a designated group of young men, who
will be active during the end times, willing to follow the Lord which
accurately describes the 144 Thousand. This approximates their age and agrees
with the tenor of Revelation 14:4 where their virginity is recorded requiring a
decision which must be made by these young men early in manhood. The age of
twenty was specified in the book of Numbers when the first census was taken for
those men who were able and old enough to go to war:
“Take
ye the sum of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, after their families,
by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names every male by
their polls: From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to
war in Israel.” (Numbers 1:2, 3)
This
indicates the age that will likely determine the lower limit for these young
soldiers of Christ. They will in fact see spiritual and physical combat as war
against the saints will occur during the end times which is clearly indicated
in Scripture (Daniel 7:21; Revelation 12:17, 13:7, 17:14, 19:19).
These young men will most likely remain in the land when “the woman” [Faithful Israel] of Revelation
12 flees into the wilderness for every young man in present-day Israel is
required to serve in the armed forces of their country.
There will be two major assaults against Israel prior to Armageddon with
the first beginning at the mid-point of the 70th Week of Daniel
which centers upon Judea and the city of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 38:8-16; Daniel
12:1; Matthew 24:15-21).
The second battle will take place in the “valley of Jehosophat” (Joel 3:1-8; Zechariah 14:1, 2) just before
the Day of the Lord with these young men taking part as “the remnant of Jacob” when “the
Assyrian [Antichrist] shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our
palaces” (Micah 5:5-8).
Bible commentator W. Graham Scroggie, D.D. speaks on Psalm 110:3 in his
commentary on the Psalms, p.87: “The beauties of holiness…” the reference is to
holy attire, holy garments, priestly vestments. The soldiers are priests. The
consecrated are warriors. These two sides of Christian calling and character
are vitally related. Because we are “Priests
unto God” we are to “put on the whole
armour of God” (Revelation.1: 6;
Ephesians 6:11). “Thou hast the dew of thy youth” Maclaren translates as
“From the womb of the dawn (comes) to Thee the dew of Thy youth (s)”; and he
says, ‘the principal point of comparison of the army with the dew is probably
its multitude.’
From: Spurgeon’s Treasury of David
Ver. 3. —The subjects of the Priest King are willing
soldiers. In accordance with the warlike tone of the whole Psalm, our text
describes the subjects as an army. That military metaphor comes out more
closely when we attach the true meaning of the words, "in the day of thy
power". The word rendered, and rightly rendered, "power”, has the
same ambiguity which that word has in the English of the date of our
translation, and for a century later, as you may find in Shakespeare and
Milton, who both used it in the sense of "army". Singularly enough we
do not employ "powers" in that meaning, but we do another word which
means the same thing—and talk of "forces", meaning thereby
"troops"..."The day of thy power" is not a mere synonym for
"the time of thy might", but means specifically "the day of
thine army", that is, "the day when thou dost muster thy forces and
set them in array for the war". The King is going forth to conquest. But
he goes not alone. Behind him come his faithful followers, all pressing on with
willing hearts and high courage. —Alexander McLaren, 1871.
Ver. 3. —Thy people, etc. In homage, they shall be like a company of
priests in sacred vestments, for they shall appear "in the beauties of
holiness". In number, they shall be like the countless dewdrops "from
the womb of the morning", sparkling in the rays of the rising sun, and
reflecting his radiance. In glory they shall bear the likeness of Christ's
resurrection in all its vernal freshness: "Thou hast the dew of thy
youth". —Benjamin Wildon Cart.
Ver. 3. —In the beauties of holiness. In holy vestments as priests. They are at once
warriors and priests; meet for the service of Him who was King and Priest.
Neander (Mem. of Chr. Life, ch. 4) remarks on the connection between these two
sides of the Christian character. God's soldiers can only maintain their war by
priestly self-consecration. Conversely: God's priests can only preserve their
purity by unintermitted conflict. —William Kay.
Ver. 3. —In the beauties of holiness. This expression is usually read as if it belonged
either to the words immediately proceeding, or to those immediately following.
In either case the connection is somewhat difficult and obscure. It seems
better regarded as a distinct and separate clause, adding a fresh trait to the
description of the army. And what that is we need not find any difficulty in
ascertaining. "The beauties of holiness" is a frequent phrase for the
sacerdotal garments, the holy festal attire of the priests of the Lord. So
considered, how beautifully it comes in here. The conquering King whom the
psalm hymns is a Priest forever; and an army of priests follows him. The
soldiers are gathered in the day of the muster, with high courage and willing
devotion, ready to fling away their lives; but they are clad not in mail, but
in priestly robes; like those who wait before the altar rather than like those
who plunge into the fight, like those who compassed Jericho with the ark for
their standard and the trumpets for all their weapons. We can scarcely fail to
remember the words, which echo these and interpret them. "The armies which
were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean" —a strange armor against sword cut and spear thrust. —Alexander
McLaren.
Ver. 3. —Thou hast the dew of thy youth. These words are often misunderstood, and taken to be
a description of the fresh, youthful energy attributed by the Psalm to the Priest
King of this nation of soldier priests. The misunderstanding, I suppose, has
led to the common phrase, "the dew of one's youth". The reference of
the expression is to the army, not to its leader. "Youth" here is a
collective noun, equivalent to "young men". The host of his soldier
subjects is described as a band of young warriors, whom he leads, in their
fresh strength and countless numbers and gleaming beauty like the dew of the
morning... It is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive
from the conquests and presence of the King and his host, that they are likened
to the glittering morning dew. Another prophetic Scripture gives us the same
emblem when it speaks of Israel being "in the midst of many people as a
dew from the Lord". Such ought to be the effect of our presence. We are
meant to gladden, to adorn, to refresh this parched, prosaic world, with
freshness brought from the chambers of the sunrise. —Alexander McLaren.
Matthew Henry writes-p.660 ‘That they should be a willing people, a
people of willingness, alluding to servants that choose their service and are
not coerced to it…to soldiers that are volunteers and not pressed men…That they
should be so in the day of His power, in the day of Thy muster (so some) when Thou
art enlisting soldiers thou shalt find a multitude of volunteers…Or when Thou
art drawing them out to battle they shall be willing to “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes” (Revelation 14:4).
W. Graham
Scroggie, William Kay, Alexander McLaren, and
Matthew Henry all see the “people” here in Psalm 110:3 as soldiers
of the Lord’s army with most of these commentators
also giving them
the duty of priests. Matthew Henry also indicates
they are the 144
Thousand as he refers to them following “the Lamb whithersoever
He goes.”
(Revelation 14:4)
This future
army of the King of kings will be completely submissive
to the will of God during the Day of the Lord. These
young soldiers of
Christ will be involved in the intense spiritual
warfare at the end of
the age as priests unto God. They will be arrayed in
holiness doing the
Lord's service "before the throne of God" (Revelation 14:1, 4).
These “priests unto God” are involved in this
future holy warfare
when the battle
is at its most heightened level, when Satan “knows
that he has but
a short time” (Revelation 12:12).
Scroggie, in his commentary on the Psalms
shows a supporting view: “Messiah’s soldiers are declared to be priests (Psalm
110:3) before His own priesthood is announced.” p.88.
In Psalm 110:4 David continues to address the Lord Jesus Christ telling
Him of His eternal priesthood which is sworn by Jehovah God Himself:
“The LORD hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
The LORD told Jesus of His
future actions in Psalm 110:2, 3 before He declared the Lord Jesus Christ’s
present High Priestly office in Psalm 110:4. Remember, this Psalm (Psalm
110:2-4) is addressing the Lord Jesus right after He ascended to heaven.
Jehovah in Psalm 110:4 takes an
oath and tells of Jesus’ present ministry to the Father and the saints as:
“He
ever lives to make intercession for those who come unto God by Him.” (Hebrews
7:25.). The consecration of our Great
High Priest King is accomplished in this the key verse of Psalm 110 being
thoroughly explained in the book of Hebrews chapters 2-9. However, our focus
here is on the 144 Thousand and in (v.5-7) they are directly addressed:
“The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through
kings in the day of His wrath.”(Psalm 110:5)
Here, the people [troops/priests/144
Thousand] (Psalm 110:3) are given the promise of the Lord’s presence “at thy right hand” when He pours out His
devastating wrath upon the earth during that future time of judgment called the
Day of the Lord described in the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
This agrees with Revelation 6:16, 17:
“From
the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who is able
to stand?”
Although the Day of the Lord is
described as the wrath of God (Isaiah 13:9; Zephaniah 1:15), in the first
reference to wrath in the Revelation it is also designated “the wrath of the Lamb”.
The
overriding tone of Psalm 110 is one of dominion, troops, warfare and human
carnage which is brought on by the Lord’s judgment of earth through the
outpouring of His eschatological Day of the Lord called the “day of His wrath” (Psalm 110:5). This
couples accurately with the warfare and judgment thoroughly detailed in the
Revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 8, 9, 15-19).
Notice, the word “Lord”
[Adonai] (Psalm 110:5) continues to
refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, as in Psalm 110:1. This promise of the Lord’s
presence with His people as indicated by His “right hand” is found in the Psalms twenty one times and refers to
the power, authority and blessing of the Lord to His people in nineteen of
these occurrences.
Here, the strengthening promise of the blessed presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ is given when “this Man
[Messiah] will be the Peace” (Micah 5:5) for those who will be “with Him” (Revelation 14:1, 17:14)
during “the day of His wrath” (Psalm
110:5).
Psalm 110:6 vividly portrays the Divine Judge’s wrath as it is poured
out upon earth:
“He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the
places with the dead bodies, He shall wound the heads [kings of the earth] over
many countries.”
The Lord Jesus
Christ will be the Executor of Divine judgment as taught in the following
Scripture:
“For the Father judges no man but has committed all
judgment unto the Son…And has given Him authority to execute judgment also,
because He is the Son of Man…And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and
to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and
dead.” (John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42).
His Day of the Lord judgment includes the death of over one third of the
world population (Revelation 9:15, 16:3) and the final event of the Day of the
Lord, the battle of Armageddon, will execute deadly judgment upon the “kings of the earth” (Revelation 19:19-21) and
their armies.
The closing verse of Psalm 110 pictures the Lord Jesus Christ’s actions
and attitude of complete victory after the Day of the Lord’s wrath is ended:
“He shall drink from the brook in the way, therefore
shall He lift up the head.” (Psalm 110:7)
The Lord is physically refreshed and assumes the well-deserved attitude,
appearance and expression of His triumphant victory after His work of judgment
is over following the climactic battle of Armageddon
(Revelation 19:11-21).
This brief but weighty Psalm comes to a quiet close after covering the
time from the Lord’s ascension to the Father’s right hand, moving over the
present Church age in order to focus completely on the great and dreadful Day
of the Lord when God the Father will surely make the Lord Jesus Christ’s
enemies His footstool.
While the emphasis in Psalm 110 is clearly upon the Messiah, the Lord
Jesus Christ and His eternal position of King/Great High Priest, much information
is given concerning “Thy people…thy
youth”, those who will be His loyal subjects during those coming days at
the time of the end:
1.
They are willing servants. (Psalm 110:3; Revelation 7:3, 14:4, 5)
2.
They minister during "The Day
of Thy power"/eschatological Day of the Lord.
(Psalm 110:3; Revelation 9:4, 14:1, 17:14)
3.
They are holy priests/warriors. (Psalm 110:3; Revelation 14:4, 5)
4.
They will be refreshing "as
dew" to believing Israel/God's people.
(Psalm 110:3; Micah 5:7; Revelation 14:4, 5)
5.
They will be destructive "as
lions" to un-believing Gentiles/earth dwellers.
(Psalm 110:3; Micah 5:8; Revelation 17:14)
6.
They will be a great multitude "as
dew".
(Psalm 110:3; Revelation 7:3-8)
7.
They will be
young [Age 20-40] Hebrew men.
(Psalm 110:3; Revelation 7:3, 14:4)
The next prophet in
chronological sequence is Obadiah. His short but pointed revelation focuses
upon the judgment of Edom in the past and the future Day of the Lord (Obadiah
8-10, 15-21). In this last passage there are a number of Israelites mentioned
that could refer to the 144 Thousand sons of Israel:
“But upon Mount Zion shall be
deliverance [them that escape
NASV], and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their
possessions.” (Obadiah 17)
“And the captivity [exiles] of this host
of the children [sons] of Israel
shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity [exiles]
of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviors[deliverers] shall come
up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the
Lord’s. (Obadiah20, 21)
The time frame is clearly
indicated as the Day of the Lord in (v.15) when God will bring His
unprecedented wrath upon an unbelieving world which includes the people called
the Edomites who are in focus throughout Obadiah’s prophecy.
However, the two references to Mount Zion
in (v.17) and (v.21) show the possibility of the 144 Thousand as those referred
to for they definitely appear on Mount Zion during the Day of the Lord at the
end of the 70th Week of Daniel with the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ
when “the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”
(Obadiah 21; Revelation 11:15):
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on
the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred and forty four thousand having His
Father’s name written in their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1)
“And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever
and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
Although Obadiah’s passage uses the
singular “kingdom” not the plural “kingdoms” as in the Revelation 11:15 verse,
the timing appears to be the same as Obadiah is referring to a future time
which has not yet taken place. His singular might be referring to the kingdom
of Israel which is included in Revelation 11:15.
The next prophet in chronological order is
Joel whose entire prophecy focuses on the Day of the Lord. He mentions “the day of the LORD” five times in his
book (Joel 1:15, 2:1, 2:11, 2:31, 3:14). Although the first three appear to
refer to a time of destruction during Joel’s day, principles and conditions may
also be applied to that future day, the eschatological Day of the Lord which is
the most prophesied event in Scripture.
The last two references in his prophecy
are clearly shown to occur in that future day as the context includes the great
and magnificent signs which will happen before the Day of the Lord judgment:
“And I will show wonders in the heaven
and in the earth, blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and the terrible day of the
Lord come.”
(Joel 2:30, 31)
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision: for the day of the Lord
is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining.” (Joel 3:14, 15)
A number of New Testament passages also
record these future signs in the heavens which occur just before the end times Day
of the Lord:
“Immediately after the tribulation of
those days shall the sun be darkened, and moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken.” (Matthew 24:29)
“But in those days after that
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.
And the stars shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.”
(Mark 13:24, 25)
“And there shall be signs in the sun,
and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
powers of the heaven shall be shaken.”(Luke 21:25, 26)
“And I beheld when He had opened the
sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken
of a mighty wind. And the kings of the earth and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman and every
free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him
that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of
His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17)
The prophets Isaiah and
Zephaniah also tie in these signs and their effects with the Lord’s coming
wrath:
“Behold , the day of the Lord comes,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in
his going forth and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
(Isaiah 13:9, 10)
“The great day of the Lord is near, it
is near, and hastes greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the might
man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and
distress, a day of wasteness and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness.” (Zephaniah 1:14, 15)
The above passages underline the
importance of these signs in the heavens as they will indicate the end time Day
of the Lord is impending for they will occur just before that time
of universal cataclysmic judgment begins. However, the born-again believer will
not experience the wrath of God for His promises are clear:
“Much more then, being now justified by
His blood, we shall be saved/delivered [rapture] from [the] wrath through Him…“And
to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who
delivered us from the wrath to come…For God has not appointed us to wrath, but
to obtain salvation/deliverance [rapture]
by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:9; I Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9)
Therefore, the prophet Joel with his
certain emphasis upon the Day of the Lord is writing about that future day when
the 144 Thousand Sons of Israel will be ministering. Joel 2: 32 may well be
pointing to this group of young warrior priests and their ministry to those who
will be saved in that day:
“And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance [those who escape], as the LORD has
said, and in [even among] the remnant [survivors] whom the LORD shall call.”
Isaiah also records the LORD’s future
gathering together of His people in that day which will include the 144
Thousand Sons of Israel:
“And it shall come to pass in that day that
the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His
people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros,
and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall
assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:11, 12)
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