Dear Friends,
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming part 6 of Coming Tribulation: "Last Things", detailing the millennial regathering of Israel into the land of promise after Messiah's return, that is, the Second Advent of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As always, your proofreading skills are sought and appreciated in advance of the publication of the entire piece.
In our Lord,
Bob L.
From part 6 of Coming Tribulation
(NOW POSTED at this link):
6. The Regathering and Purging of Israel
a. The Regathering of Israel: The return of the Jewish people into the
land of Israel is at once one of the most blessed and most frequent of
all of the promises of Old Testament prophecy. It would be nigh on
impossible to produce a completely comprehensive list of the passages,
ubiquitous in scripture, wherein the return is expressed literally or
figuratively, prophetically and by promise, in the Old Testament or in
the New. For directly after Armageddon, our glorious Lord will begin the
process of bringing all survivors of Jewish blood back to the Land.
Whether from hailing from Babylon (Jer.50:4-8; Mic.4:10) or previously
imprisoned (Is.51:14; 61:1; Zech.9:11-12; cf. Ps.68:6; 79:10-11; 102:20;
146:7), whether dwelling abroad as a result of the recent diaspora
caused by antichrist's depredations (Deut.26:68; Hos.8:10; Joel 3:2-8;
Zech.14:2; Lk.21:24:) or in long established communities Jewish
communities throughout the world (Jer.3:18; 30:10; Ezek.37:21;
Zeph.3:10), all who are of Jewish blood will be repatriated to the place
of judgment on the threshold of the Land of Israel in the opening days
of the Millennium. There, in the "desert of the nations", they will
stand judgment for their right to enter the land.
The return will be prominently announced:
(11) In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to
reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower
Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from
Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean. (12) He will raise a
banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble
the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
Isaiah 11:11-12 NIV
(12) In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the
Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.
(13) And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were
perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and
worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 27:12-13 NIV
(10) They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west. (11) They will come
trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. "I will settle
them in their homes," declares the Lord.
Hosea 11:10-11 NIV
(8) "I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem
them; they will be as numerous as before. (9) Though I scatter them
among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and
their children will survive, and they will return. (10) I will bring
them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to
Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. (11)
They will pass through the sea of trouble (i.e., the Tribulation); the
surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
Assyria's pride will be brought down and Egypt's scepter will pass away.
(12) I will strengthen them in the Lord and in his name they will walk,"
declares the Lord.
Zechariah 10:8-12 NIV
The return will be orderly:
(11) Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out
from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. (12) But you
will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before
you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 52:11-12 NIV
The return will be rapid:
(7) "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come
upon her, she delivers a son. (8) Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a
nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than
she gives birth to her children. (9) "Do I bring to the moment of birth
and not give delivery?" says the Lord. "Do I close up the womb when I
bring to delivery?" says your God.
Isaiah 66:7-9 NIV
The means for the return will be abundantly provided (Is.43:19-21;
48:20-21; 60:4; 62:10):
(15) The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching
wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it
up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals. (16)
There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from
Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.
Isaiah 11:15-16 NIV
(7) The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling
springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and
papyrus will grow. (8) And a highway will be there; it will be called
the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The
unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
(9) No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be
found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, (10) and those the
Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake
them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35:7-10 NIV
(9) to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be
free!' "They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren
hill. (10) They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat
or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide
them and lead them beside springs of water. (11) I will turn all my
mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. (12) See, they
will come from afar –
some from the north, some from the west, some from
the region of Aswan."
Isaiah 49:9-12 NIV
Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,
bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the
honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed
you with splendor.
Isaiah 60:9 NIV
"And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy
mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord -on horses, in chariots
and wagons, and on mules and camels," says the Lord. "They will bring
them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of
the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels."
Isaiah 66:20 NIV
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself will be the Agent of the return
(Ezek.11:17; 20:41-42):
(5) "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children
from the east and gather you from the west. (6) I will say to the north,
'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons
from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth –
(7) everyone who
is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and
made."
Isaiah 43:5-7 NIV
The return will be complete (Dan.12:1b):
Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them
into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not
leaving any behind.
Ezekiel 39:28 NIV
(12) "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring
together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in
a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
(13) One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break
through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head."
Micah 2:12-13
The return will be a vindication:
(19) "At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue
the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them
praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame. (20) At
that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will
give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I
restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the Lord.
Zephaniah 3:19-20 NIV
b. The Purging of the Jewish People prior to Reentering the Land:
He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his
people.
Psalm 50:4 NIV (cf. Hos.6:11)
Although the regathering will indeed apply to all surviving Jews, only
those who accept the Messiah will be allowed into land of promise (those
who believed before Christ's return have, of course, already been
resurrected as part of Christ's Bride). This process of purging is the
sixth of the seventh judgments, the purifying of the new remnant of
Israel following their regathering to the threshold of the land of
Israel so that only the righteous may enter to inaugurate the Messiah's
millennial kingdom (cf. Is.60:21).
(34) I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries
where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm
and with outpoured wrath. (35) I will bring you into the desert of the
nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. (36)
As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will
judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord. (37) I will take note of you as
you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
covenant. (38) I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against
me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living,
yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am
the Lord.
Ezekiel 20:34-38 NIV
Comment: In this passage we see all of the essential features of the
process of regathering: 1) All of Jewish stock who did not receive the
mark are regathered (v.34); 2) The place of initial regathering is near
the Land, but not actually in the Land (v.35); 3) The purpose for this
phased arrival into Israel is to render judgment as to who is fit to
enter (vv.36-37); 4) Those who "revolt and rebel" even after witnessing
the Messiah's miraculous return and their own astounding regathering
will be purged from the remnant and will not enter the Land (v.38).
1) The Place of Purging: As explained immediately above, this judgment
will take place near the Land of Israel but not actually in the Land
(Ezek.20:38). Ezekiel 20:35 describes the place of judgment as "the
desert of the nations" (Hebrew: midhbar ha'amiym, העמים מדבר). This is
most often taken to mean the places of Jewish diaspora around the world,
but that is obviously incorrect since verse thirty-eight very clearly
states that all individuals of Jewish stock will be "brought out of the
land where they are living" yet "will not enter the Land of Israel". The
true identification of "the desert of the nations" is Sinai. Israel was
delivered from the nations to be her own nations state under God by
going through the desert of Sinai and undergoing a process of cleansing
and judgment under the leadership of Moses (a type of Christ). Just as
Sinai was the place of testing and purging in the first Exodus, so also
at this future time the same "desert of [deliverance from] the nations"
will be Sinai.1
The strong parallel deliberately drawn in Ezekiel chapter twenty between
this future situation and that of the Exodus generation and this
generation supports this identification, as does the fact that a
prolonged stay in Sinai was the unhappy alternative for that previous
generation who had likewise experienced the miraculous deliverance of
God in bringing them forth from the nations. Sinai is on the threshold
of the Land of promise. In terms of biblical geography, it is not
technically in Egypt, but neither is it "in the Land" (the "brook of
Egypt" will be the southwestern boundary of millennial Israel Ezek.). We
can therefore conclude that the "desert of the nations" is indeed Sinai,
given this unique name now because all those of Jewish blood are brought
back from all of the nations of the world where they had previously been
scattered, not just from Egypt. Sinai will be the place of blessed
cleansing for all willing to accept the Messiah, an event soon followed
by their repatriation to the Land of Israel.
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
Hosea 2:14 NIV
This is what the Lord says: "The people who survive the sword will find
favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel."
Jeremiah 31:2 NIV
2) The Time of Purging: As noted above, scripture describes the return
to the land as something that will rapidly follow Jesus' return, so we
may expect that the entire process of collection, transfer to Sinai,
judgment and repatriation to be a very swift affair. In fact, Daniel
chapter twelve provides us with a detailed and definitive schedule:
(11) From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
(12) Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335
days.
Daniel 12:11-12 NIV
The phrase from verse eleven above, "from the time that the daily
sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set
up", refers, as we have seen in part 3B of this series, to the
Tribulation's mid-point and antichrist's session in the temple of God,
an event that will be accompanied by the abolition of the daily
sacrifice and the erection of the cult-idol statue of antichrist which
the false prophet will animate (i.e., the "abomination of desolation",
or more correctly, "the abomination that causes desolation": Dan.9:27;
Rev.13:11-15; cf. 2Thes.2:1-12). Moreover, the "1290 days" must then
stretch to a time beyond the end of the Tribulation past the Second
Advent. That is because the Great Tribulation itself, the period which
begins with the events mentioned here in Daniel 12:11, lasts for three
and one half years only, a time frame described in scripture (in terms
of lunar years) as either 42 months, or 1260 days, or "a time, times and
half a time" (Dan.7:25; 12:7; Rev.11:2; 12:6; 12:14; 13:5). And since
this period of time will be further shortened to some degree at least
for the sake of the elect" (Mk.13:20), it is impossible for the 1290
days to be fit in its entirely into this window of the Tribulation's
second half. Even calculating on a 365 day year, the maximum yield for
the period would 1278 days assuming a leap year, and this figure does
not include the unspecified span of curtailment "for the sake of the
elect". It seems best, therefore, to understand the differential between
the actual return of Christ and the 1290 days as the interval within
which all Israel will be regathered into Sinai so that we should
complete Daniel's words somewhat as follows: "From the time that the
daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation
is set up, there will be 1,290 days [until all Israel is regathered]",
that is, until the premier prophetic event to which Daniel was looking
in anticipation comes to pass.
The place of regathering will be the "desert of the nations" for the
purpose of judgment and purging, and will thus allow some 30 days for
the process to occur (depending upon the variables noted above). There
then remains the differential between the 1290 days and the 1335 days, a
span of 45 days. This 45 day period will then be the time frame of the
actual judgment.
In addition to meshing seamlessly with all of the other information we
have about these events, the above interpretation also has two further
advantages:
1) It allows for close parallel to the events of the Exodus. As we have
seen, the fact that Israel will be regathered initially into "the desert
of the nations", that is, Sinai, and winnowed in a way similar to that
experienced by the original Exodus generation, invites this comparison
generally. As we have seen since the beginning of this series, days are
often representative of years in prophetic contexts (e.g., Ps.90:4;
Dan.9:25-27), so that the 45 days naturally suggests the 40 years of
wandering and testing in Sinai in addition to the 5 years of entrance
under Joshua (cf. Josh.14:10). In it application to this particular
prophecy in Daniel, the 40 days will then be the time of our Lord's
judging all regathered to Sinai, and the 5 days the period of their
restoration to and resettlement in the Land of Promise under Messiah's
reign.
2) This also explains Daniel's words "Blessed is the one who waits for
and reaches the end of the 1,335 days". According to this
interpretation, those who "wait for the Lord" (a picture of faith:
Ps.27:14; 37:9; Is.40:31; Mic.7:7; Hab.2:3; Zeph.3:8; Rom.8:25; cf.
Matt.24:13; Lk.12:36; Rom.11:25-26), and "reach the end" are the Jewish
returnees who pass muster in desert and enter the Land. All who do
survive this judgment will most certainly be "blessed", both in
comparison to those who do not and in absolute terms as well, for their
it will be to experience the ineffable blessings of Millennial Israel
under Messiah's reign, a boon much anticipated in prophecy from Genesis
to Revelation.
(15) When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to
Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of
God." (16) Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet
and invited many guests. (17) At the time of the banquet he sent his
servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now
ready.' (18) "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said,
'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse
me.' (19) "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm
on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' (20) "Still another said,
'I just got married, so I can't come.' (21) "The servant came back and
reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry
and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of
the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
(22) "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but
there is still room.' (23) "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to
the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will
be full. (24) I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get
a taste of my banquet.'"
Luke 14:15-24 NIV
(1) Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: (2) "The kingdom of
heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. (3) He
sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell
them to come, but they refused to come. (4) "Then he sent some more
servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have
prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and
everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' (5) "But they paid no
attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. (6)
The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. (7) The
king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and
burned their city. (8) "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding
banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. (9) Go to
the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' (10) So
the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they
could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with
guests. (11) "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a
man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. (12) 'Friend,' he asked,
'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was
speechless. (13) "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and
foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (14) "For many are invited, but few are
chosen."
Matthew 22:1-14 NIV
As our Lord's parable makes unmistakably clear, while being present at
the great banquet in Israel (the wedding banquet "of his Son": cf.
Matt.22:2) which celebrates the wedding of the Lamb and His Bride will
be blessed indeed (Lk.14:15 above), only those who attain to it, that
is, only those who are not destroyed first by outright rejection of the
invitation (i.e., those who accept the mark of the beast and so are
destroyed in the prior "thunder judgment", also known as the "baptism of
fire"),2
and who are not subsequently found wanting during the judgment in the
desert (represented by the man without proper attire in Matt.22:11-14
above), will be allowed to enter the Land and enjoy all of the marvelous
blessings to come.
3) The Process of Purging:
(25) Brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery (and so
think more of yourselves than you should): hardness has come over a part
of Israel until the time when the fullness of the gentiles has come in
[to the family of God] (i.e., when the Church is completed at the 2nd
Advent). (26) And it is in this way (i.e., coming to believe upon
witnessing the Messiah's return) that all [true] Israel will be saved
just as it is written: The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will expel
ungodliness from Jacob. (27) And this will be My covenant with them when
I take away their sins.
Romans 11:25-27
When all Israel is assembled on the border of the Land, as we have
already seen in the prior installment of this series many in her number
will already have come to believe in Jesus Christ, having been convicted
of the truth of His Messiahship upon witnessing His sign of the cross
appearing in the heavens along with His miraculous return.
Behold! He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those
who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will grieve on account
of Him.
Revelation 1:7
And I will pour out on the house of David and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem a Spirit of grace and repentance. For they will look upon Me
whom they have pierced, and they will grieve for Him like the grieving
for an only son, and they will [weep] bitterly for Him like the bitter
[weeping] for a firstborn son.
Zechariah 12:10
There are indications, moreover, that the process of repentance will
continue right up until the end of this present judgment:
(4) For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or
prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or
household idols. (5) Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek
the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to
the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
Hosea 3:4-5 NASB
As the context of Hosea chapter three quoted above makes clear, the Lord
is eager for reconciliation with Israel despite her previous reluctance
(just as Hosea is commanded to reconcile with his wife despite her
indiscretions).
(10) "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will
live among you," declares the Lord. (11) "Many nations will be joined
with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among
you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you."
Zechariah 2:10-11 NIV
During the Millennium, the change of heart among the offspring of the
remnant of Israel will bring a flood of Jews to faith in Christ
(comparable to the flood of gentiles that characterizes Church age).
Seeing the Messiah face to face (Deut.4:30; Is.17:7-8; Jer.3:22b-25;
23:19-20; Joel 3:17; Zech.12:10-14; Rev.1:7; cf. Is.31:6; 50:20-21;
Matt.24:30), Israel will turn to Him in numbers that will proportionally
outstrip the greatest gains of the Church age, as God abundantly blesses
His chosen people, fulfilling all the promises He has made (Ps.80:18;
Is.65:8-10; Jer.31:31-34; Ezek.20:33-38; 37:11-14; Hos.1:10-11;
Mal.4:5-6; Matt.23:39; Rom.11:26). However, it is a sad fact that in
spite of the nearly two millennia that Israel has spent "in the
wilderness (Amos 9:9), in spite of all the pressures of the Tribulation
(cf. Is.48:10; Lk.13:6-9), in spite of all of the glories of Second
Advent where "all mankind together will see the glory of the Lord"
(Is.40:5), and in spite of this process of face to face judgment with
our Lord, the hardness of the hearts of many of the original survivors
will prove persistent and not susceptible to being cracked (cf.
Zech.2:10-11). Scripture is very clear on this point. Not all who are
regathered will enter, only the remnant, and that remnant is
consistently described as small (Is.6:13; 17:5-7; 65:8-12; Jer.50:20;
Joel 2:32; Mic.4:6-7; Rom.9:27-29; cf. Zech.3:8).
Although your people may be like the sand of the sea, O Israel, [only] a
remnant of them will return.
Isaiah 10:22
I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to
Zion.
Jeremiah 3:14 NIV
(8) "In the whole land," declares the Lord, "two-thirds will be struck
down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. (9) This third I will
bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like
gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say,
'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'"
Zechariah 13:8-9 NIV
As is clear from the last passage in particular, in addition to the high
casualty rate suffered by the Jewish population of the Tribulation
generally, the "one third" who survive will be "refined". That is to
say, they will be purified by a purging that distills them into a
remnant of believers. This remnant will in turn provide the root stock
for the abundant Jewish population of the Millennium, the majority of
whom will continue in the footsteps of their forefathers in faith in
Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.
The process of purging is clear to see from the verse in Ezekiel chapter
twenty, the pertinent section of which for this topic is as follows:
(37) I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring
you into the bond of the covenant. (38) I will purge you of those who
revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land
where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then
you will know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 20:34-38 NIV
The procedure for this judgment will thus be very similar to what will
transpire at the end of the Millennium during the initial stage of the
last judgment as described in Matthew 24:31-46, otherwise known as the
judgment of the sheep and the goats (covered below in section VI.1). In
both cases we have a mixed population that must be separated, and in
both cases it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who will do the
separating. However, while the sheep and goats judgment will involve the
entire millennial population at the end of history, this judgment will
only concern those Jews still alive after the baptism of fire who have
been repatriated to the doorstep of the Land of Israel. And while the
later judgment will end in a living resurrection, with the believers
entering eternity and the unbelievers cast into the lake of fire
(Matt.25:41-46), no such resurrection occurs at this time. Those who are
shown to truly be believers in Jesus will enter the millennial kingdom
of the Messiah in their physical bodies. Those who refuse to accept
Jesus will be dispatched to torments (the temporary residence after
death of all unbelievers since the beginning of history) to await the
last judgment. The criterion or basis of judgment will be the
individual's attitude towards the newly returned Messiah. As Ezekiel
20:38 states, Jesus will "purge you of those revolt and rebel against
Me". All those who resist accepting and obeying Jesus Christ through
faith, that is, all who persist in unbelief in spite of all that has
transpired, will not be allowed to enter the land.
There are thus five discrete categories among those of Jewish blood who
survive the Tribulation:
1) Those who previously accepted the mark of the beast: these are
executed as part of the baptism of fire.
2) Those who accept the Messiahship of Jesus Christ upon witnessing His
return: these are allowed to enter the land at the conclusion of this
judgment.
3) Those who refuse to accept the Messiahship of Jesus Christ in spite
of the previous miracles and the message given during this judgment:
these are executed in the process of this judgment and dispatched into
torments to await the last judgment.
4) Those who did not accept the Messiahship of Jesus Christ as they saw
Him return, but who do repent and accept Jesus as their Savior during
the process of this judgment: these are also allowed to enter the land
at the conclusion of this judgment.
5) Those who have not yet attained to an age or capacity of
accountability, and so are not yet responsible for making this critical
decision: these are also allowed to enter the land at the conclusion of
this judgment.
The purpose of this judgment is therefore not only to assure that the
Millennium begins with a pure cadre of Jewish believers in the Land of
Promise cleansed of all prone to "revolt or rebel" against the truth or
to grumble against the Lord Jesus, their ruling Sovereign (cf. the
parallels of Lev.24:10-23 and Acts 5:1-11), but also to give even those
who have so far demurred for whatever reason every opportunity to put
aside their hard-heartedness and accept the free grace of God for
salvation. The fact that some sizeable portion of those so gathered will
nevertheless still refuse to accept the truth of the Messiahship of
Jesus Christ is at once a startling and horrifying fact, and a testimony
to the power of self-willed arrogance to blind the human heart against
the truth even when it is so overwhelmingly revealed. For to be brought
face to face with the Messiah Himself, to the gospel message from His
own lips, to see the consequences of unbelief with one's own eyes, and
to persist in arrogant rejection of Him nonetheless, is irrefutable
testimony to the fact that short of taking away our free will entirely,
nothing God could ever do would result in all human beings turning to
Him in faith. And as we are here for the purpose of exercising our free
will in faith to accept Jesus Christ (or reject Him), this He will most
certainly not do.
And it will come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the
Lord will be saved. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
deliverance as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord
calls.
Joel 2:32
(11) "For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for
my sheep and look after them. (12) As a shepherd looks after his
scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I
will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day
of clouds and darkness. (13) I will bring them out from the nations and
gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own
land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and
in all the settlements in the land. (14) I will tend them in a good
pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land.
There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed
in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. (15) I myself will tend my
sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. (16) I will
search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the
injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will
destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (17) As for you, my
flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one
sheep and another, and between rams and goats. (18) Is it not enough for
you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your
pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water?
Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? (19) Must my flock feed on
what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
(20) Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I
myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. (21) Because
you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your
horns until you have driven them away, (22) I will save my flock, and
they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and
another. (23) I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and
he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. (24) I the
Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them.
I the Lord have spoken.
Ezekiel 34:11-24 NIV
As it was during the time of the Exodus when far from the entire
complement who left Egypt entered the land of promise (indeed, only
Caleb and Joshua of the older generation did enter the land), so it will
be during this future judgment. Just as in the Exodus the children who
had not yet reached an age of accountability did enter the land after
the forty years of refining, so also in a similar way, we may expect a
large proportion of those entering and passing this judgment to consist
of those too young to be held accountable at present with the result
that they are automatically allowed to enter. There will also be
opportunity for repentance, the giving of the gospel message from the
Lord Himself, the truth about salvation through the washing of the water
of the Word of God wherein accepting His Person and His work, the blood
of Christ, results in cleansing from all sin, deliverance and salvation
for all who are willing to accept the truth (Jn.3:5; Eph.5:26; Tit.3:5;
Heb.10:22; 1Pet.3:21; cf. Heb.9:14; Jas.1:18; 1Pet.1:23).
The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse
the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of
fire.
Isaiah 4:4 NIV
I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and
will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.
Jeremiah 33:8 NIV
In those days, at that time," declares the Lord, "search will be made
for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
Jeremiah 50:20 NIV
(18) Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the
transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry
forever but delight to show mercy. (19) You will again have compassion
on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities
into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19 NIV
(9) "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may
call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. (10)
From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will
bring me offerings. (11) On that day you will not be put to shame for
all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city
those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my
holy hill. (12) But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who
trust in the name of the Lord. (13) The remnant of Israel will do no
wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their
mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."
Zephaniah 3:9-13 NIV
"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity."
Zechariah 13:1 NIV
(2 )But who can endure the day of [the Messiah's] coming? Who can stand
when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's
soap. (3) He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will
purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord
will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, (4) and the
offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in
days gone by, as in former years.
Malachi 3:2-4 NIV
But while all who repent of their prior unbelief and accept Jesus and
the Messiah and the true Son of God at this time will be cleansed and
forgiven, the purging process will discover the dross, and those would
otherwise have been the "sons of the kingdom" will be thrust out into
outer darkness.
I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
Isaiah 1:25 NIV
(11) "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and
will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven. (12) But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth."
Matthew 8:11-12 NIV
At the completion of this process, God will conduct the remnant, those
who have passed the test of faith, into the Land of Promise to
experience the glorious blessings of the millennial rule of Jesus
Christ.
(8) This is what the Lord says: "As when juice is still found in a
cluster of grapes and men say, 'Don't destroy it, there is yet some good
in it,' so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them
all. (9) I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah those
who will possess my mountains; my chosen people will inherit them, and
there will my servants live. (10) Sharon will [again] become a pasture
for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my
people who seek me."
Isaiah 65:8-10
Notes:
1 See the excellent discussion on this point by C.F. Keil in v.9 of Commentary on the Old Testament (rpr. Grand Rapids 1980) in loc.
2 Daniel 12:1 "but during that time your people will escape, [that is,] everyone who[se name] is found written in the book [of life]"; that is, the names of all those who refused the mark remain in the Book of Life and so that they are not subject to the baptism of fire.