Chapter 18

foes: "They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones." They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance."

But God has not forgotten His promises to Israel, and the time of her worst visitation, is to be His opportunity:

"_Wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy_." Zeph. iii. 8. "_Now also many nations are gathered against thee (Zion,) but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they His counsel: for He shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor_." Mich. iv. 11, 12. "_In that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land_." Joel iii. 1, 2, 9-12, 14. Zech. xiv. 1, 2. Zech. xii. 2, 3. Ps. lxviii. 1-3. Joel ii. 32.

Against the gathered multitudes of the armed nations--every devilish instrument of war then known, being brought to bear against the doomed city, doomed as the allies consider it--the Jews can bring but a comparatively feeble resistance. With seeming ease, Jerusalem would appear to be taken. "_The city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity_, AND THE RESIDUE OF THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF FROM THE CITY." Zech. xiv. 2.

With great spoil, full of unholy rejoicing, their souls steeped in pride, their hands stained with blood, the victorious armies march to the great plain of Esdraelon to hold a mighty revel, and to prepare for any future event.

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"How oft after anxious provisions of man Flashes in with a silence God's unforseen plan!"

"God is a tower without a stair And His perfection loves despair."

The residue of the people of Jerusalem, who were left in the city on the triumphant departure of the allies of Hell, were utterly broken in spirit. Their discomfited hearts will be being prepared for some word or sin. Will they then begin to see their national, as well as their individual folly? Who can say for certain? But the near-to-come events with them, would almost seem to point to something like this. Certainly, God's unforseen plan was about to flash in upon their despairing condition.

The world's peoples were "_fully ripe_" for the Judgment, and the "_sharp sickle_" of Judgment was now waiting to fall into the earth.

First come "signs," every sign a warning, yet the peoples, the enemies of Christ, will not hear nor see. "_Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken_." Matt. xxiv. 29. Isaiah xiii. 9-10-13. Joel ii. 30, 31. Joel iii. 15. Rev. vi. 12-14.

"_And then_" (_after_ the Tribulation, and _after_ these physical signs and disturbances) "_shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven_." Matt. xxiv. 30.

What will this sign be? We cannot actually say. The only Scriptural hint we know of is our Lord's own word that "the Manifestation of His Presence will be as the lightning which flashes from the one end of heaven to the other."

It may be that this will occur while men are horrified with the unnatural darkness, and that the "sign" will be a sudden and momentary cleaving of the black heavens, so that the glory of the Lord will break through, and He will, for an instant, be revealed in close proximity to earth. Will it be thus that the Jew will receive his sign from heaven?

That which follows, and which should be rendered: "_Then shall all the tribes of the land mourn_," points to the connection of this verse with Zechariah's prophecy: "_And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and 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, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn_." Zech. xii. 10.

"And again, the manner in which Zechariah's prophecy is quoted in the Apocalypse may, perhaps, afford some slight argument in favour of the explanation of the sign suggested above, namely, that it is Christ Himself seen for a moment through a rift in the clouds, for John says, '_Behold He cometh with the clouds: and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all the TRIBES OF THE LAND shall mourn because of Him_.'

"Thus the Jews, although they may not as yet understand all, will at least know that it was the Messenger of Jehovah whom they slew, and that in so doing they pierced Himself. And they will mourn with no feigned lamentation, but as one mourns for his first-born, nay, his only son. All their pride will have broken down; for the word will then have been fulfilled, '_I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of My holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord_.' Zeph. ii. 11, 12.

"Then will God look down upon the stiff-necked and rebellious people, whom long centuries of chastisement could not subdue, and lo! a remnant, broken-hearted and contrite, humbly confessing that '_all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, that they are all fading as a leaf, and that their iniquities, like the wind, have carried them away_.' They long for the personal interposition of God their Father, and cry, '_Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down!_' They are ready at last, for their Messiah. Christ has become precious to them: there is no need that He, the true Joseph, should longer refrain Himself. He had indeed said, 'Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, "_Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord_."'"

"But that word withholds Him no longer; for now their eyes are waiting for the Lord their God, until that He have mercy upon them: their souls are watching for Him more than they that watch for the morning."

(PEMBER'S "GREAT PROPHECIES.")

_Then shall He suddenly come, "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 MY valley, when He shall touch the valley of the mountain to the place He separated_." Zech. xiv. 4, 5.

In this great valley of His special making it is possible, probable, that our Lord will shelter His people, while He is destroying the hordes of Anti-christ. It is of this that Isaiah speaks: "_Come My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment_, UNTIL THE INDIGNATION BE OVER PAST. _For behold the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity_." And when that awful judgment shall be over--"_which shall burn as an oven_," they shall come out of their shelter "_skipping as calves of the stall_." A wondrous figure of the frolicsome calves coming out of the darkness of their stalls into the glorious light, and into the full freshness of the luscious meadows.

All this time Anti-christ and his warrior hosts are camped in the plain of Esdraelon, preparing for a fresh attack that is to utterly demolish the Jews as a nation.

To Apleon, The Anti-christ, word comes of the appearance of Christ, and that He is espousing the cause of Israel.

Satan, and his colleagues, self-blinded, suppose that they can war with and overcome even Christ and His hosts of saints; and, determined to do this: "_the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against His Anointed_." Psa. ii. 2.

Armageddon--the Valley of Megidda; "The Valley of Jehosaphat;" "Bozrah," all these names are mentioned as the scene of the great final conflict between Anti-christ and Christ, between the armies of the earth, and the translated Saints of God who return with Christ.

It is probable that the line of the encamped hosts of Anti-christ will extend from Bozrah, on the southeast, to Megidda, on the North-west. Is it we wonder, merely a coincidence that this should measure exactly 1,600 _Stadia_, the actual distance named in Rev. xiv. 16, as that over which the blood of the judgment wine-press flowed.

Surely Habakkuk's wonderful prophetic vision covered this great battle-field. "God came _from Teman_, and the Holy One _from Mount Paran_." The march of God's indignation would seem to be from Sinai, through Idumea, past Jerusalem, and on to the mighty field of Esdraelon's plain.

Oh, what a scene it will be! The glory, the judgment! our Christ on His White Horse; His eyes a flame of fire; on his head many crowns (diamens,) vestured and girded with his title "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!" his bride is with Him--for the "_Marriage of the Lamb_" has taken place; the bride is every believer who has been gathered out of the world by the Spirit. You, who read this, he who writes this, if so be we are in Christ, "_looking for, and hasting the coming of our Lord_," yes, we shall be there, we shall be His army.

"_On white horses_," whether literal horses or not does not matter, the term implies force, power, swift movement, even triumph. Christ's army will be a cavalry force. Like our Lord we shall wear no armour,--"clothed in fine linen, white, pure,"--we shall be immortal, "_no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper_."

Every enemy, every foe of Christ will be there. The earth-armies, the dwellers of the earth, Demon-possessed, will be blinded, deluded by the lie of the Anti-christ, and "The False Prophet." There is no madness or delusion into which the most rational of men will not run when they are demon-possessed.

"_Outside the city_, the battle takes place, for the city has become Holy by the recent presence of Christ. Not even a private soldier of Anti-christ's hosts is _inside_ the city, for, it may well be, that Christ has already appropriated it.

"_Outside the city, the wine-press is trodden_!" wonderful figure! "Fully ripe," is said to be the condition of the "_grapes of the vine of the earth_." What grape, more so a _ripe_ grape, can stand the weight of a man as his foot crushes down upon it? And the iron heel of "The Lion of Judah," crushes out the life of these gathered hell-led, hell-inspired hosts, "_and blood came forth out of the wine-press of God's wrath, up to the bits of the horses for distance of 1,600 stadia_." A river of blood 160 miles in length, and reaching to the horses' bits in depth! Even if it be taken as a figure only, the figure is never so great as the fact it prefigures! "_The land shall be drunk with blood, and its dust made fat with fatness, for it is the day of Jehovah's vengeance, the year of recompenses for the controversy against Zion_." Isaiah xxxiv. 7, 8.

As a picture of the absolute triumph of God, on this occasion, the Psalmist uses the most awful figure of any in the Bible--THE LAUGHTER OF GOD! "_He that sitteth in the Heavens SHALL LAUGH; the Lord shall have them in derision_." Ps. ii. 4. "_God is not mocked_!"

"_And the Beast (Anti-christ) was taken_." The ring-leader is first taken, not slain with the others. Taken alive, he is cast into the Lake of Fire. The confidence of the mighty host of Hell-inspired warrior hosts, had been "_Who is like unto the Beast? Who can war with him?_" But they see him taken, taken alive, taken without being able to lift a finger against his captors. Tophet had been prepared for him, and into that awful abyss he sinks to rise no more.

"_And with him the False Prophet who wrought the miracles in his presence_." Colleagues in evil on earth, the two are hurled into the same Lake of Fire.

"_And the rest were slain with the Sword of the Sitter on the horse_, (The Conquering Christ,) _which sword proceeded out of His mouth_." "_He speaks and it is done_."

"_And a certain angel standing in the sun_," has been placed there ready to call forth the final actors on this hideous battle-field, "_cried with a great voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in mid-heaven, 'Hither be gathered together to the great supper of God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and flesh of captains of thousands, and flesh of mighty men, and flesh of horses, and of those that sit on them, and flesh of all (classes of people,) both free and bond, and small and great . . . and the fowls were filled from their flesh_." Rev. xix.

At the great and terrible conflict there are lightnings and thunders of unheard of force and might. "_The Lord of Hosts_," says Isaiah xxix. 6, "_shall visit with thunder, with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire_." All through God's judgments, during the seven years of Anti-christ, aerial convulsions will be continual. One reason for this, during the later events will doubtless be to overwhelm and destroy the myriad _aerial_ engines of war used by the senselessly deluded attacking hosts arrayed against Jerusalem and against Christ and His Saints.

"_And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great_." Rev. xvi. 18. Jerusalem will be split into three parts, as a result of this earthquake. But the effect upon the nations is _utter_ ruin,--"_the cities of the nations fell_." London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Chicago, every other city, collapses like a rent balloon, and the opened earth swallows up palaces and cots, men and women, and what the overwhelming and the falling shall not slay, shall perish in the awful conflagrations produced.

"_And Babylon the great was remembered in the presence of God to give her the cup of wine of the fierceness of His anger_." Babylon, the great, the colossal city of mighty splendor, re-built, as we saw earlier in this book, will have become exclusively a _commercial_ city. All the vice and sin and voluptuousness of all the vilest cities of the whole world, through all the ages, gathered up into one whole foulness, would be as virtue compared with the foulness and vice and voluptuousness of the Great Babylon.

"_Fallen, Fallen, Babylon the Great_." May we gather from the twice-repeated word "Fallen," that the collapse comprises the two things "_Babylon, mystery!_"--the foul religious system, the false worship,--and also Babylon _the city_?

God does not settle His accounts every Saturday night as petty tradesmen do. Babylon had been garnering judgment for herself, from the beginning. And the cry of doom goes out against her, from Heaven.

"_Render to her even as she rewarded, and double the double according to her works; in the cup which she mixed, mix for her double; insomuch as she glorified herself and was wanton, TO THAT PROPORTION give to her torment and grief. Because she saith in her heart, I sit a queen and am not a widow, and shall see no mourning, therefore, IN ONE DAY, shall come her plagues, death, and mourning and famine, and with fire shall she be burnt, because strong is the Lord who hath judged her_."

And never more after this shall the foul city arise.

Awful convulsions of the earth will take place all over the world. The whole configuration of the earth shall be changed. Mountains and islands, well known before, will disappear.

With all the other aerial and other convulsions of nature, a hailstorm, covering an enormous area, will be one of the horrors, when, putting the weight of the stones at the lowest average, they will probably be quite a hundred-weight each.

And so event will follow event in such rapid succession as to puzzle the writer how to place them wholly in consecutive order. Satan will be taken and bound for a thousand years. The _living_ nations will have been judged as regards their treatment of the Jews, and as to their acceptance of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

On, on, on, event upon event, until the glorious millennial reign of Christ shall be ushered in.

But before anything of which we have written in these pages can come to pass, our precious, loving Lord must come into the air to take up His own people to Himself. For this every true Christian should be looking, waiting, watching,--and _working_ while they wait, for He has said "_Occupy_ till I come."

"So I am watching quietly Every day, Whenever the sun shines brightly I rise and say,-- "Surely it is the shining of His face," And look unto the gates of His high place Beyond the sea, For I know He is coming shortly To summon me. And when a shadow falls across the window Of my room, Where I am working my appointed task, I lift my head to watch the door, and ask If He is come? And the Angel answers sweetly In my home,---- "Only a few more shadows, And He will come." "Even so, Lord Jesus! Come! Come quickly!"

"FINIS?" No! WAITING!