The Return of Messiah : Part 2
The Next ACTION (that will accompany the return of Messiah) is,
The Signs are Appointed
Here are verses 30 and 31, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” None of these were evident at the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.
Those who teach that this prophecy has been fulfilled in the past point to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. That truly was a horrific time for the Jewish people, but those who hold this view are compelled to say that some of this language is figurative. Joel doesn’t imply that and neither does Jesus in Matthew 24 where He speaks of similar signs occurring at the close of the Great Tribulation. It is certainly true that “a day of the Lord” did occur in AD 70, but this particular one is designated as “that great and terrible [or awesome] Day of the Lord.”
Jesus said in Matthew 24, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
In verses 30 and 31 Joel describes scenes that are associated with the destruction of war. Bloodshed is prominent in wartime, and blood will be poured out in abundance during the Great Tribulation. When the fourth seal judgment is opened in Revelation 6:8, one-fourth of the world’s population will be killed – tremendous bloodshed. The trumpet judgments of Revelation 8 and 9 tell us that another one-third of human and sea life will be destroyed. And during the bowl judgments what remains of the sea will be turned to blood, Revelation 16:3.
In Revelation 14 we read, “So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundredfurlongs [or stadia].” That’s a lot of blood; about 184 miles worth!
Fire is predicted by Joel as another one of the signs. Again, Revelation gives us numerous pictures of the fire of judgment. At the opening of the seventh seal, in Revelation 8:5, “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thundering, lightning, and an earthquake. So, the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”
And then, further, we read in Revelation 16, “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.”
And where there’s fire, there’s smoke. “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So, the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Andthey were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man,” Revelation 9:1-5.
Revelation 18 informs us about the merchants and their lament of the fall of the great economic empire of Babylon. “‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’”
Joel’s predictions remind us of some of the plagues God sent on the land of Egypt and the signs that accompanied the Lord’s presence on Mt. Sinai. God, as the Creator, controls all His creation and He is able to do what He says He will do, even if we don’t see how it can be done. So, cosmic disturbances will herald the final judgment.
These signs will be associated with the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. Thus far we’ve looked at two actions that will accompany the return of Messiah: the Spirit apportioned and the signs appointed.
The Final ACTION (that will accompany the return of Messiah) is,
The Salvation is Assured
Knowing what we do about the horrors of the Great Tribulation leads us to ask, “Will anyone escape the terrible Day of the Lord?” Hear what Jesus said in Matthew 24 about this time; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
The final verse of our text, as well as other Scriptures, agree with what Jesus said. “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”
Immediately, we notice two things. First, the assurance of salvation, literally, escape; “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” To be saved is to be delivered from something, in this case, from both physical and spiritual destruction. Second, in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, specific geographic locations, there shall be deliverance. If my understanding is correct, the words “saved”, and “deliverance” are from the same Hebrew word. It emphasizes the goodness of God in preserving a remnant, rather than liquidating the race of His people. Paul quotes this statement by Joel in Romans 10:13 where he speaks about Israel’s future salvation.
The prophet Zechariah tells us, “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” That’s Zechariah 12:9-11.
Zechariah further describes this day and the remnant of Israel in chapter 13. “And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
Very early in Israel’s history, Moses seems to speak of this time in Deuteronomy 4:30 and 31, “When you are in distress (the footnote says tribulation), and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”
For centuries now, Jewish people have been buried on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple Mount. I have seen those graves and they are spaced as tightly as possible because there’s only so much space available. It costs many thousands of dollars to be buried there. Those who are buried there hope to be resurrected when Messiah comes and to enter Jerusalem with Him. Sad to say, unless they accept Jesus as Messiah, this will not be their destiny.
In this final verse of the text, Joel presents a clear understanding of salvation. He says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered, and those who are delivered will be the remnant that God calls. So, here you have a clear teaching on the interaction of Divine sovereignty and man’s free will. The Lord will call an escaped remnant, and those among that group will be whoever calls on the name of the Lord.
Just like our personal salvation, Israel’s future deliverance won’t be a result of their ingenuity or luck or fate. Any escape from the power of sin for us today or the power of physical death in this future time is only possible because God wills it and determines it. Remember the words of Jesus in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” God takes the initiative in our salvation, and we have the choice of how we will respond. It will be the same for Israel in this future Day of the Lord.
To “call on the name of the LORD” is to call on Him in believing faith. It is to worship God exclusively and consistently. Think of the experience of Elijah on Mount Carmel. In the contest between Baal and Jehovah, Elijah said, “Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” Elijah was calling the people to place a believing faith in the god who answered by fire.
Calling on the name of the Lord also carries the meaning of acknowledging one’s faith publicly in an openly hostile environment. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are already experiencing this. Think about the decision of Jewish people to publicly identify with Jesus the Messiah during these events leading up to the Day of the Lord when evil will be almost totally ascendant. It will be the equivalent of putting a target on your back.
In this setting that Joel describes, a believing faith gives not only physical deliverance but a spiritual transformation and an abundant entrance into that great millennial period of peace and prosperity. Judah and Jerusalem once again become spiritual centers for a redeemed Israel (see Micah 4:6-8).
I admit there is much that we don’t know about these events and how they will all unfold, so we need to be gracious in our disagreements and humble in our conclusions. But one thing we know for sure is that what God has promised He will fulfill. That should provide comfort and encouragement for us no matter what the future may yet hold for us personally.
Like the church in much of the world, we in the West may be called to go through a time of suffering, purifying, and refining too. The Scriptures repeatedly warn us that as we approach the end of the age, evil will intensify and opposition to God and His people will increase. We should be preparing ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren to stand firm in the faith, regardless of the cost.
We must not live in fear of such a time. God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. In Mark 13, Jesus promised that He will provide what we need in those circumstances, even to the point of giving us the words to speak in answer to our ungodly, vindictive authorities. However, I would add, that if we’re not in the habit of listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice now, we could miss hearing Him in that time of extremity.
The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles all spoke clearly about the signs that would foreshadow the end of the age. While evil has existed ever since the fall of mankind, the technology of our time makes it visible in unprecedented ways. Clearly, we are living in such times. I also just learned recently that the Jewish Talmud states that the history of the world is comprised of six eras of one thousand years each. The final millennium mirrors the seventh day of creation and is a time of rest known as the Millennium of Messiah. Interesting!
What are you and I to make of all this?
The most important action you can take to prepare for the return of Messiah is to make Him your Savior and Lord if you haven’t already done that. Without Him, you have no hope and no future. He is the only one who can save you from sin, from self-destruction in the present, and from eternal punishment in the future.
Don’t wait until it is too late, and the Spirit of God no longer calls you to repentance. Today, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart. Remember, you can only come to Him when He calls, not when you decide you’re ready.
Further, pay attention to what is going on around you. I meet people, even professing Christians, who are so caught up with the present they don’t have time to think about the future. They’re distracted by all the things the world has to offer and they’re too busy working hard, playing hard, and pursuing earthly pleasures to give much thought to where we are on God’s timeline of history. Don’t be like that. Jesus warned us to watch and pray lest we fall into temptation. It would be tragic to be like the five foolish virgins and miss the coming of the bridegroom.
Jesus is coming again. Are you ready for the return of Messiah?