Jacob’s Trouble continued

We continue with the hallowing of the Lord through the defeat of Gog before the eyes of the world as recorded in Isaiah 66

Verse 18 “For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.”

God knows the works and thoughts of the unfaithful Jews. He will gather all nations to Israel at the end of the age. They will come and they will see His glory when He delivers the Holy Remnant. Ezekiel 38:23 reads, “Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” Then shall they all know that God is God!

Verse 19 “And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.”

God will set a sign among the Gentile nations on the scene in Israel and send the survivors back to their homelands to give eyewitness accounts and to declare God’s glory.

Verse 19 refers to a particular sign God has set or determined in order to clearly and unequivocally convince all individuals on hand at the scene of action (in the environs of “the city” of Jerusalem) of the meaning and purpose of the representative gathering of all nations to that locale.

What is that purpose?

They are to witness (1) the defeat and destruction of the host of Gog and (2) witness the purging of natural Israel, leaving behind a Holy Remnant (Isa. 4:2–4).

The purpose of God’s gathering all nations to Jerusalem to battle is to show them His glory, to vindicate His name, and to manifest Israel as the nation through which God will deal and send blessings.

Gentile observers of God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel out of Jacob’s Trouble will go back to their homelands with eyewitness accounts of all these events.

We have further evidence of survivors of Armageddon in the account given in Zechariah Chapter 14

Verses 1-3

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses plundered, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the [Holy] remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.”

In the account given in Isa 66 it speaks of those Jews who will not be numbered among the Holy Remnant, but it does not state exactly what their fate will be, it is assumed a great many of these will perish in the battle, but here in Zechariahs account it speaks of many who will go into captivity. Whether these are captured soldiers or civilians is not certain.

“Gog and Magog will come down into Israel and temporarily capture Jerusalem and be victorious. The spoil will be the rifling of the houses of Jerusalem and the taking of goods. Half of Jerusalem will go into captivity (exile); the other half will remain. Verse 2 shows a little time lapse during which part of the population of Jerusalem will be marched out of the city into exile. In other words, the entire city will be captured. However, the Old City, that which is inside the walls, will remain, whereas the New City, that which is outside the Jaffa Gate, will be taken into exile. The New City is the larger portion.

Verses 16-18 “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”

The foregoing not only proves that there will be survivors of Armageddon both Jews and Gentile alike, but likewise (both good and bad) some Jews who will comprise the Holy Remnant while others deemed unrighteous who were taken captive (alive) during the battle. Likewise amongst the Gentile nations there are some who are favored by the Lord and survive Armageddon (these we will address later in this study), and others many of whom who took a direct part as aggressors in the attack on Israel some whom are now found once again being disobedient and refusing to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts.

Continued with next post.