In studying the tribulation, the truth can become an excuse for some people to not confess Jesus as Lord as soon as possible, but rather gamble on confessing later, some time after the seals open or before the mark of the beast is required. Sometimes people think that they want to get as close to the edge as possible before doing what is right. Of course the problem is that we do not know when we will die. We may die before we have that opportunity. This is why studying the truth regarding the finite points of the tribulation is hazardous for some individuals. The truth should be pursued and acted upon sooner rather than later. The only groups entering heaven are those who confessed Jesus as Lord, and the refining process continues through to the Day of the Lord. Knowing the truth about when people are entering heaven is not an invitation to hold off on the confession that brings eternal life. To remind ourselves that the first group entering heaven is the harpazo’d saints, those who believed and confessed Jesus before the tribulation. The second group is the martyrs that were killed under the altar and who realized that the beast is not the messiah. The third group to enter heaven are the people, nations, and tribes, who believed the two witnesses during the seal openings. The fourth group are the 144,000 young virgin boys who have never lied. The last group are the people who rejected the mark of the beast but confessed Jesus as Lord. There is truly no need to wait to confess Jesus as Lord, and at the end of the age every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord, whether saved or unsaved.
We have a lot of reading to do again regarding the Day of the Lord. We will need an additional week to wrap up the subject.
Jer 23:1 Woe to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of their pasture!
Jer 23:2 Therefore thus saith the Lord against them that tend my people; Ye have scattered my sheep, and driven them out, and ye have not visited them: behold, I will take vengeance upon you according to your evil practices.
Jer 23:3 And I will gather in the remnant of my people in every land, whither I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied.
Jer 23:4 And I will raise up shepherds to them, who shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be alarmed, saith the Lord.
Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets.
Jer 23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
Jer 23:8 but The Lord lives, who has gathered the whole seed of Israel from the north land, and from all the countries whither he had driven them out, and has restored them into their own land.
Josedec means “Yahweh our righteousness". When does Yahweh gather the remnant of his people? After the Day of the Lord. Just because people moved back to Israel and took over rulership of the region in 1948 does not mean that it was Yahweh that brought them back. In fact the people currently inhabiting Israel may not be heirs of Jacob at all.
Jer 25:8 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Since ye believed not my words,
Jer 25:9 behold I will send and take a family from the north, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all the nations round about it, and I will make them utterly waste, and make them a desolation, and a hissing, and an everlasting reproach.
Jer 25:10 And I will destroy from among them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the scent of ointment, and the light of a candle.
Jer 25:11 And all the land shall be a desolation; and they shall serve among the Gentiles seventy years.
Jer 25:12 And when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will take vengeance on that nation, and will make them a perpetual desolation.
Jer 25:13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have spoken against it, even all things that are written in this book.
Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would be in captivity for 70 years. All the prophets expected that to take place. They also knew that someday Israel the nation (not just the ten tribes) would occupy her own land again. When we talk about the Day of the Lord we are talking about the end of the age, not the end of captivity. The way we can decipher when the prophecies belong in time is what age the prophets were living, and what were the statuses of the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. When the prophets who were living after the ten northern tribes went into captivity prophesy about Israel, they are speaking of the end times, the time of the tribulation. The ten northern tribes had already been in captivity for one hundred and twenty five years by the time that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were writing. The ten tribes were now a mixed people. The northern kingdom went into captivity in 722/721 BC. Judah’s first captivity was around 607 BC and the second captivity was around 597/596 BC. The third captivity was around 588/587 BC. This is how we know that the prophets are writing about Israel in the future, not the former ten northern tribes. Israel became a nation under her own rule in 1948. These prophecies are regarding the years from 1948 through to the tribulation.
This is Jeremiah’s prophecy for the rulers of Jerusalem, Juda, Egypt, Philistines, Ascalon, Gaza, Accaron, Azotus, Idumea, Moab, Tyre, Sidon, Daeden, Thaeman, Ros, Elam, and the Persians as well as all their mingled people. This is a very broad region, similar to what Daniel 11 told us.
Jer 32:30 And thou shalt prophesy against them these words, and shalt say, The Lord shall speak from on high, from his sanctuary he will utter his voice; he will pronounce a declaration on his place; and these shall answer like men gathering grapes: and destruction is coming on them that dwell on the earth,
Jer 32:31 even upon the extreme part of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations, he is pleading with all flesh, and the ungodly are given to the sword, saith the Lord.
Jer 32:32 Thus said the Lord; Behold, evils are proceeding from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind goes forth from the end of the earth.
Jer 32:33 And the slain of the Lord shall be in the day of the Lord from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.
The Day of the Lord’s wrath is not just a day for the enemies of the Lord to be destroyed, it is a day for Israel to be destroyed. Their constant disobedience is judged by their enemies rising up against them. This is the case for many of Judah’s people going into captivity in Babylon. They became a mixed people, just like the northern kingdom. But unlike the time of the captivity, this day of wrath is permanent.
When we come to the Day of the Lord we see that the temple is completely defiled. Solomons temple was burned in 588 BC. In 515 BC the Nehemiah temple was rededicated. In the future the beast defiles the temple and ends the daily sacrifice. We want to remember that the temple was not Yahweh’s idea, it was David’s idea. Even so, the Spirit of Yahweh dwelt in the temple even while the priests and levites were worshipping idols, worshipping the stars and constellations, participating in the booths for male and female prostitutes, and preforming the child sacrifices for over four hundred years. After the captivity the temple was rebuilt and then renovated, but was later burnt down and destroyed by the Romans. There will be a temple or tabernacle built at the start of the of the tribulation but it becomes defiled and blood from martyrs will cover it.
Remember Daniel?
Dan 9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in him: and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that is coming: they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed he shall appoint the city to desolations.
Dan 9:27 And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation.
The city is appointed to desolations. Just like in the captivity into Babylon. This time however it is due to the rejection of the Messiah. Remember Isaiah’s prophecy which Jesus recited in part in the synagogue at Nazareth? Remember where he stopped reading?
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind;
Isa 61:2 to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompence; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 that there should be given to them that mourn in Sion glory instead of ashes, the oil of joy to the mourners, the garment of glory for the spirit of heaviness: and they shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.
Isa 61:4 And they shall build the old waste places, they shall raise up those that were before made desolate, and shall renew the desert cities, even those that had been desolate for many generations.
Isa 61:5 And strangers shall come and feed thy flocks, and aliens shall be thy ploughmen and vine-dressers.
Isa 61:6 But ye shall be called priests of the Lord, the ministers of God: ye shall eat the strength of nations, and shall be admired because of their wealth.
Isa 61:7 Thus shall they inherit the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
Isa 61:8 For I am the Lord who love righteousness, and hate robberies of injustice; and I will give their labour to the just, and will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Isa 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples: every one that sees them shall take notice of them, that they are a seed blessed of God;
Isa 61:10 and they shall greatly rejoice in the Lord. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation, and the garment of joy: he has put a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride.
Isa 61:11 And as the earth putting forth her flowers, and as a garden its seed; so shall the Lord, even the Lord, cause righteousness to spring forth, and exultation before all nations.
Jesus stopped just before the words “the day of recompense, or day of vengeance.” Jesus was on the earth to preach the good news to heal the brokenhearted, to set captives free, and to restore sight to the blind. While Jesus was on earth it was the time of the Lord’s favor. But the day of vengeance is coming. When the wrath and vengeance is over, restoration will begin. Then Israel will inherit the land a second time. 1948 is not the second time. That was not Yahweh’s doing, it was the efforts of men. After the Day of the Lord Jacob’s heirs will inherit the land again.
Ezekiel writes from captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel was part of the second wave of captives to Babylon. He also writes about the destruction of Israel.
Ezk 7:1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Also, thou, son of man, say,
Ezk 7:2 Thus saith the Lord; An end is come to the land of Israel, the end is come on the four corners of the land.
Ezk 7:3 The end is come on thee,
Ezk 7:4 Mine eye shall not spare, nor will I have any mercy: for I will recompense thy way upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
Ezk 7:5 For thus saith the Lord; Behold, the end is come.
Ezk 7:7 the inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day has drawn nigh, not with tumult, nor with pangs.
Ezk 7:7 Now the end is come to thee, and I will send judgment upon thee: and I will take vengeance on thy ways, and will recompense all thine abominations upon thee.
Ezk 7:8 Now I will pour out my anger upon thee near at hand, and I will accomplish my wrath on thee: and I will judge thee for thy ways, and recompense upon thee all thine abominations.
Ezk 7:9 Mine eye shall not spare, nor will I have any mercy: for I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord that smite thee.
Ezk 7:10 Behold, the day of the Lord! although the rod has blossomed,
Ezk 7:11 pride has sprung up, and will break the staff of the wicked one, and that not with tumult, nor with haste.
Ezk 7:12 The time is come, behold the day: let not the buyer rejoice, and let not the seller mourn.
Ezk 7:13 For the buyer shall never again return to the seller, neither shall a man cleave with the eye of hope to his life.
Ezk 7:14 Sound ye the trumpet, and pass sentence on all together.
Ezk 7:15 There shall be war with the sword without, and famine and pestilence within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword; and famine and pestilence shall destroy them that are in the city.
Ezk 7:16 But they that escape of them shall be delivered, and shall be upon the mountains: and I will slay all the rest, every one for his iniquities.
Ezk 7:17 All hands shall be completely weakened, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture.
We can guess that Ezekiel means the people are going to wet their pants out of fear.
Ezk 7:18 And they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and amazement shall cover them; and shame shall be upon them, even upon every face, and baldness upon every head.
Ezk 7:19 Their silver shall be cast forth in the streets, and their gold shall be despised: their souls shall not be satisfied, and their bellies shall not be filled: for it was the punishment of their iniquities.
Ezk 7:20 As for their choice ornaments, they employed them for pride, and they made of them images of their abominations: therefore have I made them uncleanness to them.
Ezk 7:21 And I will deliver them into the hands of strangers to make them a prey, and to the pests of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane them.
Ezk 7:22 And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall defile my charge, and shall go in to them unguardedly, and profane them.
Ezk 7:23 And they shall work uncleanness: because the land is full of strange nations, and the city is full of iniquity.
After the harpazo the world is chaotic, especially in Christian nations. Nations which previously held a majority of Christians will be struggling. For example, the United States and Russia will both lose 70-75% of their people. The higher concentrations of people that are left will be in the middle east. Once Babylon the system is destroyed the beast becomes the world leader and many people from all over the globe will center in the middle east. This is why Israel is filled with strange nations.
Ezk 7:24 And I will turn back the boasting of their strength; and their holy things shall be defiled.
Ezk 7:25 And though propitiation shall come, and one shall seek peace, yet there shall be none.
Ezk 7:26 There shall be woe upon woe, and there shall be message upon message; and a vision shall be sought from a prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
Ezk 7:27 The prince shall clothe himself with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be made feeble: I will do to them according to their ways, and according to their judgments will I punish them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Again Ezekiel writes about future Israel. After the beast kills Babylon, people will look for peace but there will not be any. There will still be prophets in Israel during the tribulation. During the first part of the tribulation the false prophets will deny the two witnesses, claiming they are magicians, and instead believe the beast, the son of perdition, is the messiah. Once the beast kills Babylon the false prophets will keep prophesying. People will look to the prophets for a vision but the priests and elders won’t have any. Yahweh calls them out. Everyone will be punished.
Ezk 13:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezk 13:2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, and thou shalt prophesy, and shalt say to them, Hear ye the word of the Lord:
Ezk 13:3 Thus saith the Lord, Woe to them that prophesy out of their own heart, and who see nothing at all.
Ezk 13:4 Thy prophets, O Israel, are like foxes in the deserts.
Ezk 13:5 They have not continued steadfast, and they have gathered flocks against the house of Israel, they that say,
Ezk 13:6 In the day of the Lord, have not stood, seeing false visions, prophesying vanities, who say, The Lord saith, and the Lord has not sent them, and they began to try to confirm the word.
Ezk 13:7 Have ye not seen a false vision? and spoken vain prophecies?
Ezk 13:8 And therefore say, Thus saith the Lord; Because your words are false, and your prophecies are vain, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord.
Ezk 13:9 And I will stretch forth my hand against the prophets that see false visions, and those that utter vanities: they shall not partake of the instruction of my people, neither shall they be written in the roll of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezk 13:10 Because they have caused my people to err, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and they plaster it, —it shall fall.
Israel will have a problem with false prophets just as they do today. Ezekiel now prophesies regarding the things that the rulers do in Israel today.
Ezk 22:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezk 22:2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities.
Ezk 22:3 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;
Ezk 22:4 in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries,
Ezk 22:5 to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.
Ezk 22:6 Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood.
Ezk 22:7 In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.
Ezk 22:8 And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths.
Ezk 22:9 There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee.
Ezk 22:10 In thee they have uncovered the father's shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.
Ezk 22:11 They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
Ezk 22:12 In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.
Ezk 22:13 And if I shall smite my hand at thine iniquities which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee,
Ezk 22:14 shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.
Ezk 22:15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed out of thee.
Ezk 22:16 And I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Yahweh paints a very grim picture of the leaders of Israel. Now we find out that during the end of the tribulation, Israel has been a mixed nation. Yet today people claim that the Jews are all “pure Jews”. We know this is not true but it is the lie they like to propagate, otherwise they would allow genetic testing in Israel.
Ezk 22:17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezk 22:18 Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.
Ezk 22:19 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Ezk 22:20 As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you.
Ezk 22:21 And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
Ezk 22:22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
Ezk 22:23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezk 22:24 Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon thee in the day of wrath;
Ezk 22:25 whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee.
Ezk 22:26 Her priests also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
Ezk 22:27 Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.
Ezk 22:28 And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken.
Ezk 22:29 That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.
Ezk 22:30 And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found him not.
Ezk 22:31 So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.
No one will be standing perfectly in Israel before Yahweh Elohim on the Day of the Lord.
Ezekiel prophesies about some other nations judgment on the Day of the Lord.
Ezk 30:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezk 30:2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Woe, woe worth the day!
Ezk 30:3 For the day of the Lord is nigh, a day of cloud; it shall be the end of the nations.
Ezk 30:4 And the sword shall come upon the Egyptians, and there shall be tumult in Ethiopia, and in Egypt men shall fall down slain together, and her foundations shall fall.
Ezk 30:5 Persians, and Cretans, and Lydians, and Libyans, and all the mixed multitude, and they of the children of my covenant, shall fall by the sword therein.
Ezk 30:6 And the supports of Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her strength shall come down from Magdol to Syene: they shall fall by the sword in it, saith the Lord.
Ezk 30:7 And it shall be made desolate in the midst of desolate countries, and their cities shall be desolate in the midst of desolate cities:
Ezk 30:8 and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall send fire upon Egypt, and when all that help her shall be broken.
Ezk 30:9 In that day shall messengers go forth hasting to destroy Ethiopia utterly, and there shall be tumult among them in the day of Egypt: for, behold it comes.
Ezk 30:10 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the multitude of the Egyptians by the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon,
Ezk 30:11 his hand and his people's; they are plagues sent forth from the nations to destroy the land: and they all shall unsheath their swords against Egypt, and the land shall be filled with slain.
What does John say about the Day of the Lord?
Revelation 19:17 G2532 And G1492 I saw G1520 one G32 angel G2476 standing G1722 in G3588 the G2246 sun; G2532 and G2896 he cried out G5456 [2voice G3173 1with a great], G3004 saying G3956 to all G3588 the G3732 birds, G3588 to the ones G4072 flying G1722 in G3321 mid-heaven, G1205 Come, G2532 and G4863 be gathered together G1519 for G3588 the G1173 [2supper G3588 G3173 1great] G3588 G2316 of God,
18 G2443 that G2068 you should eat G4561 flesh G935 of kings, G2532 and G4561 flesh G5506 of commanders of thousands, G2532 and G4561 flesh G2478 of strong men, G2532 and G4561 flesh G2462 of horses, G2532 and G3588 of the ones G2521 sitting G1909 upon G1473 them, G2532 and G4561 flesh G3956 of all, G1658 both free G5037 G2532 and G1401 bondmen, G3397 both small G1473 G2532 and G3173 great.
This is the great supper of the Lord, the day that the birds will come and eat. Didn’t Jeremiah 32:33 tell us that the bodies will be from one end of the earth to the other and not be buried?
After the Day of the Lord, Jesus Messiah will reign from Jerusalem.
He will reign with a rod of iron.
Ezk 20:33 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with a high arm, and with outpoured wrath:
Ezk 20:34 I will bring you out from the nations, and will take you out of the lands wherein ye were dispersed, with a strong hand, and with a high arm, and with outpoured wrath.
Ezk 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and will plead with you there face to face.
Ezk 20:36 As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, saith the Lord.
Ezk 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under my rod, and I will bring you in by number.
Ezk 20:38 And I will separate from among you the ungodly and the revolters; for I will lead them forth out of their place of sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord, even the Lord.
Ezk 20:39 And as to you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord, even the Lord; Put away each one his evil practices, and hereafter if ye hearken to me, then shall ye no more profane my holy name by your gifts and by devices.
Ezk 20:40 For upon my holy mountain, on the high mountain, saith the Lord, even the Lord, there shall all the house of Israel serve me for ever: and there will I accept you, and there will I have respect to your first-fruits, and the first-fruits of your offerings, in all your holy things.
Ezk 20:41 I will accept you with a sweet-smelling savour, when I bring you out from the nations, and take you out of the countries wherein ye have been dispersed; and I will be sanctified among you in the sight of the nations.
Ezk 20:42 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have brought you into the land of Israel, into the land concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.
Ezk 20:43 And ye shall there remember your ways, and your devices wherewith ye defiled yourselves; and ye shall bewail yourselves for all your wickedness.
Ezk 20:44 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have done thus to you, that my name may not be profaned in your evil ways, and in your corrupt devices, saith the Lord.
Just as Moses told them in the wilderness, the Lord will bring them back, after the Day of the Lord.
Deu 30:1 And it shall come to pass when all these things shall have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thy face, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, wherein the Lord shall have scattered thee,
Deu 30:2 and shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice, according to all things which I charge thee this day, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;
Deu 30:3 then the Lord shall heal thine iniquities, and shall pity thee, and shall again gather thee out from all the nations, among which the Lord has scattered thee.
Deu 30:4 If thy dispersion be from one end of heaven to the other, thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and thence will the Lord thy God take thee.
Deu 30:5 And the Lord thy God shall bring thee in from thence into the land which thy fathers have inherited, and thou shalt inherit it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
Deu 30:6 And the Lord shall purge thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
If we want to know who the real heirs of Jacob are, we should look at the most oppressed, down-trodden, needy, people around the globe. The curses Moses explained to Jacob's heirs are still in effect for them. Jacob’s heirs are not rich powerful people. Quite the opposite. Jesus will manifest to Jacob’s heirs who are among the nations.
Ezk 39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Now will I turn back captivity in Jacob, and will have mercy on the house of Israel, and will be jealous for the sake of my holy name.
Ezk 39:26 And they shall bear their reproach, and the iniquity which they committed when they dwelt upon their land in peace. Yet there shall be none to terrify them
Ezk 39:27 when I have brought them back from the nations, and gathered them out of the countries of the nations: and I will be sanctified among them in the presence of the nations.
Ezk 39:28 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, when I have been manifested to them among the nations.
Ezk 39:29 And I will no more turn away my face from them, because I have poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
When Jesus establishes his kingdom on the earth in Jerusalem, he will bring his people back. Who will he bring back? Jacob’s heirs who believe that this is Yahweh and Messiah when he manifests to them. The Word manifest here is the word epiphainō, it is an “epiphany”. Jesus will appear or become visible to all the people among the nations. Where are Jacob’s heirs? Scattered among the nations. This is what happens on the Day of the Lord. It will be a great day for those who choose to believe on Jesus Messiah when he appears to them but it will be a terrible day for those inhabiting Israel. Jesus finds Jacob’s heirs elsewhere, not among the people in Israel. He called out Israel’s sins which tells us that the people receiving the epiphany are not among Israel. Just to point out, the Masoretic text erases this sentence regarding the epiphany to the nations. Why would they do that?
The good news that comes on the Day of the Lord is only for those who receive and confess Jesus as their Yahweh and Messiah when he manifests to them. For everyone else, especially those who rejected Jesus up to this day, it will be a day of terror and of wetting one’s own pants. For the people who are saved before the tribulation starts, they become a kingdom of priests, and kings and priests. They will have eternal life. Those who receive Jesus later as Lord and savior will be brought to the earth for the millennial reign when Jesus rules and reigns from Jerusalem for one thousand years. Jesus’ twelve disciples will rule over the twelve tribes on the earth. Next week we will look at more prophecies regarding the Day of the Lord.
