The Day of the Lord
End time message
Zechariah 14:1-5
1 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and 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. (Note tribulation period all countries against Israel)
3. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4. And 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.
5. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
The Day of the Lord- means when God puts Israel ahead of all nations.
Introduction: I would like to take some confusion out of the meanings of the Lord’s second coming. There is a difference between his 2 comings and his appearing.
Suggest 2 comings and 1 appearing.
1. First coming- babe in a manager-
a. Redeem the bride- church-
b. To dress her in white- free from sin
2. Appearing of Christ-
a. He comes for his bride
b. Like a theft in the night
3. Comes to execute judgment
a. Returns with his bride
I. Redeeming his bride
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.
This is the first prophecy of the coming of Christ. Not only is this a prophecy of his birth, but it is a prophecy of his work
God is speaking to the serpent who is a personification of Satan. God desires no coalition between himself and Satan. The two are mutually exclusive.
“Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed.”
God draws a distinction between “your seed” (Satan’s seed) and “her Seed” (Jesus). “Her Seed” refers to the humanity (incarnation) of Christ. Notice that this passage does not say that the “Seed” was of Adam. This is an inference of the virgin birth. The New Testament calls Jesus the “Seed” (Galatians 3:16).
“He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
God is predicting the defeat of Satan by the coming of Christ, the Messiah. God is drawing the battle lines between himself and Satan.
“He shall bruise your head” is a mortal wound. The power of Satan is crushed by the cross of Christ.
Yet even at the moment of the first fall, God promises a solution to their sin. At the fall Satan bruised the heel of Jesus. Sin was the cause of Christ going to the cross. At the cross Christ will crush Satan’s head. One is a non-lethal and the other a lethal act. At the cross Jesus dealt Satan a fatal blow. There he paid for the penalty of sin fully.
Christ not only paid for the sins of the world on the cross but he defeated Satan there (Colossians 2:14, 15). Satan was executed at the cross.
There are many prophecies on the coming of the Messiah to free us from sin. Time won’t allow me to detail them. But we know Jesus was born in a manager in Bethlehem. As prophesied.
II. The appearance of Christ
a. To take his bride
b. Come as a thief in the night (at least 3 different scriptures says this)
c. Acts 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. ( important) Appearing not second coming.
d. The coming of the lord for his bride- as a thief he is coming. Don’t forget he dresses them in white.
A. 1 Thes 4:13-16
13 ¶ But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleeps in Jesus will God bring with him.
15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16. For the Lord him-self shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Point out some things:
2Co 5:8
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
1. Asleep
When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, they told him he was too late; he had been dead 4 days.
Jesus says he asleep- Call Lazarus come forth and he came out of the grave.
I don’t care if the body has decay back to dust or lost out at sea, or burn into ashes, that body is asleep /dead with the soul and the spirit which are alive with Christ, when Jesus appears and calls us up-soul and spirit return to body and be changed/ Does not it appear what wee shall be when he appears we will be just like him.
16. For the Lord him-self shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Where did they get Gabriel blows his – trumpet- does not say it any where- here it says the trump of God. Perhaps God or his son his blowing the trumpet:
Rev 4:1
1 ¶ after these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.
Caught up to meet him in the Air: First stop on the way to glory- in the air why? Because Satan is the prince of the air: Jesus is showing us off. Look Satan you lost.
III. Coming with his saints/ execute judgment
a. Bride is with him
Zechariah 4:5-b
And the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
The day of the lord is when Israel returns to believe in Christ and become leader of nations.
Read text again
¶ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and 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.
3. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4. And 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.
5. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
His 2nd coming is for executing judgment on enemies of God. It is when the wrath of god is poured on the nations left during the tribulation period.
Let us go to the mount of olives- the same place of his ascension is the place of his return.
Rev 16:16
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Mountain of Megiddo –valley of Megiddo, A Mountain –Har
Last battle is fought here. Valley of Jehoshaphat
Jesus steps down on mountain off olives and it splits and forms a great valley where the battle of Armageddon is fought.
Christ on a white horse:
11 ¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13. And he was clothed with vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14. and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Remember said remember saints in white.
15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
We are the bride of Christ!
No wrath for his bride just blessings and eternal life.
Jesus is coming soon after his Bride. Are you ready to meet the groom?
