ROD OF GOD COMES TO BEING PEACE – Part 3
Rejected Son Returns as Judgment Rod to Bring Peace to Us!
February 6, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Psalm 2:7-9 – I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. [8] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. [9] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Isaiah 11:1,4,9-14 runs the gauntlet from the time of his first arrival in a manger in Bethlehem to his smiting the earth with the rod of his mouth at his Second Advent to his bringing in the peace of his millennial reign.
ISAIAH 11:1,4,9-14 – And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: [4] But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. [9] They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
[10] And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his REST shall be glorious.
Matthew 11:29 – Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls.
John 14:1-3 – Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
II Thessalonians 1:7-9 – And to you who are troubled REST with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, [8] In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: [9] Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Hebrews 4:9,10 – There remaineth therefore a REST to the people of God. [10] For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
At the start of the millennial reign of Christ, the final great gathering of the surviving Jews from the great tribulation period will be initiated. All surviving Jews will return to Israel.
The word “ensign” in Isaiah 11:10 in context means: “to lift up a standard, a banner, for the purpose of gathering the people together.” Christ the Messiah will be that banner which draws all Jews back to Israel, and for a thousand years the message of him will be carried to the Gentile nations seeking him.
ISAIAH 11:10,11 – And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. [11] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again
the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Ezekiel and many of the other prophets speak of this return to Israel after the Second Advent, and describe the glory God’s blessings to restored Israel.
Ezekiel 39:25,26 – Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; [26] After that they have borne their sha me, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against
me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
ISAIAH 11:12 – And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The meaning of “ensign” was previously discussed.
The meaning of “sign” in Isaiah 66:10 means “in the sense of appearing as a beacon.” It will be “his appearing” that acts as a beacon to draw Israelites home to Israel.
Isaiah 66:19,20 – 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. [20] And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
The sign, his appearing in the heavens, at his Second Advent will be “the beacon” that draws them home.
Revelation 1:7 – Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Zechariah 12:9,10 – And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of 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.
The split of the one kingdom under Solomon’s son Rehoboam, into the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) and the southern kingdom of Judah, will be healed. They will be a great single kingdom under Christ without envy between the tribes, and all their enemies will have been cut off in the great tribulation period.
ISAIAH 11:13 – The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Ezekiel also writes of the reuniting of the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah when Messiah comes.
Ezekiel 37:19-22 – Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. [20] And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. [21] And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: [22] And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
This next verse has as many different interpretations as a wild dog has fleas and, quite frankly, over the years I have changed my mind from what I first believed about it. What I now believe follows Isaiah 11:14.
ISAIAH 11:14 – But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
One cannot question that the time Isaiah has brought forth is the millennial reign of Messiah.
So, in order to correctly apply this event that begins his reign, we must consider the first thing that introduces it – the forceful taking of the millennial land grant promised to the Jews through Abraham’s seed Jacob.
Genesis 15:18 – In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
As the Scripture states, Abraham’s land grant was to extend to the east and to the west from Jerusalem. The biblical people that lay immediately to the northeast, east, and southeast of Jerusalem were the 700 B.C. descendants of Ammon, Moab, and Edom. The biblical people living to the northwest, west, and southwest of Jerusalem were the 700 B.C. Philistines (Isaiah 14:31).
The Isaiah 11:14 reference that Israel would “fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines,” refers to swooping down on the present day occupants of this area like a hawk on a chicken – “they shall spoil them of the east together,” means that Israel will take the Philistine land and the spoils of it “together” (along with) the land and spoils of Ammon, Moab, and Edom, the people to the east of Jerusalem. The Scripture does not refer to Israel uniting with the Philistines to the west and, joining with them, spoiling the nations to the east of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 11:14 refers to Israel, at Messiah’s Second Advent, expanding to the east and west to claim the land grant promised to them by Abraham through Jacob.
The Gaza Strip of today was the land of the Philistines in biblical times, and the nation of modern day Jordan encompasses the biblical land containing the nations of Ammon, Moab, and Edom.
Micah 5:5-7 gives an accounting of Israel claiming the Abrahamic Land Grant by force after Messiah returns. For a full exposition of this Scripture, please consult our Prophecy Update Archive Numbers 66 and 67.
Micah 5:5-7 – And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. [6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. [7] And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.