At this time of the year not only do we remember our Lord and the first time He came as a little baby in Bethlehem, no doubt we think also of when our Lord will come again. The Lord instituted the Communion 0r Breaking of Bread, so we would remember Him until He comes again, and He will come again, twice. Once in the clouds to welcome His Bride the Church of believers, and once at the end of time to judge the world and become ruler over the world. He will come as the Messiah the Jew’s have been awaiting these many years, since the days of Abraham and the prophets. The Jews will realise that all those years ago they crucified their Messiah [Zech 12:10-14]. They will mourn as a nation before their Lord. The Lord will be compassionate and in the next verses we read how He will cleanse and forgive them. [Ezek 13:1].
We read in various places in the Scriptures about how the Lord will come in all His glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the book of Ezekiel it not only gives a description of the return of the Lord but also describes the new Temple which is to be built on Mount Moriah where God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and where “God provided Himself a Lamb for an offering” [Gen 22:1-2], Solomon built the first Temple [1 Kings 6:1-38], and where there still are the remains of Ezra’s temple [Ezra 6: 1-22] destroyed by the Romans in 70AD. The Glory and presence of God remained up to the time of the Babylonian exile. We read in Ezekiel Chapter 10 the departing of the Glory of the Lord from the Temple. It is of interest to reflect the Ark of the Covenant also disappeared about this time. Many have contemplated where this went, as the seat of the Lord was situated in the Holy Place. It may have been destroyed or buried somewhere secret. However it is interesting to note it is mentioned in the book of Revelation and Chapter 11, there it is safely in Heaven. Some people say this just showing Gods faithfulness to His earthly people, but what if it has been preserved in Heaven for a coming day when the Lord returns to His seat in the Temple.
In Revelation we are told about the army of the Lord being led by the Lord himself on a white horse conquering over the Devil and the Devil’s army [Rev 19:11-16] preparing to acquire His rightful place as ruler of the nations and King of Kings. A further description of the Lords return is given in the prophecy given to Zechariah. 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 rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the 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. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with Him. [Zech 14:1-5 NKJV].
In the Bible we are told that upon the Lords return He will enter the Temple through the Golden or otherwise known as the Eastern gate. [Ezek 44: 1-3]. According to Jewish tradition it was through the Eastern Gate the Shekhinah [Divine Presence] of God would come into the Temple thence to the Holy of Holies. The Glory of the Lord had departed from Jerusalem and the Temple about the time of the Babylonian exile of the Children of Israel to Babylon. [Ezek 10: 18-20]. He will not return until He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut “As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”[Ezek 44: 1-3NKJV]. The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman must have known the prophecy of how the Glory of the Lord would return. In 1541 he bricked up the Eastern Gate and set up a Muslim cemetery across the entrance front. Based probably on the knowledge that a Jewish Rabbi would not cross a cemetery to enter the Temple because he would become unclean, he also assumed the Lord would not be able to cross it likewise. When the third Temple is built no doubt the gate will be opened again to receive the Glory of the Lord as He enters Jerusalem and the Temple to take His place in the Holy of Holies once again. The Bible says: Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw-like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. [Ezek 43:1-5NKJV].
The Messiah will finally come to Israel and together with the Faithful from the Tribulation, the Christian Church [the Bride of Christ], and the faithful of the Jews will reign with Christ for 1000 years. There will be a lot of clearing up to do. We are told it will be a few years before the lands of the World, get rebuilt and lived in again. Schoolers of the Bible estimate that at the end of the Tribulation only something like only 20% to 25% of the world’s population will be alive, and most of the survivors will need all the aid they can get. Most cities will be destroyed, no harvest will have been planted, and most factory buildings will have been destroyed. Jesus will restore barren land and crops will grow quickly, and mankind will not learn war any more. [Isa 2:4][Mic 4:3][Amos 9:13].
Will you be there?
Brian D. Papworth
Representative for the Prophetic Witness Movement International in the South Pacific.
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