August 17, 2001

Remnant, v. 7

V. 7. The elect of old Israel and the elect of the Gentiles are united in Christ, and made into one nation

Micah 4

Chapter four closed with the destruction of the literal Jerusalem, which represents the Jewish church because of the corrupt leaders who had their own interests at heart, rather than the things of God. For their sakes, it was totally cast down, and plowed as a field. Chapter five opens with the promise of the new Jerusalem, which is the Gospel Church, and which will be exalted, and even the nations of the earth with honour it.

For us: When we see the prevalence of self-serving, riches seeking spiritual "leaders" and the damage they do to the church, we may wonder if the church will survive at all. But then we come to Micah 4, and we find the promise that the Lord will not cast off his people. The Jews fell that salvation might come to the Gentiles. And thus will the self-seeking leaders fall, so that God can raise up an new generation who will love the truth and serve Him alone.

Vv. 1-7

Chapter 3 closed with the destruction of the Jewish Church, and chapter 4 opens with the exaltation of the church that replaced it, the Gospel Church.

V. 1, the last days is understood by even the rabbin themselves as the days of the Messiah. (MH) In the light of the New Testament, we understand the last days to refer to the Gospel Church age, and the daily adding such as shall be saved to that church. (Acts 2:47.)

Shall be established in the top of the mountains is understood in the words of Christ, upon this rock I will build my church. And it shall be so well established that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18. Ps. 87:1, His foundation is in the holy mountains. Ps. 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.)

Shall be exalted above the hills is understood by Matthew 5:14, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. And Christ's words, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. (Matt. 12:42, Lk. 11:31.)

From a small beginning like to a grain of mustard seed, the Lord's church grows into a great tree, Luke 13:19.

I am continually amazed that even God's people who have been saved through the everlasting blood of Christ look for a greater than Christ to be restored – that is, a literal temple as it was under Solomon. The Old Testament prophecy was that though it would start from a small beginning, the Lord's church would grow to cover the whole earth. (Dan. 2:34, 35, 45.)

People shall flow into it is understood to be the Gospel Church. As previously mentioned, Christ told the people that a greater than Solomon is here, referring to Himself. In that passage, He also said that the queen of the south came from the utermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. (Matt. 12:42, Lk. 11:31.)

And the Lord is adding to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47), and He is still doing the same today.

Isaiah 5:25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

From the ruins of the old "nation," the Lord will build a new "nation." That new nation will be gathered by the Spirit, who will hiss as a bee keeper hisses for his bees, to an ensign. The nations will gather to this ensign from far and near. (Isaiah 11:10, 12. See Isaiah 18:3, 30:17, 31:9, and Zechariah 9:16.)

A "sign of fire" #Jer 6:1 was sometimes used as a signal. The banners and ensigns of the Roman army had idolatrous images upon them, and hence they are called the "abomination of desolation" (q.v.). The principal Roman standard, however, was an eagle. See #Mt 24:28 Lu 17:37 where the Jewish nation is compared to a dead body, which the eagles gather together to devour. God's setting up or giving a banner #Ps 20:5 60:4 So 2:4 imports his presence and protection and aid extended to his people. (Easton's Revised Bible Dictionary, Online Bible, s.v. "Banner.")

The ensign to whom all the nations will be drawn is Christ:

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Thus the nations are gathered to Christ, brought there by the calling of the Spirit.

Note:

1 Kings 4:34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
1 Kings 10:24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
2 Chronicles 9:23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

Thus we are told three times that all the earth sought to Solomon, and Christ pointed out the obvious, that He is greater than Solomon.

In other words, the promise looks forward to the time of Christ when great numbers of people will flock to the church to hear the wisdom of God's Word as expounded by God's men. And in that day of the promise, their labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Cor. 15:58.)

Which brings us to,

V. 2. The people of God will say, "Come with us. Let us go worship the Lord." And people will willingly come. Notice, however, that people are not made willing by any human effort:

Psalms 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

It is the Spirit of God than makes people willing to follow the Lord.

He will teach us his ways. The Spirit of God Himself must teach one the ways of the Lord if they will be taught.

The "Dispes" (MacPherson's term for Dispensationalists) cannot understand the workings of the Holy Spirit. They find it impossible to believe that man can change without the "aid" of a sword hanging over their heads. However, we see here that a great multitude will flow into the Gospel Church because the Holy Spirit does a work in their hearts, and they want to follow go up to the mountains of the Lord to be taught his ways, so they can walk in his paths.

Vv. 3-7 to me clearly speak of the power of the gospel. The primary difference in premil and post mil is the manner in which the Lord brings about the peace on earth. Does He bring it about with a literal sword with a "judge" on every corner to enforce His laws of peace, or does He do it with His Spirit of Peace, the Holy Spirit?

Of course, the dispes say that the redeemed will be exalted, so they will be the ones to enforce the law of love and peace.

Note what the state is doing today with their anti-hate laws. I believe the state's determination to pass and enforce those kind of laws is a direct result of the dispensational belief that anti-hate laws enforced with a sword are the only means of bringing about peace.

SEE HATE CRIME MESSAGE

The problem is v. 7 – does the Lord rule with a literal bloody sword from mount Zion or does He rule through the preaching of His word and the working of the Holy Spirit? 1 Corinthians 1 & 2 along with Hebrews 12:22 tell us that His rule is through His church – that is, through the preaching of the Gospel of Peace, and the working of His Spirit in the heart of believers.

Vv. 2-4 are almost identical to Isaiah 2:2-4, so that in the mouths of two or more witnesses shall any matter be established. (Deut. 19:15, Mat. 18:16, 2 Cor. 13:1.) The following is from my study in Isaiah (7/24/90):

START

V. 1. Isaiah saw the word. God spoke to him through his mind in pictures that he then wrote down. What he saw concerned Judah and Jerusalem. He gives the times frame for what he saw to come to pass in the next verse. This will identify who Judah and Jerusalem are.

V. 2. The period of time is in the future, the last days. These words of Isaiah are the same that Micah used, 4:1-. The cross reference for the last days is given as Acts 2:17.

Vv.2-4 gives us a picture of the Messianic time, at which the Kingdom of God, now despised, should be elevated above all the kingdoms of the world, should exercise an attractive power over the Gentiles, and should cause peace to dwell among them.. Hens.

There are some interesting points here.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

1 Cor. 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

HEB 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

We have covered this term last days several times. Peter's message in Acts, gives us the correct understanding as the time from Christ until the end of all things. In addition, Paul identifies only one period of time from the time of Christ. The time of the end, or the lest period of time. He does not divide up this period. In fact, just the opposite. 1 Cor. 15:23, 24 gives the next major event after the resurrection as the second coming of Christ at the final judgment. So far this period of time has lasted 2,000 years.

Back to Isaiah 2:2, the last days, or, the end of days. This period commences "with the beginning of the New Testament aeon, and terminating at its close (compare Heb. i. 1, 1 Pet. i. 20, with 1 Cor. xv. and the Revelation)." Keil, pg.113.

This prophecy is speaking of the coming glories of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel Church. This is consistent with the Old Testament prophets. After they pronounced the terrible woes against the Old Testament nation of God, they followed with the wonderful prophecies of the New Testament nation of God under the gospel. Zechariah is a good example of this. Isaiah in chapter 1 had pronounced terrible judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. Now he tells of the great exaltation of both. It is obvious that this exaltation cannot be a result of any action on their part to deserve this, but it is strictly by the free grace of God that these wonderful things will be accomplished.

The margin of my WORLD Bible gives Dan. 2:35 and Rev. 14:1 as the cross reference at the word that. The passage in Daniel is the more appropriate:

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

Obviously this must be understood primarily in a spiritual sense. Otherwise, we would have to see this Stone as a literal stone and this mountain of Isaiah as a literal mountain. I do not think many are ready to do this: build the Lord's house on top of the highest mountain on earth, then a road to it large enough to permit all of the nations of the earth can come to it.

Now, remember that Isaiah is writing down what he saw in his mind. Obviously then, v. 2 is speaking about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ being exalted above all that the world has and is. Right now, the church appears to be as low as anything can be, and men treading it under their feet. But one day we see both from here and from many other places, that it will be exalted over all, and all nations shall flow unto it.

I think that there is a very significant word here, unto. This word is not INTO, but UNTO. The prophecy is the exaltation of the church, but here it does not appear to contain the conversion of all the heathens. It does contain the promise of the honour of all the heathens. In other words, the heathen may not all be saved and brought into the church, but they will respect and honour the church as the representative of the Lord of heaven and earth, on earth. To me the indication here is that even though they are not saved they will still glorify God as God, and His church as His embassy.

V. 3.
The prophet continues on with what he saw. This is almost identical to Zechariah 8:21. See our notes there for an in-depth treatment of this. For now we will just say that this is a reference to the church. Zechariah and Isaiah cover much of the same ground. See Zech. 14:10, etc.

And many people.. Not all, but many. Again, not all of the heathen are saved even though they are honouring God as God. But the Lord's people will offer them the opportunity to worship the Lord as members of His church. (Soul-winning. Only in this time the prophet is referring to, the willingness to come to Christ will be as strong as the unwillingness to come to Him is today.)

"Come with us," they will say. "The Lord will teach us His ways, and we will walk in them." And in these unsaved will be the willingness to do just that, go with the people of God to worship the Lord and hear His word.

We might speculate that there are now so many saved in the nations that the unsaved must go along with them as the stranger had to do in Old Testament Israel under David. They were not forced to become Israelites, but they still had to abide by the national law of Israel, the commandments of God.

for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

(The marg. cross reference here is LUK 24:47 [44-48] And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.)

Obviously, the Lord made it plain that this is speaking of the church age of grace, for lack of a better term. This New Testament age (identified above) has the gospel of the Lord and His law being proclaimed into all the world. The law-word of the Lord goes out from His church, the new Mt. Zion. Notice that the two are mentioned separate, the law and the word.

The law would speak of the instructions of the Lord, as found in the Sianiac code. This would be the path of the Lord mentioned just before in this verse.

The word would speak of the creative word of God, as used to create all things (Gen. 1 and Jn. 1). This word also create all things new in and through Christ.

Whatever promotes the true prosperity of the nations, comes from Zion-Jerusalem. There the nations assemble together; they take it thence to their own homes, and thus Zion-Jerusalem becomes the fountain of universal good. Keil, pg.115.

Acts chapter two makes it clear that this is accomplished through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all nations under heaven. Here the gospel is identified as the law-word of God. It is salvation through the redemptive work of Christ, as well as the law of God applied to every day situations.

Then there is the grief of the minister who has such excellent doctrine in this sermon, but no lively and forceful application of them to the persons before him. What a shame, to have such good matter for the sinner and so little effort to lay it upon them! What a lot of good it would do it they were to set it home, yet they cannot or they will not do it! The REFORMED PASTOR, Richard Baxter, pg.45.

Good doctrine is a must. But good doctrine without the two other things is useless.
1. Lively delivery.
2. Practical application.

Do we overlook either? It takes the Spirit of discernment to give a proper balance.

Isaiah 2:3, the gospel is far more that the new creation in Christ. It must include the instructions from the law of God for the sinner in how to be saved. It MUST also include instructions from the law of God in how to walk. It must apply the law to the daily walk or it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

His law-word is to go out from His church. The next verse gives the results of this.

Micah 4:3

1. He shall judge.
2. He shall rebuke many people.

We saw from vs. 2, 3 that the nations, even though not fully converted, will be impressed to follow after Christian manners. They will recognize God as God and honour Him as the ruler over all. They will do this by seeing His church as His lawful representative on earth. The word of God and its application will go forth in its purity from the church.

Because of this, when the nations have a dispute, they will seek to settle it through the application of the law of God. The law-word of God will settle the question of who is right and who is wrong. The law-word of God will also rebuke, will point out where who is in the wrong, resulting in the person in the wrong correcting his error, and conforming to the law-word of v.3.

Because they no longer use violent means to settle their disputes, they do not need the instruments of war. Therefore they turn these instruments into instruments of peace and production. I wonder if Ezekiel 39 fits here:

Ezekiel 39:9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

It takes a lengthy time (seven is a number of completion) to rid the world of the fleshly weapons, replacing them with the Lord's instruments of peace. By weapons, I mean things such as the education system.

I think that it is quite significant that the method of rule here by the King IS NOT by means of war. Certainly, He shall judge and shall rebuke, but this is done through the means of vv. 2 and 3. This is accomplished through the nations recognizing the Lord as God and rightful ruler of all His creation. This is done by them recognizing His written law-word for what it is — the Law given by the King of kings dealing with every rule of action.

It is this law-word that is their standard, and people do not line up with God because of a threat of their heads being chopped off. They abide by it because it is placed in their hearts to abide by it. The Old Testament is full of the promise that the heart of stone (physical, warring heart) will be replaced by the heart of flesh (spiritual, peaceful heart, controlled by the Prince of Peace).

Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Acts 4:32 ¶ And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

The gospel does not make men cowards, but it does make them peaceable. (MH)

V. 4. The peace here is the result of the law of God going out from His church in v.3; it is not a result of threats of physical punishment from the King. We must understand all of these passages in the light of all of the Scriptures. The gospel is the GOSPEL OF PEACE. King Jesus is the PRINCE OF PEACE. These prophecies must be understood in the context of PEACE.

It would make one wonder — is a reason that we are not seeing the peace of v. 4 take place, because v. 3 is not being followed? When the King is only presented as the Creator (make one a new creation through faith in His finished work), and ignored as the Lawmaker, what can we expect?

V. 4, shall sit every man in safety, and none shall make them afraid. It will come to pass, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

Though Christ many times referred to Himself as the Son of David, He also made it clear that He was greater than Solomon. (Mat. 12:42, Lk. 11:31.) Christ, as the Son of David, obtained peace through warfare against the great enemy, Satan, making an open show of His victory. (Col. 2:15.) Since that victory, He reigns as the Prince of Peace. He brings peace to the haunted soul, which results in peace one with another. Solomon was known for his reign of Peace, and Christ compares Himself with Solomon, saying that He is greater.

V. 5, For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

As previously mentioned, people will not be forced to follow Christ, but they generally will have such a desire; the "tables will be turned" — that is to say, the non Christians and Christians will change places. Biblical Christianity will be the prevailing religion rather than humanism, as are circumstances now. Their will be people still walking in the name of their false gods, but they will be the minority. However, the good news is that Christians will, in that day, have the same desire and dedication for their God as the pagans have had toward their false gods. How many times have we said that if Christians had the same dedication towards the God of the Bible as do the pagans towards their false gods, the world would be won for Christ almost overnight? Well, that day is coming, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Note that today's immigration policies in the US encourage non Christians to come to this nation, making this nation no longer a Christian nation. However, we see promises here that the day is coming when Christianity will be the prevailing religion. Christianity will not be forced upon people from above, but will be gently brought into their lives from within.

V. 5, for ever and ever. Did He not promise never to leave nor forsake us? (Heb. 13:5.)

V. 6, refers to gathering the outcasts of Israel to the Ensign, Christ. Sin scattered His people far and wide, to where they can be found in every part of the world. We are not talking of the literal national Israel, but the new Israel, the Elect. They are gathered by the preaching of the gospel of Peace.

Not only does Micah 4:1 make this promise, but the promise is found in many places, e.g. :

Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

One word from the Lord is enough to establish a matter, but this word is repeated many times. I suppose it is repeated so often for the benefit of His people. When it was given to Old Testament Israel, things were quite depressed; as the New Testament Israel reads the promises today, things are quite depressed. So the Lord repeats the promise of a coming prosperity when the overwhelming consensus of the world's population will be Biblical Christianity.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Note here that even at the end of the Revelation, sin is still present – there are still those determined to walk after their own gods.

V. 7, a remnant.

Romans 11:7 speaks of a remnant, a remnant of the old national Israel will be called by the Spirit to follow the Lord God, Jesus Christ.

And her that was cast far off... The Gentile nations who sometimes were far off are now made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:13, Acts 2:39.)

The elect of old Israel and the elect of the Gentiles are united in Christ, and made into one nation, which is the message of all of Ephesians 2.

A strong nation... That new strong nation is the Gospel Church.

The Lord shall reign... for ever and for ever, and

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Mount Sion is the church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, though that distinction no longer exists.

Vv. 8-13

V. 8, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion...

This refers to old Jerusalem, the strong hold where the Lord's flock was gathered. It flourished under David and Solomon.

The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord's prayer, Thy kingdom come referred to the kingdom coming to the daughter of Jerusalem, the Gospel Church.

Being a continuation of vv. 6, 7, v. 8 continues to speak of Jerusalem's destruction. It was exalted as the strong hold of Zion (David's stronghold), but it went from dominion to destruction. And the promise is that David's dominion over the kingdoms of the earth will be passed to the Gospel Church which is under Christ's dominion. For the promise was that the throne of his father David would be given unto Him. (Luke 1:32.)

Now this had by no means its accomplishment in Zerubbabel; his was nothing like the first dominion either in respect of splendour and sovereignty at home or the extent of power abroad; and therefore it must refer to the kingdom of the Messiah (and to that the Chaldee- paraphrase refers it) and had its accomplishment when God gave to our Lord Jesus the throne of his father David (# Lu 1:32), set him king upon the holy hill of Zion and gave him the heathen for his inheritance (# Ps 2:6), made him, his first-born, higher than the kings of the earth, # Ps 89:27 Da 7:14. David, in spirit, called him Lord, and (as Dr. Pocock observes) he witnessed of himself, and his witness was true, that he was greater than Solomon, none of their dominions being like his for extent and duration. The common people welcomed Christ into Jerusalem with hosannas to the son of David, to show that it was the first dominion that came to the daughter of Zion; and the evangelist applies it to the promise of Zion's king coming to her, # Mt 21:5 Zec 9:9. Some give this sense of the words: To Zion, and Jerusalem that tower of the flock, to the nation of the Jews, came the first dominion; that is, there the kingdom of Christ was first set up, the gospel of the kingdom was first preached (# Lu 24:47), there Christ was first called king of the Jews.

V. 9, in her, Jerusalem's, judgment, she lost her king, and became a captive of the nations who at one time honoured her. Throughout her judgment period spoken of in the Old Testament, her pain is spoken of as a "woman in travail."

Vv. 10, 11, she, Jerusalem, is carried out of her place, and taken to Babylon, where she must wait 70 years. At the end of the 70 years, she will be delivered from her enemies by the hand of the Lord. Her waiting will be like a woman in travail, wondering if her delivery will ever come.

Her captivity in Babylon was to have a happy end. The Lord used Cyrus, who acted as God's servant, to deliver her. She was delivered, and went back to rebuild under Ezra and Nehemiah. However, while rebuilding, the surrounding nations gathered against her. (Ezra 3:1-5, &c.)

Cyrus' delivery was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, and the release from our spiritual bondage promised in the everlasting gospel, Luke 4:18, 19. (MH)

V. 12, the many nations are gathered against Jerusalem to defile her. Yet they do not understand the Lord's protection of Jerusalem. His protection leads to their destruction, as the sheaves into the floor.

V. 13, describes the destruction. Their unity together against Zion, the Gospel Church, will be their own destruction. Rather than breaking Jerusalem in pieces, they will be broken in pieces. (Isa. 8:9.) The nations unite in a common goal, and that goal is to destroy Christianity. But God is the One who has united the nations against His Church, and His purpose is to destroy them. God has gathered them as sheaves into the floor for the purpose of beating them as small as the dust of the earth.

They do not understand the purpose of the Lord, nor do they have any desire to understand Him. But God's word gives us that purpose.

"Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion! instead of fearing them, and fleeing from them, boldly set upon them, and take the opportunity Providence favours thee with of trampling upon them. Plead not thy own weakness, and that thou art not a match for so many confederated enemies; God will make thy horn iron, to push them down, and thy hoofs brass, to tread upon them when they are down; and thus thou shalt beat in pieces many people, that have long been beating thee in pieces." (MH)

Isaiah 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

The Lord told His disciples:

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

In other words, the threshing to be done by the strengthened and exalted church under Christ is not done with physical force, but with the spiritual force of the Holy Spirit. And Matthew 28:18-20 will be fulfilled, and the nations of the world Christianized.

See Ezekiel 38, 39 where the Lord brings the pagan nations against His Church with the purpose of judging those nations for moving against His Church.

Revelation 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

In vv. 8-13, "We have a promise of the glories of the spiritual Jerusalem, the gospel-church, which is; the tower of the flock, that one fold in which all the sheep of Christ are protected under one Shepherd:" (MH) In this section, we see the Lord's deliverance of His Church from the clutches of the enemy, i.e., the false teachers. Though the nations have looked with disdain upon the Christian Church, and with good reason many times, the day is coming when the Church will be exalted with CHRIST AS ITS HEAD. And in that exaltation, God will judge the nations of the world who have sought to destroy the Bride of Christ. That destruction will include the US.

Zechariah 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

The prophecy there refers to the Gospel Church, not to some Middle East nation. The US support of that godless nation, modern Israel, has earned it the hatred of all the Arab, Muslim, nations of the world. We are now about to reap the results of the modern heretical Christian attitude toward modern Israel. The best thing the US could do is cut Israel loose, and depart from her, but corrupt Christianity will not allow such a thing to take place.

Note that our allegiance must be the Lord and His church, not to Israel nor to the United States.

September 15, 2001

PURE SPECULATION

The WTC was destroyed by terrorists, probably Muslims. If America retaliates, then there will be a "holy war" declared by the Muslims against America. But their war will not be land based, but terrorism within the boarders of the US. America has killed innocent civilians over the years to carry out its political goals, including Clinton's war to cover up his immorality. The chickens are coming home to roost.

There will be no way to stop the attacks. America's policy has been very lax concerning immigration, and there are now millions of Muslims in the US. Every one, if they are true Muslims, could be an attacker.

Now, the Muslim war is primary against Christians, and America represents a Christian State, though we know it is not. So the thrust of the Muslims will be against America and against the Christian religion particularly.