Zionism
in the Psalms
“1 Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 {Now God answers His own question} The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed {the last half of the seven-year Tribulation},
saying, 3 Let us break their {the anointed and their standards of righteousness from Scripture} bands
asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 {God’s response to this foolish rebellion of wicked unbelief} He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak {the time for words of warning is over} unto
them {the unbelieving rebels} in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure. 6 Yet have I {God}
set my king {Jesus} upon my holy hill
of Zion {Temple Mount in Jerusalem}.
7 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 {the
nations of the world} with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter’s vessel {piece of pottery
to be distributed to the rule and judgment of numerous glorified believer king/priests
from the Church Age}” (Psalms 2:1-9).
When sin is culturally freed, sins becomes the chains that bind
the sinner. Satan has no shortage of chains! Psalm 2:1-3 begins by revealing the general
attitude of the world towards the Lord and His children in the years preceding
and during the tribulation. The
satanically influenced and dominated world will attempt to completely remove
the absolutes of God’s standards of morality and justice upon them. This world views God’s commands as hindrances
and restraints to their happiness and immoral freedoms. The heathen will do all they can to remove
God’s authority (Lordship) over their lives.
The heathen want to be their own gods
while God sees them only as rebels.
The “yoke” of Christ is
the mission of Christ to reach the world with the Gospel of salvation offered
as a gift and received through faith. The
“yoke” of Christ is always an overwhelming burden upon the neck of the
unconverted eventually rejected and disdained.
The
believer should strive to view the rejection that this world has for the Lord
from God’s perspective (Psalm 2:4). From
God’s perspective, the works of the wicked pose no threat to God. Therefore, the works of the wicked should not
be seen as a threat to us. Genuinely
repentant people hate that they love what God hates. We should understand the absurdity of the
world’s rebellion and efforts to do battle with God. We should do the same as God does. We should laugh at them. Their humanistic efforts to exalt themselves
over God are futile and foolish. Yet, at
the same time, God is still burdened for the souls of the deceived.
When
God finally speaks to those rejecting His commands about their rebellions and
wickedness (Psalm 2:5), He will do so through judgment (the judgments of the Tribulation). Jesus will come again and take control of this world. That will be on the day of the second coming
of Christ as revealed in Revelation 19:11-16.
At that day, Jesus will establish the everlasting throne of David from
which He will reign forever as the God\man.
It will also be the bloodiest day
in the history of the world. As far
as God is concerned, this is an already accomplished reality. It only awaits the day of fulfillment in
time.
“For in
those days {the end of the Tribulation}
shall be affliction, such as was not
from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither
shall be” (Mark 13:19).
“1 The
earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 2 For he hath
founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. 3 Who
shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place {how will these saved/redeemed people be
recognized}? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who
hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully {it is not that these practices save anyone,
but that the saved will manifest these practices; Ephesians 2:10}. 5
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of
his salvation. 6 This is
the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah {pause and think about this}. 7
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in {the second coming of Jesus}. 8
Who is this King of glory? The
LORD {Jehovah incarnate} strong and
mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall
come in. 10 Who is this King
of glory? The LORD of hosts {Jehovah Sabaoth
incarnate; Who has sovereignty/control over all the hosts, plural, of Heaven},
he is the King of glory. Selah {pause
and think about this}” (Psalms 24:1-10).
Psalm 24:1 makes the emphatic statement
that this whole world, along with everything and everyone in it, belongs to the
Lord to do with as He wills because He is its Creator. In verse seven, the Lord commands the “gates”
and “doors” that separate heaven from earth to be opened. Why is this command necessary? The sovereign LORD Jesus is returning from
Heaven as the God/man to claim dominion of the earth and establish His
everlasting Kingdom. These “gates” and
“doors” will be opened at the second coming of Christ. The representative Man will open the
spiritual doors to physical and redeemed man, still living on earth. Then, the sovereign Throne of the everlasting
God\man will be established on the Earth.
The Shekinah glory of God in Jesus Christ
will fill the earth at His second coming.
The brightness of His coming will outshine the sun and the stars
combined (II Thessalonians 2:8 and Hebrews 1:3). The LORD God omnipotent shall reign in
splendor and glory upon the earth.
Praise His holy Name!
Although the
second coming of Christ to the earth will be a great time of blessing for
restored Israel, it will a time of overwhelming horror for the Christ rejecting
world. His glory will literally consume the
two-hundred million person armies of the Antichrist upon the earth at
Armageddon (see Zechariah 14: 12). Their
flesh will literally melt from their bones at the coming of Christ.
“10 Say among the
heathen that the LORD reigneth {Jehovah
is in control and righteous justice will prevail}: the world also shall be
established {dominion over the Earth will
be taken from Satan and restored to humanity through the ‘last Adam’; Christ
Jesus} that it {this new Kingdom
dominion/reign} shall not be moved {never
again be altered or traverse to another person}: he {King Jesus} shall judge the people righteously {during the Kingdom Age}. 11 Let
the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the
fulness thereof. 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is
therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice 13 Before the
LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world
with righteousness, and the people with his truth” (Psalms 96:10-13).
The prophecies concerning Zionism and the
second coming of Jesus fall into four categories:
1. Signs preceding His coming
2. The events of His coming including Armageddon
3. The proceeding judgment of the nations (those with the mark of the beast
still living after Armageddon) with the re-gathering of Israel from all the
nations of the world
4. The establishment of the sovereign and eternal throne of David
The balance of Scriptures listed regarding
the second coming of Christ should be categorized under these four categories
to help avoid their misinterpretation.
Some Scriptures may apply to all four categories giving specific details
of these events spanning extensive periods of time.
Signs preceding
His coming
“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.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth {returning
from Heaven with His saved and glorified saints}, 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 {the Jews in Jerusalem at the particular time} shall flee to
the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto
Azal {not a city or place, but the valley
created running towards the Dead Sea}: 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. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the light shall not be clear, nor dark” (Zechariah 14:1-6).
Zechariah chapter fourteen gives us a
great deal of detail about the events of the second coming of Jesus to
establish His Kingdom on Earth. Kingdom
Constructionism (i.e. the Church will usher in the Kingdom Age and rule
theonomically in the place of Christ replacing the nation of Israel) is extreme
false doctrine. Yet, this false doctrine
is predominant position defining apostate Christianity in the last days. From this false doctrine, it is easy to see
how many professing Christians are being led astray into the corruptions of the
Social Gospel and Social Justice.
“24 But
in those days, after that tribulation {at end just preceding the second coming of
Jesus}, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven
shall be shaken. 26 And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part
of heaven” (Mark 13:24-27).
We have numerous Scriptures giving
further details regarding the sun being “darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light.” God will block out the light
of the sun and of the moon. This is
detailed in Ezekiel 32:7. “And when I
shall put thee out, I will cover the
heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.” Just before the second coming of Jesus in the
brightness of His radiant glory, the Lord will cause the Earth to be cast into
total darkness. This darkness may be
very similar to what happened during the three hours of the Crucifixion while
Christ was bearing God’s wrath upon sin (Matthew 27:45-46). God just blocks out all sources of light from
the solar system. Then Jesus will come in the radiance of His glory!
“24 For
as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven,
shineth unto the other part under heaven{it lights up the whole sky}; so
shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first must he
suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation {the Crucifixion}. 26 And as it was in the days of Noe {key
to understanding verses 32-36}, so shall it be also in the days of the Son
of man {the second coming}. 27
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage,
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed
them all. 28 Likewise
also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold,
they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day {in that one day} that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he which
shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down
to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife {do not look back revealing the real desires
of your heart}. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his {under-the-sun} life shall lose it; and
whosoever shall lose his {under-the-sun}
life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be
two men in one bed; the one shall be taken {in judgment}, and the other shall be left {to go into the Kingdom alive}. 35 Two women shall
be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36
Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left” (Luke 17:24-36).
“25 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 {after
the Tribulation judgments of God, the world will be an ecological disaster};
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear
{extreme terror}, and for looking
after {worrying about what is expected to
follow} those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of
heaven {the dominion of ‘the god of this
world,’ II Cor. 4:4, and ‘the prince of the power of the air,’ Eph. 2:2} shall
be shaken {removed from power; Hebrews
12:26-27}. 27 And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things {described
in verses 25-26} begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption {in the coming of the Redeemer/Deliverer}
draweth nigh” (Luke 21:25-28).
“3 Knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after
their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (II Peter 3:3-4).
The events of His
coming, including Armageddon
Jesus will separate the “goats” from
the “sheep” at the beginning of the Kingdom Age (Matthew 25:31-46). This will be the beginning of His rule as the
King who will judge the Earth (Psalm 67:4, 82:8; Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). Jesus will rule with a “rod of iron” (Psalm
2:9; Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15).
“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 {the ‘sword . . . out of his mouth’; Revelation 19:21}, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay
the wicked {by His command the dead
are rise to new life and the lost are condemned to eternal death and sent to
Hell}” (Isaiah 11:4).
“34 Thou
{Nebuchadnezzar} sawest till that a
stone was cut out without hands {Jesus,
who will come without rising to political power or through conquering nations
one-by-one}, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron
and clay, and brake them to pieces {the
global empire of the Antichrist}. 35 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 {Jesus} that smote the image {the
global empire of the Antichrist} became a great mountain {the Kingdom of Jesus}, and filled the
whole earth” (Daniel 2:34-35).
“7 But it shall be
one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall
come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. 8 And
it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;
half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in
summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there
be one LORD, and his name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as a
plain from Geba {the northern border of
Judah} to Rimmon {the southern border
of Judah} south of Jerusalem: and it {Jerusalem}
shall be lifted up {topographically
raised}, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of
the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel
unto the king’s winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell in it,
and there shall be no more utter
destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited” (Zechariah 14:7-11).
The proceeding judgment of the nations (those with the mark of the beast
still living after Armageddon) along with the regathering of Israel from all
the nations of the world.
“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. 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. 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” (Isaiah 11:10-12).
“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” (Ezekiel 37:21-22).
“And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off
a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from
henceforth, even for ever” (Micah 4:7).
“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” (Zechariah 12:10).
The establishment
of the throne of David
When Jesus occupies his Davidic throne
on the earth He will reign as the sovereign Lord of both Heaven and Earth from
it. He will “judge” the nations from
that throne. That means He will dispense
justice and decide issues of righteousness from that throne (according to His
Word) throughout the Millennium. The
following prophecies relate this truth:
“<> The LORD said unto
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”
(Psalms 110:1).
“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” (Isaiah 9:7).
“5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and
this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no
more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt; 8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which
led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all
countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land”
(Jeremiah 23:5-8).
“44
And in the days of these kings shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver,
and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass
hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure” (Daniel 2:44-45).
“13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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