Title: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Topic: Second Coming
Summary: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Revelation 19; 20:1-14; 6:9
Hebrews 9:27
Exodus 15:6, 8-10
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Ezekiel 38:8-13, 20-23; 39:1, 4-7, 17-29
034 - Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Da Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 3/30/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Ezekiel 38
1
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6
Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7
Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9
Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10
Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11
And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12
To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14
Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15
And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16
And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18
And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19
For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20
So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21
And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23
Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Arcana Coelestia #6256
6256. 'And the eyes of Israel were weak' means his obscurity of discernment. This is clear from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the sight of the understanding, dealt with in 2701, 4087, 4379, 4403-4421, also meant by 'seeing', as above in 6249; from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good within the natural, dealt with above in 6253; and from the meaning of 'being weak', when used in reference to the eyes, as obscurity, thus obscurity of discernment. The reason Why Israel's discernment had become obscure when he blessed Joseph's sons was that he had reached the final phase of his representation, though a more general reason is that an obscurity of perception exists in the spiritual good which 'Israel' represents; for that good comes from the natural, in which inferior natural light predominates, not superior heavenly light in which spiritual and celestial good from the rational dwells. Such is the nature of the external man, also called the natural man. When the expression 'spiritual good from the natural' is used, people whose good is such are meant. They are those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church, which also is why 'Israel' represents that Church, 4286; and compared with celestial people, members of that Church, who are spiritual people, live in obscurity, see 2708, 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3246, 4402. And since they live in obscurity they also put the truth of faith in the first place, even as Israel did here, in that he made Ephraim take precedence over Manasseh.
[2] The reason why spiritual people believe that the truth of faith takes precedence is that it is by means of truth that they are led on to good, 2954; and while they are being led to it they have no perception of good because good flows from within into an affection for truth, and so does not enter their discernment until they have been regenerated. This also explains why they call the good deeds of charity the fruits of faith, though little concern is shown for such fruits by those who suppose that faith alone without good works saves a person, even in the final hour when he dies, irrespective of the life he had led before that. This way of thinking is clearly an obscurity of discernment regarding goodness and truth. But be that as it may, those who make faith take precedence over charity on doctrinal grounds and yet lead a charitable life are people who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church and are saved. For in life they make the good of charity take precedence, but in doctrine the truth of faith.
