14. There are many passages in the prophets where it is foretold that the Lord would come into the world to bring everything in the heavens and on earth back into order, that he would accomplish this by battles against the hells that were then attacking everyone coming into the world and leaving the world, and that in this way he would become justice and save people who could not be saved otherwise. I will cite only a few.
[2] In Isaiah:
“Who is this who is coming from Edom, with spattered garments from Bozrah, noble in his clothing, and approaching in the immensity of his strength?” “I who speak justice and have the power to save.” “Why are your garments red? Why are your garments like those of someone who is treading a winepress?” “I have trodden the winepress alone, and there has been no man of the people with me. Therefore I have trodden them in my wrath and trampled them in my blazing anger. Victory over them is spattered on my garments, because the day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed has arrived. My own arm brought about salvation for me; I have driven their victory down into the earth.” He said, “Behold, these are my people, my children.” Therefore he became their Savior. Because of his love and his mercy he has redeemed them. (Isaiah 63:1-9)
This is about the Lord’s battles against the hells. The clothing in which he was noble and which was red means the Word, which had suffered violence at the hands of the Jewish people. The actual battles against the hells and victory over them is described by his treading them in his wrath and trampling them in his blazing anger. His having fought alone and from his own power is described by “There has been no man of the people with me; my own arm has brought about salvation for me; I have driven their victory down into the earth.” His having brought about salvation and redemption by this is described by “Therefore he became their Savior; because of his love and his mercy he redeemed them.” The fact that this was the reason for his Coming is described by “The day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed has arrived.”
[3] In Isaiah,
He saw that there was no one and was amazed that no one was interceding. Therefore his own arm brought about salvation for him and his own justice sustained him. Therefore he put on justice like a breastplate and put a helmet of salvation on his head. He also put on garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal like a cloak. Then he came to Zion as the Redeemer. (Isaiah 59:16-17, 20)
This too is about the Lord’s battles with the hells while he was in the world. His fighting against them alone, with his own strength, is meant by “He saw that there was no one. Therefore his own arm brought about salvation”; his thereby becoming justice is meant by “his own justice sustained him. Therefore he put on justice like a breastplate”; and his bringing about redemption in this way is meant by “Then he came to Zion as the Redeemer.”
[4] In Jeremiah,
They were terrified. Their mighty ones were beaten down. They fled in flight and did not look back. That day is a day of vengeance for the Lord Jehovih Sabaoth, to take vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour and be satisfied. (Jeremiah 46:5, 10)
The Lord’s battle with the hells and victory over them are described by “They were terrified. They fled in flight and did not look back.” Their mighty ones and the enemies are the hells, because everyone in hell harbors hatred toward the Lord. His coming into the world for this reason is meant by “That day is a day of vengeance for the Lord Jehovih Sabaoth, to take vengeance on his enemies.”
[5] In Jeremiah,
Their youths will fall in the streets and all their men of war will be cut down on that day. (Jeremiah 49:26)
In Joel,
Jehovah puts forth his voice before his army. Great is the day of Jehovah, and extremely terrifying; who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)
In Zephaniah,
On the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice I will execute judgment upon the royal family, upon the children of the monarch, and upon all who dress themselves in foreign clothing. This day is a day of distress, a day of trumpets and shouting. (Zephaniah 1:8, 15-16)
In Zechariah,
Jehovah will go forth and fight against the nations like the day that he fought on the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem. Then you will flee into the valley of my mountains. On that day there will be no light or radiance. Jehovah, though, will become king over all the earth. On that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:3-6, 9)
In these passages too we are dealing with the Lord’s battles. “That day” means his Coming; “the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem” was where the Lord stayed by himself-see Mark 13:3-4; 14:26; Luke 21:37; 22:39; John 8:1; and elsewhere.
[6] In David,
The cords of death surrounded me; the cords of hell surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. Therefore he sent forth arrows and many bolts of lightning, and confounded them. I will pursue my enemies and seize them, and I will not turn back until I have devoured them. I will strike them down so that they cannot rise up again. You will gird me with strength for war and put my enemies to flight. I will crush them like dust before the face of the wind; I will empty them out like the mire of the streets. (Psalms 18:4, 14, 37, 39-40, 42)
The cords and snares of death that surrounded and confronted him mean trials that are also called cords of hell because they come from hell. These verses and the rest of the whole psalm are about the Lord’s battles and victories, which is why it also says, “You will make me the head of the nations; people I have not known will serve me” (Psalms 18:43).
[7] In David,
Gird a sword on your thigh, mighty one. Your arrows are sharp; peoples will fall beneath you, those who are the king’s enemies at heart. Your throne is for the ages and forever. You have loved justice; therefore God has anointed you. (Psalms 45:3, 5-7)
This too is about battling with the hells and bringing them under control, since the whole psalm is talking about the Lord-specifically, his battles, his glorification, and his salvation of the faithful. In David,
Fire will go forth before him; it will burn up his enemies round about; the earth will see and fear. The mountains will melt like wax before the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens will proclaim his justice, and all the peoples will see his glory. (Psalms 97:3-4-6)
This psalm similarly is dealing with the Lord and with the same issues.
[8] In David,
Jehovah said to my Lord, “Sit at my right until I make your enemies a stool for your feet, to rule in the midst of your enemies.” The Lord is on your right; on the day of his wrath he has struck down monarchs. He has filled [the nations] with corpses; he has struck the head of a great land. (Psalms 110:1, 5-6)
Some words of the Lord himself show that these things were spoken about the Lord: see Matthew 22:44, Mark 12:36, and Luke 20:42. Sitting at the right means omnipotence, the enemies mean the hells, monarchs mean people there who have evil lives and false beliefs. Making them a stool for his feet, striking them down on the day of wrath, and filling [the nations] with corpses mean destroying their power; and striking the head of a great land means destroying all of their power.
[9] Since the Lord alone overcame the hells with no help from any angel, he is called Hero and Man of War (Isaiah 42:13), King of Glory, Jehovah the Mighty, Hero of War (Psalms 24:8, 10), the Mighty One of Jacob (Psalms 132:2, 5), and in many passages Jehovah Sabaoth, that is, Jehovah of Armies of War.
Then too, his Coming is called the day of Jehovah-terrifying, cruel, a day of resentment, blazing anger, wrath, vengeance, destruction, war, trumpet, shouting, and panic, as we can see from the passages cited in 4 above.
[10] Since a last judgment was carried out by the Lord when he was in the world, by battling with the hells and bringing them under control, in many passages it speaks of a judgment that is going to be executed. See David, for example-“Jehovah is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the world with justice and the peoples with truth” (Psalms 96:13)-and frequently elsewhere.
These citations are from the prophetic books of the Word.
[11] In the historical books of the Word, though, matters of the same sort are represented as wars between the children of Israel and various nations. This is because everything in the Word, whether prophetical or historical, is written about the Lord. So the Word is divine when it tells of the rituals of the Israelite church; for example, there are many secrets concerning the Lord’s glorification contained in the descriptions of burnt offerings and sacrifices, in the Sabbaths and festivals, and in the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites. The same holds true for other parts of the books of Moses, the material called laws, judgments, and statutes. This is also the intent of what the Lord said to the disciples-that it was fitting for him to fulfill everything written about him in the Law of Moses (Luke 24:44); and what he said to the Jews-that Moses had written about him (John 5:46).
[12] We can now see from this that the Lord came into the world to subdue the hells and to glorify his human nature, and that the suffering on the cross was the last battle, by which he completely defeated the hells and completely glorified his human nature.
You may find more on this subject, though, in the forthcoming booklet Sacred Scripture [103], where there is a complete collection in one place of all the passages in the prophetic Word that deal with the Lord’s battles against the hells and victories over them, or (which amounts to the same thing) with the last judgment that he executed when he was in the world, together with the passages about his suffering and the glorification of his human nature. Of these latter there are so many that if they were fully quoted, they would fill volumes.
