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)
Av Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 3/30/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Ezekiel 39:17-29
17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18
Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
26
After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27
When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which cause them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
True Christian Religion #705
705. The four items, flesh, blood, bread and wine, mean spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them, as can be established from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. Flesh in the Word has a spiritual and celestial meaning, as can be established from the following passages:
Come and gather for the feast of the great God 1 , to eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all free men and slaves, both small and great, Revelation 19:17-18.
And in Ezekiel:
Gather from round about to my sacrifice, the great sacrifice that I am making for you upon the mountains of Israel; that you may eat the flesh and drink the blood. You will eat the flesh of strong men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. You will eat fat from my sacrifice until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk. And you will be sated at my table with horse and chariot, with the strong man and every man of war. Thus shall I set my glory among the nations, Ezekiel 39:17-21.
Anyone can see that in those passages flesh does not mean flesh, neither does blood mean blood, but the spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them. What otherwise would be the meaning - unless they were meaningless and extraordinary expressions - of eating the flesh of kings, captains, strong men, horses and them that sat on them, of being sated at the table with horse, chariot, a strong man and every man of war? Or of drinking the blood of the princes of the earth, and drinking blood until one is drunk? It is perfectly clear that these things are said about the Lord's Holy Supper, for the feast 2 of the great God, and also the great sacrifice, are mentioned.
[2] Since all spiritual and celestial things have reference exclusively to good and truth, it follows that flesh means the good of charity and blood the truth of faith; and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of the Divine good of love and in respect of the Divine truth of wisdom. Flesh also means spiritual good in these words of Ezekiel:
I shall give them one heart, and I shall put a new spirit in your midst, and I shall take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26.
Heart in the Word stands for love, so a heart of flesh stands for the love of good. Moreover, it is more fully established that flesh and blood mean spiritual good and spiritual truth from the meaning of bread and wine in the next section, since the Lord says that His flesh is bread and His blood is wine, which was drunk from a cup.
Fotnoter:
1. This follows the reading of some manuscripts of the Greek; but cf. 196, 1, where 'great' is applied to the feast.
2. Or: supper.
