This study is an enlarging of a message preached at a special season of prayer, held March 11, 2023 in Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church.
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:28.
These words of the Saviour have been read and studied by a countless number of generations of believers. However, there is but ONE generation to whom these words particularly and personally apply and that is the generation which will be living in the last of the last days and which will witness His glorious return.
It is to them specifically that the Saviour is speaking. I personally believe that these words are becoming ever more relevant for us today.
Consider:
I. THE SIGNS OF THE NEAR APPROACH OF CHRIST’S RETURN WILL BE CLEARLY VISIBLE TO GOD’S WATCHFUL PEOPLE.
This truth is often denied by all too many Christians, even preachers. There is a system of ‘prophetic interpretation’ which would claim that the Christian can never tell just when the return of the Saviour is drawing near. I am at a loss to understand how such a conclusion can be reached when you look at what the Saviour says here — “ . . . when these things begin to come to pass.”
It is so essential for the child of God to fully acquaint himself with the ‘things’ which will come to pass and which will signal the return of the Lord Jesus.
1. There is a ‘beginning’ of things which signal the approach of the Saviour’s second advent. The Saviour’s words clearly indicate a gradual manifestation of the evidences and events that the Saviour is referring to in these words. The Greek word translated ‘to come to pass’ appears in Matthew 20:8 as ‘was come’ . There it refers to the gradual approach of the night. Evening time comes slowly but very obviously. As Spring slowly emerges all around us today, despite the recent snow, and as the evening draws in gradually, even so it will be with the signs that mark the approach of the dawn of Christ’s return and His Millennial Kingdom. They will gradually but increasingly become ever more obvious.
We read in Matthew’s gospel that the beginning of the Saviour’s earthly ministry was like a dawn breaking. “And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Matthew 4:13-17.
The phrase ‘sprung up’ is commonly used when referring to the gradual growth of plants out of the earth. So, even as Springtime’s approach is visible and is most welcome, so it will be with events the Saviour says will signal His return. Both Simeon and Anna, ‘watchers’ for the first advent, Luke 2:26, 38, are wonderful examples to us today who are told to watch for the Saviour’s second advent. “And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. . . . And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
2. The Saviour identifies the ‘things’ which signal the nearing of His return. Verses 20-24 of this chapter 21 of Luke, specifically refer to the first fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. That is evident by the words of verse 24. “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Jerusalem was to be trodden down ‘until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled’. That period is with us still.
To a very large degree, Jerusalem is still under the feet of the Gentiles. Virtually every day there are reports that indicate that what the Jews wish to do in their own land is still not theirs to freely carry out.
But that will change at the Saviour’s return when the Gentiles will no longer bear rule over the Holy Land.
Consider the ’things’ the Saviour refers to as signalling His return.
“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; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” verses 25-26.
May I suggest that here we have an example of the last events mentioned first of all. Consider what the Saviour taught His disciples. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” Matthew 24:29-30. The signs in ‘the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars’ come just before the return of Christ in great glory. They are the last signs we will see before His descent in glory.
I can think of at least one other place where there is a placing of the last event before the events that actually precede it. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer,” Revelation 6:1-2.
Here we have the return of Christ featured before the events that will actually precede it and herald that return.
May I again make a suggestion as to why that is so. The opening of the seals which follow the revealing of the Great Conqueror, entails that which will take ‘peace’ from the earth, verse 4. That is followed by ‘famine’, verses 5-6. Then there is a breaking forth of “Death, and Hell . . . power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth,” verse 8. Verses 9-11 reveal the persecution unto death of the saints of God.
That is followed by those memorable and wonderful verses which end the chapter. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” verse 12-17.
Thus, we have the end shown before the beginning of the fearful and frightening events at the close of this age as an aid to the assuring and comforting the saints of God who will see those days.
Not only were the extraordinary signs seen in the realm of the creation the indicators of the approach of the end of the age, but the Saviour indicates that unrestrained immorality will be seen. He specifically refers to a return to the exceedingly wicked days of Sodom, which we see world-wide today.
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed,” Luke 17:28-30.
In that city and others nearby, the citizens gave themselves over to such wickedness that its scandalous behaviour aroused the judgment of God. “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know,” Genesis 18:20-21
His judgment upon them was most terrible. “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all, Luke 17:29.
Please note what the Lord Jesus then says in the next verse. “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”
There is to be a return to, a repeat of, the ‘plague’ of wickedness in the last days which brought down God’s damnation on ‘the cities of the plain’.
Today, while the various issues linked to climate change are argued over and discussed, there is little thought of the contagion of gross immorality taking place on a world-wide scale. Far from it causing concern, it is being accommodated by society’s lawmakers, church leaders, opinion-formers, parents and schools. There is a harbouring of the proponents of sodomy and its allied perversions and a making illegal virtually any opposition or protest against it.
This headline appeared in the press recently. “An awful blow for free speech and Christian values: School chaplain sacked for defending the right to question new LGBT policies loses unfair dismissal case”.
The report reads:
“A school chaplain sacked for defending the right to question new LGBT policies has spoken of his fears for freedom of speech after losing an unfair dismissal case.
The Reverend Dr Bernard Randall told pupils they were allowed to disagree with the measures, particularly if they felt they ran contrary to Church of England principles.
But the school, Trent College in Nottingham, which has a long Anglican tradition, decided his sermon was harmful to pupils, secretly reported him to the anti-terrorism Prevent programme – which normally identifies those at risk of radicalisation – and later fired him.”
This is but one of the innumerable examples of the increasing intolerance toward Christian doctrines and the sympathy shown toward such intolerance by the authorities.
This increasing wickedness, combined with the physical phenomena, signals the approaching ‘day of the Lord’!
There are terrible times coming upon the earth just prior to the Saviour’s return but before these times are revealed to the people of God, the Lord, in kindness, shows us FIRST how all things will end with the Great Conqueror returning to crush all His enemies. Seeing this, we are thus enabled to face the “perilous times” Paul said would come in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:1.
3. Let us bear this in mind as we look out for the ‘things’ beginning to come to pass. “Distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”
As is ever the case where there is ‘distress’, the exact cause of that distress is not really known or understood at first.
PANIC
In our experience here in Ulster, where many murderous bombs were detonated amongst unsuspecting civilians over the recent campaign of IRA terrorism, wholesale panic followed those explosions, with people crying out ‘What is happening?’ That same confusion will be manifested as God causes the creation to testify of the approaching return of Christ. But the believing people of God will not so react. Rather, they will remember the Saviour’s words. “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand,” Luke 21:31.
God’s creation has ever borne witness to God’s truth. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament she sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,” Psalm 19:1-4.
In like manner the creation will bear testimony of the approach of the Saviour’s second coming. Amongst the earliest witnesses will be the ‘groaning of creation’. Paul the apostle wrote: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,” Romans 8:22. Ever since the sin of Adam brought God’s curse upon the earth, it has been increasingly groaning. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life,” Genesis 3:17.
Of course, it not only has been the physical creation that has groaned under God’s curse, but mankind has also groaned. As Paul goes on to say: “Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” Romans 8:22-23.
The words ‘groaneth’, and ‘groan’ are linked to the pains of a woman in child birth. The bringing forth of new life has ever been linked to such pain. The Lord Jesus used the experience of the mother in childbirth to illustrate what was about to happen to Him at Calvary. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you,” John 16:20-22.
The sufferings of the Saviour on the cross, His ‘travail’, brought forth the new spiritual creation Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” It was of this that Isaiah wrote. “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities,” Isaiah 53:10-11.
But from Calvary there will come forth more than the spiritual ‘creation’ of the ‘new birth’, which is the regeneration of His elect people, but the Saviour’s atoning death has redeemed creation from the curse of sin and that will be seen in the future. Peter said of Christ: “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,” Acts 3:21. Of this verse Matthew Poole said: “Until the times of restitution of all things; or restoration of all things, when all things shall be restored to that condition from which sin put them: for the fall hath maimed and disordered the whole universe.” In a previous verse, Peter had spoken of these times as ‘times of refreshing’, verse 19.
These ‘times of restitution’ will begin immediately upon the Saviour’s return when He will reign from Jerusalem and begin a wonderful restoration of order in this lawless, God-defying world, overthrowing the chaos of the devil and man’s creating. “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. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Isaiah 2:2-4.
MILLENNIAL REIGN
That which the Saviour will begin upon Hs return will continue for one thousand years, the millennial reign, and will be followed by the judgment and utter damnation of the devil and the creating of the new heavens and the new earth and the beginning of the full and eternal joys of redemption for God’s saints. This is set forth for us in Revelation 20:10 - 21:8.
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
CONFUSION
The ‘confusion’ surrounding many of the present changes we see beginning in the realm of the creation — the alteration in weather patterns, the melting of the ice caps, the rising sea levels and coastal erosion, the increasing number of earthquakes, the international spread of the coronavirus, the famines, the wildfires, the warfare and dark clouds of further threatening conflict such as China’s openly proclaimed intention to invade Taiwan, the emergence of unspeakable levels of gross and insane immorality and the assault upon the innocence of children in the teaching materials used in classrooms — all testify to a disintegrating of the physical creation and the moral order God would have mankind to follow. Unbelieving man, seeing something of the danger these frightening phenomena pose, scurries about like a ‘headless chicken’ in his attempts to counter the process of disintegration that alarms him. Such juvenile and self-opinionated upstarts as Greta Thunberg, head up this band of blind ‘saviours of mankind’!
Right up to the very moment of the Saviour’s return, unbelieving mankind will be enveloped in a cloud of confusion and ignorance, with the territories of the ancient Roman world following after the evil deceptions of the Antichrist.
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape,” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.
This then is something of the pattern of the closing days of this age, which, I believe have already begun.
II. SUCH TIMES WILL BE TIMES OF DEPRESSION FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD
The Saviour says: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads.”
The phrase ‘lift up your heads’ means, as John Gill comments, “be cheerful and pleasant; do not hang down your heads as bulrushes, but erect them, and put on a cheerful countenance, and look upwards, from whence your help comes; and look out wistfully and intently, for your salvation and deliverance.”
The Greek word translated ‘then look up’ appears in three other places beside our text. It is helpful for us to consider them in order to understand the implications of this exhortation.
“And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself,” Luke 13:11.
“So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” John 8:7.
“When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” John 8:10.
These texts illustrate that in the last days the posture, the spiritual disposition of many of God’s people will be of a ‘looking down’. They will be looking down upon the earth and the things happening around them and be adversely effected by them!
DESPAIR
The implication is that all the terrible events taking place are likely to be misinterpreted by many of God’s people and this will cause them to despair.
As the disciples misunderstood the events surrounding Calvary, so many in the last days will misunderstand what is happening to them. Remember the Saviour’s words to the two on the road the Emmaus? “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself,” Luke 24:25-27.
Their folly and the sorrow that it generated, arose out of a failure to believe the prophets.
Let every minister today take note of that and PREACH ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SAID REGARDING CHRIST that their flock might be sheltered and shielded from drawing wrong conclusions from the breaking forth of the impending ‘perilous times’!
Such times are but happy omens of the near return of Christ and if prophecy is rightly expounded, it will engender faith and bring joy and comfort to saints beset by afflictions.
III. THERE WILL BE TERRIBLE TIMES BEFORE THE DAWN OF OUR REDEMPTION
Consider what is said of the Antichrist. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations,” Revelation 13:7. Please note this revelation of what God permits the devil and the Antichrist to do against the people of God. It pleases God to allow the devil and his agents to hurt His people only that they might be damned all the deeper.
The word ‘redemption’ in our text means ‘deliverance, liberation’. Our redemption is wonderfully pictured for us in the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. The same pattern is there to be seen that will happen at the end of the age. God’s ways never change!
Peruse the account given us of God to the blessing of your heart.
1. Carelessness developed amongst the people of God. That is made all too obvious in other passages in the Bible. Heed these words. “In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt,” Ezekiel 20:6-8.
This spirit of rebellion followed them after their exodus from Egypt. “Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves,” Amos 5:25-26.
So it will be amongst those professing the name of the Lord in the last times. There will be falling asleep, (Matthew 25:5), a falling away , (2 Thessalonians 2:3), a departing from the faith, (1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12).
I ask you — do we not see something of that already within the ranks of believers? Oh! how God’s servants need to preach against such ever more frequently in these days!
2. There will be an upsurge of hatred and persecution against them. As the Lord began to move and to prepare for Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, so the spirit of animosity welled up amongst their enemies in response. We see just such an upsurge in 1 Samuel 7:9-11. “And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.” Likewise we read in 2 Samuel 5:17-18. “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.”
So it was in Egypt before the Exodus.
“And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them,” Exodus 2:23-25.
Bondage and groaning preceded deliverance and freedom! So it will be in the last days. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. . . . Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” Matthew 24:21-2, 29-30.
The Lord makes very plain that trouble lies ahead and we need to study God’s Word to obtain the encouragements and the blessed consolations, the instructions we need that are found there which will stay up our hearts should we be called to face such.
3. The Lord plaguing the land of Egypt.Those plagues were but a much lesser manifestation and foreshadowing of God’s judgment against the wicked which will take place in the last three and half years of this age. Please read the record of events that will take place when the seals are opened, when the trumpets are sounded and the vials of wrath are poured out on the earth, which I believe refers to the ‘prophetic’ earth or the kingdom Antichrist will rule over, the geographical territories of the old Roman Empire. That record of God’s intervention in earth’s affairs is given us substantially in Revelation chapters 6 through to chapter 16.
An understanding of this will be a means of causing our hearts to rejoice amidst the ’tribulation’ as we see in God’s ‘plagues’ a herald of the near return of Christ and the overthrowing of God’s enemies and persecutors!
4. There was a glorious overthrown of Egypt and a deliverance of Israel. I confess that I rejoice over what is written in Exodus 14:13. “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”
That promise was fulfilled for Pharaoh and his host were overthrown utterly. “And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses,” Exodus 14:24-31.
That sight caused Israel to burst forth into song! “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea,” Exodus 15:1.
WORLDLING
How little the worldling understands (and maybe even some foolish believers) the rejoicing of the saints at the overthrow of the wicked. Heed what we read of heaven’s reaction to the overthrowing which will take place when the Saviour returns. Revelation 18:1-19 records the judgment of Babylon and the utter ruin of its commercial empire. Then verse 21-22 records what the reaction of the saints of God IN HEAVEN will be.
“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all,” Revelation 18:20-21.
Is it any wonder heaven should thus rejoice since “And in her (Babylon) was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth,” Revelation 18:24. God will take vengeance upon the persecutors of His people for He says: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,” Romans 12:19.
Oh Christian take note of these things and let your hearts be ready for what lies ahead and pray accordingly.
Let us follow the pattern of David's prayer in Psalm 32:5-8.
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”
Bless the Lord for His comforting and merciful words.
Rev Ivan Foster