Many events are to occur between the return of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom. A considerable amount of information concerning this period is revealed to us in the Scriptures, but it is scattered here and there throughout almost all of the various books, and it is not in chronological or sequential order. One must first determine which prophecies relate to this time period before proceeding to place them in their respective consecutive order. This is not easy; but with patience and logical reasoning we believe that it is possible to obtain a general picture of the succession of events to occur, which will lead to, or eventuate the setting up of the kingdom of God.
Fortunately we know what the first event will be because we are definitely and distinctly told. We know also the next event or happening, but after that we must rely upon what Seems to be the next most probable one. There is a place for all of the events if they are placed in their proper order.
We are now at the present time waiting for the return of Christ. We are witnessing many signs of the nearness of His return. In Revelation 16:12-14 we are given two political signs which indicate this. In verse 12 the drying up of the water of the great river Euphrates so that the way of kings of the east (generally understood to be Christ and the saints) might be prepared seems to have had its fulfillment in the expulsion of the Turkish power from Palestine in 1917 during World War I. This opened the way for the colonization of Palestine with Jewish immigrants and the eventual State of Israel. In verses 13 and 14 there are the demoniac inspired expressions or utterances which we might understand as certain political propaganda going forth from certain centers “unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world” which will have its effect of gathering the nations to the war of “that great day of God Almighty.” We seem to be witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy. These expressions are to culminate in the nations being gathered together, or drawn to a “place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Verse 16). This is a way of informing us that the nations are gathered to the land of Israel.
Christ Returns
But before the nations are gathered to the land of Israel in Verse 16, we have the declaration of verse 15: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Here we have the return of Christ and the judgment of the household pinpointed. It is sandwiched between the going forth of the unclean spirits of verses 13 and 14, and the gathering of the nations into the land of Israel.
The return of Christ then will definitely occur before the Gogian host of Ezekiel 38 invades Israel. Christ returns! The first thing that Christ will do is to raise the dead. We are told this in 1 Thess. 4:16. “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the Dead in Christ shall rise First: Then (or next) we which Are Alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” etc. If something else happened before this it couldn’t be said to be FIRST. The word “first” is not used in relations to any other event after Christ’s return. This concurs with Peter’s statement, “Judgment must BEGIN at the house of God: and if it first begins AT US, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).
Christ returns then, and begins the judgment of the household. It will later be extended to the world at large. It is some time while the judgment is in progress that the invasion of Israel occurs. It does not seem profitable to speculate upon the detailed events that will lead to his invasion. Suffice it to say that it will providentially occur. Rev. 16:16 God gathers the nations to Israel. In Ezekiel 38:16 God declares, “I Will Bring Thee against my land.” Also in Ezek. 39:2, “I Will Cause thee to come up from the north parts and will Bring Thee upon the mountains of Israel.” See also Joel 3:2 and Zech. 14.2. God will arrange the circumstances that will result in Gog conceiving the thought of invading Israel.
One Invasion of Israel
There are four main places in Scripture upon which we rely for our information concerning this invasion of Israel. They are Ezekiel 38, Joel 2 and 3, Zechariah 14 and Daniel 11:40-45. All four places treat of the same invasion because there will be only one invasion of Israel. See Joel 3:17. There are attempts by some to show that the 38th of Ezekiel and the 11th of Daniel refer to different events than those of Joel and Zechariah (which are usually considered to be the same). But all four must refer to the same occasion because of these similar circumstances: all concern the invasion of Israel; three of them mention an earthquake: Ezekiel 38:19, 20; Joel 3:16; Zechariah 14: 4, 5. Three of them list the invader as being from the north: Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2; Joel 2:20; Daniel 11:40; and all four mention the divine presence and divine intervention: Ezekiel 38:20; Joel 3:11, 12; Zechariah 14:5; Daniel 11:45; and Daniel 12:1.
The Judgment Seat—Where?
Where will the judgment be staged? Only two places have been mentioned of sufficient importance to consider: the city of Jerusalem and the region of Sinai. It might seem that the city of Jerusalem would be a good place for the judgment. There are, however, serious obstacles that stand in the way, Israel, in unbelief of the Messiahship of Jesus, would not permit it to be held there. The city of Jerusalem will be taken away from Israel and will be occupied by the Gogian confederacy until they are destroyed by Christ and the glorified saints. (See Zech 14:5). It could not be held there while it is occupied by the Gogian forces. Christ and the glorified saints come from somewhere else to destroy the forces of the invader. Since the saints must be glorified or immortalized at the time they destroy the army of Gog, this means that the judgment and immobilization must have taken place previous to this encounter and at some place other than the city of Jerusalem. If we can find where they come from we will know the probable place where they were judged.
The Sinaitic Region
This leaves the region of Sinai for us to consider. The case for the Sinaitic region rests upon the prophecy of Habakkuk and the 68th Psalm. We know that there are those who contend that these two Scriptures are relating past experiences with Israel and have no future application. The New Testament, however, mentions both these places and gives them a fulfillment beyond the time they were written.
The first chapter of Habakkuk concerns the raising up of the Chaldean’s against Israel. In chapter two there is a transition of thought from the Chaldean’s to that of a later day invader of whom the Chaldean was a prototype. In chapter two a vision is given to Habakkuk. This vision had reference to the future. “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but At The End it shall speak and not lie: Though It Tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (See verses 2, 3.) This vision concerns the destruction of the invader of Israel. The prophecy goes on to say in verse 7 that certain ones will “Rise Up Suddenly that shall bite thee (the invader) and Awake that shall vex thee and thou shalt be for booties unto them.” As the ultimate result of this divine intervention in human affairs we read in verse 14: “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” This has not
been accomplished as yet. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews in Hebrews 10:37, 38 quotes from Hab. 2:3, 4; “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith.” Here the writer equates the coming of Christ with the fulfillment of the prophecy of the vision.
The third chapter of Habakkuk concerns the going forth of God from Teman and Paran for the salvation of His people (verse 13) which must mean the Jews in the land of Israel. In verse 2 of Habakkuk’s prayer God is entreated to revive His work in the midst of the years, as though He had not completed a work He had begun. He continues: “In the midst of the years make Known.” In Ezekiel 38:23 God declares: “Thus will I magnify myself; and I will be Known in the eyes of many nations and they shall Know.
Again in Ezekiel 39:7 “So I will make my holy name Known in the midst of my people that I am the Lord.” If the vision of Habakkuk 2 has reference to the return of Christ (Heb. 10:37, 38), then it is virtually certain that the ones who rise up suddenly of verse 7 refer to Christ and the saints, and chapter 3 must refer to the renewed work of Christ and the saints. Chapter 3 is either a part of the vision of chapter 2 or at least an amplification of it. Since God comes from Teman and Paran (the region of Sinai) to execute judgments, it would seem almost certain that it is in this region that the saints will be glorified. This is strong evidence that the judgment will be held somewhere in the Sinai region.
In the 68th Psalm we find renewed activity in the Sinai region. This is a Psalm of David composed from the occasion of the bringing of the ark to Zion. The Psalm has an historical background, but is also Messianic. Paul in Eph. 4:8 quotes verse 18 of the Psalm and applies it to the work of Christ which was to be accomplished many centuries after the Psalm was composed. In the Psalm, David recounts the bringing of the people of Israel, who were captives of Egypt, through the Red Sea of deliverance to Sinai. There was at Sinai the presence of God. It might be that Matt. 25:31 is based upon Psalm 68:17. It would be easy to see in this Psalm a future course of the development of the work of Christ in effecting salvation for His saints. As Israel was brought up from the depths of the sea, so the saints are resurrected from the grave. The children of Israel were freed captives; the saints will be freed from the bondage of sin and death. From Sinai God moved forward with His people toward the promised land; Christ and the glorified saints will move toward the land of Israel.
Verse 19 refers to God as “the God of our salvation.” And in verse 20: “He that is out God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues (or escape—Rev. Std. Ver.) from death.” It could well be then that the judgment will be set in the vicinity of the region of Sinai, and that the accepted saints will receive their glorification there.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One