Message 4 - By Leroy Surface
The
Great and Terrible
Day of The LORD
They come from a far country, from the
end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy
the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall
come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall
be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be
amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the
stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the
sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her
light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the
wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy
of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Isaiah 13:5-11
The question on the minds of many today is: What is next on the
world scene, and where are we headed? Only ten years ago it seemed to many
that we were about to enter into the “thousand years of peace” without the
return of the “Prince of Peace.” The “Iron Curtain” had fallen. The nations were enjoying the “peace
dividend.” It seemed that worldwide prosperity was at hand. The only “fly” in the ointment was a few
“fundamentalist Muslims” that seemed to hate Israel and the western world, but
many thought that kindness and compromise would soon satisfy these, and we
could live in harmony together. At the
same time, the morality of America and the western world was in freefall.
We became an “amoral” society, a people without moral constraints, and a
culture that refuses to restrain itself. It was only those who truly knew God
that recognized the trouble to come. It was in December, 2000 that this
writer wrote about the “Handwriting on
the Wall” for America, that we were “weighed
in the balances, and found wanting.” In February, 2001 we wrote of a “Space
for Repentance” God had given America, warning of the horrible things to come
if there was not repentance. Less than a month before 911 we wrote of the
necessity of true revival, and if it did not come, America was “doomed.” On September 11, 2001 (9-11),
the world changed forever. Jesus
described the days since then in Luke
21:25 when He spoke of “…distress of
nations, with perplexity…” The “root”
definition of the Greek word translated “perplexity”
is “to have no way out.” We live in a
time that there is absolutely no human strategy that will bring us out of the
distress that is upon the nations. There is no military answer, and there
can be no political answer. America is a “nation” that is warring with a spiritual “kingdom.” Human means and human efforts will never bring peace in
this conflict. God has given us the only answer in His word. His answer is that we “repent,” and “turn from our
wicked ways.” It is that we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ with all our
hearts. The nations are not ready for that answer.
In December 2002, I wrote a message titled “The War of the Kingdoms.” In it was a warning that the four “angels” of Revelation 9:14 would be loosened out of the river Euphrates when
we went into Iraq. According to the
prophecy, these would gather an army of two hundred million that would
ultimately slay the “third part of men”
(Revelation 9:14-18). Read the
text and notice the seventeenth verse says this “army” will wear “breastplates
of fire and brimstone.” Certainly our Lord was warning us of the “suicide bomber” of radical Islam. This writer has no doubt that this prophecy is
even now in it’s beginning stages and will only increase until there is
repentance and turning to Jesus for deliverance. It is not the purpose of
this message to lay blame or give false hopes.
There is hope, however, and Joel 3:16 reveals it: “...but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of
the children of Israel.”
The “Day of the LORD”
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound
an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for
the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon
the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them
a flame burneth: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them
a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joel 2:1-3
We are presently in the “night
hours” just preceding the dawning of what is called “The Day of the LORD” by the prophet Joel. Numerous Old
Testament prophets and New Testament apostles have warned of the “Day of the LORD” that would come. The first manifestation of the Day of the
LORD was when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in the days of the prophet
Jeremiah. The second manifestation was when Titus and the roman armies
destroyed Jerusalem in the year seventy AD. We are near the dawning of
the third manifestation of the prophetic “Day
of the LORD.” This “day” like
those before, will be focused upon Jerusalem, but it will also come to America
and Western Europe. The entire world will be involved in one way or
another. The prophet Amos tells us it is not a day to be desired. “Woe unto you that desire the day of the
LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not
light. As if a man did flee from a lion,
and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall,
and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not
light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it (Amos 5:18-20)?”
Things God Hates!
The prophet Amos tells us why the “Day of the Lord” comes. Notice, in the next verses of Amos: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I
will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not
accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat
beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not
hear the melody of thy viols. But let
judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos
5:21-24). God “hated” their religion. He “hated” their feast days, their solemn assemblies, burnt offerings,
and their songs. He said their music was nothing but “noise.” He would receive none of their “religious ways.” Instead, God was calling for justice and
righteousness in the land. God utterly
destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple because He “hated” everything that was going on there.
“God is love” (I John 4:8, 16). God told Moses that He is “merciful, and gracious, longsuffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth…” It is amazing then, when God says He “hates” a thing. The first and only person that God said He
hated was Esau (Malachi 1:3). Esau was the “birthright son” of Isaac.
Everything belonged to Esau. All
the blessing of both God and Isaac would be his inheritance. Esau would be the ancestor of the
Messiah. None of this was important to
Esau. He was more concerned about filling his belly with a bowl of
pottage than he was about the precious things of God. The writer of Hebrews says that Esau “for one morsel of meat, sold his
birthright” (Hebrews 12:16). Genesis 25:34 records the transaction: “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went
his way: thus Esau despised his
birthright.” Esau despised
his birthright, and God “hated” him
for it.
The book of Revelation records two things Jesus said He “hates.” They are the deeds and the
doctrines of the Nicolaitans. First, to the church at Ephesus: “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate (Revelation
2:6.” Next, to the church at Pergamos: “So hast thou also them that hold the
doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing
I hate” (Revelation 2:15). It is believed
that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was very similar to the doctrine of
Balaam, Jezebel, and the Gnostics, in that it taught the division of spirit and
body. It was the same doctrine held by millions today, that the “spirit is holy” while the “body” is unholy. It is the
teaching that prevails in most churches today, that a child of God has “two natures,” one good, and the other
evil. This is the doctrine Jesus “hates,”
as well as the deeds of those who believe such doctrine.
More than the ungodliness of sinners, it is the “ungodliness” of those who are “called by
His name” that angers God. It is not because there are “sinful men” in the world; it is because
of “sinful men” in His church,
leading His people; it is because of “the
man of sin (spirit of antichrist)” in His temple. It is the sinful doctrines and deeds of the
modern church that is bringing the “evil
day” upon all the inhabitants of the world.
God does not sit on His throne, looking upon men, and “hating” unbelievers, atheists, or even
worshipers of other gods. God is not “fretting” over radical Islam, or “hating” the terrorists. All of
these God can (and will) rid the earth of with a single stroke of His
hand. God’s greatest vengeance awaits those who “trod the Son of God under foot,” who “count the blood of the covenant to be an unholy thing,” and who “despise the spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29-30). Sadly, this is found much more to be the case
among those who claim to know Jesus than it is among the vast multitudes of
those that have never heard the gospel.
Consider the churches of America today. The scripture clearly
states that Jesus came to “save His
people from their sins.” That wasn’t some man’s opinion; it was the angel
Gabriel’s message to Joseph before Jesus was even born: “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Jesus suffered the horrible death of the cross to deliver us from that “old man” of sin (Romans 6:6-7). Jesus shed His own precious and holy blood to “sanctify the people” (Hebrews 13:12). He “washed
us from our sins in His own blood, (Revelation
1:5),” and “redeemed us from all
iniquity” (Titus 2:14).
Yet, for all Jesus has done for us, the average church continues in sin. By their own testimony, they “are all sinners, will always be sinners,
and will sin every day as long as they live in this body.” That is exactly
the doctrine Jesus said He hates, yet it has filled the churches across the
land. I have preached funerals for both saints and sinners, but I have never
preached a funeral for anyone that was so lost and ungodly that their immediate
family did not believe their loved one was “up
in heaven with Jesus now.” One preacher offered proof that a woman who died
of an overdose of street drugs was in heaven “because she trusted in grace, and not in her own righteousness.”
The present day thought is, “if they
believe in Jesus, nobody is lost.” I tell you, God hates that
thought.
Today, the sin problem in the “church”
is the same as it is in the world. That is because the ways of the world
have been brought into the church. The “methods” of the world; the “philosophy”
of the world; the “greed” of the
world, all these are incorporated into the belief system of the modern church,
and God hates it. The entertainment of the world has reached the
church. Two decades ago, I began to hear television preachers speak of “entertainment worship.” It was a new “method,” and it has successfully built
super-churches with tens of thousands of members. It began with the
music, as they brought in country western “stars”
to sing gospel music. In most cases
these were the same “stars” they would
find singing in Las Vegas nightclubs, but now they were entertaining in the
churches, and the people called it “worship.”
Today it has evolved into “rock” and “rap” music, with black lights, smoke
and vapor machines, strobe lights, and all the paraphernalia you would have
expected in some large nightclub. Will
we call this “worship?” Who are they
worshipping? God said He hates that “worship.”
“Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear
the melody of thy viols” (Amos 5:23).
Howbeit I sent unto you all my
servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I
hate. But they hearkened not, nor
inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other
gods. Wherefore my fury and mine anger
was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities
of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem; and they are wasted and
desolate, as at this day.
Jeremiah 44:4-6
Moreover all the chief of the priests,
and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the
heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in
Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their
fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because
he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the
messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against
his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore
he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with
the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man
or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his
hand.
II Chronicles 36:14-17
The Day of the LORD always comes as punishment for the sins of
God’s people. This text is a brief
reminder of why the “wrath of God”
can come upon “His people.” The chief
priests and the people followed after the ways of the heathen. They “polluted”
the Temple of the LORD with their idols.
Because of His “compassion”
upon His people, God sent prophets and messengers to warn them and turn them
back to the “covenant.” They “mocked” God’s messengers; they “despised” God’s words; and they abused
and killed His prophets. This continued until the “wrath of the LORD arose against His people.” It continued until “there was no remedy.” It was God who
brought the king of Babylon against Jerusalem.
The time came that Israel, the people whom God had “called by His name,” were slaughtered without mercy in the streets
of Jerusalem. Jeremiah wrote of this in
the “Lamentations of Jeremiah:”
For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater
than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a
moment, and no hands stayed on her. Her Nazarites
were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body
than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: Their visage is blacker than a
coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth
to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. They that be slain with the sword are better
than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for
want of the fruits of the field. The
hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat
in the destruction of the daughter of my people. The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath
poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured
the foundations thereof. The kings of the earth, and all the
inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the
enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lamentations 4:6-12
This text is not a prophecy.
It is the record of what actually happened in Jerusalem when God brought
an enemy nation to punish them. If you want to know what is coming upon
this world in the “Great and terrible Day
of the LORD” read the entire book of Lamentations. I believe you will be shocked to discover
what horrible things God allowed against His people in the day of His
anger. God had given them space to
repent. He had warned them repeatedly, but they would not repent. Finally there was no remedy, but only the
words of God in Proverbs 1:24-31: “Because
I have called, and ye refused; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I
will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon
you. Then shall they call upon me,
but I will not answer; they shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and
did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would (have) none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore
shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own
devices.”
“It Can’t Happen Here?”
The kings of the earth, and all the
inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the
enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lamentations 4:6-12
“It can’t happen
here. This is America. We send more missionaries than any nation in
the world. Besides, we are not appointed unto wrath. God loves us
too much to allow us to suffer such things.” This seems to be the thinking of
most “Christians” in America
today. It was also the thinking of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem before Nebuchadnezzar’s armies came to destroy them.
In fact, as Jeremiah said, almost no one in the world believed that the enemy
could conquer Jerusalem. Do we believe
America is invincible? Are we so deceived that we do not believe America could
fall? God has weighed America in the balance, and we have been found
wanting. He has given America time to repent, and we have not
repented. Revelation 9:20-21
tells us why the anger of God is kindled against us. There are five sins
America refuses to repent of. Those sins
are “idolatry (worshiping many gods),
murder (abortion), sorcery (drug culture), fornication (sex industry), and thefts (legal thievery and greed).” Our refusal to repent of these sins is
bringing America and the entire world to that “great and terrible day of the LORD” which will ultimately result
in one third of all men being slain in battle.
Repentance is more than saying “I’m
sorry.” Paul said, “Godly sorrow
worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of.” True repentance
brings a change that will never be turned away from. Such a person would
never have to say “I’m sorry” again
because the transgression would end. For
a nation such as America to repent, laws would have to be changed. Idolatry, abortion, the drug culture, the sex
industry, and all legal thievery would have to be outlawed. America
existed for two hundred years and became the greatest and most powerful nation
on earth even while we had “blue laws
(restrictions on retail sales on Sunday), sodomy
laws (restrictions on public flaunting of sexually perverted lifestyles), strong rape, incest, and pedophilia laws
(death sentence), lewdness laws
(against indecent exposure of the human body in movies, pornography, topless
bars, etc), profanity laws (arrest
for public use of vulgar sexually explicit words), and strong anti drug laws.” While it is true that America held some
grave human injustices in its early years as a nation, these were corrected and
equal rights for all under the law was established in that same two hundred
year period. There was no constitutional right to murder an unborn baby,
to flaunt the naked body, or to pollute the minds of the citizens with
filth. Have we reached the point of no return in America? I fear we
have. Any attempt to return our nation
by law to the “Judeo-Christian”
morals and values we were founded upon would bring rioting in the streets, with
murder and mayhem. If that is the case, America has set herself to be the
enemy of God.
The Day of the Locusts
If my people, which are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will
heal their land.
II Chronicles 7:14
Almost everyone knows this fourteenth
verse of II Chronicles. It is God’s admonition to His people to
humble themselves and pray, to seek His face and turn from their wicked
way. God promises to hear His people when they do these things. He will forgive their sin and heal their
land. I wonder how many are aware of
what the previous verse says?
If I shut up heaven that there be no
rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence
among my people;
II Chronicles 7:13
There are three “ifs” in
this thirteenth verse. The little word “if” always indicates a hypothetical
situation. God said, “If
I shut up heaven… if I command the
locusts… or if I send pestilence
among my people.” This verse reveals something about God that His people do
not want to believe. He is the one that shuts up the rain from heaven: He
is the one that commands the locusts: He is the one that sends pestilence
(plagues) into the land. The next verse
continues the thought of God with another hypothetical that will always bring
the answer for God’s people: “If my people will humble themselves
and pray… if my people will seek my
face and turn from their wicked way….” Even when God sends the famine, the
locusts, and plagues to destroy the land, the answer is still in the hands of
Gods people… if they will “humble
themselves and pray.”
The famine, the locusts, and the pestilence were used many times to
humble God’s people. Either of the three
could bring ancient nations down to destruction in short order. The ninth
chapter of Revelation speaks about a different order of locusts than the world
has ever known about. They are found in the prophecy of the fifth
trumpet: “And the fifth angel sounded,
and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key
of the bottomless pit. And he opened the
bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the
pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto
them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but
only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (Revelation 9:1-4). It is obvious from the words of the prophecy
that these are not natural locusts. They
are commanded not to hurt grass, green plants, or trees. These have come
to “torment men,” but “only those men which have not the seal of
God in their foreheads.” These “locusts”
of prophecy are the “terrorists” that
have spread terror throughout the planet in this present hour. They are not God’s people, but they are the “rod of chastisement” in the hand of
God. It is God that commands the
locusts.
The sounding of the sixth trumpet of Revelation brings the “loosening” of four angels that have
been bound in the river Euphrates: “And
the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden
altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in
the great river Euphrates. And the
four angels were loosed, which were
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third
part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two
hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of
them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them,
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone” (Revelation 9:13-17).
The fifth trumpet has sounded.
The “pit” has been opened; we
have seen the smoke out of the pit, and the “locusts”
have come out of the smoke. The events
of 9-11-02 came as the blast of the fifth trumpet. “Ground Zero” became a visible image of something that had already
happened in the realm of the spirit. Demon hordes swarmed out of the pit, bringing
a “culture of death” to those who
would receive them. The apostle John
said they have a “king” over them
whose name is “Apollyon”
in the Greek, and “Abaddon”
in the Hebrew. Their king is “the
angel of the bottomless pit.” He has “ascended out of the bottomless pit”
for this “day” that is coming.
Immediately after “9-11”
America declared war on the terrorists.
In March 2003 we invaded Iraq to bring Saddam Hussein’s government
down. We succeeded in record time, but in so doing, we also “loosened” the four angels that were
bound in the river Euphrates. For
several years these have been gathering their army, an army the prophecy says
will be numbered at two hundred million warriors. This “army” has always been a mystery in the
past; because it has been disputed as to which nation could possibly raise such
a large force. The truth is, there is no single “nation” on earth that could manage such an army. In America,
which is still the wealthiest nation on earth, there are not enough men and
women combined to populate such a vast army. Our gross national product,
by far the largest on earth, could not even begin to supply such an army with
food and weapons. Some believe China, with a population of 1.3 billion people,
could raise such an army. Numerically it
would be possible, but again, the supply of such an army would prove to be
impossible. The truth is, that “army” is being raised even now, and has
been for a number of years. It is the “locust army” that was prophesied by the
prophet Joel.
The “Locust” Army of God
And the LORD shall utter his voice
before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth
his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide
it?
Joel 2:11
“The LORD shall
utter His voice before His army.” In the “great and terrible day of the LORD,” it is God who commands the
locust army. It must be understood that God’s “army” in the second chapter
of Joel is not God’s people.
Instead, it is an army that God gathers “against” His people because of
their sinfulness. It is “The Day of the LORD,” and He has come
to punish the inhabitants of the earth. Notice the description Joel gives
of the army that God calls “His army:”
A fire devoureth before them; and
behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and
behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joel 2:3
Before their face the people shall be
much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of
war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their
ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path:
and when they fall upon the sword, they
shall not be wounded. They shall run
to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon
the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining:
Joel 2:6-10
It is incredible to this writer how anyone could have ever believed
that this “mighty army” could be the
people of God. True believers of the
gospel of Jesus Christ could never inflict the pain, the suffering, or the
torment that is brought by this mighty army.
The key phrase that identifies this army is in the eighth verse: “And when they fall upon the sword, they
shall not be wounded.” To “fall upon
the sword” has been a slang term for “committing
suicide” for thousands of years, dating at least to the time both king Saul
and his armour bearer “fell upon their
swords (I Samuel 31:4-5)” to
kill themselves. The text says, “When they fall upon the sword, they shall
not be wounded.” The Hebrew word translated “wounded” should have been translated “stopped.” Their “secret
weapon” is their “culture of death.”
One of their spiritual leaders was seen on a national news special recently
saying, “By the grace of Allah we have
raised a generation that loves death as much as our enemy loves life.” How
is it possible to “stop” a people
that seek to die, a people that rejoices in their own death as long as they
succeed in killing many Americans and Jews at the same time? We have no
defense.
The ancient Japanese culture developed such suicide to an “art form” that is called in Japanese
slang, “hara kiri.” The Japanese “kamikaze”
pilot from World War II was a “suicide
bomber” who would fly a plane filled with bombs and fuel into our America
battle ships. Winning World War II will prove to be simple compared to
what we face today. Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini, were only national
leaders. When they were brought to defeat and surrender through much loss
of life, the conflict was over. The
nations these men led against America in war are counted to be among our
friends today. We are in the beginning
phases of a war that cannot be won through military might. We fight against an enemy that has no
allegiance to any nation on earth. The
enemy in this conflict is a spiritual kingdom, and as such, only God can stop
them. The painful truth is that God has “called” them against us.
America’s true conflict is with God Himself, and we will surely lose if the
people of America do not “repent” and “turn
from their wicked ways.”
“…as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a
strong…” In the darkness
of night they have gathered; a vast multitude upon the mountains, come to
devour the land. A great army, many millions strong, silhouetted against
the early morning sky. The analogy of
the locusts in the first chapter of Joel is of a locust plague that had
destroyed the crops, barked the fig trees, and stripped the vineyards. Together with drought and fires burning the
forests and pastures, the land was left impoverished and starving. In the second chapter, the locusts are
people. They are the locusts of the
fifth and sixth trumpets of Revelation.
Describing the great locust army, the apostle John said they wore “breastplates of fire, jacinth, and
brimstone.” This is the only armour that is mentioned. It is a “suicide
belt.” In Joel 2:7, the locust “fall upon their sword (commit suicide).” In Revelation 9:17, they wear “suicide
belts” of “fire and brimstone.”
How much clearer must the prophecies speak before our people wake up to what we
are facing in the near future? The scripture says the land is as “the garden of Eden before them, and behind
them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them.” The apostle John said they have been prepared to “slay the third part of men” (Revelation 9:15-16).
For many weeks and months before the locusts swarm, they lay
millions of eggs and multiply until the land cannot contain them. Their
metabolism increases, their body temperature rises, their number increases
until they must “swarm.” Once the “swarm” begins nothing but an “act of God” that can stop it. The locusts will devour every green thing in
its path and will not stop swarming until death brings an end. This insect, the “locust” is what God chose to describe the culture of terrorism
that is in the earth today. Their number will reach two hundred
million. At present, the number of Muslims in the world is approaching,
if not exceeding two billion. If it is
true that the vast majority of them are “peaceful,”
it does not negate the fact that if only ten percent of them become radical,
there will be two hundred million potential terrorists, with an endless source
of suicide bombers in every nation on earth.
The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for
his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day
of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2:10-11
The Remedy
Therefore also now, saith the LORD,
turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and
with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the
LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Joel 2:12-13
There is still a “remedy,”
and God has told us what it is.
Repent! Turn to Him with all your heart, with fasting, weeping,
and mourning. He said to “…rend your heart, and not your
garments….” God has not interest in
a mere “show” of sorrow and
repentance. He knows our hearts and
judges our actions. He knows even the
“thoughts and intents” of the hearts of man.
God tells us He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great
kindness to those that turn to Him with all their hearts. There is only
one way any person can turn to God, and that is through His Son, Jesus
Christ. He died to “take away our
sin.” Believe the gospel, and repent from sin and forsake it, calling upon
the name of Jesus Christ. It is the same
answer for every nation, for every race, and for every people.
Then will the LORD be jealous for his
land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD
will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine,
and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen: But I will
remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land
barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part
toward the utmost sea, and his stink
shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great
things.
Joel 2:18-20
And I will restore to you the years
that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the
palmerworm, my great army which I sent
among you.
Joel 2:25
Will America Repent?
And the rest of the men which were not
killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they
should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone,
and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they
of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of
their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21
When the prophet Joel prophesied of the “locusts” and the “Day of the
LORD,” it was still about three hundred years before Jerusalem and the
temple was destroyed the first time. The things he prophesied applied to
the events in the year BC 586 when Babylon destroyed the city and the
temple. They also applied to the year 70 AD when Rome again destroyed
Jerusalem and the temple. Joel’s prophecy also applies to the present
trouble, a warning of horrible things to come if there is not true
repentance. Joel’s prophecy has come to pass twice in history. In
each case a “space for repentance”
was given and ignored, and everything the prophets had spoken against Jerusalem
came to pass. Each time the slaughter
was greater than anything the world had ever seen until that time. Jesus said this present day “time of trouble” will be greater than
anything the world has seen in the past or will ever see in the future. The words of the prophecy in Revelation 9:20 say, “and the rest of the men which were not
killed by these plagues yet repented not….” It is incredible beyond
imagination to understand that not only will America and the nations of the
world not repent before the time of trouble, but also even after the “third part” of men have been slain in
the plagues and conflicts to come, yet they will not repent. Among all the nations of the world, the
scriptures tell us of only one nation that will repent and turn to Jesus with
all its heart, and that nation is Israel, the land of the Jew. Zechariah said of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, “and they shall look upon me
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only
son…” (Zechariah 12:10), and, “In that day there shall be a fountain
opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and
for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1).
That “fountain for sin” is the
same that was opened to us when we first believed. It is the precious
blood of Jesus that was shed to cleanse from sin. Great revival is coming
to Israel, but not before two-thirds in all the land are slain. Five-sixths of all the armies that gather
against Jerusalem will be slain (Ezekiel
39:2). World wide, one-third of all men will be slain. Words
cannot describe the suffering to come. Jeremiah, eyewitness to that first
time of trouble had this to say: “They
that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for
these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden
their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of
my people. The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his
fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the
foundations thereof” (Lamentations
4:9-11). The things coming upon
America and the world are too horrible to even speak of or to hold in our minds
for long, but they are coming in that “great
and terrible Day of the LORD.”
What About You?
Therefore let all the house of Israel
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their
heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,
what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many
other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this
untoward generation.
Acts 2:36-40
Peter was speaking to the generation that had crucified the Son of
God. Their rejection of Jesus was the final act that guaranteed the
destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus foretold the slaughter and destruction
that came exactly forty years after His crucifixion. Peter knew of the death sentence that hung
over the beloved city of Jerusalem. It
was with that in mind that He exhorted the people with many words, saying, “Save yourselves from this untoward
generation.” The Greek word for “untoward”
that Peter used meant “warped” and “perverse.” When Peter stood up to
preach that first gospel message, it was to a “crooked” and “perverted”
generation. Nothing was like it was
supposed to be. Everything was twisted into something it was not. Paul spoke of those who “perverted” or “twisted”
the gospel until it was no longer the gospel (Galatians 1:7). Peter cried
to the multitude, “Save yourselves from
this warped and perverted generation.” That generation was being led to the
slaughter, and nothing could stop it. How were they to save themselves? “Repent! Surrender to Jesus! He is
both Lord and Christ. He it is that will
judge the world. Repent! Be baptized into His name! You will
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” History does not record that even one
Christian perished in the slaughter and destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus had warned them of the destruction to
come, and given them signs by which they would know when to escape to the
mountains. Those who received Jesus did
indeed “save themselves from that
untoward generation.”
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out
of it.
Isaiah 13:9
The “Day of the LORD”
comes to “destroy the sinners out of the
land.” Belonging to the church is not enough. Attending church is not enough. Are you
one that would say, “We are all sinners?
After all, there’s none righteous, no not one!” Do you really want to
believe that? Jesus came and suffered the cross to deliver us from sin,
and sanctify us with His own blood. Paul
spoke to the issue of righteousness in I
Corinthians 6:9 saying, “Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God.” If there are “none righteous, no not one,” then no one will inherit the kingdom
of God. Paul thought this important enough an issue to say, “be not deceived.” Is someone trying to “deceive you?” Are they teaching you
that sinners in this life have eternal life? Probably most of the church
today believes we are all sinners. Are you still sinning? If that is the
case, be afraid; be very afraid. Listen to the words of Isaiah as he
prophesies of the Day of the LORD:
The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites.
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting
burnings?
Isaiah 33:14
Zion always speaks of the church, the place of God’s
habitation. Isaiah speaks of a day that
the “sinners” in Zion are afraid, and
the “hypocrites” are surprised by “fearfulness.” Why would that be if we
are all sinners?” Jesus taught that the tares would be separated from the wheat
and cast into the fire (Matthew 13:30)
He taught that all those that offend and do iniquity would be taken out of His
kingdom (the church) and cast into a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41-42). Jesus
also taught that the wicked will be severed from among the just and cast into a
furnace of fire (Matthew 13:49-50). Immediately after giving these parables about
the horrible end of all sinners in His church, Jesus asked the question, “Have ye understood all these things (Matthew 13:51)?” How many times must
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself tell us these things before we understand, God
does not accept sinners into His eternal kingdom? Both Isaiah and Jesus
Christ made it clear, sinners in Zion and all hypocrites are the ones who will
dwell with “devouring fire” and with “everlasting burnings.” But
Isaiah continues in the next verse to tell us the estate of the righteous, even
in the time of trouble:
He that walketh righteously, and
speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his
hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and
shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be
given him; his waters shall be sure.
Isaiah 33:14-16
How is it possible for the unrighteous to become righteous?
What can a person do the “save himself” from
the pending doom of this ungodly generation? How do we make the leap from
being among those who Paul tells us “shall
not inherit the kingdom of God?” Paul gives the answer back in I Corinthians 6:11. Concerning the unrighteous, those Paul
described as being “fornicators, or
idolaters, or adulterers, or effeminate, or abusers of themselves with mankind,
or thieves, or covetous, or drunkards, or revilers, or extortioners,” or just
plain everyday unbelievers, Paul said, “And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (I
Corinthians 6:11). Oh, thanks be unto God for our savior, Jesus
Christ. I was once of that number that
could never inherit the kingdom of God. I was once of those who are
doomed to everlasting burnings, but Jesus washed me in His own blood. He was crucified for me, and my old man
died. He shed His precious blood, and I am sanctified. He did it
all, and, thank God, one day I believed it all.
If you are a sinner, you are still my friend, but you can be my brother
in Jesus Christ. Believe the gospel of
Jesus Christ, crucified for you. Make
that surrender to God right now. Do it now, right where you are. Ask God to be merciful to you right now. Ask Him to forgive your sin and take it away
right now. Surrender to Jesus and ask Him to live in your heart and be
your life. That is why He suffered and died for you, and He will come to
you… right now.
Message 4 - By Leroy Surface - The Great and Terrible Day of
the LORD
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