In recent posts we have been exploring the judgment of the LORD and His enlisting an army of angels to bring us back to His pure truth. We’ve seen this is what has been mislabeled as the “return” of the LORD, and is in actuality our return to Him who has never left us, or forsaken us. We’ve seen the battle is against the army opposing God as they cover and slander all the character traits that define Him and His. We’ve seen the traits of God and their opposite, along with the actions they each inspire as what marks a person as being Christ like or Satanic. It is the mark in the head as what governs reason and the mark in the hand showing the work, and by these we know the name of who owns each. The devilish methods are to cultivating ignorance by covering up truth with lies, and then defending these positions with slander. God’s angelic army are those not denying His name and accepting His pure truth that identifies Him. (See yesterday’s post and those previous.)
Today a look at the time and knowing it is at the door. Yesterday we looked at the keys that open and shut the door, and which unlock the wisdom to not just know the time but wake from our stupor to join the LORD in the battle.
Matthew 24:31 And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The above verse it telling of this army being sent to gather the elect into one. It is telling of this happening on earth while defining it a heaven, meaning the LORD is reigning as King among those gathered.
In the verse prior we are told of the LORD coming in the clouds of heaven. Even before this we are told of His coming as lightning that shines and covers the earth. In our studies we have seen this as enlightenment coming directly from the LORD over (epi) the world that is held in darkness by the armies of evil. Job 37:21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passes, and cleanses them.
The context is referring to Daniel 7:13 & 14, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7 also gives us the identity of the “carcass” of Matthew 24:28, when it says, “21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them…” The carcass is the body of the God’s people having been overcome by the opposing army. The gathering eagles are the gathering angels, and again note they are gathering to the LORD. (See Matthew 24 below)
Later in Daniel 7 we read this horn is the same one speaking against God as we recently studied being the trait of the opposing army as it is written in 2 Thessalonians 2: 4, “Who oppose and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Daniel 7 says it as, “25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
This takes us to rightly dividing the time. Matthew 24:31 above is a quote from Deuteronomy 30:4 where in the context our returning to the LORD we are told of the same gathering.
Deuteronomy 30
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD your God has driven you,
2 And shall return unto the LORD your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
3 That then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, whither the LORD your God has scattered you.
4 If any of yours be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from there and then will the LORD your God gather you, and from there and then will he fetch you:
5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart [remove the cover covering your reasoning], and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7 And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.
8 And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
The point is made very plain (ek-pedinos).
Matthew 24:29 also defines this time of our now being separated, ruled by leaders and governments not being as God intended them, as the time when the sun and moon are darkened, and stars have fallen from heaven. This is again in context (as we have studied many times in the past) is telling of church and civil governments not being as God intended them – not shining and reflect His light on earth as in just government under His name (possessing His character), and once His people are no longer under His type of rule they have fallen away from truth and heaven (God’s rule and reign).
Matthew 24
27 For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 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:
30 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.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Verse 29 is actually a quote from Isaiah 13:10 & 11. There we should note the LORD is here and because of these evil men now ruling judgment has come against their Satanic consortium. It tells of the LORD mustering His army and calling His mighty ones.
Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon [the reign of confusion], which Isaiah [JAH (Jehovah) has saved] the son of Amoz [the strong and alert] did see.
2 Lift you up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts musters the host of the battle.
5 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.
6 Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 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.
10 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.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [tyrants].
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man takes up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
This is the shaking of heaven and earth, so that the old makes way for new heaven and new earth. It is the revolving of time as this age end and the new begins with God’s light beginning the new day and then covering the earth. This is what the LORD says in Matthew 24:35 & 35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” It is also what we are told of the shaking in Hebrews 12 as it says:
22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
You should also consider the difference between speaking from earth and speaking from heaven. One is speaking to the carcass, the other to the living. The quickened can see and hear; the dead see and hear nothing because of the cover of darkness over their minds.
The time is of the resurrection of the dead.
Matthew 24:33 tells us that when we see all these things know it is near, “over (epi) the door.” The Greek word thura is translated door, and is the same “door” we are told of Revelation 3:20 in the warning that comes to the Laodicean church. These are the lukewarm believers who are self-confident (straddling between serving God or mammon – wealth personifying self-confidence).
Another point worth noting before going on is that we see the leaders of these churches of Revelation defined as “angels.” In this we see angels are the “stars” of heaven, those leading as steadfast examples of God’s rule (by character).
Revelation 3
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know your works, that you art neither cold nor hot: I would you wert cold or hot.
16 So then because you art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.
17 Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.
The angels are those bearing the standard (banner) of God. This we read above in Isaiah 13:2 as it says, “Lift you up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.” The “gate” is the “door” the LORD is standing at and is written also above in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
These verses are referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4 as the archangel calls us to the LORD. “16 For 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: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.”
Now is the time and this is the door.
John 10
1 Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
6 This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spoke unto them.
7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Truly, truly, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatter the sheep.
13 The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father know me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man take it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
20 And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him?
21 Others said, These are not the words of him that has a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spoke of this man were true.
42 And many believed on him there.
