China
This morning I dreamed that
all China had come to Christ. They
invited me to visit, to share their joy, to help with their baptisms of all their
men, women, and children. As China
organized herself as a Christian state, I cried out to God, “Will India come
too?” Yet, I did not dream of India… not
this morning.
Acts 2:16-21 (KJV
paraphrase)
This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“It shall come to pass in the last days,” God says, “I will
pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young
men shall see visions. Your old men shall
dream dreams. In those days, I will pour
out My Spirit on all My menservants and on all My maidservants; and they shall prophesy. I will shew miracles in heaven above, and signs
in the earth beneath: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.[1] The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon
to blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes. Thus, it shall come to pass, that whoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Joel 2:1-32 (KJV paraphrase)
Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sound the alarm throughout My holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:
for the Day of the Lord comes, it
is near at hand. It is a day of darkness
and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness: as when the dawn
spreads across the mountains.
A great and strong people, there has never been anything
like them, nor shall there be any more after them, even for many aeons of aeons. Fire devours before them; behind them, flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before
them; behind them, it is a desolate wilderness.
Yes, nothing shall escape them. Their
appearance is like horses with riders: so they shall run with the clamor of
chariots, over the mountain tops, they shall leap; with the roar of flaming fire
that devours both grass and forest. They
are a strong people set in battle array.
The people they face shall be in great pain. Every face shall become blackened [with
pain, with the smoke of burning].
They shall run as mighty men. They shall climb walls as men of war. Every one of them shall march his route, and shall
not break rank. Nor shall anyone retreat.
Every one of them shall walk his route. When they fall upon the sword, they shall not
be wounded. They shall run throughout
the city. They shall overrun the city walls.
They shall climb on the houses. They shall enter the windows like thieves.
The earth shall quake before them. The heavens shall tremble. The sun and the moon shall become dark. The stars shall cloak their shining.
The Lord
shall utter His voice before His army. His
legion is very large. He is strong, who
executes His word: for the Day of the Lord
is great and very terrible. Who can
abide it?
Therefore, the Lord
says,
“Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with
weeping, and with mourning. Rend your
heart, and not your garments.”
Turn to the Lord your God: for He is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great goodness.[2] He often relents from punishment. Who knows if He will turn to relent, leaving
a blessing behind Him, a meat offering, and a drink offering to the Lord your God?[3]
Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, even the nursing babies. Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom, and the
bride her boudoir. Let the priests, the
ministers of the Lord, weep
between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to
reproach,”[4] lest unbelievers should
rule over them. Why should they say throughout
the populace, “Where is their God?”
Then the Lord
will be jealous for His land, and pity His people. Yes, the Lord
will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you corn, wine, and
oil, and you shall be satisfied: and I will not make you a reproach among unbelievers
any longer. I will move the northern
army far away from you. I will drive them
into a barren and desolate land, with the eastern sea at their front, and the great
sea at their back. Their stench shall
come up, their rotten taste shall come up, because they have done terrible things.”[5]
Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for
the pastures of the wilderness will fill with spring water, the trees will bear
fruit, the fig trees and vines will yield strength. Be glad, you children of Zion; rejoice in the
Lord your God: for He has given
you the gentle spring rain; He will cause the rain to come down upon you, both the
vernal rain, and the autumnal rain before the first month [of harvest]. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and
the storage vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the
locust has eaten, the cankerworm[6], the caterpillar, and the
palmerworm[7], My great army which I
sent among you.[8] You shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord
your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you: so My people shall never be
ashamed. You shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord
your God, there is no other God: My people shall never be ashamed.
And it shall come to pass later, that I will pour out
My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall
dream dreams. Your young men shall see
visions. In those days, I will pour out My
Spirit on all My menservants and on all My maidservants; and they shall prophesy. I will shew miracles in the heavens, and signs
in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.[9] The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon
to blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes. Thus, it shall come to pass, that whoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in
Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord
has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord
shall call.
[2] Psalm
145:7
[3] Instead
of consuming and devouring the offering, Yahweh leaves it behind as a feast for
all the people.
[4] Psalm
28:9
[5] An
alarmingly graphic and poetic description of the fate of the Satanic
hoards. Even though these hoards have
fought against God with all their might, they did the will of God in spite of
themselves: they frightened the willful and disobedient people of God into
repentance and faith. Now the sins of
these hoards are falling back upon them.
As they perish in the wilderness, the stench and taste of their rotting
corpses is so foul that it even offends the carrion that devour them.
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleacrita_vernata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsophila_pometaria
http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/C/Cankerworm/
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichomeris_ligulella
http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/P/Palmer-worm/
[8] The
Satanic hoards are likened to a plague of insects. This will be an ironic metaphor when it
finally reaches Rome: for in Roman idolatry and superstition, war was pictured in
the auspices, as chickens falling on the victims to devour them.
[10] If
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or use any of them as you wish. No rights
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