The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Army of the Lord, continued

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:2-5)

"And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee."

Why will the Lord bring His saints with Him? One reason for the coming of the Lord with His saints will be to deliver the physical land and people of Israel from the forces of Antichrist.

A great number of the saints, the true witnesses of God, will have been in Heaven with the Lord for thousands of years. Why will they leave Heaven, which has been their home for such a long period of time, and now appear on the earth?

We understand that although the Lord may remain in the air above us for a brief season, the sleeping saints will descend to the earth and be raised in their bodies from their place of rest. Then there will be standing on the earth a great group of saints. But it is more than a group. It is an army—the army of the Lord!

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. (Ezekiel 37:10)

The coming of the army of the Lord is mentioned in several places in the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament.

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. (Isaiah 13:5,6)

It is true that the immediate application of the above verse may have been referring to the conquering of Babylon by Darius the Mede. However in this, and similar passages we will mention, it appears obvious that there will be a greater fulfillment in the Day of the Lord.

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)

To be continued.