The Day of The Lord
Foreshadowed
in the Pentateuch
By JAMES PAYNE
From Watching and
Waiting, Vol. XX. No. 8. April-June, 1975.)
(The following article is the substance of an address
given at the Alliance Hall in January last).
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The Day of the Lord is
not, in fact, named in the Pentateuch but it is frequently described
under various aspects. On at least eight
occasions we find some clear reference to, or portrayal of, the Day of the
Lord. We will look briefly at each of
these.
The Covenant with Abraham
God
said to Abram in Gen. 12, I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee
and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And again in Gen. 15, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And when
Abraham desired some more evidence that he should inherit the land, the Lord
made an unconditional covenant with him saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Again in chapter 13 the Lord said, For all the land which thou
seest, to thee will I
give it and to thy seed for ever. Again in chapter 17, the Lord said, I will give unto thee and to
thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land
of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
In
these passages we observe that the Lord promised to give the land to Abraham
as well as to his seed and that he should possess it. Stephen in
his address to the Council in Acts
7, emphasise this; he says, concerning
Abraham, The
Lord gave him none inheritance in it, no,
not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him,
when as yet he had no child. Now if, as
here repeatedly stated the Lord promised the land to Abraham for a possession,
yet during his lifetime he possessed nothing in it except a grave, then this
promise must be fulfilled after the RESURRECTION, when indeed Abraham and
his Seed - even Immanuel - shall together possess it for an everlasting
inheritance. Of this our Lord reminded
us when He said, Many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God. And this will be in the Day of the Lord which
is ushered in by the First Resurrection.
The
same promise is confirmed later unto Isaac in chapter 26. Unto thee and into thy seed I will give all these countries and I will perform the oath which I sware unto
Abraham thy father
and in thy seed shall
all nations of the earth be blessed.
[1]
Jacobs Vision of the Ladder
When
Jacob left his fathers house and journeyed to Padan Aram as recorded in Gen. 28, he lay down in a certain place to sleep. And
he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and
the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the
angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, Jehovah stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac: and the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shalt
spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. The word seed
in the first and last mentions above is in the Hebrew singular, thus pointing
to Christ in accordance with the Apostles words in his epistle to the
Galatians, Now
to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. He saith not And to seeds as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years
after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. All these
promises then, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob were unconditional promises of
grace and are totally unaffected by the [Mosaic] law. Abraham
Isaac and Jacob must then yet possess, under the Governorship of Immanuel, the
promised Seed, the land
of Palestine, Immanuels
land. And this, therefore, when the Lord
Jesus, the Son of David, shall be King over His own inheritance; and this will
be in the Day of the Lord.
All
this seems to be confirmed by our Lord in His words to Nathaniel, Hereafter ye shall see
heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. It is
difficult to imagine that the Lord had not in mind here Jacobs vision of the
ladder. At our Lords baptism we are
told that the
heavens were opened
unto Him but to
Nathaniel He says, Hereafter ye shall see the heaven open. At the time of which our Lord speaks there
will be visible and continuous communication between heaven and earth. And the Lord said to Nathaniel, Thou shalt see it. Nathaniel will see
it together with all the risen saints at His coming. This will be seen
in the Day of the Lord.
[2]
A Prophet like unto Moses
The
promise of the Lord to Moses in Deut. 18 was I will raise them
up a Prophet from among their brethren, like
unto thee and will put my words in His mouth;
and He shall speak unto them all that I command Him. And it shall come to
pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words
which he [i.e. Messiah Jesus] shall speak in My name, I will require it if him. Peter refers to this in Acts 3 where he says, Repent ye therefore and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets
since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers,
A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of
your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in
all things whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Thus the word of Moses I will require it of him
is interpreted by Peter as shall be destroyed from
among the people.
But
when our Lord was here [at His first advent] He
definitely declared that He had not come to destroy mens lives,
but to save them. He did say,
however, of the time to come, He that rejecteth Me and receiveth
not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the
last day. The last day of this [evil] age when the
dead in Christ shall rise, will usher in the Day of the Lord. Then the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and He shall judge
among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off. He did not do this at His first coming but He will at
His second coming and on through the Day of the Lord.
[3]
The Glory of the Lord
When
the children of Israel refused to enter into the Promised Land owing to the evil
report of the 10 spies, the Lord threatened to destroy them but in answer to
Moses intercession He said I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. All the unbelief and rebellion of the people
could not alter the ultimate determination of the Lord. This is enlarged upon a little by the Prophet
Habakkuk in the chapter which pronounces the five-fold woe upon the Man of Sin. The Lord says, For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And in Psalm 72 which deals with the coming King and the greatness of His Kingdom,
David prays, Let
the whole earth be filled with His glory: Amen! And Amen!
To-day
the glory of God
is above the heavens but when He
who is the
brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of His person comes in all His glory and in the glory of all His
holy angels, then the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea. This will be the Day of the Lord.
[4]
Balaams Prophecy
In
Balaams second parable as recorded in Numbers 23, he said God is not a man that He
should lie
Behold I
have received commandment to bless and He hath blessed and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen
perverseness in Israel: Jehovah his God is with
him and the shout of a king is among them
According to this time it shall be
said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God
wrought!.
This
is clearly prophetic of the last days when the remnant of Israel shall look upon Him whom
they have pierced and a nation shall be born in a day; when the people shall be all righteous and when, as the Lord hath said, they shall
all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest
of them. The whole nation then will be embraced in the everlasting Covenant of Grace and consequently
the Lord will not then behold
iniquity in Jacob, neither see perverseness in Israel. Not until then will this Scripture be fully [and seen to be literally] fulfilled.
Then, indeed, will there be the shout of a King among them
for the Son of David will then sit upon the throne of His father [David] and a King shall reign in righteousness and princes shall reign
in judgment. Then shall the law go forth [out] of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and this will be in the Day of the
Lord. Then it will truly be said of Israel What hath God wrought!
Then
in Balaams final parable, he said, There shall come a Star out of Jacob
and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel
and shall smite the corners of Moab
and destroy all the children of Sheth.
And Edom shall be a
possession, Seir shall also be a possession for his enemies; and Israel
shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have
dominion and shall destroy him that remaineth in the city
Alas, who shall live
when God doeth this! He who is the
Star will also hold the sceptre for the prophet had foretold that out of
Bethlehem should he come forth who is to be ruler in Israel and when He comes
in glory and wields the sceptre, then all Israels enemies, including Moab,
Edom and Seir will be forever overthrown.
Who, indeed, shall live when God doeth this? For this will be the Day of
the Lord when the lofty
looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that
day. For the day of Jehovah of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and
lofty and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall
be brought low.
[5]
The Feast of Tabernacles
The
Children of Israel had three major feasts which foreshadowed future
events. (1) The Passover which was the memorial of their deliverance from Egypt and a foreshadowment of our Lords
sacrifice at Calvary. The Apostle says, Even Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us. (2) The Feast
of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits
which was [partially] fulfilled at Pentecost when
the first-fruits of the Gospel were gathered.
(3) The Feast of Tabernacles
or the Feast of Ingathering of the
harvest and pointing forward to the Day of the Lord when many nations shall be joined
to the Lord in that day and shall be His people.
The
prophet Ezekiel foretells that in that day of the feast of Passover will be
continued as a national festival and as a constant memorial to the people of Israel
of their redemption by the Saviour whom they crucified. In the knowledge of this, they will be kept
humble before the Lord; to be His servants in the earth and His messengers to
all nations. The Feast of Tabernacles, on the other hand, will be an international
festival. Zechariah foretells this
in his last chapter where he says, And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the
nations which come against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to
worship the King,
the Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. In that day there shall
be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and
the pots in the Lords house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in
Judah
shall be holiness unto the LORD of
hosts. Children of Israel from the days of Moses shall
have its abundant fulfilment in the Day of the Lord. The Feast of Weeks or Firstfruits will not be
kept in that day because that will have been already fulfilled during this age
and will have no relevance in the Age to Come.
[6]
Jacobs last Blessing
When
Jacob gathered his sons together to bless them before his death, he said to Judah, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come, and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal into the vine; he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood
of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine and
his teeth white with milk.
Who
is Shiloh?
The meaning of the word itself may be summed up in the expression The Prince of Peace. When applied
to a place, the word signifies a place of rest. The place
where the Ark of the Covenant first rested in the Promised Land was called Shiloh. So the
glorious Person in whom the promises of the eternal covenant rest is called Shiloh; the name indicating pacificator - Prince of Rest or
Peace. That the Shiloh
is to be a Prince or Governor is apparent for He is to give laws and wield a
sceptre. But He is not only to wear the
diadem; He is to acquire His Government by right of birth; by right of royal
descent. He is the Seed of Judah and from Judah
cometh the chief ruler (1 Chron. 5: 2). He is the Seed
of Abraham, the friend of God, in whom all the families of the earth are to be
blessed. He is the Seed of Israel - the
true Prince who has power with God and with men and must prevail. He is
the Seed of David - the Man who, beyond David, is the Man after Gods own
heart, fulfilling all His will; ruling in righteousness and in the fear of
the Lord. God had sworn to David that of
the fruit of his loins He would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne. And Paul declares that this is partly
fulfilled; Of
this mans seed hath God, according to His promise raised unto Israel a
Saviour; Jesus. Having obtained eternal
redemption for His people, He has entered into the holiest, there to await the time when He shall take His great power and reign.
The
Lord said through Jacob, The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah
nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come. The Throne of Israel was overturned at the
captivity and has never been the same since.
Nevertheless the law-giver continued to spring out of Judah until the days of Caesar Augustus, Judaea became a Roman province and was taxed as
such. Hence Jesus was born
King of the Jews and must, in His own time, manifestly exercise that
sovereignty. In agreement with this, the
Jews cried at His crucifixion, We have no King but Caesar, thus
declaring all too plainly, by their language in condemning Him, that they were
killing the Prince of Peace - the Shiloh of Jacobs death-bed prophecy.
[7]
Shiloh, the King
of kings
Of
the Shiloh it is said, Unto Him shall the
gathering of the people be or, more literally, Unto Him shall be the
obedience of the peoples. Thus David
sang concerning his Seed, this same glorious Person. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness and Thy poor
with judgment
He shall have dominion also from
sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the
wilderness shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust
Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him
Daily shall He be praised
All nations shall call Him blessed.
It
is further said of Him, He
shall bind His foal unto the vine and His asss colt unto the choice vine: He shall wash His garments
in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes. When Shiloh comes to set up His Kingdom, the earth shall yield her increase. Vines, at
least in the land
of Palestine, will be so
common as to be used pickets for young asses.
And not only the common sort, will be so used. The choice vine will grow, as it were, in the
hedge-rows. The result of this will be
to make wine as plentiful as water, insomuch that it will be used for purposes
of washing and cleansing as well as for drinking.
It
is said finally of the Shiloh, His eyes shall be red with wine and his
teeth white with milk. There is of course no reference here to the
redness of the eyes spoken of in the Proverbs as the
accompaniment of drunkenness; but the Patriarch indicates rather a sparkling bright countenance which is the result of
gladdened heart, for wine, says the psalmist maketh glad the heart of man. This gladness of heart and
comeliness of appearance will be common in the Regeneration, when the Son
of Man sits upon the Throne of His glory. Indeed, Youngs literal
translation leaves out the word his and the
passage reads simply Eyes
shall be red with wine and teeth white with milk. Our Lord promised His
disciples that He would drink the new wine with them in His Fathers
kingdom. So when we see Him as He is, we
shall be like Him and share with Him in all the rich blessings of His
Millennial Kingdom. And this will be in
the Day of the Lord.
[8]
Moses Song and Blessing
Moses
song in Deut. 32,
after delineating the history of Gods dealings with His people Israel from the
land of Egypt, brings it to this climax in verse 43,
Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people, (or, as in the margin, Praise
His people, ye nations) for He will avenge the blood of His servants
and will render vengeance to His adversaries and will be merciful unto His land
and to his people. This looks forward to the fulfilment of Gods
covenant with Jacob - In thy
seed shall
all nations of the earth be blessed and also to the Lords covenant to the Seed of David
- All nations shall serve Him; while the remaining portion is confirmed by the
prophet Isaiah. Speaking of the time of Israels
glory he says, For the nation
and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land; wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise. Thus Moses
song beautifully sums up Israels
Millennial blessings in the Day of the Lord.
It
may be that Moses blessing upon the individual tribes has reference, in some
cases at least, to Israels
final restoration but his concluding blessing upon the whole nation certainly
foreshadows Israels
glory in the Day of the Lord. He says, The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath
are the everlasting arms. This is the reason for Israels
continual preservation and for the fact that her enemies have never finally
prevailed over her. Therefore he says of
her final deliverance, He
shall thrust out the enemy from before thee,
and shall say, Destroy
them. Israel
then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou O
Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by Jehovah,
the shield of thy help and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies
shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt
tread upon their high places.
Thus
ends the writings of Moses, looking forward to the time when that people whom
he had led all through the wilderness to the promised land, after many
vicissitudes should dwell safely therein
with Jehovah Himself as their Divine refuge and Protector; when their foes shall be all defeated and
they themselves a lasting blessing in the midst of the earth. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy of
Zechariah the father of John the Baptist, As God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the
world began: that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all
that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to
our fathers and to remember His holy covenant;
the oath which He sware to our father Abraham;
that He would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our
enemies might serve Him without fear, in
holiness and righteousness before Him, all the
days of our life.
Such
will be the blessing of Israel
in the Day of the Lord when Jesus, the Son of David Himself will be their
King. So we may say to Him
with Nathaniel, Rabbi,
Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!
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Whether therefore ye eat,
or drink, or whatsoever
ye do,
do
it all to the glory of God: (1 Corinthians 10: 31).
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray your wholly
spirit and soul and body
be
preserved blamelessly unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: (1 Thessalonians 5:
23).
ENTIRE sanctification means the sanctification of everything. The sanctification, for example, of the daily
work; that is, doing it to the Lord, and therefore doing it as well as we
can. If a ploughman be entirely
sanctified, he will plough a straight furrow - or at least try his best to do
so. If he be a mason, he will put no bad
work into his walls; if a doctor, he will care more about curing his patients than
about getting larger fees; if he be a minister of religion, he will strive to serve the people to the utmost of his ability [by teaching
them the whole counsel of God (Acts 20: 27,
R.V.)]. I do not believe in the entire sanctification
of any man who does his daily work in a slovenly way, who keeps his books so
badly that he contracts debts without knowing whether he will ever be able to
pay them, and spends other peoples money rather than his own. Entire sanctification means that a man will
be perfectly upright in all his business transactions even in buying and
selling horses, [or cars] and in paying income tax. - B. Hellier.
Are we not princes?
we who stand
As heirs
beside the Throne!
We who can call the Promised Land
Our heritage,
our own,
And answer to no less command
Than Gods, and His alone?
O God, that we can dare to fail,
And dare to say we must;
O God, that we can ever trail
Such banners in the dust!
Can let such starry honours pale,
And such a blazon rust.
Shall we upon the
titles leave
The taint of sin and shame?
Shall we the children of the King
Who hold so grand a claim,
Tarnish by any meaner thing,
The glory
of our name?
THE END