 |  |
Studies in the Prophets.
No.5.
Times and Seasons (cont).
Sept. 1927
We have found while studying the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah that the future deliverance of Israel
in the day of the Lord is frequently compared with the first deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. This is
repeated in Hosea:
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably with her...and she
shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt"
(Hos. 2: 14, 15).
The speaking "comfortably" is parallel with the opening of the restoration section of Isaiah 40:
"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me lshi (that is my husband); and shalt call Me no
more Baali (that is my Lord). For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be
remembered by their name" (Hos. 2: 16, 17).
We have here stated in brief the marriage relationship of restored Israel and the abolishing of
idolatry (both being vitally connected with the old covenant where idolatry and spiritual adultery are
interchangeable terms), which are dealt with in Isaiah and other prophets at length.
"And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with
the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and I will make
them lie down in safety" (Hos. 2: 18).
This covenant of world-wide peace is followed by the betrothal of Israel unto the Lord: -
.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens. . . . earth. . . . corn. . . .
wine, and the oil, and great shall be the day of Jezreel" (Hos. 2: 2l, 22).
Hosea's three children are brought forward at the close because of the prophetic intention
of their names.
"And I will sow (Jezreel) her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy (lo-
ruhamah): and I will say to them which were not My people (lo.-ammi), Thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou
art my God" (Hos. 2: 23).
Here the great repudiation is cancelled, restoration is complete, and the figure of "sowing"
used here is parallel with the introduction of the new covenant (Jer. 31: 27-33), and partly explains
the reason for the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:). This day of restoration is literally, as well as
symbolically, a day of resurrection, and this is more than suggested in Hos. 6: I, 2:
"Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us
up. After two days will He revive us, and in the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight."
The great and terrible day of the Lord.
The prophet Joel contains some terrible descriptions of "that day." Joel introduces his prophecy by
speaking of a great judgment that had fallen upon the earth in the form of locusts, which devoured the
fruits of the earth (1: 4), and of the invasion of a great army that laid the land waste (1: 6, 7); and of the
withholding of the meat offering and of the drink offering in the house of the Lord (1: 8-13).
"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come" (Joel 1: 15).
The second chapter elaborates this awful character of the day of the Lord:
"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" (Joel 2: 2).
The words used here are parallel with the statement of Dan. xii.1 concerning the "time of trouble,"
and the description of this invading army given in Joel 2: 3-11, especially the effect upon the heavens,
the sun, moon and stars, shows that no ordinary army is intended:
"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 next reference provides God's own interpretation of the meaning and dispensational position of
the day of Pentecost, for Peter quoted the book of Joel in explanation:
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh. . . . and I will show wonders in the
heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant
whom the Lord shall call" (Joel 2: 28-32).
With this passage before us, and with the authority of the inspired apostle, we can unhesitatingly