With the Israelites camped on the east side of the Jordan River (and the city of Jericho residing on the west side on the actual, physical land God deemed the Promise Land) God gave Joshua the following “battle plan”:
“And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war; and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do SIX DAYS. And seven priests shall bear before the ark (of the covenant) seven trumpets of ram’s horns:and the SEVENTH DAY ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and WHEN YE HEAR THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET, all the people shall SHOUT WITH A GREAT SHOUT; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ASCEND UP every man straight before him” (Joshua 6:3-5).
Can you imagine? This “battle plan” must have seemed ridiculous to the Israelites! I mean come on, this is not the logical way an army fights and conquers a city. So what is the deal? What was God’s reason and purpose behind this seeming madness? Well, I have already told you this story is actually a secretPROPHETIC picture of Jesus Christ’s 2nd Coming. So watch this!
God revealed the secret behind the “battle plan” almost 1,400 years later (around AD 90) by giving the Apostle John a detailed, prophetic vision of the events immediately preceding the 2nd Coming of the Lord—which he wrote in a book that is now included in the Bible called “The Revelation”. Watch how God’s details to John precisely mirror His much earlier “battle plan” executed by Joshua:
“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with SEVEN SEALS” (The Revelation).
In John’s vision, only Jesus was worthy to open the seven seals. As he does, each one speaks of specific horrible things that are coming to Earth immediately preceding Christ’s return. But when Christ opens the seventh seal, watch what happens:
“And when he had opened the seventh seal … I saw the SEVEN ANGELS which stood before God; and to them were given SEVEN TRUMPETS” (The Revelation)
Do you remember in Joshua’s “battle plan” on the seventh day the Israelites were to walk around JerichoSEVEN times as seven priests walked before the Ark of the Covenant blowing their trumpets? Well, here it is in The Revelation! When Christ opens the seventh seal, SEVEN angels standing in front of God are to blow their trumpets in successive order in which each of these seven trumpet blasts bring forth further specific destruction on the godless inhabitants of Earth, paralleling the seven times the Israelites walked around Jericho on the seventh day.
No comments:
Post a Comment