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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Day of Christ, #12
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (I Thessalonians 4:16)
"With a shout." This is a word of command, a shout of battle. It is the voice of the Commander in Chief, Christ, at the head of His troops.
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: . . . . (Joel 2:11)
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; . . . . (Joel 3:16)
The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. (Isaiah 42:13)
"With the voice of the archangel." The archangel is Michael, the leader of the warrior angels.
Whenever there is a battle against the Lord's enemies there must be two armies (Mahanaim —Genesis 32:2). There must be the army of saints and the army of angels.
As soon as Joshua crossed over Jordan and invaded the land of promise he encountered the leader of the army of angels (Joshua 5:14).
When Christ was born in Bethlehem the army of angels appeared in order to pay homage to the King of kings and Lord of lords:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and upon earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:13,14)
The saints must overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and by loving not their lives to the death. But it is the army of angels, commanded by the archangel, Michael, that wages war in the spirit realm.
"With the trump [trumpet] of God." This is the kingdom-wide fulfillment of the Old Testament memorial of blowing of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24).
The trumpet of God announces the coming of the King, the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon, and the Year of Jubilee—the setting free of Satan's prisoners and the lifting of the curse from the earth.
This is the seventh trumpet, the last trumpet, of which Paul spoke (I Corinthians 15:52). It is heralding the Day of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the establishing of the Kingdom of God, the rule of God, on the earth. The royal priesthood will receive their bodies at this time. The remainder of the dead will be raised at the end of the thousand-year period.
Here at last is the blessed hope of the Church. It is the Day of Redemption to which all Christians have been sealed. It is the new-covenant fulfillment of the Year of Jubilee. The thousand-year period, as we understand it, is the spiritual fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement—the era of reconciliation to God.
John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles pointed toward the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
Here is the return of the Lord Jesus "in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven" (Acts 1:11).
This is the time when "every eye shall see him" (Revelation 1:7).
This is the moment when "we shall be changed" (I Corinthians 15:52).
This is the hour of the gathering together of Christ's elect "from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31).
This is the Day of the Lord spoken of by the Hebrew Prophets:
The Lord Jesus Christ will descend from Heaven; Christ will shout for the battle; the archangel, Michael, will command the army of angels; the trumpet of God will announce the Day of Christ; the dead in Christ will rise first.
To be continued.