THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD

CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD

                “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand and Joshua went to him and said to him, “ Are you for us or for our adversaries?” And he said, ”No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord,”  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him, “ What has my Lord to say to his servant?” And the captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua,                                  “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.” Joshua 5:13-15

                I had a very real dream last night where the Lord was standing in the desert. He was bent over a table and both hands were on a map as if plotting a course. He was looking over the Jordon River toward the Promised Land. So I asked the Lord what we were looking at and what His plan was. And He answered me saying:

                “I am now building the Joshua Generation Army that will take you over into the Promised Land. The River is swollen. Many have died in the wilderness. It is time for the Joshua Generation to take the land. “

                I woke from my dream with a start. I got up and went into my office and wrote down the particulars of the dream so that I would remember them in the morning.

                We have many dreams on a nightly basis. Most of them we don’t remember, while we remember others, but they are not always hinged to reality. We try to attach meaning to them and at best we can take a few pieces of the dream and extrapolate a meaning from them. This dream however, was clear and concise. It had no hallucinogenic bits and pieces but was vivid and clear.

                When such dreams occur, we are struck with awe and wonder. What was the Lord telling me in this dream and why would He be telling the likes of me? I am by far the least in the Kingdom. I am well- nigh unto 70 years old and on the world stage I am unknown. Nevertheless in this dream it seemed very natural that I was standing beside the Lord and He was conferring with me concerning the upcoming battle.

                We often think of the Promised Land as being heaven. We forget that in the Promised Land there are giants to kill and cities to take.            We would like to think that just before trouble comes Yeshua is going to blink us into eternity trouble free and while I hope and pray that He does, we need to remember that we are in training to reign.

                I have to ask the question: ”Is it possible that all of us are wrong about the rapture issue?

                Some believe that we will escape the tribulation and be caught up to heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb and then we will return with Christ at His second coming to reign with Him as He rules the nations with a rod of iron for 1000 years. This is what I believe also, because there is clear evidence of such in the Bible. However, I also believe that we will be here for the first part of the tribulation, but will be caught up just before the wrath of God is poured out on Satan’s kingdom.

                Zechariah 14:1-5 shows the saints returning with the Lord in verse 5b. 1Thess. 3:13 confirms this by saying in verse 13 “…so that He man establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” Again in Revelation 19:14 it says: “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen white and clean were following Him on white horses.” Verse 8 tells us who these are who are dressed in white linen for the white linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

                This is a description of the second coming of Christ and we return with Him from the marriage supper of the Lamb. In Rev. 20:4 we see one last group of souls who have been beheaded for their faith. They accepted Jesus after the rapture of the church and refused to take the Mark of the Beast and they were faithful unto death. Now it says that they, rather than being caught up in the air, simply come to life and reign with Christ for 1000 years. These it says are included in the first resurrection.

                Now, on the other hand there is a group that believes that we as Christians go through the entire tribulation including the wrath of God, that we are caught up at the second coming and we go to heaven for 1000 years.

                We all need to take a serious look at scripture… set aside our traditions and read what it is actually saying. At the second coming there is no mention of anyone being caught up to meet the Lord in the air… rather we are returning with Him. Likewise at the rapture, there is no mention of Satan being bound for 1000 years, because that doesn’t happen until the second coming. Chuck Missler lists about ten things that are different between what we call the rapture and the second coming. The two are very different events.

                One more point for those to ponder who believe that we spend 1000 years in heaven is this: Revelation 2:26, 27 says: “And he who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces as I also have received authority from My Father.”

                The question is this: If he is faithful to the end, then when is he going to rule the nations with a rod of iron? Surely he will not be reigning in heaven and ruling over saints and holy angels with a rod of iron. So clearly this refers to the 1000 year period when Christ rules the nations with a rod of iron on earth and we rule and reign with Him.

                On the other hand neither are we promised escape from tribulation either. We are promised in numerous places that we will escape the wrath of God … that we are not destined for wrath and so on. And in Revelation 14 we see a reaping taking place where one group is taken up and seen next standing on the sea of glass, while the other group is harvested and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath.

                In both of the above scenarios one important purpose of God is being missed and that is this: If we are going to rule the nations with a rod of iron along with Christ, should we not receive some sort of training to do so? I mean, right now we get upset if we catch the sniffle of a cold, or if someone says something we don’t like and we think we are going through trials and tribulations if we don’t get the job we like or if someone sits in our favorite pew at church. Are we really ready to reign with Christ over the nations?

                In my dream then the Lord was indicating that it was time for the Joshua generation to rise up and take the land. The Jordon River was swollen indicating the fullness of time. Many generations had died in the wilderness. May times the church has stood at the borders of the Promised Land, but it was not yet the fullness of time. But now once again we stand at the border of the Promised Land and it is time to go in and kill the giants by the power of God.

                In this upcoming battle, we will leave behind our little trials and sniffles and we will become battle hardened. We will learn to conquer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony and we will love not our lives even unto death. (Rev. 12:11)

                This scenario is very possibly what the Revelation 12 sign is telling us:

                Jesus was born and caught up into heaven from where He has sent us His Holy Spirit so that we can be equipped to do His works and to overcome even as He overcame… The woman (the Jews)who gave birth to the man child have been pursued by the dragon throughout the past 2000 years, and now, the dragon is going to turn his eyes and his wrath toward the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

                This last group described can only be Christians and not just any Christians but those who keep the commandment of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus which is the Spirit of prophecy. In other words those Christians who teach that the commandments of God are done away, who ignore God’s agenda as it is spelled out in prophecy, who are abandoning the basic tenants of the Gospel and the Word of God, and who are not walking in the Spirit of Christ, will eventually side with the enemy and will not be counted among God’s Remnant people.

                This then is the very specific apostasy or falling away which comes just before the return of our Lord. Many Christians, who have not separated from Babylon and from the world system, will join the ranks of the antichrist, rather than to suffer with the people of God for a season.

                I do not want to argue the various views of the rapture/second coming. That would be pointless because we would all get mad and walk away still holding to our own viewpoints. What we really need to take out of this is the fact that we are in training to reign with Christ. We should not be surprised at the various fiery trials that come our way. We need to learn how to defeat these things having on the full armor of God. We need to learn also to live by the fruit of the Spirit because at any point that we bear bad fruit, we also break the Law. If love is the fulfillment of the Law, then if we fail to love, we also break the Law.

                The nine fruits of the Spirit are merely 9 aspects of love. So if we are impatient or unkind, we break the law just as surely as if we dishonor the Sabbath, or kill or commit adultery.

                Surely we need to learn to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh and in this, much of the church has fallen far behind. Do we honestly think that God is going to fill heaven with people who are not walking in the Spirit or bearing the fruit of the Spirit? Do we think that Jesus is going to unite with a Body that is incompatible with the head?

                Ephesians 2:21, 22 tells us that we, the whole building, being fitted together, are growing together into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom we also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” And that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God according to the power that works within us. Eph. 3:19, 20. “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Eph.4:13.

                Let’s forget our arguments about when the rapture may occur and let us consider what God wants to accomplish in His Bride. He wants a Bride that is spotless. He doesn’t love her for her body only. He also loves her mind. He loves her in her completeness.

                “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass.”1Thess. 5:23, 24

                Do you trust Yeshua no matter which way it turns out? Do you trust that He is working to preserve you spirit, soul and body without blame at His coming? Are we prepared to go the course until He comes regardless as to when the rapture comes? Are we ready to love not our lives unto death if need be?

                I present things like this, not as doctrinal arguments per se, but as food for thought. We need to examine our souls and we need to examine God’s Word and to let it speak louder than our traditions. But most of all, we need to be growing up into the fullness of the stature that belongs to Christ.

                “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.

                We need not fear the future as long as we are walking with the CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD.

P.S. We can all stand with the Lord as He maps out the future and we can confer with Him as friends if we choose to walk in His Spirit.