The Lord’s Zeal in the Last Days

The Lord’s Zeal in the Last Days

“And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!” Zech. 2:12-13.

We live in exceptional times, and blessed are those who understand these times in which we are living. The prophets say that the Lord will hasten it in the last days.

The Lord is zealous for His people. We read that the Lord has been aroused from His holy habitation. He intends to do something unusual. He has again chosen Jerusalem in the Holy Land, and He is leading the Jews to Palestine with a mighty hand. No one can hinder this work, and woe to anyone who tries to do it. The Holy Land is being prepared to receive a holy people. Ungodly people will not be allowed to live there; all of them will be annihilated.

“‘And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the Lord, ‘that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” Zech. 13:8-9.

To this small, holy remnant the Lord says, “‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,’ says the Lord.” Zech. 2:10.

The Lord is not preparing a millennium for the ungodly so that He can dwell among them. Not at all! They have governed and managed long enough with their evil minds, and all the ungodly will be destroyed. However, the meek and the God-fearing will inherit the earth, and He will dwell and rule together with them for a thousand years. Then it will be glorious on earth, and blessed are all those who will be there.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’” Zech. 8:2-3. God wants to dwell only in a faithful city, and on a holy mountain.

In His love, the Lord is setting apart out a holy remnant in these last days in regard to both the earthly and the spiritual Israel. Now we must take a stand: to be either for or against. He who is not with Him is against Him. The Lord purifies for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Tit. 2:14.

In the last days the Lord will reckon all flesh as grass. The time of grace will soon be over, and He will not spare anyone who will not repent. The only place where we will be able to save our lives is on holy ground; i.e., that we can abide in God’s Word with all our heart, so that our life will be in agreement with His Word in everything. All those who have not taken refuge there will perish. They will wither away as the flower of the grass. Isa. 40.

Our salvation is that we receive a love for the truth with all our heart so that we can be saved. Those who don’t will be deceived and lost. God Himself will send them strong delusions so that they will believe a lie. 2 Thess. 2:10-11.

God will also see to it that those who wholeheartedly love the truth and are willing to be obedient to it will never be led astray. All apostasy comes from having a divided heart or a love for one thing or another outside of Christ. Wherever we read in the Scriptures about false teachers and those who have gone astray, we read that they were sinners who had a seared conscience. None of them had victory over sin. Their minds were set on the great things of this world, honor, and gain. Today as never before there are false teachers and apostates. The one thing they have in common is that they do not have victory over sin themselves, and neither are they occupied with leading others to a life of victory through a living faith. They proclaim “sin and grace,” but not “grace and help” to overcome all kinds of sins. Today this apostasy is so great that in their deep darkness they label overcoming Christians as false teachers and apostates, even though they see with their own eyes God-fearing lives that manifest the fruit of the Spirit as well as the genuine and true sign of Jesus’ disciples: perfect unity and love among them. No human being can produce anything like that; it is the blessed work of the Spirit. They themselves are divided into all kinds of groups and denominations, and it is difficult for them to bear with each other, even within small groups. We need to separate ourselves from those who do not believe in an overcoming life, because they open themselves to all kinds of evil and impure powers. They are deceived, and they deceive.

Those who are separate and do not touch that which is impure are sons and daughters of the Lord. We shall be encouraged and edified together with them. Here we stand on holy ground and are waiting for our heavenly Bridegroom.

The gathering of the Jews in Palestine is a sure sign of Jesus’ return. Now we must expect Him with joy and with pure and faithful hearts. Jesus will return soon, and then He will have a flock on earth who are fully formed and ready to meet Him. They have loved Jesus so highly that they have been faithful to Him in all of life’s tribulations and trials. They are the children of light and of the day, and they have been God’s pure and blameless children in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Phil. 2:15.