2024 Happy New Year! The Forces of the Gentiles Shall Come

Perhaps in this new year numbers of the great multitude saved out of the great tribulation period will come – to Christ – as He draws them to Himself:

Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Certainly darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. The only way the things we are seeing in society to happen is if gross darkness (of understanding) has occurred in the minds of the people of the world.

Yet, at the same time God tells us that the LORD will arise upon Christ (the Word) and His glory will be seen upon Him. And the Gentiles will come (Christ's light) – the Gentiles are the nations. Certainly not all the people of the nations will come. But the nations of them which are saved (Revelation 21:24) will come and kings to the brightness of His rising. We see both of these things in this Scripture:

Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

In Revelation 21 the holy city New Jerusalem has already been completed. The use of the number 12 (representing fullness) again and again reveals that the city is full of God's elect. All to be saved have been saved.

And still, we read of the kings of the earth bringing their glory and honour into it. How can this be?

The answer matches our situation perfectly. God saved all whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life by the date of May 21, 2011. And yet, here we are following the command to feed the sheep (great multitude) and expecting them to come as John 21 reveals the Lord's plan to draw the great catch of fish after the tribulation ended.

And according to Isaiah 60:4 they will come. "They come to Thee (Christ)". They come because they cannot resist coming. For no man can come to Christ except the Father who sent Him draw them (John 6:44). And Jesus proclaimed on the last day (Judgment Day) the great day of the feast – that all were to come:

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

There will not be any new salvation insofar as the saving of a sinner's soul is concerned; but there will be the coming of those whose soul has already experienced restoration of life prior to May 21, 2011's arrival and the shutting of the door of heaven.

They will come! Isaiah 60 tells us again and again. They will come despite the darkness over the earth and gross darkness of the people. They will come because the abundance of the sea (i.e. the great catch of fish) has been converted unto (God).

Thou shalt see, God declares to us in Isaiah 60:5. That the "forces of the Gentiles shall come unto Thee (Christ)".

The Hebrew word translated as "forces" (#2428) is also found in verse 11 of Isaiah 60:

Isaiah 60:11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.

Again we see similarity with the language of Revelation 21:24-26. The forces of the Gentiles will come – and "their kings may be brought".

“Brought” is a word that reminds us God is in charge. He will bring them because He will draw them in the last day, the great day of the feast. The Lord will command, "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught" (John 21:10) and the fish will be brought. The mindset of the fish is insignificant as a power greater and far mightier than theirs will make sure they come.

The same Hebrew word (#2428) translated as “forces” twice in Isaiah 60 is also found in:

Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

As Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy a second time (second outpouring of the Holy Spirit – during the latter rain period) an exceeding great army stood upon their feet. To stand upon the feet matches what happened to the 2 witnesses in Revelation 11 and ties in with the 2nd part of the Great Tribulation period. The "exceeding great army" also matches the Biblical language that a great multitude was saved out of that tribulation.

Oh, but what about the forces. Where are they to be found in Ezekiel 37:10? They are the "army". The same Hebrew word translated as “forces” is translated as “army.” The exceeding great army are the forces – of the Gentiles – that will come to Christ.

There's one more place where we find this same Hebrew word. And of course, the context is Judgment Day. It's found in:

Zechariah 14:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

In this verse reference is made to the massive division we are all witnessing happen across the whole world at this time. The division (hand of neighbor rising up against neighbor) is indicative of the world's fall (Mark 3:24-26). The division indicates Satan's kingdom of this world (the nations/Gentiles) has been defeated. And Christ is the Judge and Divider (Luke 12:13,14) of mankind. But notice the next verse and pay close attention to what God tells us is going on at the time of the world's final judgment:

Zechariah 14:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

The "wealth of all the heathen" shall be gathered together.

The word "wealth" is the same word translated as "forces" in Isaiah 60:5,11. It is the same word as "army" in Ezekiel 37:10.

Also, the word "heathen" is the same word that was translated as "Gentiles". So, "the wealth of the heathen" – is an identical statement to "the forces of the Gentiles".

If you're casually reading this you're probably saying, "Okay, so?" But if you're reading more carefully you're probably saying, "Wow! What a marvelous truth". You're probably seeing the various Scriptural pieces fit together and the glorious thing they're teaching coming to light.

Oh, but there's more. Notice the last part of verse 14: "... gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance."

The wealth (forces) of the Gentiles will be gathered together is saying the same thing as "gold, silver, and apparel". The elect are likened to gold, silver, and precious stones (see 1 Corinthians 3:12). Obviously, great abundance of gold, silver, etc., means a great multitude of the elect being gathered together – in the time of great division when neighbor is fighting neighbor (Judgment Day).

Remember the historical parable of the battle in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. God's people (the elect) had no need to fight in that battle for the battle was the Lord's. And the enemies of God killed one another (terrible division in the ranks of Satan's kingdom in view once more).

2 Chronicles 20:22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

Instead of fighting, the task of the army of Judah was to gather the spoils (precious jewels) of the victory:

2 Chronicles 20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

This is part of the job assigned to the saints in this time of judgment on the world. We are to gather the precious jewels. Which are the wealth (forces) of the heathen (Gentiles). They will come, God says.

Could it be that they will come in 2024. And may our children, those raised under the hearing of Thy Word with the hope of blessing upon them, be among those who come at Thy command.

And, oh Lord, if the time is not yet, help us to wait upon Thee and wait for Thy perfect timing and will to be done.

Isaiah 49:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.