DAY OF GOD’S VENGEANCE
(week 22/12)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Luke 4:16-21 KJV: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. (17) And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, (18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (20) And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. (21) And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Here, we see the Lord Jesus proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord: the jubilee or release of the sick and oppressed at the beginning of His three-year ministry. However, we see that He did not go on to proclaim the day of the vengeance of our God which is in that same verse of scripture as shown in
Isaiah 61:1-3 KJV: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (3) To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
This was because the day of the vengeance of our God would not come until now, the 3rd day (Lk. 13:32), the third millennium from the birth of Christ.
So, we are now in the third day and we are now announcing that the day of the vengeance of our God is upon us!
What is this vengeance or revenge that God will be executing at this time?
The vengeance will be two-fold: upon the rebellious in the Church and upon the persecutors of the Church in the world.
God’s revenge will be upon the rebellious Christians in His Church that hitherto have hindered the progress of God’s purpose in His Church; King Saul in the Old Testament typifies these Christians by their stubbornness and rebellion.
1Samuel 15:22-23 KJV: And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
They are also typified by the scribes and Pharisees in the time of Christ who omitted the weightier matters of the law:
Matthew 23:23 KJV: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Furthermore, they are typified by those described as being at ease in Zion in
Amos 6:1 KJV: Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Amos 6:4-6 KJV: That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; (5) That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; (6) That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
They indulge the flesh and will not submit to the spiritual disciplines of sufferings of self-denial, regular fasting and prayer and study of the Word.
They handle the Word of God deceitfully: wanting the blessings in God’s Word but not preaching and practicing the conditions for those blessings:
Ephesians 4:14 KJV: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
2Corinthians 4:2 KJV: But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
God’s vengeance is about to fall on these Christians in this hour to settle the controversies of Zion: the disagreements in the Church about prayer in the Spirit with all types of prayer (Eph. 6.18) and travail (Gal. 4.19, Rom. 8.26), revelation knowledge (2 Cor. 4.6) and the perfection of the Church (Lk. 6.40, 1 Jn. 2.5, Jn. 14.12, Eph. 4.11-16):
Isaiah 34:8 KJV: For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
The purpose of this prophetic message or trumpet (Is. 58:1, Joel. 2:1,12-14) is to sound an alarm to the church so that all those who fall into the categories described above may repent and so avoid the vengeance that is imminent.
In our article next week, we will see why and how this vengeance will fall on the church.
