CHAPTER
VII.
HIS
PREPARATION.
“In
the day of his preparation.”—Nah. 2: 3.
THERE
is much more involved in the second coming of our Lord than any of us suppose.
All of us fail to attach to the subject its vast importance.
Many Pentecostal people will even dare to cry out against the subject
where it is properly presented. More
space in the Word is given to this subject than to any other one subject.
Therefore, it must be of vast importance.
As far as I can ascertain, there is not a single passage in the New
Testament exhorting us to prepare for death; but in many places do we find
exhortations to preparations for the coming of the Lord.
Over and over the saints are exhorted to prepare themselves for that
event. A special preparation is
necessary in order to be ready for His coming.
The day in which any saint lives on earth, in whatever age it may be,
is the day for that particular saint to prepare for the coming of the Lord.
We read in Nah. 2: 3, “The chariots shall be with flaming torches in
the day of His preparation.” Certainly,
that day is now, as we have shown you in a former chapter.
From the fact that the chariots are now with flaming torches, some
suppose that this alone is the day for the preparation of the Bride.
All through the Christian Dispensation, the Bride has been preparing
herself. These last days are
“in the day of His preparation.”
The fact is the preparation of the Bride is one thing, and “His
preparation” is another thing. It
is “His preparation” about which we wish to study now.
The trumpet which John heard in Rev. 4: 1, is the trumpet spoken of by
Paul in 1 Thess. 4: 16. The
catching away of John in connection with the sounding of the trumpet
represents
38
THE
SECOND COMING OF JESUS.
the
catching away of the Bride. The
throne about which John speaks in this connection is certainly not the throne
of the Father, upon which He now sits. The
connection shows that it is a judgment throne, set up for a special purpose.
The original indicates that John saw the throne as it was in the
process of erection, or just at the completion of its erection.
As stated above, John here stands for that class of saints who shall be
caught away at the second coming of the Lord.
So we see here that one thing included in “His preparation”
is the setting up of a particular throne for the special occasion of His
second coming. In Rev. 20, we
read about the setting up of His Millennial throne, which would be included in
“His preparation” also. This
throne, in the fourth chapter, will be set upon a sea of glass like unto a
crystal. Before the throne will
be seven lamps of fire burning. Out
of the throne will proceed lightnings and thunderings and voices.
A rainbow, in sight like unto an emerald, rises on one side of the sea
of glass and comes down on the other side thereof, spanning the throne in the
midst. All these arrangements
require preparation, and it is declared that there is a “day of His preparation.”
“The seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to
sound.”—Rev. 8: 6. Tribulations
follow the sounding of each of these seven trumpets.
We see that a certain preparation precedes their special tribulations.
We read again, “The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses
prepared unto battle. And the
four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a
month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.”—Rev. 9: 7, 15.
Here we read about a preparation.
These horse‑shaped locusts, which swarm over the earth during The
Great Tribulation, are prepared for their special work.
So also the four angels, now bound in the great river Euphrates, are prepared
to play their part in The Great Tribulation.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of
the east
39
HIS
PREPARATION.
might
be prepared.”—Rev. 16: 12. Here
again we read about a preparation connected with the Tribulation.
Some may think that God has nothing to do with the preparing of these
demons, etc., that bring plagues upon the earth, but God is the one who makes
these preparations. “Men . . .
. blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues.”—Rev.
16: 9. So we can see that
whatever preparations may be necessary for The Great Tribulation, such
preparations are included in “His preparation.”
“The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared
of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three
score days.”—Rev. 12: 6. This
woman represents the general body of believers, after the most inward figure
of the church has been removed. During
the last of The Tribulation the Antichrist will reign as king over the earth.
He will reign without mercy upon the saints of God.
So they have to flee for the wilderness.
In the wilderness the saints have a place “prepared of God” for
them. Just all that the
preparation of this place in the wilderness includes I do not know.
Whatever may be meant, one thing is certain that the place is
“prepared of God,” and is therefore “His preparation.”
“I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself.”—John 14: 2, 3. Here
Jesus told His disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them.
He told them that there were already many mansions in His Father’s
house, but He was going to prepare a place for them.
The place that Jesus has gone to prepare is, no doubt, the New
Jerusalem spoken of in Revelation. Just
when Jesus began to prepare this city no one knows.
It is generally believed that He began this city as soon as He went
back to heaven; but such would hardly be the case.
The New Jerusalem is for a special purpose.
It is likely that the preparation of this place is included in
“His
preparation.”
40
THE
SECOND COMING OF JESUS.
If any one should wish to hold to the idea that the New Jerusalem has
been under preparation through all the ages since Christ returned, he will
have to admit that there is a special preparation of the city in the last
days, for we read in Rev. 21: 2, “And I John saw the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband.” This indicates a
special preparation for a special occasion.
The New Jerusalem is to be the palace, the home of the Bride.
Jesus the Bridegroom, prepares a place to take His Bride unto Himself,
that where He is she may be also. He
not only prepares a home for her, but He adorns, decorates it.
Just as there are homes often decorated here in cases of marriages,
so there is to be a decoration of the New Jerusalem for the marriage of the
Lamb. Just all that the
decoration of this city may include we are unable to say.
It is clear, however, that the preparation of this city for this
special occasion is a part of “His
preparation.”
“The marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself
ready. And to her was granted
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints.”—Rev. 19: 7, 8.
In this text we read of a certain preparation of the Bride. There is a
preparation of the Bride in this life.
In fact, we must receive all our preparation here, so far as salvation
is concerned. The preparation
spoken of here seems to be that of the putting on of the fine linen.
When a virgin was to be chosen to be the wife of King Ahasuerus, a
number of virgins were taken, and all of them carried through a process of
purification (Est. 2: 12). However,
their purification was one thing, and the putting on of their garments to go
in before the king was another thing.
Of course, the putting on of the wedding garment is a necessary part
of the preparation of any bride. Whatever
preparation the Bride may make on earth, no one knows into what grand
activities the saints may enter after they are caught away from the
earth, nor how they may be called upon to busy them-
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HIS
PREPARATION.
selves
in putting on the garment preparatory to the marriage.
The Bride is caught away before the Great Tribulation begins, but the
marriage does not take place till near its close.
During The Tribulation the Bride is in the air preparing herself for
the marriage. The wedding
garments, while they are the righteousness of the saints, are necessarily
prepared by the Lord. The saints,
by their righteousness, furnish the material out of which God weaves the fine
linen, clean and white, with which He prepares garments for the Bride.
The preparation of these garments is likely a work of God “in the day
of His preparation.”
“Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the
Lamb.”—Rev. 19: 9. After the
marriage is over, there will be a call to the marriage supper.
Many have never seen that the marriage is one thing and that the
marriage supper is another thing. The
marriage supper is an event to which all the saints of the ages have looked
forward. The Bible has much to
say about the preparation of this supper, in parables and otherwise.
At this supper it is likely that all the saints of all ages will be
gathered. Think of the multitudes
of God’s people of all the ages, from the day of Adam till that great event
shall come. All who have died in
the faith, and all who shall be translated at the sound of the trumpet shall
be gathered about this table. What
a preparation will be necessary in order to seat and to feed such a company!
God alone could make such a preparation.
However, it is nobody’s task but His.
We read in Nahum’s prophecy about “His preparation,” and
surely the preparing of this supper is a part of “His preparation.”
Perhaps
there are many preparations to be made by the Lord of which we have no
knowledge. However, we are sure
of what we have said above, for we have confined ourselves to the Bible.
All these preparations are to be made expressly in view of the second
coming of Jesus. How important an event, then. the second coming must be!
If God considers the second coming of the Lord of so much importance as
to make special
42
THE
SECOND COMING OF JESUS.
preparations
for it, both in earth and in heaven, then will it not show a mark of wisdom
for each of us to consider the event of enough importance that we should make
special effort to prepare ourselves for it?