“Wail; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty.” (Isa 13:6)
“A day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wastefulness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers (the strong and well entrenched governments).” (Zeph 1:15-16)
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord (The Day of his Vengeance, The Great Time of Trouble) is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness (ignorance) and gloominess (foreboding), A day of clouds (trouble, calamity) and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds (troubles), spread over the mountains (the nations, the people)…
BEHOLD, A PEOPLE COME, GREAT AND STRONG (a mighty army, unparalleled in all history, the Lord’s great army, the unrestrained anarchist masses of mankind, “the beast that was", "COMES AGAIN"), the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.” (Joel 2:1, 2)
“Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one (His Great Army), which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, He will bring it across the land with His hand.” (Isa 28:2)
“They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons (instruments) of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.” (Isa 13:5)
Habakkuk Chapter 1 continued
VERSE 5 “Look among the nations and watch—be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.”
The unusual “work” that God “will work” is that He will rise up His Great Army to do a destructive work on Christendom. This evil class will be allowed not merely to providentially exist (the beast that was shall exist again), but likewise to have sufficient freedom (to rule), to do their evil work of destruction.
Recall what we leaned earlier in this study (Parts 3-5) concerning the “seven kings”. A “king” is representative of a ruler-ship, “The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eight (king), and is of the seven.” Rev 17:11
“And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:11).
The Prophet Habakkuk had a dual role. Sometimes he expressed himself from the point a view of the Great Company, i.e. as the Great Company will see matters, but at other times he expressed himself as a seer, as a prophet. When he prophesied, he also took the role as if he were living at that future time.
“Behold, you despisers (scoffers of God’s true plans and purposes), marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one was to declare it unto you.” (Hab 1:5; Acts 13:41)
“If you did not see some evidences you would consider impending events impossibilities”. Such will be the astonishment of many of the Lord’s professed followers, when they witness the destruction of present order of things, not only of governments but likewise the great institutions of error, THE CHURCH NOMINAL with all its various branches both Catholic and Protestant alike raised to the ground, utterly destroyed.
‘How could this be?’ they will exclaim, ‘Were these not the Lord’s divine institutions, set forth to preach his word, established by He himself?’
Some will say, ‘Surely our church was faithful’, evidently not, else they would not have met the same fate as the rest of them. Great Babylon will fall and rise no more.
This is where much of the confusion comes in to play; many are of the erroneous opinion that certain churches or denominations are excluded from what the Lord deems as “Babylon the Great”, they foolishly imagine that their particular church or group stands apart from Babylon, but they are mistaken.
The Lord makes no such distinction among the various branches setting one or another apart from Babylon, they are ALL part of Babylon whether Mother (Catholic) or daughters (Protestants), they are ALL deemed “harlots” by the Lord, for they have ALL been joined or united to the world in one manner or another.
The true Church does not consist of any man-made or man-contrived religious institution, sects or denomination, the true Church is made up of individuals wholly consecrated to the Lord wherever they may be found.
As for the “strange work” to be performed (the destruction of Christendom) Isa 28:21, it is even now being declared (to you personally now), and how is it being received by many of the professed followers of the Lord, why with disdain and disbelief, JUST AS THE LORD SAID IT WOULD BE.
NOTE: If you are still it bit confused as to whom exactly the great company consist, please see our blog post entitled, The Great Company, Who Are They?
We continue with Verse 6 in our next post.
