The Gathering of the Elect on the Day of the Lord

This study in a downloadable PDF file: 2016-11-13-the-gathering-of-the-elect

Zechariah 14:1-9 (NKJV)

¹ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
² For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
³ Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
⁴ And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
⁵ Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.
⁶ It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish.
⁷ It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD– Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.
⁸ And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.
⁹ And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be– “The LORD is one,” And His name one.

Acts 1:6-12 (NKJV)

Acts 1:6-12 (NKJV) ⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
⁹ Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
¹¹ who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.

Saint

qadowsh –

The KJV translates Strongs H6918 in the following manner: holy (65x), Holy One (39x), saint (12x).

First Mention

Exodus 19:6 (NKJV) And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Leviticus 21:8 (NKJV) Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
Leviticus 11:45 (NKJV) For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Isaiah 48:17 (NKJV) Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Psalm 89:5-8 (NKJV) ⁵ And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?
⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
⁸ O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

Joel’s Army

² A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
³ A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run.
⁵ With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
⁶ Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
⁷ They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks.
⁸ They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.
⁹ They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
¹⁰ The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.
¹¹ The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?

The Armies of Heaven Revelation 19:7-21 (NKJV)

⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
⁸ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
⁹ Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
¹⁰ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
¹¹ Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
¹² His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
¹³ He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
¹⁴ And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
¹⁵ Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
¹⁶ And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,
¹⁸ that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
¹⁹ And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
²⁰ Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Army

First, Revelation 17:14 describes God’s people being associated with the anticipated battle of Armageddon: “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Rev 17:14).
Second, the “armies of heaven” in v. 14 are described as “arrayed in fine linen, white and pure.” This attire is strikingly similar to the attire that is described in the immediate context describing the Bride: “for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev 19:7–8).
Third, in the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19:15 says, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron” (Rev 19:15). Elsewhere in the book of Revelation, it says the overcomer (believer) will be given authority to do the same: “And to the one who conquers and who continues in my deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations— he will rule them with an iron rod and like clay jars he will break them to pieces” (Rev 2:26–27). So this similar language and context indicates that believers will not only accompany Christ into the battle of Armageddon, but it also suggests that believers will be participating in combat—with, of course, a certain outcome, victory.

Revelation 6:1-17 (NKJV) – Seals and Lights out

¹ Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”
² And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
³ When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”
⁴ Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
⁵ When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
⁶ And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
⁷ When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”
⁸ So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
⁹ When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
¹² I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
¹³ And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
¹⁴ Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
¹⁶ and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
¹⁷ For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Matthew 24:1-31 (NKJV) Jesus

¹ Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
¹⁹ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
²³ Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.

²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
²⁵ See, I have told you beforehand.
²⁶ Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.

²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Four Elect’s of God

Christ (Isaiah 42:1; 1 Peter 2:6)
1. Isaiah 42:1 (NKJV) “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2. 1 Peter 2:6 (NKJV) Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
All Christians (Romans 8:33; Col. 3:12; Titus 1:1)
1. Romans 8:33 (NKJV) Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
2. Colossians 3:12 (NKJV) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
3. Titus 1:1 (NKJV) Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,
Israel (Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 65:9,22)
1. Isaiah 45:4 (NKJV) For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.
2. Isaiah 65:9 (NKJV) I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there.
Angels (1 Tim. 5:21)
1. 1 Timothy 5:21 (NKJV) I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.

Anyone chosen of God at any time, Jew or Gentile, is the elect of God.

Who is “His” elect?

Matthew 22:14 (NKJV) For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

Revelation 14:14-20 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
¹⁵ And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
¹⁶ So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.”
¹⁹ So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
²⁰ And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV)

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ ”

Matthew 13:37-43 (NKJV)

³⁷ He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
³⁸ The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
⁴⁰ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.
⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Christ, by his angels, was the great reaper of the righteous harvest. That was symbolized in verses 14-16.
The Elect of God
Another angel comes forth with a sickle in his hand. the wicked are gathered by this angel reaper.
This angel came for a different purpose-with reference to the cutting off of the enemies of God

Luke 17:20-30 (NKJV)

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
²² Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them.

²⁴ For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
²⁵ But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
²⁶ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
²⁸ Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Colossians 3:3-4 (NKJV) ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
2 Thessalonians 1:7 (NKJV) and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NKJV) ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NKJV)

⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Not, there is not one of us now living who shall die before the Lord’s coming, but, we shall not all die. There will be some of us Christians living when the Lord comes, but we shall be changed. The other rendering would commit the apostle to the extent of believing that not one Christian would die before the coming of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV)

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Shall be caught up. The word here used implies that there will be the application of external force or power by which this will be done. It will not be by any power of ascending which they will themselves have; or by any tendency of their raised or changed bodies to ascend of their own accord, or even by any effort of their own will, but by a power applied to them which will cause them to rise
Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJV) ²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Titus 2:11-13 (NKJV)

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,