135 – THE   ARMIES   OF   JEHOVAH   2

We have already spoken about the armies of heaven, which are the angels of Jehovah (Gen.32:1-2; 1 Kings 22:19; Ps.103:19-22). The earth, this planet where we live, is an abyss: Prov.8:26-27; Ps.104:6; 30:3 and Rom.10:6-7, where we read: “But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down), or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)’” Jehovah also has his armies in the abyss. As the king of the abyss is Abaddom (Destroyer) and the armies of the deep belong to Jehovah, there is a partnership between Abaddon and Jehovah.

Jehovah has his armies of lions (2 Kings 17:24-25). No wonder Jehovah has armies of lions, for he calls himself “devouring lion.” “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver” (Hos.5:14). “So I will be like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and I will tear open their chests; there I WILL ALSO DEVOUR THEM LIKE A LIONESS, as a wild beast would tear them” (Hos.13:7-8).

Jehovah has an army of rats. The Philistines had taken the ark of Jehovah, and to avenge himself, he filled their cities and fields with rats, and hurt them with hemorrhoids. They decided, then, to return the ark as quickly as possible, and send an offering to pay for their sin. Then they said: “‘What shall be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?’ And they said, ‘Five golden tumors, and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel” (1 Sam.6:4-5). They placed the ark on a new cart, drawn by cows on which there had never been a yoke, and sent it. The cows went, lowing, straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh, not turning aside to the right or to the left. Then the plague ceased, and also the pest-disseminator rats, for Jehovah was pleased with the offering, and he certainly kept the gold hemorrhoids and rats, since he is the god of the gold (1 Sam.6:6-12).

All of the armies of Jehovah are destroyers. In the Old Testament there is no news of armies of evangelists. Noah preached destruction (Gen.6:7). Enoch, who was born 434 years before Noah, preached destruction for three hundred years (Gen.5:22; Jude 14-15). All of the prophets of Jehovah preached death and destruction. “Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets: I have slain them by the words of My mouth” (Hos.6:5).

But Jehovah had, or has, armies of men. The armies of Assyria belonged to Jehovah. “And it will come about that day, that Jehovah will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will come” (Is.7:1819). “And again Jehovah spoke to me further, saying, ‘Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, and rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; now therefore, behold, Jehovah is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. The I will sweep on into Judah, it will reach even to the neck; and the spread of its wings will fill the breath of your land, O Immanuel” (Is.8:5-8). When Jehovah prophesied about Emmanuel (god with us), he did not speak of Jesus, but of the sons of Israel who went to the Assyrian captivity. Emmanuel, that is, god with us, was the yoke of iron and the shame of the slavery in the captivity. The Assyrians were a barbarous and fierce people, idolatrous, wicked and destitute of morals, but they were an army of Jehovah. About the Assyrians, Jehovah said, “Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?” (Is.10:15).

Another army of Jehovah was the Chaldeans, or the Babylonians. Jehovah turned his back on his people and strengthened the Chaldeans. “Thus says Jehovah God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I shall gather them into the center of this city. And I Myself shall war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation. I shall also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence” (Jer.21:4-6). “‘I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I WILL GIVE IT TO THE ONE WHO IS PLEASING IN MY SIGHT. AND NOW I HAVE GIVEN ALL THESE LANDS INTO THE HAND OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR KING OF BABYLON, MY SERVANT, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence,’ declares Jehovah, ‘Until I have destroyed it by his hand’” (Jer.27:5-8).Nebuchadnezzar and his army was the apple of the eye of Jehovah, and this is why he delivered the kingdom of Judah as a slave to his servant, who was pleasing in his eyes.

The third great army of Jehovah was the army of the Medes and Persians. He said about the Medes: “I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have called My mighty warriors, My proud exulting ones, to execute My anger” (Is.13:3). “Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall be shaken from its place at the fury of Jehovah of hosts in the day of His burning anger” (Is.13:13). “Anyone who is found will be thrust through, and anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold, and their bows will mow down the young men, they will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, nor will their eye pity children. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldean’s pride, will be as when Jehovah overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (Is.13:5-19).

It is a subject to be analyzed: Jehovah destroyed the Egyptians for the love of Israel (Is.43:3). Then he ceased loving Israel and brought his great army of Assyrians to destroy Israel. Later, he promised to destroy Assyria (Is.10:5-15; Zeph.2:1-12). Who was it that definitively conquered and destroyed Assyria? Who was it that burned the temple of Jehovah, burned Jerusalem, and took the Jews to captivity? It was the servant of Jehovah: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Lastly, Jehovah destroyed Babylon by the army of Darius, the Mede, calling them his consecrated ones. What conclusion can we draw from this? Jehovah is bloody. He himself declares: “For My sword is satiated in heaven, behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood” (Is.34:5-6). “For that day belongs to Jehovah God of hosts, a day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; and the sword will devour and be satiated and drink its fill of their blood” (Jer.46:10).

Jehovah, by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, and also of Ezekiel, promised to restore the kingdom of Israel, and to place it as head of the nations (Jer.30:31-32; Ezek.37). Zachariah prophesied that Jehovah is going to rule in Jerusalem, and that the nations will come up to worship him every year, and that Judah will fight in Jerusalem (Zech.14:14-18). Then Judah will be the weapon of war of Jehovah to tear the nations to pieces (Jer.51:20-23).

Jesus Christ revealed a peaceful God, full of love and of mercy, forgiving, and savior of all men (1 Tim.4:10), one that has never placed a foot in this dark world of Jehovah. The armies of Jesus walk about the dark abyss of Jehovah with the message of the love of the Father. Those who believe will be taken into the kingdom of heaven. Those who do not believe will remain here, on the earth, to be devoured by the armies of Jehovah.   

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira