The Write Place

Every piece of scripture ties together with the body of scripture in ways you can never begin to imagine, or ever exhaust. Today I want to share with you something that is often forgotten in the Church. Christ is very active now, as a conquering warrior king who fights for his people.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, we are given a beautiful look at what the return of Christ will be like.
“13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,[a] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Something interesting is easily missed. Read v 16 again.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

The call/shout translated as “a cry of command” is κελεύσματι, a word used to describe the shout accompanying a commander heading into battle. Interesting enough as this is, scripture goes far deeper.
In the Joshua 5:13-15, the Commander of the hosts of heaven appears.

“13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped[a] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”

Notice though something interesting. Joshua worships this figure and is told “the ground you are standing on is holy.” echoing Exodus 3 and the burning bush.
Exodus 3:1-5

“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” “

This commander is divine, and there is only one being who is divine.
This commander is YHWH himself, and is identified also as “the angel of the LORD.”

When turn to Revelation 19:11-15 we see an illustration of Jesus’ returning, the same event Paul is speaking of.
“11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in[a] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule[b] them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

This echos Revelation 1’s description of Jesus in v14-16

“¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

And Psalm 2:9
“You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

This same Jesus returns leading the armies of heaven, just like the figure in Joshua 5, who is the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush, who is YHWH in Exodus 3.

In the ancient world, it was rare for a general to lead the armies. It was usually the King. Though David failed (and fell into sin with Bathsheba) we see the author of 2 Samuel notes this.

2 Samuel 11:1

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”

So Christ, the risen, resurrected King who reigns now is busy at work putting his enemies under foot.
1 Corinthians 26-27
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God[a] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.”

This is why at his second and final coming, the dead in Christ are raised first. Their enemy, death has been at last destroyed by the Church’s returning savior and king.

I could go on and on but I think I have shown how Jesus, the eternal word and Son of the father, the king of all the earth, has always led the hosts of heaven and fought for his people. All things are under the authority of this risen warrior king, and he is actively subduing all of his, and our enemies (Mt 28:20, Revelation 7) as he actively judges the earth. The last enemy is death, and when he returns, he will put death under foot (1 Corinthians 15:25-26, 1 Thessalonians 4, Revelation 20) which is also why the dead in Christ are raised then. When he returns this warrior king will at last destroy his, and our, enemies.

This is the God we serve; this is what he is doing, and this is why he comes as he does at the end.
It makes it even more beautiful that Paul concludes simply in v18
“Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

What could be more encouraging than these things?