I was reading through my Bible last night and noticed a pattern in the Psalms. Specifically looking at Psalms 44 – 47, I believe the Lord orchestrated the end-times story as a the theme of these Psalms taken in order.
The first thing I noticed is that all these Psalms are by the “Sons of Korah”. I guess I had never noticed that before. Doing a little digging, yes, these Sons of Korah are related to the rebellion of Korah recorded in Numbers 16. In Numbers 16, Korah led a rebellion against Moses authority. When God judged the situation, the ground below Korah and his 250 rebels opened up and the earth swallowed them up. When you move forward to Numbers 26 however, we find that during a census that the Lord ordered from Moses, we see this phrase “11 The line of Korah, however, did not die out.”. So there were still descendants from Korah who learned the lesson God had intended. They became faithful followers of the Lord and served him! Here in Psalms hundreds of years later, they are God’s instruments for writing his Word.
Let’s look at parts of these psalms in order. As this is a blog post, I will only record certain passages that set the themes. It would be a great Bible study for you to read these passages in their entirety.
Psalm 44: Verses 1-3:
1O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.
The first sections of Psalm 44 recount the deliverance God gave the people of Israel through the Exodus and then through the conquering of the land in Israel.
Psalm 44: 9-11
9But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
Here the Psalm recounts the “diasporas” God used when Israel was in rebellion. The first diaspora was led by the Assyrians (732 722 b.c.) and the Babylonians (606 – 586 b.c.). The second diaspora was led by the Romans (70 a.d – 132 a.d.). That is when the Second Temple fell and finally the Israelites were pushed out of the land and scattered among the nations.
Psalm 45 verses 6-9
6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
Here the anointed King is introduced. Notice God the Father is addressing God the Son (Jesus!) which can be confirmed with Hebrews 1:8-9 where the writer of Hebrews quotes this passage and applies it to Jesus directly. So in our timeline, we are in the Church age with the resurrection of Jesus already completed. Finally, we see his bride, “The Queen” introduced.
Psalm 45 Verses 10-11
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
In verses 10-11 we see the wedding scene with the Bridegroom taking his Bride to his fathers house (Heaven) leaving her fathers house (Earth) behind. This is has been interpreted by some scholars as a possible reference to the Rapture of the Church. Given the rest of this context in these Psalms, I think that is an easy conclusion to make. Consider how Jesus himself used this same theme for his Apostles in John chapter 14:
1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Psalm 45 verses 13-17
13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Now we see the Church in the wedding dress in Heaven. Consider the New Testament Revelation 19 picture as a comparison:
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
In this progression, the wedding has happened in Heaven. As many people who understand the End Times events of the Bible, we know that on Earth, this is the time of the Tribulation period. The whole Earth is judged. At the time these Psalms are being written, the thought was probably the marriage of a King like King David or Solomon. The judgement from the Lord would have been the coming judgement God orchestrated by the Assyrians and Babylonians. But consider how these Psalm verses about judgement refer to the whole Earth. Also consider that these passages don’t seem to be referencing war as much as God’s hand in all of nature as the judgment.
Psalm 46 (all verses)
1God is our refuge and strength,
a very present[b] help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
I hope it is obvious reading these verses that this judgment is global and that it is the same language God used of the Tribulation Period throughout the Bible. Here is a sample of some of these verses:
Revelation 6:12-17
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[a] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Revelation 11:18
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
Revelation 16:1
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
Isaiah 24:1-6
1Behold, the Lord will empty the earth[a] and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
for the Lord has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
5 The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore a curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
Isaiah 24:19-21
19The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth staggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
its transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
I hope you can see the parallels from Psalm 46 to other references to the Tribulation Period in the Bible. The final Psalm, Psalm 47, shows the King on his throne ruling the Earth! There is also a reference to Israel becoming the “pride of the nations” and his exaltation with another allusion to the Rapture and him becoming King of Kings.
Psalm 47
1Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
5 God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm![a]
8 God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!
In the Old Testament, God promised Israel / Jacob that they would receive their land inheritance (Ezekiel 47-48) with their King on the throne and the rivers of life flowing out to heal the nations. In the New Testament, Jesus made promises to the Church (Revelation 1-3) that we would rule and reign with him (Revelation 1:5-7). The Psalm closes with all the nations being ruled by Jesus (the God of Abraham) as was promised in other passages.
Zechariah 14:8-9
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea[d] and half of them to the western sea.[e] It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Isaiah 2:1-5
1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[a]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
Revelation 22:1-5
22 1Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
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