Isaiah 27:12

"And it will come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will beat off his fruit from the flood of the River to the brook of Egypt; and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem."

There are a number of things that positively identify this passage as a concluding reference to the final judgment. (1) There is the double mention of "in that day." (2) Also, the sound of the mighty trumpet must be invariably associated with the final judgment. Our Lord said:

"And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31).

Many of the comments encountered seem to overlook some of the most important conclusions mandated by this passage. Note that no "nation" whatever is mentioned as being gathered in, that no "race" is included; but that the saved shall be gathered "one by one," that is, individually. "Every man shall receive the reward of the deeds done in "his body" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Note also that the return from Assyria and the outcasts of Egypt refer to different generations, pointing to a simultaneous judgment of all peoples and nations at one time, as indicated clearly by Christ in Matthew 25.

"Beat off his fruit ..." (Isaiah 27:12). is a reference to the manner of harvesting such things as olives, which were harvested by threshing the tree, that is, beating off the fruit.

Rawlinson has an interesting interpretation of this passage, stating that, "The imagery here points rather to the final gathering of Israel into the Church triumphant than to the return from Babylonian captivity."[17] This is correct of course in the sense that the return from Babylon is simply not in the passage; but the error of it is in not seeing the final judgment here. Remember the `great trumpet!' God never did blow the big trumpet when some Jew was converted to Christ! That is an event connected with the second advent and the end of the world.

(The end of Division III)