An Old Testament Prophetic Preview of The Second Advent

Psalm 97 belongs to the circle of millennial psalms referring to our Lord’s Second Coming to reign. According to Reformation leader, Theodore Beza (1519–1605), this psalm is “the most highly prized of all that prefigure Christ’s return, as containing a most divine epitome of all gospel mysteries.” Beza was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who succeeded John Calvin as the leader of the Protestant Reformation. He understood that this psalm is undeniably important for an understanding of the world situation preceding Christ’s return.

Psalm 97 opens with the proclamation, “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.” Barnes Notes Commentary interprets the Hebrew text, “Many, or great isles.” Welsh theologian Matthew Henry (1662–1714) gave this further interpretation: “Let the multitude of isles, the many or great isles, be glad thereof. This is applicable to our country [Britain], which is a great isle, and has many belonging to it…” Is this well-respected theologian correct that Great Britain is represented in this prophecy?

John Gill (1697 –1771), an English Baptist pastor, biblical scholar, and theologian, expounded further saying, “the isles of the sea are many, even many thousands; …well may the text speak of a multitude of them: ‘let the great islands’, such as ours of Great Britain and Ireland; these isles are said to wait for Christ and his doctrine, Isaiah 42:4, and therefore must be glad to hear of his coming and kingdom.

The Gospel was very early sent to the isles, as to Cyprus, Crete (see Acts 13:4; 27:7), and to our northern isles likewise.” Yes, early historians record that the Gospel was proclaimed in countries such as Cyprus, Crete, Britain, and Ireland very soon after Christ’s Resurrection.

Another Reformation expositor, John Trapp (1601-1669) also confirmed the meaning of the Hebrew text as “the many, or great isles.” He referenced the prophet Jeremiah: “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jer. 23:7-8) This prophecy specifically refers to the exiled ten-tribe House of Israel as dwelling in the great isles and lands of the north! This is certain documentation that Ephraim-Israel had settled in northern European lands.

The common interpretation of this prophecy is that it applied to all islands and lands throughout the earth, including people of every race and nation. However, noted Lutheran scholar Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenburg (1802-1869) indicated that this is instead a specific reference to the exiled ten-tribe House of Israel in their new home in the isles and coastlands. He stated, “The exhortation to the earth to triumph, and to the islands to rejoice, leads, at first sight, to the inference, that the reign of the Lord will bring salvation also to the heathen. But such exhortations not unfrequently occur in cases where reference is made directly only to salvation for Sion (cf. Deut. 32:43); and, in our Psalm, the heathen nowhere appear as the objects of salvation, but as the objects of judgment on the part of God.” The “multitude of isles and coastlands” are glad because the Chosen People have long awaited the promised coming of their Messiah to bring salvation to Israel. As the similar Psalm 98:3 says, “He has [earnestly] remembered His mercy and loving-kindness, His truth and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel,” the ten tribes. (Amp. Version)

The return of Christ will be, as Hengstenburg pointed out, a blessing for believers but a traumatic event for the wicked and all heathen unbelievers. Psalm 97:2-4 describes it in distinctive terms: “Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.” This psalm is not prefiguring Christ’s First Coming as a babe in a manger, but His Second Advent in flaming fire to judge the world.

Those who worship false religion are admonished next: “Confounded be all they that serve graven images [and] that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.” (Psa. 97:7) In the biblical Hebrew text this contains a blunt play on words that is lost in translation. Literally it says, “Confounded will be all who serve elelim [graven images]; worship Him you who serve Elohim.” John Gill remarked, “Confounded be all they that serve graven images…which had its accomplishment in the first times of the Gospel; when, being preached in the Gentile world, multitudes forsook their idols and served the true God; and especially at the opening of the sixth seal, when Pagan worship was abolished throughout the Roman Empire; and when the kings and great men in it, through shame, confusion, and dread, fled to the rocks and mountains, to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, Rev. 6:12…” Gill gave a blind witness that this psalm confirms the fulfillment of prophecies concerning exiled Israel in Europe during the time of the Roman Empire.

Hengstenburg added, “[Psalm] chapter 44:10, 12, is particularly appropriate where the islands and their inhabitants are exhorted to sing to the Lord because of his deeds on behalf of Israel, while in other passages the islands themselves appear as participators of the salvation.” The Protestant Reformation spread throughout Europe and the British Isles, the very lands which in prophecy concerning the latter-day House of Israel were to accept Christ and participate in salvation.

The House of Judah, however, is not forgotten in this prophecy. “Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD.” (Psa. 97:8) Why is Judah here specifically referenced separate from ten-tribe Ephraim, the House of Israel? Barnes Notes in commenting on the same phrase used in Isaiah 48:11 says, “The ‘daughters of Judah’ are those descended from Judah, or connected with the tribe of Judah…the name Judah was given to all those that remained after the removal of the ten tribes.”

Judah and Benjamin, the two-tribe House of Judah, was all that remained in Palestine after the exile of the ten-tribe House of Israel. Where was the House of Israel? They were in the “isles and coastlands” of the North Country, as stated in the opening verse of Psalm 97. This psalm makes it clear that the two houses of Israel, Judah and Ephraim, are separate entities at the time of our Lord’s return at the end of the age. It further documents that only the House of Judah returned from exile, and that the House of Israel would remain established in “the isles and coastlands” of northern Europe. Lastly, it gives remarkable evidence that the Gospel would be established among modern Israel nations in Europe “as participators in salvation.”

Psalms 96 to 99 are considered “Coronation Psalms” and foretell our Lord’s return to establish His earthly kingdom. Psalms 96 and 98 closely parallel each other, and Psalms 97 and 99 do also. They speak of a coming time of gladness and rejoicing for the faithful, but fire and misery on the ungodly.

Psalm 97 closes in verses 10 to 12 with triumphant words of instruction, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” Let us prepare ourselves for the coming day of His return. Hallelujah!