We are continuing in our study of Joseph and his family. We are currently in Genesis 47, and as we have discussed before, God refers to this period of history as a time of “Great Tribulation” in Acts 7. The words were translated as “great affliction” in our King James Version, but they are the same two Greek words “Great Tribulation” that we find together only three other places in the New Testament—Matthew 24:21, Revelation 2:22, and Revelation 7:14. In speaking of these events that we are reading about in Genesis, Acts 7:11 says:
Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
Here, God uses those same two words that He groups together in only three other places in the Bible. In each of the other accounts, what is in view is the Great Tribulation that comes right before the end of the world—that last “season” in God’s plan for this world.
We can know, since He is using these same two words to describe the account of Jacob and Joseph and the famine of Joseph’s day, that this is an historical parable that is spiritually picturing the Great Tribulation of our day. We have seen this throughout our study; it has all fit together.
Finally, we have been reading about Israel (Jacob) and his family (his sons and their wives and their children) leaving the land of Canaan and entering into Egypt. We have identified that Canaan is a picture of the corporate church, and that Egypt is typifying the world—any place outside of the church.
As we continue with our study, we are reading about the second part of the Great Tribulation. The famine has been going on for a period of two years, during which time Jacob and his family are in Canaan, the church. After these two years, Joseph reveals himself, telling his brothers that he is prime minister of Egypt. He also reveals to them that there is corn nowhere else in the world. He tells his brothers to go back and relay this information to Jacob, and that they are to all leave Canaan. He wants to bring them into Egypt.
In Revelation 11, the Bible speaks about the Great Tribulation being in two parts. For three-and-a-half days, we read, the two witnesses are lying dead in the street (Revelation 11:8-9). This is the first part. Then it says that they stood upon their feet, which is the second part (Revelation 11:11). To rise upon their feet has to do with sharing the Gospel, with being sent forth with the Word of God. Similarly, in Revelation 8:1 God says:
…there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
This is the first part, since the whole tribulation is pictured as “one hour” in Revelation 17:12 and 18:10. In the latter reference, God speaking of Babylon says:
…for in one hour is thy judgment come.
For the half hour, there was silence. For the first part of the Great Tribulation, the two witnesses were lying dead in the street; there was no spiritual activity. Likewise, in the days of Joseph, for the first two years, Jacob and his family were in Canaan, the place that was experiencing the famine. We can see how each picture ties together.
In Revelation 8:1, God specifically says “About the space of half an hour.” He does not say it was a half hour, because we can learn that the first part of the Great Tribulation is shorter than the second part. We know that He is breaking up the Great Tribulation into two parts, but the first part will be shorter than the second.
There is one full hour of Great Tribulation, and after that first part, “about” half an hour comes the remainder. This is the second part, which is pictured by the entering into Egypt. Joseph has revealed himself, just as Christ has opened up the Scriptures. For the first part, we were in darkness, not knowing what was going on. The Word was sealed up until the time of the end (Daniel 12:9). But now, after the first part of the Great Tribulation has passed, Christ has revealed Himself. Let us look at Revelation 18:1, which says:
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
This is referring to the fact that God enlightens our understanding and opens our eyes, spiritually, so that we can see. The angel comes down, and the earth is lightened. The cry is then made, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,” and the command is given in verse 4, “Come out of her, My people.” God will cause His people to understand what has been written in the Bible many hundreds or thousands of years ago concerning these end-time events.
That is what is in view as we read of Joseph revealing himself. He is Christ, opening the Scriptures to his brethren, Israel. At this point, they realize, “We have to come out of Canaan; we cannot stay.”
Joseph tells his brethren that the famine has been two years already in the land, and that it will be five years more. Spiritually, Joseph (who is picturing Christ) tells his family, Israel (who are typifying the believers), the duration of the Great Tribulation. They will know exactly how long the famine will last and when it will come to an end.
We have seen the implication of this: it means that Christ will reveal to His people the timing of His return at the end of the world. We will not know the day or the hour (Matthew 25:13), but we are going to know, I would say, the year (based on what we are reading in this historical parable). Joseph told them that the famine had already lasted two years, and that famine typifies the Great Tribulation. The first part has been two years, and the second part will be five years more. They could historically know, “We entered Egypt in 1877 B.C. The famine began in 1879 B.C., two years earlier, and it will go on for five more years, until 1872 B.C.” They, therefore, knew that in 1872 B.C., the famine would come to an end.
We know that this famine is picturing the Great Tribulation. So far, we have been seeing how everything ties together, spiritually. Joseph, a type of Christ, is revealing to Israel, the true believers, the duration of the Great Tribulation. In other words, Christ is revealing through His Word (because that is how God speaks today) when the Great Tribulation will be over. And if we know when the Great Tribulation will be over, then we will know when Christ will return, because the Great Tribulation is the last event before the end of the world. This is part of the information that is revealed to the believers.
In Genesis 47, Joseph’s family is entering into Egypt. We read in verse 1:
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan…
Spiritually, this means that they have left the church. It continues:
…and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
Goshen is in Egypt; we have talked about Goshen before. In the Strong’s Concordance, this word is said to be of Egyptian origin, which means it might be a little different than a Hebrew word. There are Hebrew words that are similar, however. “Goshem” (which is very close to Goshen—the last letter being an “n” instead of an “m”) is a word that points to rain or being rained upon. Actually, if you look in your Concordance, from words 1652 and 1654, on up to 1657, you will see the words “gasham,” “geshem,” “goshem,” and then “Goshen.” These other words all deal with rain, also.
Given the fact that this word is of Egyptian origin and we are not given a definition for this word in the Strong’s Concordance, it is difficult to determine its meaning. The first two letters are the same as those similar words in some cases, but the last letter is different. However, we see that it is called “the best of the land” in Genesis 47:6, a land for pasture, a land for the flocks. Joseph’s family are shepherds, and they want to bring their flocks with them. We can see that this is picturing a land that must receive some rainfall in order for it to be a good land that can sustain the flocks.
This is, I think, typifying the fact that when we come out of Canaan and leave the church, we enter into the best of the land, the land that is being rained upon, the land that is receiving the latter rain. The latter rain is not falling in Canaan, the churches and congregations, but it is falling in Egypt, the world. I believe that this is what is in view as they come out of Canaan and enter into the land of Goshen.
Then in verse 2, we read:
And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
Numbers in the Bible have spiritual meanings. The number forty means testing or a time of trial—for forty years, Israel was in the wilderness. The number ten means completeness; the number five, grace and judgment. There were ten virgins—five wise and five foolish. The five wise received the grace of God, and the five foolish were under His judgment. There are other examples like these that we could give.
Five men were presented to Pharaoh—they are pictures of those who receive the grace of God, as He has mercy upon his people during this time of Great Tribulation.
Next, in Genesis 47:3, we read:
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
We have seen how every believer is a shepherd (also known as a “pastor”). We are all shepherds, and that is how we can understand a passage like Ephesians 4:11-13. It says there:
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
These pastors are given until we come unto perfection, unto “the unity of the faith,” a “perfect man.” This will happen when Christ returns.
We have seen how some people point to this verse to try to prove that the Church Age is not over. This is because the verse tells us that God gives pastors until we become a perfect man, until we come to that time when we all receive our resurrected bodies—the time when there will be no more sin in us. They recognize that this will happen only when Christ returns—then we will have that perfect knowledge of God. The problem exists because they believe that this verse is referring to the actual role of the office of pastor. If your conclusion is that this verse is only referring to the “office” of pastor in verse 11, however, then you must also conclude that God gave the office of apostle until Christ returns.
There are some people who call themselves apostles today. In some of the other gospels that we hear about—gospels that do not follow the true doctrines of the Word of God—many believe that the office of apostle still exists. Likewise, because this verse tells us that God will give prophets until Christ comes, there are people who still believe that they are receiving revelation from God.
The conclusion to this reasoning is that you cannot say that this verse is referring to the office of pastor, unless you also allow that it is referring to the actual office of prophet or apostle. Since we know that the office of apostle was done away with when the apostles died, God no longer had anyone fill that particular office. Likewise, after the Bible was completed, He no longer had anyone fill the office of prophet. But spiritually, believers are apostles—the word “apostle” means “one who is sent.” We are sent forth with the Gospel. All believers are, likewise, prophets because we declare the Word of God, we carry the message to the world. Believers are pastors or “shepherds” because we feed others with the Word of God, which is the spiritual meaning of being a shepherd.
When we look at the spiritual meaning of each of these things mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, we see that they all continue, spiritually, until the time of Christ’s return. Believers are shepherds, and that is why, as Israel comes before Pharaoh and they are asked their occupation, they reply, “Thy servants are shepherds.” We are pastors; we shepherd the flock and feed the sheep. That is our task in this life; it is what we are here to do. This is what is in view when we read of the shepherds.
Then in Genesis 47:4, we read:
They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks…
There is no pasture in Canaan. What is in view by the word “pasture”? We read in John 10:9:
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
God connects salvation with pasture. If anyone goes through Christ (who is the door), he shall be saved, and he shall be able to go in and out and find pasture. You cannot find true pasture any other way than through Christ. You can be under the hearing of the Bible, but if you are not saved, then you are not truly being fed spiritually, because you have no salvation. You must be a child of God.
Pasture, therefore, has to do with salvation. Israel (the brethren of Joseph) are telling Pharaoh, “Thy servants have no pasture for their flocks in Canaan. There is no salvation in the churches and congregations of the world during the Great Tribulation.”
Let us also look at Psalm 23, a very familiar Psalm. We read in verses 1-2:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
There is no pasture in Canaan—what is going on? God is our shepherd, and He leads us to green pastures. The Lord Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, states this fact. Therefore, Israel is leaving Canaan and going into Egypt. Where is the green pasture? It is in Goshen. Goshen is where the flocks can be fed. Goshen is where there is spiritual food.
There is no pasture in Canaan, and that is why God calls His people out of the church today. Where is the spiritual food? Where are the pastors, spiritually speaking? In which denomination are they? People have been running to and fro in the land, seeking the Word of the Lord, seeking for that green pasture (Amos 8:12). They have heard a report that this particular denomination is faithful, and so they go. Then once they get there, they find high places and errors—unfaithfulness to the Word of God. Where are the green pastures? They are outside of Canaan. They are in Egypt, in the world. That is where God is going to send the latter rain. That is where He will bless His Word and save a great multitude.
We know that spiritual food is in view here. Let us turn to Jeremiah 3:15, which says:
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
The pastors, the shepherds, feed the flock with knowledge and understanding. These pastors, again, are the believers. That is how we can understand Jeremiah, which is a book pronouncing woes upon the pastors and telling us that the Church Age has come to an end. That is why we can read a verse like this and understand that God is going to give His people the responsibility of carrying the Word of God to individuals to be fed with knowledge and understanding.
Again, look at Ezekiel 34 where we see both types of pastors. In the first few verses, God condemns the pastors, the ministers, the reverends—those who are in authority in the churches today but who are not feeding the flock. In verses 2-3, we read:
…Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
These flocks are not being fed with the whole counsel of God. Let us jump to Acts 20:27-28 for a minute. The Apostle Paul, speaking under the inspiration of God, says:
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
“I have not shunned,” Paul says, “to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” This would include information on Hell and on the judgment of God, as well as on God’s love. This is how the flock will be fed. This is how those teaching and bringing the Word of God should teach, so that the people under their hearing can be fed.
When you are not feeding the flock, you are merely trying to satisfy itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4). You are trying to not offend anyone; and really, you are just being wishy-washy with the Word of God, trying to make it smooth and palatable so that people can accept it. Everyone goes home happy, thinking, “We have all met together, and we have comfortably worshipped the Lord. We sang a few songs and we read a little Scripture,” and so forth. Then they go home, but it has no impact on them. There is no blessing of God, because the way God looks at it, the shepherds were not feeding the flock but were, rather, feeding themselves of the flock. That is why God speaks of wolves in sheep’s clothing in Matthew 7:15.
Then finally in Ezekiel 34:10, God is speaking (as He is in the entire Bible), and He says:
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock…
God is saying that the Church Age is over. He has put up with it long enough, giving them space to repent Sunday after Sunday in congregation after congregation. God is witnessing all these “offerings” to Him by those who are not bringing the truth of His Word. Finally, space to repent is gone, and now God causes the shepherds to cease from feeding the flock.
What does cease mean? It means to stop, to continue no more. But they are continuing to teach and to preach, even to this day. They will stay in the pulpit and continue to be called “reverend” and “pastor.” However, all authority that was God-given has been removed. God has taken it back. He commissioned them, established them, He set up the elders and the pastors, and now He is the One who has rescinded their authority. He has taken it from them, and they no longer have the blessing of God to continue shepherding the flock.
But what about the flock? It goes on to say in verse 10:
…neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
Let us continue reading verses 11-16, which say:
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day…
This is the language of the Great Tribulation. It continues:
…And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land…
Their own land—that is Goshen. Continuing:
…and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
The word “judgment” is a synonym for the Word of God. In Psalm 19:7-9, God uses that word (along with many other words) to describe the Bible. God will feed His sheep. Once He causes the shepherds to stop feeding His people, He will feed them.
Now in Genesis, we see what is in view with the historical parable there. God is calling Israel out of Canaan. There is no pasture there, no green thing, but rather a famine. He is calling them to enter into Egypt where there is corn; Egypt, where the land of Goshen is, the best of the land. There, the flocks can be fed. There, Joseph will take care of them—just as Christ is going to take care of His people today.
How is God going to feed? It will be the same way He has always fed—through believers. God is the One who gives individuals understanding of the Word of God and who moves in them to will and do of His own pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God is the One opening up Scriptures, opening up Truth. He is the One feeding His flock, and He will work through individuals.
Going back to Genesis 47, we read in verses 4-6:
…for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
This Hebrew word for “activity” is translated as several different English words. It is translated as “strength,” “war,” “men of war,” “men of strength,” “valor,” etc. It is also translated as “virtuous.” It is the same word that we read about concerning the “virtuous woman” of Proverbs 31. Therefore, it would point to those who are children of God, those who are true believers. They are the only ones who are qualified to feed the sheep. Even when we understand this word as “strength” or “men of strength,” who is our strength? Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” We are men of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is what is in view here. If there are any believers, any shepherds who are feeding the flock, then they are to be made rulers over the cattle.
Then in verse 7, we read:
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
We have been spiritually understanding that Joseph is picturing Christ, Jacob picturing the elect, and Pharaoh representing God the Father. Now Joseph brings Jacob in before Pharaoh, just as Christ brings the elect, the true believers, into the presence of God—for the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way we can get into God’s presence. Joseph is the one who enables Jacob to have this meeting with Pharaoh.
Then it says that Jacob blessed Pharaoh. If Jacob represents the elect and Pharaoh is a picture of God, do the believers bless God? Is that found in the Bible? Yes, it is. Look at Psalm 103:1-3, where we read:
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
We know that this is referring to sinners who have been forgiven and saved. We bless God. We thank God; we praise Him for His salvation. Therefore, as we see Jacob coming before Pharaoh, Jacob blessed Pharaoh. The spiritual picture is of the believers blessing God for His salvation.
Then in Genesis 47:8-9, we read:
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Jacob tells Pharaoh that he is 130 years old. Why did Pharaoh ask him that? Why is this important? Why does God record it? Why does He want us to know that Jacob was 130 upon his entering into Egypt?
We know that it was the year 1877 B.C. We know that Jacob was born in the year 2007 B.C., so we know that he was 130 years old. For one thing, this helps us to exactly pinpoint the date 1877 B.C., yet there must be another reason why God moved Pharaoh to ask this question and why He moved Jacob to respond. I am sure that they must have had other discussions, but God did not record those. He only recorded the information that Jacob comes before Pharaoh, blesses Pharaoh, Pharaoh asks him his age, Jacob states how old he is, then Jacob blesses Pharaoh again and goes out. That is it—that is all of the information that God gives us, and it could have been all that took place. But, there could have been more.
Let us turn to Matthew 23:34-36, where Christ speaking says:
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, who are picturing the unsaved in the churches and congregations. All through time, there has been a struggle between the saved and the unsaved and their relationship to God. We saw that struggle with Cain and Abel, and again with Jacob and Esau.
Cain rose up and slew Abel. Christ goes all the way back to that first slaying, that first murder, the first time the unsaved rose up against the saved and slew them, and He places the blame at the feet of the Pharisees. The Pharisees represent those in the corporate church; it is all along the same lines.
Christ speaks of “the blood of righteous Abel,” the very first man in history who was slain, “unto the blood of Zacharias.” It is A to Z, Abel to Zacharias. Actually, that is exactly what God had in mind—from the first to the last. The only problem is that Zacharias was not slain at the end of time. He was slain during the history of the kings of Israel, in the reign of Joash. We can read about this in 2 Chronicles 24:20-21, which says:
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
It says that Zechariah was slain; he was stoned in the court of the house of the Lord. We know from the information here that this is the same “Zacharias” of whom it says in Matthew 23:35, “Ye slew between the temple and the altar.” However, here it says that he is the son of Jehoiada, whereas in Matthew 23, it calls him the “son of Barachias.” It could be that Jehoiada was the grandfather and Barachias the immediate father. Sometimes God does that, still referring to someone as the son of David, for instance, many generations later. But we know that this is the person in view and that he was slain in the court of the temple. Then in 2 Chronicles 24:22, we read:
Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.
Now you might be wondering how all of this fits in with Jacob’s age of 130. Joash was the king who was seven years old when he began to reign. He had been hidden in the house of the Lord by Jehoiada the priest, and when the wicked Athaliah was overcome, he was placed upon the throne of the kingdom and began to reign. We read of him in 2 Chronicles 24:2:
And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
As long as Jehoiada the priest was living, Joash did that which was right. But Jehoiada died, and in 2 Chronicles 24:15, we read:
But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
Jehoiada died at the age of 130—and this is the relationship to Jacob (who was 130 years old when he entered into Egypt). Joash was a young boy king of the age of seven, and Jehoiada the priest was his mentor and instructed him all the days of Jehoiada’s life. We do not know for how much of Joash’s reign Jehoiada lived, but after Jehoiada died at the age of 130, Joash began to do evil. He even slew Jehoiada’s son (or grandson), Zechariah, in the temple. Therefore, Jesus says in Matthew 23:35:
…from the blood of righteous Abel…
He was the first man killed. Continuing:
…unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Unto Zacharias shall all their blood be required. The death of Zacharias is picturing the last of the believers being slain during the Great Tribulation, which will take place after 13,000 years of history—the first to the last. God uses the number 130 to point to 13,000, because 130 is ten times thirteen. If you had 1,300, it would be one hundred times thirteen. 13,000 is one thousand times thirteen. It is always multiples of ten, meaning that the completeness of God’s plan for this world will reach its climax after 13,000 years of history. Then comes the end, the return of Christ and Judgment Day.
Another evidence of this is in Joshua 6, the account of the battle of Jericho. How many times did Joshua and his men go around Jericho? We read in Joshua 6:12-14:
And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
They went once around the city for six days. Then verses 15-16 say:
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
Seven plus six is thirteen. They went thirteen times around Jericho, and Jericho is picturing the world. Upon the thirteenth time around (or the seventh time on that seventh day), they blew with the trumpets and shouted, and the walls came tumbling down. Israel went into Jericho and destroyed every man, woman, and child by the edge of the sword. None were spared except for Rahab and her family, who typify the elect.
What is being pictured is God’s judgment upon the world. All the unsaved—man, woman, and child—will be judged on Judgment Day for their sins. Notice that there was a blowing of the trumpets and the shout. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, we read that Christ returns with a great shout and with the trumpet sound. It all fits together; it is very clearly pointing to the end of time.
After thirteen times around Jericho, the walls fall. Thirteen is also in view as Jacob enters into Egypt during the Great Tribulation. It just so happens that we are now living at a time when the earth has reached over 13,000 years of history. The 13,000th year was in 1988, and there is a lot of evidence pointing to 1988 as the beginning of the Great Tribulation. We can see how it fits in. It is after this thirteenth time that Christ will return and the world will end.
As we are learning these things, we are seeing that not only are we in the Great Tribulation, but we have transitioned into the second part of it. We are getting ever closer to the Last Day; there is really not much time left for this world to continue on.