Psalm 22:25
25 My praise [tahillah] shall be
of thee in the great [rab] congregation: [qahal] I will pay [shalam] my vows
[neder] before them that fear [yare'] him. KJV-Interlinear
25 From
Thee comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those
who fear Him. NASB
The Lords praise, ‘tahillah,’
means clear in sound or color, to shine, to celebrate, to be worthy of, to
praise.
The great congregation
refers to only one assembly which will occur at the end of human history.
But prior to that last
and final assembly of history there will be four other assemblies, occurring with
each respective resurrection.
In the first
resurrection, Jesus alone was resurrected, ascended into heaven and was
glorified and seated at the right hand of the Father. The assembly was in the
presence of all the occupants of heave at that time.
To pay the vows, ‘shalam,’
means to be safe in mind, body and estate, to be completed, to finish, to
recompense, to reward.
And here Jesus was
rewarded with elevation to the most-high position at the right hand of the
Father.
The second resurrection will
occur at the Rapture, when all believer of our current dispensation are
resurrected. We will then stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ
and receive our evaluation and reward (if any).
The third assembly, or
resurrection, will occur at the second advent, at the end of the Tribulation,
when all Old Testament believers will be resurrected, including all of the tribulation
martyrs, and they too will receive their evaluation before Christ and their
reward.
All believers living at
the end of the Tribulation, at the second advent, will remain on the earth and
enter into the Kingdom of God on earth for that 1000 year reign.
The fourth assembly or
resurrection will occur at the end of the Millennium when history is
concluded. All believers both dead and
alive from the Millennium will be resurrected and they will receive their
evaluation and reward.
Unbelievers will be resurrected
and then condemned to the Lake of Fire and forever forgotten and lost. That is called the Great White Throne wherein
they will stand before Christ for their final judgment.
History will end and then
there will be the final ‘great’ assembly before Christ and praise as has never
occurred before in history. This is the
great assembly promised to and for all believers.
The universe will be
destroyed, and new universe, combined with heaven, will be created and eternity
will begin.
As a result of the cross,
all of this will happen as promised. As
a result of the cross all of this will happen because of the cross. Without Gods work on the cross, no life, no
future, no destiny would be possible.
And as Christ hung there on the cross, the objective of Gods plan was in
view and certain.
