EZEKIEL'S PROPHECY We have already shown you God's message to America today from Ezekiel. We have proven that the United States and Great Britain are the leading birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, heads of the ten-tribed house of Israel. Now let's go back and finish Ezekiel's prophecy, beginning with the seventh chapter. A Captivity Yet Future The coming future descruction and captivity of modern Israel, the United States and Britain, is portrayed. This is not a popular message. The preachers and teachers of prophecy almost unanimously will rise up to deny this warning message, saying it applys to a different people or a different time. But the warning is from God and it is sure! The reader will do well to heed. Notice the prophecy applies to the House of Israel, not the House of Judah or the Jews. Remember, Ezekiel's prophecy was written after Judah's captivity, and more than 130 years after the House of Israel had been taken captive to Assyria. Some of the House of Israel had already begun to arrive in the British Isles before Ezekiel's vision and writing. Thus, this warning is not of the captivity already so far back in history. And no such destruction and captivity has ever yet come to the House of Israel since this was written. Therefore it is still in the future, in our time. Notice the time period given in Ezekiel 7:19: "They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord..." Now compare that with Zephaniah 1:14-15, 17-18: "The great day of the Lord is near...that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation...I will bring distress upon men,...Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. Both are speaking of the same time, a time shortly before the second coming of Christ, a time just ahead of us now in this present generation. Continuing with verse 24 of Ezekiel 7, "Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses; I will couse the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled. Destruction comes; they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor, then they will seek a vision form a prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders" (Ezek. 7:25-26). Yes, when this comes, our people will finally cry out for a true prophet or minister of God, but it will be too late. For then shall have come the time spoken of by the prophet Amos, when there shall be a famine of hearing the words of God (Amos 8:11) and end of true Gospel preaching. Already the people and their paid ministers have turned their eyes and ears from God's law. Notice chapter 11 of Ezekiel's prophecy. It is a message addressed to the House of Israel (verse 5). "You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, says the Lord God. And I will bring you out of the midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgements on you. You shall fall by the sword...Then you shall know that I am the Lord...for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My commandments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you" (Ezek. 11:8-12). Chapter 12, verse 11 says, "...they shall be carried away into captivity." This is future from the time Ezekiel wrote and it applies to the House of Israel, not Judah. And when does this happen? "Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries" (verse 15). The expression "they shall know that I am the Lord" is used repeatly through the book of Ezekiel and always refers to the time of the second coming of Christ and Israel's final restoration back to her original land. Many prophecies show that the American and British people descended from ancient Israel are to be scattered in this latter day captivity when Christ comes to restore them back to the land of Israel. Look back at Chapter 11 verses 16 and 17: "Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles , and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say, Thus say the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples , assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel ." People Won't Believe It The true prophets of God were not believed by Israel of old either, and Israel was taken captive back then too. This captivity is in your future today. It is sure to happen just as God says it will. Will you believe? The 13th chapter shows God's warning against the ministers of this day in America and Britian (modern Israel). "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart , Hear the word of the Lord....Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord." (vs.2- 5). "Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? (v. 7) My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel... (v. 9) ...because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace, when there is no peace." (v. 10). The ministers of today will deny this prophecy. They teach false ideas out of their own hearts (minds). They will be telling you peace, then this destruction will befall you. God tells them to "hear the Word of the Lord." None of these ministers will be a part of God's people. Our Nation's Sins Modern Israel, like Israel of old, was chosen by God for a service and righteous life that we have failed to perform. Every time Israel of old disoberyed God, departed from his laws and ways and went into the pagan customs (as we have done today, actually deceiving ourselves by calling these customs "Christian"), they were invaded and conquered. God has not changed. We can expect the same punishment of God for our sins today, to be invaded and conquered. Ezekiel names these sins, our customs and ways that seem right in our eyes but which are contrary to God's laws and an abomination in his sight. Some of these he mentions in the 8th chapter. He mentions more in chapter 22: "You have despised My holy things and profanced My Sabbaths (v.8). "...in you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made a profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me, says the Lord God" (v. 12). "Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, not have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them" (v. 26). Our people today can't see where these things make any difference. But Ezekiel says the preachers have deceived the people, and led them astray. They have condoned all these things, until the people have lost God's pure truth! Chapters 25-32 prophesy against a number of foreign gentile nations who have come in direct contact with Israel. In Ezekiel 33, Ezekiel is appointed a watchman to the House of Israel to warn Israel, America and Britain today, at the time when this prophesied foreign sword is coming. "Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!! For why should you die, O house of Israel?" (v.11). God is pleading with America to turn from it's evil ways. In the 34th chapter, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the ministers of our land. They have fed themselves and not the flocks. They have preached what the people wanted to hear (II Timothy 4:3-4) in order to get their salaries. The Coming of Christ Christ is to come and rescue his flock. "Thus says the Lord God; Behold I am against the shepherds; [ministers] and I will require my flock [people] at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them....Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out... and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered...And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries , and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them [spiritual food] on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country" (Ezek. 34:10-13). Christ shall come and rescue his people, not only form the coming captivity and dispersion, but from the false Babylonish teachings that have been palmed off to our people cloaked as "Christianity." We will use a good part of this book on examining these false beliefs and showing you God's truth and ways. As God rescused the ancient Israelites from Egypt, he will set his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people Israel (America and Britain) taken captive and scattered through many nations (See Isaiah 11:11). The spiritual blindness shall then be removed, and all Israel shall be saved! (See Romans 11:25-26.) The kingdom of God shall be established on this earth. Men shall be tired of their own ways, and seek God's ways, and his law shall go forth of Zion (Micah 4:2-3). And the nations shall find peace. In the 36th chapter, God addresses the House of Israel: "Prophesy to the mountains of Israel...Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around. But you O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come...I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt...I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the Lord" (verses 1,4,8,10,11). Yes, the House of Israel is pictured returning to its original land. God says all of the House of Israel will return to the land of Israel. Notice, this is not a picture of America and Britain returning from a condition of wealth and properity, and not a picture of America and Britain returning in a position of a people victorous in a great world war. It is a picture of Britain and America returning as a slave and captive people, scattered throughout the world. All prophecies picturing this rescue and regathering of Israel at Christ's coming give us the same prophetic picture. Why be blinded to the truth? Was Prophecy Fulfilled When The Jews Became The Nation Israel In 1948? Let us take a moment here to explain something that has caused most of the error in interpreting future prophecy. After 2550 years the Jews once again, became the nation of Israel in 1948. Palestine was open to Jews after 52 nations in the League of Nations decided they had a right to go there and create a Jewish national home. These nations based this right on the Bible, on Jewish history, and Jewish life. Was this the prophesied regathering of Israel back to the Holy Land? No, this was not the prophesied great coming exodus of Israel back to the land of Israel, but a man-make blundering and confusion! It was not the restoration of Israel and of PEACE in the Holy Land, but one of strife, misunderstanding, and bloodshed, to this day. Why, just a few hours after the "Jewish state of Israel" had been proclaimed, Arab forces began dropping bombs on Tel Aviv, and the armies of Arab nations began marching on Jerusalem. There was no ushering in of PEACE! What does God say about it. "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people [all nations]: all the burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zech. 12:3). The United States has been meddling, interfering, burdening itself with Israel. So has Russia, and nearly every nation on earth. God says "they shall be cut in pieces." Not the Prophesied Return The modern state of Israel is not the prophesied return. In God's own due time the Jews are to be released from their persecutions, their harrowing trials, and be reestablished within Palestine in PEACE! This is merely a blundering human effort to do for themselves, before the time, what they will have to wait for God to do for them. Setting up a nation of Jews and calling it "Israel" can only lead to more bloodshed and more troubles. In the first place, the nation that has declared itself in Palestine is NOT Israel at all. It is only part of Judah. When the great prophesied exodus occurs, it will be Israel and Judah together . And they will not do it in their own defiant, power, and strenght; they will be taken back, by Christ after his coming, from a condition of slavery and from the land of their enemies (see Ezekiel 39:25-27). At that time they will take captive their captors and rule over those who had been ruling over them (Isa. 14:1-3; Jer. 30:16; 31:11). It will be a greater exodus than the one under Moses. This one will be under Christ at His return! (Jer. 23:7-8). They will go back to Palestine weeping, confessing their sins, loathing themselves for having ignored and transgressed against God, seeking the Messiah whom they have rejected (Jer. 50:4-5; Ezek. 36:24-28). The Jews in Israel today fulfill none of these prophesies. This is not the prophesied regathering of Israel! Both Houses of Israel United In chapter 37 of Ezekiel, the first part pictures the "valley of dry bones." This represents the "whole house of Israel" (verse 11). It pictures the rebirth of Israel as a nation from captivity, dispersion, and slavery. It also pictures the literal bodily resurrection of individuals who have died (verse 12). God's going to put His Spirit in them and they will have true spiritual knowledge of God (verse 14). Beginning with the 15th verse, the illustration of the two sticks shows the two houses or nations of Israel and Judah, being once more united, under Christ at His second coming, in the land of Israel. "...Thus says the Lord God: Surely I will take the children of Israel [America and the British] from among the [heathen] nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions...they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statues, and do them. Then shall they dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt...they and their children, and their children's children forever...Morever I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant..." (the New Covenant) (verses 21-26). Now Comes Gog of the Land of Magog Let's review our story this far. The prophet has carried us throught the sins of the people and the coming invasion, captivity, and dispersion of modern day Israel, the American and British peoples. The American and British peoples are now captive slaves among the heathen nations. Then we have the second coming of Christ as deliver to retore the fortunes of Israel. We have come to the time when both the Houses of Israel and Judah shall be reunited into one nation and regathered into their land by Christ, once again made properous, having learned our lessons. We are now living God's way, under his laws, enjoying the richest blessing, both material and spiritual. And now we come to chapter 38, a prophecy that many misinterpret. In this chapter we find Israel restored in her "land that is brought back from the sword" (verse 8). We find Israel now at rest, dwelling safely, totally unprepared for war, having "neither bars nor gates" (verse 11), in the desolate places of Israel, now inhabited (verse 12), by the people who are once again restored to great material prosperity "which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." This prophecy does not picture the British Isles and America. It pictures the Holy Land. It pictures all twelve tribes having been taken there from a dispersion and captivity and slavery, gathered out of the nations where we had been scattered. We are now once again rich and increased with goods. Notice, the time of this prophecy is AFTER, not before, but AFTER the Second Coming of Christ. After Christ has come and rescued our people (American and British) and restored us to the land of Israel, after Israel and Judah are reunited into one nation. Our people shall have regained so much wealth that Gog and his allies shall come to "take a spoil" and "to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil" (verse 13). The place of this battle is in the Holy Land. "You shall come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel..." (verse 8). Christ's Reign Contested The fact that this invasion will not come until after the second coming of Christ will seem preposterous to many, at first thought. We have blindly assumed that when Christ comes there will be no opposition, and that every person and power on Earth will simply submit meekly and instantly to him and his power. But that is not true! The gentile nations will not submit until forced to. Those nations who know not God or Christ will still have to be brought to submission. Who is Gog? There is general agreement among students of prophecy that "Gog" in the land of "Magog" is the vast regions of northern Eurasia extending from the Baltic to the Pacific. "Meshech" is Moscow, "Tubal" is Tobolsk. The "Prince of Rosh" is Russia. Notice the allies who come with them in this future battle. You will find "Gomer," "Togarmah," "Magog," "Meshech," "Tubal," which are identified in Genesis 10 as the sons of Japheth, father of the yellow races. Ethiopia and Phut, mistranslated Libya) are descended from Ham. Therefore this prophecy shows who shall finally succeed in marshaling peoples of each major race into a gigantic invasion upon our people in the land of Israel. God, himself is the instrument in getting Gog to attack Israel, to bring judgment on them (v. 22), and to santify and magnify God, so he would be "known in the eyes of many nations" (verse 23). The End of the World Conquest This great Eurasian union of nations will finally rise up against Israel with the most overwhelming armies ever assembled by man. The House of Israel, our peoples, shall not be armed or prepared. "On that day when my people of Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? Then you will come from your place out of the far north [north of ancient Israel], you, and many peoples [allies] with you...a mighty army: and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes" (verses 14-16). God Will Fight For Us. But our people will not have to fight in this battle. We will have learned by then that God fights our battles for us. "And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, that My fury will show in My face" (verse 18). "So that...all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake in My presence..." (verse 20). "I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all my mountains, says the Lord God. Every man's sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone" (verses 21-23). "I will let all the nations see my might and dread divinity, to teach them that I am the Eternal" (verse 23 Moffatt translation). Notice, these heathen nations do not see and recognize the dread divinity, the might, and the power of Christ, even after he has returned. He has to teach them that he is God. The 39th chapter shows in more detail the result of this great battle, in which Christ, with supernatural power, causes five sixths of these heathen armies to be slain in this battle. It will take seven months for the House of Israel to bury all the dead (v. 12). And they will not have to cut any wood from the forests for fires because they will make fires out of the weapons (v. 10). And the army was so large and the weapons so numerous that they will be able to make fires with them for seven years (v. 9). And beginning chapter 40, the remainder of the book of Ezekiel reveals God's new order of divine government upon earth. Chapters 40, 41, and 42 describe the new temple of God in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ will be sitting on the throne in that temple ruling with his saints over the people and teaching them God's ways and God's laws. This begins the 1000 year reign of Christ that we call the Millennium. In the meantime, we are to warn America and Britain of what lies ahead. To shout the warning to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4), that those who heed may find God now and come under his divine protection. That those who heed may live a true spirit filled life of obedience to God's laws and ways and be so prepared to become a ruler or teacher in Christ's soon coming Kingdom of God on this earth. (CHART) Prophecy's Unfinished Business ISA 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ISA 11:6-9 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. ISA 19:24-25 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. ISA 35:5-7 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. JER 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. EZE 36:26-27 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. HOS 1:10-11 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. JOE 2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. AMO 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. MIC 4:1-2 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ZEP 3:20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD. ZEC 8:3-5 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. ZEC 8:22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.