home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Bible Heaven
/
Bible Heaven.iso
/
bi_proph
/
ezekiel.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-08-15
|
33KB
|
550 lines
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.