Saturday, September 16, 2006
Hello all,
By now, I hope that most of you have listened to Dr. Hoeh's sermon in Cyber Services discussing the Feast of Trumpets, but also many other of God's Holy Days and His plan of salvation for mankind, and the role that the Feast of Trumpets plays in that Plan.
For decades, God's church was not and in many respects still is not in full understanding of the meaning of Trumpets, and Dr. Hoeh touches in this message, recorded in 1993, on some of those aspects that we had not understood previously.
I think it is ironic that this message was given in what were the final gasps of the WCG, as the apostasy was growing, but, even then, God revealed to Dr. Hoeh's mind some new information that had not been previously known in the way that he presented it.
Ronald Dart has also commented on some of these "new" meanings for Trumpets, so some of these things have begun to seep into the minds of at least some of God's people.
If you haven't had a chance to listen to this important message, please do so. Even though I have decided to archive this message in the Library at some point, it might be some time before I actually archive it there, so I urge you to listen to this message before Friday of this coming week if you haven't listened to it already.
One of the points Dr. Hoeh brought out, and which has also been brought up from time to time by Ronald Dart and a few others is that the birth of Christ probably happened in the Fall Holy Day season, and that, given the symbology and significance of Trumpets, it is very likely that He could have been born on that very day!
After all, we have understood for decades that Trumpets symbolizes the second coming of Christ, so why wouldn't it also be appropriate that His first coming as a baby in the human flesh would also have occurred on this Holy Day?
Dr. Hoeh also brought out an interesting point I was not aware of previously, and that is the fact that each month began with a New Moon, and there was the blowing of the trumpet to mark the beginning of each month.
But, on the First Day of the Seventh Month, which is what the Feast of Trumpets is, there were in fact SEVEN TRUMPETS BLOWN on that day. One can't escape the symbolism of this, as in the Book of Revelation it talks about SEVEN TRUMPET PLAGUES that shall be blown just prior to the second coming of Christ, and, as the Apostle Paul points out, at the blowing of the LAST TRUMP, which we now understand both from the typology of the blowing of the seven trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets as well as the seven last trumpets in the Book of Revelation, Christ shall descend in the Clouds of Heaven [for a complete understanding of the meaning of the Clouds of Heaven, please listen to my illuminating series by that name in the Speculative Issues section of the website library, as this has much more meaning than you would ever dream possible once you start to study it]at the sounding of that SEVENTH TRUMPET, which would be the LAST TRUMPET BLOWN ON THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS.
It is also at this key juncture in World Affairs that the first resurrection occurs, and the Saints rise to meet the descending Christ in the Clouds of Heaven.
After that momentous meeting in the Clouds, Christ will then continue His descent with the Saints and the Holy Angels with Him, and His feet shall stand that day on the Mount of Olives, during the final battle at the end of this evil age, commonly referred to as the Battle of Armagheddon.
So all of this typology and symbolism, as well as much more, is wrapped up in this momentous Holy Day, which will be celebrated this coming Sabbath. This may well mark a major turning point in world affairs.
Brethren, some new understanding has been lurking around the corner of my mind now for at least the past several years. Even though world events may LOOK like we may be headed straight into the Tribulation very soon now, I have had the inkling that this is but a false start, a dry run, and a WARNING TO THIS WORLD and to GOD'S ELECT AS WELL of what WILL happen soon during that most terrible time of trouble in world history.
It will be a shadow, a fortaste, and, in reality, a COUNTERFEIT of the real thing, because things just are not lined up CORRECTLY at this moment.
And, with a few scriptures that I have recently come across, it appears that this false run up to a false tribulation is in the prophetic record if we just know where to look.
And, after this false start towards a false tribulation is over, I have the feeling that we will enter immediately upon a NEW GOLDEN AGE OF GOD'S WORK, when God will directly take a hand in world affairs and utterly lay waste the plains of evil, vain men to bring about their fake New World Order based on greed and oppression, using MONEY, greed, political power, and INTRIGUE to rule over prostrate humanity, creating one tiny class of masters -- and elite made up of the international banksters, the illuminati, and their ilk -- with the rest of the human race wearing the chains of wage slavery and oppression in a fascist New World Order.
But, as I explain in detail in my "Three Whores and a Virgin" series in the Prophecy section of our website library, this is an ISRAELITISH plot, with its center in the City of London, with the atheist Zionist and other illuminati so called "elite," operating in a counterfeit of the way the Catholic Church rides the Beast from its headquarters in Vatican City.
I explain in the early parts of this series that this Globalist Cabal uses MONEY as a substitutue for SPIRITUAL POWER, and that it uses its Money Power in a simillar way that the Catholic Church has used its Spiritual Power down through millenia, in a perverted counterfeit of the Babylonian model.
It is an atheist, dirty, COUNTERFEIT, using MONEY as a substitute for spiritual power to "ride the beast" of first the British Empire and now the American Empire, in a sick, perverted, weird COUNTERFEIT of the method that the REAL WHORE OF BABYLON has used down through history, and will yet use on the world once more.
These elitist plotters and schemers have deceived themselves that there is no God, and that there also is no Satan the Devil, and that everything is about money and everyone in the world has their price, and by using payoffs and other evil means of materialism and atheism, they can create their corrupt New World Order based on nothing but human greed and corruption.
It has worked really well down through the last few centuries that this plot has been operating on the world scene, but these idiots are utterly blind to the stupidity of their flawed logic. This is because NOT EVERYONE CAN BE BOUGHT, BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO BRIBES. It is also true, though, that there are others who will either not stay bribed or who will pretend to be bought and paid for, but who, in the end, will say "what have you done for me lately," and turn around and bite the hand that has been feeding them.
So these are two areas in which these dimwitted morons who dare to call themselves an "elite, " and "enlightened ones" are utterly blind and which is their achilles heel and the germ of their final downfall.
Even at this very moment, there is a growing awareness among the world's people that there is something very evil, very wicked, and very WRONG about this fascist New World Order scheme, and the rebellion against it will soon become a tidal wave that will sweep every leader in the world who is cooperating with their agenda out of power.
Unfortunately, our own peoples of national Israel, at the center of this evil, will be the last to wake up, but, once they do, they will also turn on this WHORE and utterly lay her waste in a moment of time, and throw out of power those governments that this WHORE has thrust upon them for greed and exploitation these many centuries.
It now becomes apparant that AFTER the fall of this FIRST WHORE, there will be chaos and Civil War among most of the nations of the world, and especially in the US, UK, and Canada. There is a significant portion of the populations of those countries that have become used to, tolerant of, and also CHEERLEADERS of this evil system with its political correctness, and multiculturalist agenda. But there is also a significant portion of these peoples that are utterly OPPOSED to this globalist fascist agenda of evil, and are having their eyes opened on an almost daily basis to the evil plot that is unfolding before their very eyes.
There is thus about to occur a gigantic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, which will manifest itself in the form of multiple civil wars throughout the world, including our own nations.
After these civil wars are fought and the forces of the Globalist Elite have been utterly laid waste and eradicated from the face of the earth, it now appears that there will come a short period of world peace and harmony after the extinction of these forces of evil. This will be a time during which the message of God's Church, and God's Church itself, will blossom like a flower and flourish as never before.
It is clear to me that this will unlikely be a Work like no other in human history, and that it will make the Work done by Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God look like mere shadows in comparison.
This will be a GREAT AND MARVELOUS WORK, a Work so powerful that it will threaten to "turn the world upside down," as God's church did in the first century.
It will be a time of unparallelled spiritual power and an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit, simillar to what occurred on that First Day of Pentacost.
As the prophet Joel said, it will also be a time when our "young men shall dream dreams." It will be a time of prophecy, a time when healings are a daily event in God's Church, and a time of brotherly love such as has never before occurred among God's people, except at the very beginning.
But, the remaining powers in this world left after the collapse of the Globalist Elite will not be amused by this at all. Leaders of all major religions will feel threatened by the Truth shedding light on their lies and hypocrisy, and they shall plot the end of the "holy people."
And so, at some point, the horrible Tribulation will be brought down on this world, as much to suppress the Work of God as anything else.
Keeping God's Sabbath and Holy Days will become a DEATH PENALTY CRIME during this horrible period within the entire area controlled by the Beast Power, and they shall invade and crush the nations of national Israel, whose power shall have been dissipated in their years of civil wars.
But we are on the verge, I believe, of the momentous events surrounding the imminent collapse of the New World order, and the international bankster and Zionist so called "elite." Once that happens, we are in for some very stressful times, at the end of which we will experience a short lived, worldwide "golden age" of "peace among men," which, if you recall, will be a bad sign, as the Beast will be speaking words of "peace" and "flattery" and make a covenant with many for seven years, which agreement he will break after 3 and one half years!
World events are rapidly accelerating now, and the WHORE headquartered in the City of London sees her plots and schemes unwravelling right before her very eyes, which is freaking her out. This is the reason for the increased attacks against freedom around the world and the war mongering claptrap and propaganda She spews forth from Her controlled media / propaganda organs.
But the jig is almost up, as they say. A significant part of the world, and even the US, British, and Canadian populace no longer accepts anything coming out of the mouths of their corrupt politicians as anything but lies and claptrap, and this also applies to the corporate propaganda media organs.
And so, as this REVELATION of the truth about this ABHORRENT EVIL spreads around the world, and people refuse to support their evil globalist agenda, we will see that this vision of evil will quickly fade.
It is coming down, no matter what She does now. The only question is whether the collapse will be peaceful, or soaked with blood because they fight to cling to power. Sadly, I think the next few years will be stained with the blood in the streets of worldwide civil wars, with the elite globalist pigs fighting agains the rest of humanity!
But, after this brief period when She will melt like the Wicked Witch of the West when exposed to water, God's intervention in these matters will cause her to fade away like a vile dream and vision of evil.
And this, my friends, will pave the way and open a brief window in human history during which the very Truth of God will roll down upon this world like cataracts of living, clensing waters, to give us all a chance to repent before the coming of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.
May God speed that day and revive His Work in this very end of days!
I urge you to study the material I have mentioned in this important email from our online library, and to listen to this important message by Dr. Hoeh in this week's Cyber Services section.
You may find the Restoration Website at:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/
May God open your mind to His precious Truth!
John
By now, I hope that most of you have listened to Dr. Hoeh's sermon in Cyber Services discussing the Feast of Trumpets, but also many other of God's Holy Days and His plan of salvation for mankind, and the role that the Feast of Trumpets plays in that Plan.
For decades, God's church was not and in many respects still is not in full understanding of the meaning of Trumpets, and Dr. Hoeh touches in this message, recorded in 1993, on some of those aspects that we had not understood previously.
I think it is ironic that this message was given in what were the final gasps of the WCG, as the apostasy was growing, but, even then, God revealed to Dr. Hoeh's mind some new information that had not been previously known in the way that he presented it.
Ronald Dart has also commented on some of these "new" meanings for Trumpets, so some of these things have begun to seep into the minds of at least some of God's people.
If you haven't had a chance to listen to this important message, please do so. Even though I have decided to archive this message in the Library at some point, it might be some time before I actually archive it there, so I urge you to listen to this message before Friday of this coming week if you haven't listened to it already.
One of the points Dr. Hoeh brought out, and which has also been brought up from time to time by Ronald Dart and a few others is that the birth of Christ probably happened in the Fall Holy Day season, and that, given the symbology and significance of Trumpets, it is very likely that He could have been born on that very day!
After all, we have understood for decades that Trumpets symbolizes the second coming of Christ, so why wouldn't it also be appropriate that His first coming as a baby in the human flesh would also have occurred on this Holy Day?
Dr. Hoeh also brought out an interesting point I was not aware of previously, and that is the fact that each month began with a New Moon, and there was the blowing of the trumpet to mark the beginning of each month.
But, on the First Day of the Seventh Month, which is what the Feast of Trumpets is, there were in fact SEVEN TRUMPETS BLOWN on that day. One can't escape the symbolism of this, as in the Book of Revelation it talks about SEVEN TRUMPET PLAGUES that shall be blown just prior to the second coming of Christ, and, as the Apostle Paul points out, at the blowing of the LAST TRUMP, which we now understand both from the typology of the blowing of the seven trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets as well as the seven last trumpets in the Book of Revelation, Christ shall descend in the Clouds of Heaven [for a complete understanding of the meaning of the Clouds of Heaven, please listen to my illuminating series by that name in the Speculative Issues section of the website library, as this has much more meaning than you would ever dream possible once you start to study it]at the sounding of that SEVENTH TRUMPET, which would be the LAST TRUMPET BLOWN ON THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS.
It is also at this key juncture in World Affairs that the first resurrection occurs, and the Saints rise to meet the descending Christ in the Clouds of Heaven.
After that momentous meeting in the Clouds, Christ will then continue His descent with the Saints and the Holy Angels with Him, and His feet shall stand that day on the Mount of Olives, during the final battle at the end of this evil age, commonly referred to as the Battle of Armagheddon.
So all of this typology and symbolism, as well as much more, is wrapped up in this momentous Holy Day, which will be celebrated this coming Sabbath. This may well mark a major turning point in world affairs.
Brethren, some new understanding has been lurking around the corner of my mind now for at least the past several years. Even though world events may LOOK like we may be headed straight into the Tribulation very soon now, I have had the inkling that this is but a false start, a dry run, and a WARNING TO THIS WORLD and to GOD'S ELECT AS WELL of what WILL happen soon during that most terrible time of trouble in world history.
It will be a shadow, a fortaste, and, in reality, a COUNTERFEIT of the real thing, because things just are not lined up CORRECTLY at this moment.
And, with a few scriptures that I have recently come across, it appears that this false run up to a false tribulation is in the prophetic record if we just know where to look.
And, after this false start towards a false tribulation is over, I have the feeling that we will enter immediately upon a NEW GOLDEN AGE OF GOD'S WORK, when God will directly take a hand in world affairs and utterly lay waste the plains of evil, vain men to bring about their fake New World Order based on greed and oppression, using MONEY, greed, political power, and INTRIGUE to rule over prostrate humanity, creating one tiny class of masters -- and elite made up of the international banksters, the illuminati, and their ilk -- with the rest of the human race wearing the chains of wage slavery and oppression in a fascist New World Order.
But, as I explain in detail in my "Three Whores and a Virgin" series in the Prophecy section of our website library, this is an ISRAELITISH plot, with its center in the City of London, with the atheist Zionist and other illuminati so called "elite," operating in a counterfeit of the way the Catholic Church rides the Beast from its headquarters in Vatican City.
I explain in the early parts of this series that this Globalist Cabal uses MONEY as a substitutue for SPIRITUAL POWER, and that it uses its Money Power in a simillar way that the Catholic Church has used its Spiritual Power down through millenia, in a perverted counterfeit of the Babylonian model.
It is an atheist, dirty, COUNTERFEIT, using MONEY as a substitute for spiritual power to "ride the beast" of first the British Empire and now the American Empire, in a sick, perverted, weird COUNTERFEIT of the method that the REAL WHORE OF BABYLON has used down through history, and will yet use on the world once more.
These elitist plotters and schemers have deceived themselves that there is no God, and that there also is no Satan the Devil, and that everything is about money and everyone in the world has their price, and by using payoffs and other evil means of materialism and atheism, they can create their corrupt New World Order based on nothing but human greed and corruption.
It has worked really well down through the last few centuries that this plot has been operating on the world scene, but these idiots are utterly blind to the stupidity of their flawed logic. This is because NOT EVERYONE CAN BE BOUGHT, BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO BRIBES. It is also true, though, that there are others who will either not stay bribed or who will pretend to be bought and paid for, but who, in the end, will say "what have you done for me lately," and turn around and bite the hand that has been feeding them.
So these are two areas in which these dimwitted morons who dare to call themselves an "elite, " and "enlightened ones" are utterly blind and which is their achilles heel and the germ of their final downfall.
Even at this very moment, there is a growing awareness among the world's people that there is something very evil, very wicked, and very WRONG about this fascist New World Order scheme, and the rebellion against it will soon become a tidal wave that will sweep every leader in the world who is cooperating with their agenda out of power.
Unfortunately, our own peoples of national Israel, at the center of this evil, will be the last to wake up, but, once they do, they will also turn on this WHORE and utterly lay her waste in a moment of time, and throw out of power those governments that this WHORE has thrust upon them for greed and exploitation these many centuries.
It now becomes apparant that AFTER the fall of this FIRST WHORE, there will be chaos and Civil War among most of the nations of the world, and especially in the US, UK, and Canada. There is a significant portion of the populations of those countries that have become used to, tolerant of, and also CHEERLEADERS of this evil system with its political correctness, and multiculturalist agenda. But there is also a significant portion of these peoples that are utterly OPPOSED to this globalist fascist agenda of evil, and are having their eyes opened on an almost daily basis to the evil plot that is unfolding before their very eyes.
There is thus about to occur a gigantic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, which will manifest itself in the form of multiple civil wars throughout the world, including our own nations.
After these civil wars are fought and the forces of the Globalist Elite have been utterly laid waste and eradicated from the face of the earth, it now appears that there will come a short period of world peace and harmony after the extinction of these forces of evil. This will be a time during which the message of God's Church, and God's Church itself, will blossom like a flower and flourish as never before.
It is clear to me that this will unlikely be a Work like no other in human history, and that it will make the Work done by Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God look like mere shadows in comparison.
This will be a GREAT AND MARVELOUS WORK, a Work so powerful that it will threaten to "turn the world upside down," as God's church did in the first century.
It will be a time of unparallelled spiritual power and an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit, simillar to what occurred on that First Day of Pentacost.
As the prophet Joel said, it will also be a time when our "young men shall dream dreams." It will be a time of prophecy, a time when healings are a daily event in God's Church, and a time of brotherly love such as has never before occurred among God's people, except at the very beginning.
But, the remaining powers in this world left after the collapse of the Globalist Elite will not be amused by this at all. Leaders of all major religions will feel threatened by the Truth shedding light on their lies and hypocrisy, and they shall plot the end of the "holy people."
And so, at some point, the horrible Tribulation will be brought down on this world, as much to suppress the Work of God as anything else.
Keeping God's Sabbath and Holy Days will become a DEATH PENALTY CRIME during this horrible period within the entire area controlled by the Beast Power, and they shall invade and crush the nations of national Israel, whose power shall have been dissipated in their years of civil wars.
But we are on the verge, I believe, of the momentous events surrounding the imminent collapse of the New World order, and the international bankster and Zionist so called "elite." Once that happens, we are in for some very stressful times, at the end of which we will experience a short lived, worldwide "golden age" of "peace among men," which, if you recall, will be a bad sign, as the Beast will be speaking words of "peace" and "flattery" and make a covenant with many for seven years, which agreement he will break after 3 and one half years!
World events are rapidly accelerating now, and the WHORE headquartered in the City of London sees her plots and schemes unwravelling right before her very eyes, which is freaking her out. This is the reason for the increased attacks against freedom around the world and the war mongering claptrap and propaganda She spews forth from Her controlled media / propaganda organs.
But the jig is almost up, as they say. A significant part of the world, and even the US, British, and Canadian populace no longer accepts anything coming out of the mouths of their corrupt politicians as anything but lies and claptrap, and this also applies to the corporate propaganda media organs.
And so, as this REVELATION of the truth about this ABHORRENT EVIL spreads around the world, and people refuse to support their evil globalist agenda, we will see that this vision of evil will quickly fade.
It is coming down, no matter what She does now. The only question is whether the collapse will be peaceful, or soaked with blood because they fight to cling to power. Sadly, I think the next few years will be stained with the blood in the streets of worldwide civil wars, with the elite globalist pigs fighting agains the rest of humanity!
But, after this brief period when She will melt like the Wicked Witch of the West when exposed to water, God's intervention in these matters will cause her to fade away like a vile dream and vision of evil.
And this, my friends, will pave the way and open a brief window in human history during which the very Truth of God will roll down upon this world like cataracts of living, clensing waters, to give us all a chance to repent before the coming of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.
May God speed that day and revive His Work in this very end of days!
I urge you to study the material I have mentioned in this important email from our online library, and to listen to this important message by Dr. Hoeh in this week's Cyber Services section.
You may find the Restoration Website at:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/
May God open your mind to His precious Truth!
John
Saturday, September 09, 2006
NOTE: God is inspiring me to begin a study into the prophecies in the latter chapters of the book of Daniel. But, before we begin this study, here is some important background!
The Plain Truth
June, 1960
WHY PROPHECY?
One-third of the Bible is PROPHECY! Why was it written? Why is it so
mysterious? Why
does almost no one understand it? Here are the Bible answers!
by Garner Ted Armstrong
BIBLE prophecy has perplexed millions! Many hundreds of volumes have been
written --
articles, leaflets, tracts printed -- thousands of sermons have been preached
-- all
about Biblical prophecy!
And yet -- look at all the CONFUSION!
Many believe ALL the prophecies have been fulfilled. Others believe the
prophecies
were merely the pronouncements of wild-eyed fanatics carried away with visions
of doom.
Still others believe the prophecies are confined to the Old Testament, and are
all DONE
AWAY.
Still others preach that MOST Biblical prophecy is for OUR DAY -- NOW!
What is the truth?
What Is Prophecy?
The Hebrew word for prophet, "Nabi" means "one who announces or brings a
message
from God." The word "prophet" in the English language means essentially the
same thing
-- "one who speaks by Divine inspiration as the interpreter or spokesman of
God,"
whether it be a message of duty and warning, or a prediction of future events.
A prophet is one who speaks FOR God; hence, the prefix "pro" (from the
Greek
language -- from which our word "prophet" is derived) which means "for" and
"before" so
that a prophet is one who speaks FOR GOD, or one who tells BEFORE -- one who
PREDICTS,
foretells, prophecies!
Common Misconceptions
Many people falsely ASSUME all prophecies are merely dire foretellings of
catastrophic events, of the wrathful vengeance of a harsh God who is about to
descend
with terrible fury upon His hapless subjects here below!
This is FAR from the truth! MANY of the prophecies foretell a time of
peace, of
happiness, of restoration, of joy, of great prosperity and physical wealth for
those who
are serving God.
MANY prophecies merely foretell, in advance, certain events which are to
happen, the
rise and fall of nations, the COURSE of world affairs!
Prophecy IS a chronicle of the great PLAN God is working out here below!
It
describes this plan in DETAIL, showing how God KNEW it would work out,
according to
human nature, together with other SPECIAL INTERVENTIONS of God.
Prophecy is HISTORY WRITTEN IN ADVANCE!
Who Were the Prophets?
The prophets were not a special hierarchy, a guild, or a certain "class"
of men!
Many of them were chosen from various of the tribes, and, unlike those of the
tribe of
Levi, were not BORN into their office.
"... The prophecy came not in old time by the WILL OF MAN, but holy men of
God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (II Pet. 1:21).
DANIEL was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, one of the PRINCES of the nation,
with whom
God began to deal -- revealing the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, and
causing
Daniel to write many prophecies which he, himself DID NOT UNDERSTAND! (Dan.
12:8-9).
JEREMIAH was "of the priests" (Jer. 1:1), who argued he was TOO YOUNG to
become a
prophet of God! HOSEA was apparently of Zebulun, JONAH ran from the call of
God, ISAIAH
claimed he was a man of UNCLEAN LIPS, and didn't want to prophesy, and
ZEPHANIAH was one
of the princes of Judah, possibly of the descendants of Hezekiah.
As the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write, God CALLED His prophets --
sent them
with a message as divinely commissioned MESSENGERS. On many occasions, they
had to be
MADE WILLING to carry the message of God. These men WERE NOT SEEKING for some
kind of a
"spiritual experience," they were not earnestly DESIRING the office of a
"prophet," they
were CHOSEN of God!
Notice the way God called Amos!
"The words of Amos, who was among the HERDSMEN Tekoa, WHICH HE SAW" (Amos
1:1). Amos
was going about his daily life, AMONG THE HERDSMAN, minding his own business
-- and God
expressly REVEALED a certain message to him. Later, when Amos was approached
by Amaziah,
the priest of Bethel, who told Amos not to prophesy, but to go into another
country,
Amos answered "... I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was
AN
HERDMAN, and a gatherer of wild figs [margin] and the Eternal took me AS I
FOLLOWED THE
FLOCK, and the Eternal said unto me 'Go, PROPHESY unto My people Israel'"
(Amos
7:14-15).
Amos was HERDING SHEEP -- NOT "looking" for some kind of "religious
experience" --
and God CALLED him!
Who were the prophets? They were princes, sheepherders, farmers,
fishermen, or
priests. They came from many different tribes, and God called them at many
different
times.
Your Bible says that they were "HOLY men of old"! And, ON THESE MEN
together with
the New Testament apostles, is based the very CHURCH OF GOD! "Now therefore ye
are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household
of God, and ARE BUILT upon the FOUNDATION of the apostles AND PROPHETS, Jesus
Christ
Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:19-20).
Why Was Prophecy Written?
God selected Jonah as a prophet and, after making him WILLING to carry the
message
of God, commissioned him to go to the great city of Nineveh. Jonah finally
went. Jonah
prophesied, lifting up his voice in loud warning as he traversed the great,
sprawling
city of Nineveh!
Finally, the word came to the king. The king realized the SERIOUSNESS of
the
prophecy, and "... arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and
covered him
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and
published
through Nineveh by a decree of the king and his nobles saying, 'Let neither
man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water. But
let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God' ... and God
SAW THEIR
WORKS that they turned from THEIR EVIL WAY, and God repented of the evil, that
He had
said that He would do unto them, and He did it not" (Jonah 3:6-10).
Notice it! Jonah fulfilled HIS COMMISSION! Jonah's job of orally shouting
the
warning was over! Jonah had been made willing, HAD CARRIED THE MESSAGE to
Nineveh, and
Nineveh had actually REPENTED!
Then -- if the prophecy had served its purpose, if the warning had been
heeded, if
Jonah's commission was over, WHY THE NEED OF WRITING THE PROPHECY?
Jonah WROTE the whole thing, and it forms a part of your Bible today!
Again, notice the 36th chapter of Jeremiah.
"And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of
Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Eternal, saying, 'Take thee
a roll of
a book [a scroll], and write therein all the words that I HAVE SPOKEN unto
thee against
ISRAEL, and against Judah, and against all the nations ... it may be that the
house of
Judah will hear of all the evil which I purpose to do unto them, that they may
return
every man from his evil way' ... then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of
Neriah, and
Baruch WROTE from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Eternal, which He
had
spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book!" (Jer. 36:1-4).
After the writing of this dire warning toward Israel and Judah, notice
what
happened! "Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, 'I am shut up, I cannot go into
the house
of the Lord: therefore go thou, and READ in the roll, which thou hast written
from my
mouth, the words of the Eternal in the ears of the people in the Eternal's
house upon
the fasting day ... It may be they will present their supplication before the
Eternal,
and will return every one from his evil way ...' and Baruch the son of Neriah
DID
according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, READING in the book
the words
of the Eternal in the ETERNAL'S house" (v. 5-8).
The people heard it, and also one of the princes who was present. He
carried the
message to other princes, whereupon they sent Jehudi (v. 14) to tell Baruch to
come to
them. He arose, took the scroll in his hand and began to read it to them. They
then TOLD
THE KING (v. 20).
Now notice what happened! "So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and
he took it
out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi READ IT in the ears of the
king, and in
the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in
the winter
house in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning before
him. And it
came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves [columns] he cut
it with
the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until ALL THE
ROLL WAS
CONSUMED in the fire that was on the hearth" (v. 21-23). The king then
commanded (v. 26)
that Baruch and Jeremiah be seized. However, they escaped, being hidden of
God.
Stop and think for a moment. God had revealed a message to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had
caused the message to be WRITTEN. The message had then reached ALL THE PEOPLE.
Then ALL
THE PRINCES heard it. Finally, it reached the KING! On this occasion, unlike
Nineveh,
neither the king, the princes, nor the people repented!
However, the purpose of the prophecy was FULFILLED -- wasn't it? Everyone
had HEARD,
orally, the EXACT WORDS of this amazing prophecy READ IN THEIR OWN EARS!
But -- IF the whole purpose of this prophecy had ALREADY BEEN FULFILLED,
and if
there was not a DUAL application -- if there was not yet a FUTURE fulfillment
of this
prophecy -- THEN WHY DID GOD CAUSE EVERY WORD TO BE WRITTEN THE SECOND TIME?
"Then the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah, AFTER that the king had
burned the
roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 'Take
thee
again ANOTHER ROLL, and write in it ALL THE FORMER WORDS that were in the
FIRST roll,
which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned'" (Jer. 36:27-28).
Do you see? God caused every single word and other words besides to be
WRITTEN the
second time! He caused Jonah to WRITE the prophecy even though the city
repented. GOD
WANTED THESE WORDS PRESERVED! God wanted them to come right on down to our
time -- NOW!
Written for OUR DAY!
The very PURPOSE for WRITING one single word of prophecy is to PRESERVE
the
prophecies for future generations! God saw to it, even by intervening in a
Divine
miracle, that His sacred words were to be PRESERVED to all generations.
Here's PART of the reason: "Now these things were OUR EXAMPLES, to the
intent we
should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (I Cor. 10:6). God
caused these
prophecies to be written for our examples, TODAY! "Now ALL THESE THINGS
happened unto
them for examples, and they are WRITTEN for OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends
of the
world are come" (I Cor. 10:11).
God caused the prophecies to be written to SHOW His servants how world
conditions
would work out. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to
SHOW UNTO
HIS SERVANTS things which must shortly come to pass, and He sent and signified
it by His
angels unto His servant John" (Rev. 1:1).
Why? So His servants in THIS modern age can come to UNDERSTAND the
prophecies,
PREACHING and PUBLISHING them to the modern nations for whom they were
intended! READ
EZEKIEL 33!
God makes an ironclad promise that He will NOT cause any major world
condition to
occur, that He will not intervene in world affairs, unless HIS SERVANTS --
those who are
members of the very body of Jesus Christ -- know about it FIRST! "Surely the
Lord
Eternal WILL DO NOTHING but He REVEALETH His secret unto His servants the
prophets"
(Amos 3:7).
One full third of the Bible is prophecy -- and about 90% of all that
prophecy still
pertains to OUR DAY -- RIGHT NOW!
The Amazing Prophecy of Ezekiel
Notice what happened to Ezekiel! "... I was among the CAPTIVES by the
River of
Chebar ... and I saw visions of God": (Ezek. 1:1). READ the first chapter of
Ezekiel!
Here is a picture of the very throne of the One who later became Jesus Christ!
Ezekiel
saw a great whirlwind (v. 4) in the midst of which were four living creatures
(v. 5),
carrying, over their heads, an expanse of translucent material (v. 22) the
color of
glass, or crystal. On this expanse of beautiful, crystal-like material, was a
throne!
(v. 26).
Seated on the throne was One "as the appearance of a man above upon it,
and I saw as
the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the
appearance
of His loins even upward [compare with Rev. 1:13-16] and from the appearance
of His
loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had
brightness
round about ... THIS WAS THE APPEARANCE OF THE LIKENESS OF THE GLORY OF THE
LORD!"
(Ezek. 1:26-28).
Ezekiel then heard a voice (chapter 1:28) and the voice said, "Son of man,
stand
upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee ... and He said unto me, 'Son of
man, I send
thee to the children of Israel ... I do send thee unto them, and thou shalt
say unto
them THUS SAITH THE LORD ETERNAL'" (Ezek. 2:1-4).
Ezekiel was being sent with a message by the Eternal, the LORD of the Old
Testament
-- who IS Jesus Christ of the New Testament!
But Ezekiel was IN CAPTIVITY. He was sent to the House of Israel! He was
also given
prophecies against the Ammonites (25:2), against Moab (25:8), against Edom
(25:12),
against the Philistines (25:15), against Tyre (26:2-3). Against Egypt (29:2)
-- and
against other nations, a great distance from his location in Babylon.
But Ezekiel WAS IN CAPTIVITY. The word of the Eternal came to him, giving
him these
messages -- commissioning him to warn these specific nations!
But Ezekiel WAS NEVER RELEASED to GO to these nations!
A Captive Jew
Imagine it! Picture, if you can, a young Jewish lad in a concentration
camp in
Germany, during World War II. Let's suppose Almighty God reveals to him
startling
visions, symbolizing what is to happen to Egypt, Japan, Great Britain and the
United
States! God tells him to "get you unto Egypt, Japan, Britain and the United
States."
Are his German captors going to BELIEVE he has received such a message?
Even if they
DID -- is it feasible they would LET HIM GO, in order to travel all about the
world
during a time of warfare, reaching the leaders of these nations? Even if he
COULD
feasibly travel from place to place, is it possible anyone with such a
message, claiming
to be a prophet sent from God, would be ushered right into the White House of
the
President of the United States, into the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, or to No.
10 Downing
Street in London?
OF COURSE NOT!
EZEKIEL NEVER REACHED THESE NATIONS!
Instead, he WROTE the prophecies!
Do you realize that Ezekiel, a young captive Jew, in a veritable
"concentration
camp" in Babylon, was given prophecies toward ISRAEL over 120 years AFTER
ISRAEL HAD
ALREADY GONE INTO A CAPTIVITY? And that He NEVER REACHED the Israelites with
the
message?
Ezekiel saw visions of impending destruction upon Israel "in the fifth day
of the
month, which was the fifth year of KING JEHOIACHIN'S CAPTIVITY" (Ezek. 1:2-3).
Jehoiachin went into captivity in 596 B.C. The fifth year brings us to about
592 B.C.,
or over 125 years AFTER the removal of the last of the remaining Northern
tribes,
718-721 B.C.!
If you have not yet seen the startling identity of Israel PROVED, write
immediately
for Mr. Armstrong's booklet "The United States and the British Commonwealth in
Prophecy!"
Ezekiel's prophecy NEVER, IN ALL HISTORY until NOW, reached the ears of
the nations,
peoples, or kings for whom the messages were intended!
Rather, Ezekiel WROTE these amazing prophecies! He wrote them -- because
God was
intending to PRESERVE THEM -- for our day!
Prophecy is DUAL! Notice the THEME of duality running throughout the
Bible. There
was the first man Adam, and the second Adam, who was Christ (I Cor. 15:45-47).
There is
the Old Testament, and the New Testament. There was the Old Jerusalem and a
new heavenly
Jerusalem. Study Matthew 24! Here, Jesus answered the questions of the
disciples about
the END OF THE AGE, and His imminent return! Many believe Matthew 24 was
totally
FULFILLED in 70 A.D. at the destruction of Jerusalem. This is entirely
baseless! They
must believe, by this assumption, Jesus was a liar! But Christ DID NOT LIE --
what
happened in part in 70 A.D. was merely a FORERUNNER, a former TYPE of the REAL
FULFILLMENT of ALL the prophecies of Matthew 24!
Ezekiel's prophecies are also DUAL! And the real, LITERAL fulfillment of
the
prophecies of Ezekiel are right ahead of us -- Now!
HOW to Understand Prophecy!
There are definite KEYS to the understanding of Biblical prophecy. Most
have never
understood what those keys are! The keys to prophecy have become lost!
Of GREAT importance is the modern IDENTITY of the nations mentioned in
Bible
prophecy.
Also, in ancient times, when a prophet of God came to a king (such as
Nineveh) the
message was sometimes BELIEVED, and a great REFORM effected. From time to
time, as God
sent judges, and prophets, there were certain REFORMS carried out in Israel.
At least
SOME kings of Israel RECOGNIZED these prophets spoke, NOT according to their
own
cleverly devised human reasoning, but according to the Divinely inspired WORDS
OF GOD!
Notice how totally DIFFERENT we are today!
YOU KNOW national leaders today would look upon preaching the prophecies
of WHAT GOD
SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN as mere fanaticism. They would spurn, scorn, ridicule
and scoff
at any MENTION of "Biblical prophecy."
Today, PROPHECY seems to be a weird, fanatical sort of "religious
ax-grinding,"
having no bearing on actual fact or present-day world conditions.
What a SHOCK lies ahead for world leaders!
YOU CAN understand Biblical prophecy. Here's how: God told Daniel the
words which he
had received were CLOSED and SEALED -- but only UNTIL a certain time. Read it!
"And he
said, 'Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and SEALED TILL the
TIME OF THE
END! Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried, but the wicked shall
do
wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the WISE SHALL
UNDERSTAND'" (Dan.
12:9-10).
Who are the "wise"? God says "the FEAR OF THE ETERNAL is the BEGINNING of
knowledge"
(Prov. 1:7). Wisdom comes from God! "For the Eternal GIVETH wisdom, out of His
mouth
cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6).
The way to get wisdom -- to come to UNDERSTAND the Bible prophecies -- is
to FEAR
(be in AWE of) Almighty God! "Thus saith the Eternal, The heaven is My throne,
and the
earth is My footstool: where is the house that you build unto Me? and where is
the place
of My rest? For all those things have Mine hand made, and all those things
have been,
saith the Eternal: but to THIS MAN will I look, even to him that is poor and
of a
contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH at My word!" (Isa. 66:1-2 ).
The mere BEGINNING of wisdom is to fear God. Next, one must learn to
RESPECT, to
FEAR, to TREMBLE before the Divinely inspired WORD OF GOD!
Today people say, "Well, I know the Bible says that -- but here's the way
I look at
it!" People do not seem to really FEAR to misapply, to misinterpret, wrest,
distort and
twist the sacred word of God! People do not really RESPECT the Divinely
inspired words
of Almighty God!
That's why people don't understand the Bible! You can come to understand
the Bible,
and Biblical prophecy, ONLY when you begin to really FEAR and RESPECT WHAT THE
BIBLE
SAYS!
The apostle Paul said, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the
spirit of
God, for they are foolishness unto him, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY
ARE
SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED" (I Cor. 2:14). The disciples of Jesus Christ couldn't
even
understand the simplest parables which Jesus taught them privately! However,
AFTER they
had been CONVERTED, AFTER they had received the Holy Spirit of God, then they
UNDERSTOOD!
It is only when one has truly come to fear God, to OBEY God, has REPENTED,
and
received God's Holy Spirit, that true UNDERSTANDING of the prophecies of God
can come.
What Prophecy Means to You!
Jesus Christ commissioned His Church to preach the gospel of the kingdom
of God to
all the world as a WITNESS (Matt. 28:18-20; Matt. 24:14). The gospel is
prophetic! It
has to do with present-day world news, and the FUTURE of this whole earth!
The WHOLE MEANING of the gospel is PROPHETIC. Jesus Christ said, "WATCH ye
therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE all
these things
WHICH SHALL COME TO PASS [that are PROPHESIED -- that are to happen in the
FUTURE] and
to stand before the Son of Man!" (Luke 21:36).
You need to come to UNDERSTAND prophecy! Only by understanding the
PROPHECIES of the
Bible can you intelligently WATCH -- and Jesus meant watch WORLD NEWS. When
you KNOW, IN
ADVANCE, what is GOING to happen -- then you can be a real watchman of
Almighty God!
That's WHY God caused the prophecies to be recorded -- to WARN the world Now!
Keep reading the "Plain Truth" magazine! Don't miss a single "World
Tomorrow"
program! Write for EVERY booklet you hear advertised! STUDY YOUR BIBLE -- PRAY
for God
to give you an obedient, humble, submissive mind -- giving you more and more a
deep,
respectful, AWE of the word of God! You can't afford NOT to -- your very LIFE
-- your
FUTURE is at stake!
For more information on these and other topics, visit the Library section of the Restoration Website. Study the material you find there and the Bible will begin to make sense at last!
The Library section may be found at:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/library.htm
The Plain Truth
June, 1960
WHY PROPHECY?
One-third of the Bible is PROPHECY! Why was it written? Why is it so
mysterious? Why
does almost no one understand it? Here are the Bible answers!
by Garner Ted Armstrong
BIBLE prophecy has perplexed millions! Many hundreds of volumes have been
written --
articles, leaflets, tracts printed -- thousands of sermons have been preached
-- all
about Biblical prophecy!
And yet -- look at all the CONFUSION!
Many believe ALL the prophecies have been fulfilled. Others believe the
prophecies
were merely the pronouncements of wild-eyed fanatics carried away with visions
of doom.
Still others believe the prophecies are confined to the Old Testament, and are
all DONE
AWAY.
Still others preach that MOST Biblical prophecy is for OUR DAY -- NOW!
What is the truth?
What Is Prophecy?
The Hebrew word for prophet, "Nabi" means "one who announces or brings a
message
from God." The word "prophet" in the English language means essentially the
same thing
-- "one who speaks by Divine inspiration as the interpreter or spokesman of
God,"
whether it be a message of duty and warning, or a prediction of future events.
A prophet is one who speaks FOR God; hence, the prefix "pro" (from the
Greek
language -- from which our word "prophet" is derived) which means "for" and
"before" so
that a prophet is one who speaks FOR GOD, or one who tells BEFORE -- one who
PREDICTS,
foretells, prophecies!
Common Misconceptions
Many people falsely ASSUME all prophecies are merely dire foretellings of
catastrophic events, of the wrathful vengeance of a harsh God who is about to
descend
with terrible fury upon His hapless subjects here below!
This is FAR from the truth! MANY of the prophecies foretell a time of
peace, of
happiness, of restoration, of joy, of great prosperity and physical wealth for
those who
are serving God.
MANY prophecies merely foretell, in advance, certain events which are to
happen, the
rise and fall of nations, the COURSE of world affairs!
Prophecy IS a chronicle of the great PLAN God is working out here below!
It
describes this plan in DETAIL, showing how God KNEW it would work out,
according to
human nature, together with other SPECIAL INTERVENTIONS of God.
Prophecy is HISTORY WRITTEN IN ADVANCE!
Who Were the Prophets?
The prophets were not a special hierarchy, a guild, or a certain "class"
of men!
Many of them were chosen from various of the tribes, and, unlike those of the
tribe of
Levi, were not BORN into their office.
"... The prophecy came not in old time by the WILL OF MAN, but holy men of
God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (II Pet. 1:21).
DANIEL was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, one of the PRINCES of the nation,
with whom
God began to deal -- revealing the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, and
causing
Daniel to write many prophecies which he, himself DID NOT UNDERSTAND! (Dan.
12:8-9).
JEREMIAH was "of the priests" (Jer. 1:1), who argued he was TOO YOUNG to
become a
prophet of God! HOSEA was apparently of Zebulun, JONAH ran from the call of
God, ISAIAH
claimed he was a man of UNCLEAN LIPS, and didn't want to prophesy, and
ZEPHANIAH was one
of the princes of Judah, possibly of the descendants of Hezekiah.
As the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write, God CALLED His prophets --
sent them
with a message as divinely commissioned MESSENGERS. On many occasions, they
had to be
MADE WILLING to carry the message of God. These men WERE NOT SEEKING for some
kind of a
"spiritual experience," they were not earnestly DESIRING the office of a
"prophet," they
were CHOSEN of God!
Notice the way God called Amos!
"The words of Amos, who was among the HERDSMEN Tekoa, WHICH HE SAW" (Amos
1:1). Amos
was going about his daily life, AMONG THE HERDSMAN, minding his own business
-- and God
expressly REVEALED a certain message to him. Later, when Amos was approached
by Amaziah,
the priest of Bethel, who told Amos not to prophesy, but to go into another
country,
Amos answered "... I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was
AN
HERDMAN, and a gatherer of wild figs [margin] and the Eternal took me AS I
FOLLOWED THE
FLOCK, and the Eternal said unto me 'Go, PROPHESY unto My people Israel'"
(Amos
7:14-15).
Amos was HERDING SHEEP -- NOT "looking" for some kind of "religious
experience" --
and God CALLED him!
Who were the prophets? They were princes, sheepherders, farmers,
fishermen, or
priests. They came from many different tribes, and God called them at many
different
times.
Your Bible says that they were "HOLY men of old"! And, ON THESE MEN
together with
the New Testament apostles, is based the very CHURCH OF GOD! "Now therefore ye
are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household
of God, and ARE BUILT upon the FOUNDATION of the apostles AND PROPHETS, Jesus
Christ
Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:19-20).
Why Was Prophecy Written?
God selected Jonah as a prophet and, after making him WILLING to carry the
message
of God, commissioned him to go to the great city of Nineveh. Jonah finally
went. Jonah
prophesied, lifting up his voice in loud warning as he traversed the great,
sprawling
city of Nineveh!
Finally, the word came to the king. The king realized the SERIOUSNESS of
the
prophecy, and "... arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and
covered him
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and
published
through Nineveh by a decree of the king and his nobles saying, 'Let neither
man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water. But
let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God' ... and God
SAW THEIR
WORKS that they turned from THEIR EVIL WAY, and God repented of the evil, that
He had
said that He would do unto them, and He did it not" (Jonah 3:6-10).
Notice it! Jonah fulfilled HIS COMMISSION! Jonah's job of orally shouting
the
warning was over! Jonah had been made willing, HAD CARRIED THE MESSAGE to
Nineveh, and
Nineveh had actually REPENTED!
Then -- if the prophecy had served its purpose, if the warning had been
heeded, if
Jonah's commission was over, WHY THE NEED OF WRITING THE PROPHECY?
Jonah WROTE the whole thing, and it forms a part of your Bible today!
Again, notice the 36th chapter of Jeremiah.
"And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of
Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Eternal, saying, 'Take thee
a roll of
a book [a scroll], and write therein all the words that I HAVE SPOKEN unto
thee against
ISRAEL, and against Judah, and against all the nations ... it may be that the
house of
Judah will hear of all the evil which I purpose to do unto them, that they may
return
every man from his evil way' ... then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of
Neriah, and
Baruch WROTE from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Eternal, which He
had
spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book!" (Jer. 36:1-4).
After the writing of this dire warning toward Israel and Judah, notice
what
happened! "Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, 'I am shut up, I cannot go into
the house
of the Lord: therefore go thou, and READ in the roll, which thou hast written
from my
mouth, the words of the Eternal in the ears of the people in the Eternal's
house upon
the fasting day ... It may be they will present their supplication before the
Eternal,
and will return every one from his evil way ...' and Baruch the son of Neriah
DID
according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, READING in the book
the words
of the Eternal in the ETERNAL'S house" (v. 5-8).
The people heard it, and also one of the princes who was present. He
carried the
message to other princes, whereupon they sent Jehudi (v. 14) to tell Baruch to
come to
them. He arose, took the scroll in his hand and began to read it to them. They
then TOLD
THE KING (v. 20).
Now notice what happened! "So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and
he took it
out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi READ IT in the ears of the
king, and in
the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in
the winter
house in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning before
him. And it
came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves [columns] he cut
it with
the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until ALL THE
ROLL WAS
CONSUMED in the fire that was on the hearth" (v. 21-23). The king then
commanded (v. 26)
that Baruch and Jeremiah be seized. However, they escaped, being hidden of
God.
Stop and think for a moment. God had revealed a message to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had
caused the message to be WRITTEN. The message had then reached ALL THE PEOPLE.
Then ALL
THE PRINCES heard it. Finally, it reached the KING! On this occasion, unlike
Nineveh,
neither the king, the princes, nor the people repented!
However, the purpose of the prophecy was FULFILLED -- wasn't it? Everyone
had HEARD,
orally, the EXACT WORDS of this amazing prophecy READ IN THEIR OWN EARS!
But -- IF the whole purpose of this prophecy had ALREADY BEEN FULFILLED,
and if
there was not a DUAL application -- if there was not yet a FUTURE fulfillment
of this
prophecy -- THEN WHY DID GOD CAUSE EVERY WORD TO BE WRITTEN THE SECOND TIME?
"Then the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah, AFTER that the king had
burned the
roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 'Take
thee
again ANOTHER ROLL, and write in it ALL THE FORMER WORDS that were in the
FIRST roll,
which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned'" (Jer. 36:27-28).
Do you see? God caused every single word and other words besides to be
WRITTEN the
second time! He caused Jonah to WRITE the prophecy even though the city
repented. GOD
WANTED THESE WORDS PRESERVED! God wanted them to come right on down to our
time -- NOW!
Written for OUR DAY!
The very PURPOSE for WRITING one single word of prophecy is to PRESERVE
the
prophecies for future generations! God saw to it, even by intervening in a
Divine
miracle, that His sacred words were to be PRESERVED to all generations.
Here's PART of the reason: "Now these things were OUR EXAMPLES, to the
intent we
should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (I Cor. 10:6). God
caused these
prophecies to be written for our examples, TODAY! "Now ALL THESE THINGS
happened unto
them for examples, and they are WRITTEN for OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends
of the
world are come" (I Cor. 10:11).
God caused the prophecies to be written to SHOW His servants how world
conditions
would work out. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to
SHOW UNTO
HIS SERVANTS things which must shortly come to pass, and He sent and signified
it by His
angels unto His servant John" (Rev. 1:1).
Why? So His servants in THIS modern age can come to UNDERSTAND the
prophecies,
PREACHING and PUBLISHING them to the modern nations for whom they were
intended! READ
EZEKIEL 33!
God makes an ironclad promise that He will NOT cause any major world
condition to
occur, that He will not intervene in world affairs, unless HIS SERVANTS --
those who are
members of the very body of Jesus Christ -- know about it FIRST! "Surely the
Lord
Eternal WILL DO NOTHING but He REVEALETH His secret unto His servants the
prophets"
(Amos 3:7).
One full third of the Bible is prophecy -- and about 90% of all that
prophecy still
pertains to OUR DAY -- RIGHT NOW!
The Amazing Prophecy of Ezekiel
Notice what happened to Ezekiel! "... I was among the CAPTIVES by the
River of
Chebar ... and I saw visions of God": (Ezek. 1:1). READ the first chapter of
Ezekiel!
Here is a picture of the very throne of the One who later became Jesus Christ!
Ezekiel
saw a great whirlwind (v. 4) in the midst of which were four living creatures
(v. 5),
carrying, over their heads, an expanse of translucent material (v. 22) the
color of
glass, or crystal. On this expanse of beautiful, crystal-like material, was a
throne!
(v. 26).
Seated on the throne was One "as the appearance of a man above upon it,
and I saw as
the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the
appearance
of His loins even upward [compare with Rev. 1:13-16] and from the appearance
of His
loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had
brightness
round about ... THIS WAS THE APPEARANCE OF THE LIKENESS OF THE GLORY OF THE
LORD!"
(Ezek. 1:26-28).
Ezekiel then heard a voice (chapter 1:28) and the voice said, "Son of man,
stand
upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee ... and He said unto me, 'Son of
man, I send
thee to the children of Israel ... I do send thee unto them, and thou shalt
say unto
them THUS SAITH THE LORD ETERNAL'" (Ezek. 2:1-4).
Ezekiel was being sent with a message by the Eternal, the LORD of the Old
Testament
-- who IS Jesus Christ of the New Testament!
But Ezekiel was IN CAPTIVITY. He was sent to the House of Israel! He was
also given
prophecies against the Ammonites (25:2), against Moab (25:8), against Edom
(25:12),
against the Philistines (25:15), against Tyre (26:2-3). Against Egypt (29:2)
-- and
against other nations, a great distance from his location in Babylon.
But Ezekiel WAS IN CAPTIVITY. The word of the Eternal came to him, giving
him these
messages -- commissioning him to warn these specific nations!
But Ezekiel WAS NEVER RELEASED to GO to these nations!
A Captive Jew
Imagine it! Picture, if you can, a young Jewish lad in a concentration
camp in
Germany, during World War II. Let's suppose Almighty God reveals to him
startling
visions, symbolizing what is to happen to Egypt, Japan, Great Britain and the
United
States! God tells him to "get you unto Egypt, Japan, Britain and the United
States."
Are his German captors going to BELIEVE he has received such a message?
Even if they
DID -- is it feasible they would LET HIM GO, in order to travel all about the
world
during a time of warfare, reaching the leaders of these nations? Even if he
COULD
feasibly travel from place to place, is it possible anyone with such a
message, claiming
to be a prophet sent from God, would be ushered right into the White House of
the
President of the United States, into the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, or to No.
10 Downing
Street in London?
OF COURSE NOT!
EZEKIEL NEVER REACHED THESE NATIONS!
Instead, he WROTE the prophecies!
Do you realize that Ezekiel, a young captive Jew, in a veritable
"concentration
camp" in Babylon, was given prophecies toward ISRAEL over 120 years AFTER
ISRAEL HAD
ALREADY GONE INTO A CAPTIVITY? And that He NEVER REACHED the Israelites with
the
message?
Ezekiel saw visions of impending destruction upon Israel "in the fifth day
of the
month, which was the fifth year of KING JEHOIACHIN'S CAPTIVITY" (Ezek. 1:2-3).
Jehoiachin went into captivity in 596 B.C. The fifth year brings us to about
592 B.C.,
or over 125 years AFTER the removal of the last of the remaining Northern
tribes,
718-721 B.C.!
If you have not yet seen the startling identity of Israel PROVED, write
immediately
for Mr. Armstrong's booklet "The United States and the British Commonwealth in
Prophecy!"
Ezekiel's prophecy NEVER, IN ALL HISTORY until NOW, reached the ears of
the nations,
peoples, or kings for whom the messages were intended!
Rather, Ezekiel WROTE these amazing prophecies! He wrote them -- because
God was
intending to PRESERVE THEM -- for our day!
Prophecy is DUAL! Notice the THEME of duality running throughout the
Bible. There
was the first man Adam, and the second Adam, who was Christ (I Cor. 15:45-47).
There is
the Old Testament, and the New Testament. There was the Old Jerusalem and a
new heavenly
Jerusalem. Study Matthew 24! Here, Jesus answered the questions of the
disciples about
the END OF THE AGE, and His imminent return! Many believe Matthew 24 was
totally
FULFILLED in 70 A.D. at the destruction of Jerusalem. This is entirely
baseless! They
must believe, by this assumption, Jesus was a liar! But Christ DID NOT LIE --
what
happened in part in 70 A.D. was merely a FORERUNNER, a former TYPE of the REAL
FULFILLMENT of ALL the prophecies of Matthew 24!
Ezekiel's prophecies are also DUAL! And the real, LITERAL fulfillment of
the
prophecies of Ezekiel are right ahead of us -- Now!
HOW to Understand Prophecy!
There are definite KEYS to the understanding of Biblical prophecy. Most
have never
understood what those keys are! The keys to prophecy have become lost!
Of GREAT importance is the modern IDENTITY of the nations mentioned in
Bible
prophecy.
Also, in ancient times, when a prophet of God came to a king (such as
Nineveh) the
message was sometimes BELIEVED, and a great REFORM effected. From time to
time, as God
sent judges, and prophets, there were certain REFORMS carried out in Israel.
At least
SOME kings of Israel RECOGNIZED these prophets spoke, NOT according to their
own
cleverly devised human reasoning, but according to the Divinely inspired WORDS
OF GOD!
Notice how totally DIFFERENT we are today!
YOU KNOW national leaders today would look upon preaching the prophecies
of WHAT GOD
SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN as mere fanaticism. They would spurn, scorn, ridicule
and scoff
at any MENTION of "Biblical prophecy."
Today, PROPHECY seems to be a weird, fanatical sort of "religious
ax-grinding,"
having no bearing on actual fact or present-day world conditions.
What a SHOCK lies ahead for world leaders!
YOU CAN understand Biblical prophecy. Here's how: God told Daniel the
words which he
had received were CLOSED and SEALED -- but only UNTIL a certain time. Read it!
"And he
said, 'Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and SEALED TILL the
TIME OF THE
END! Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried, but the wicked shall
do
wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the WISE SHALL
UNDERSTAND'" (Dan.
12:9-10).
Who are the "wise"? God says "the FEAR OF THE ETERNAL is the BEGINNING of
knowledge"
(Prov. 1:7). Wisdom comes from God! "For the Eternal GIVETH wisdom, out of His
mouth
cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6).
The way to get wisdom -- to come to UNDERSTAND the Bible prophecies -- is
to FEAR
(be in AWE of) Almighty God! "Thus saith the Eternal, The heaven is My throne,
and the
earth is My footstool: where is the house that you build unto Me? and where is
the place
of My rest? For all those things have Mine hand made, and all those things
have been,
saith the Eternal: but to THIS MAN will I look, even to him that is poor and
of a
contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH at My word!" (Isa. 66:1-2 ).
The mere BEGINNING of wisdom is to fear God. Next, one must learn to
RESPECT, to
FEAR, to TREMBLE before the Divinely inspired WORD OF GOD!
Today people say, "Well, I know the Bible says that -- but here's the way
I look at
it!" People do not seem to really FEAR to misapply, to misinterpret, wrest,
distort and
twist the sacred word of God! People do not really RESPECT the Divinely
inspired words
of Almighty God!
That's why people don't understand the Bible! You can come to understand
the Bible,
and Biblical prophecy, ONLY when you begin to really FEAR and RESPECT WHAT THE
BIBLE
SAYS!
The apostle Paul said, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the
spirit of
God, for they are foolishness unto him, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY
ARE
SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED" (I Cor. 2:14). The disciples of Jesus Christ couldn't
even
understand the simplest parables which Jesus taught them privately! However,
AFTER they
had been CONVERTED, AFTER they had received the Holy Spirit of God, then they
UNDERSTOOD!
It is only when one has truly come to fear God, to OBEY God, has REPENTED,
and
received God's Holy Spirit, that true UNDERSTANDING of the prophecies of God
can come.
What Prophecy Means to You!
Jesus Christ commissioned His Church to preach the gospel of the kingdom
of God to
all the world as a WITNESS (Matt. 28:18-20; Matt. 24:14). The gospel is
prophetic! It
has to do with present-day world news, and the FUTURE of this whole earth!
The WHOLE MEANING of the gospel is PROPHETIC. Jesus Christ said, "WATCH ye
therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE all
these things
WHICH SHALL COME TO PASS [that are PROPHESIED -- that are to happen in the
FUTURE] and
to stand before the Son of Man!" (Luke 21:36).
You need to come to UNDERSTAND prophecy! Only by understanding the
PROPHECIES of the
Bible can you intelligently WATCH -- and Jesus meant watch WORLD NEWS. When
you KNOW, IN
ADVANCE, what is GOING to happen -- then you can be a real watchman of
Almighty God!
That's WHY God caused the prophecies to be recorded -- to WARN the world Now!
Keep reading the "Plain Truth" magazine! Don't miss a single "World
Tomorrow"
program! Write for EVERY booklet you hear advertised! STUDY YOUR BIBLE -- PRAY
for God
to give you an obedient, humble, submissive mind -- giving you more and more a
deep,
respectful, AWE of the word of God! You can't afford NOT to -- your very LIFE
-- your
FUTURE is at stake!
For more information on these and other topics, visit the Library section of the Restoration Website. Study the material you find there and the Bible will begin to make sense at last!
The Library section may be found at:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/library.htm
