FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END

IN OUR APRIL ISSUE, WE STARTED A MESSAGE TITLED "WHEN ISRAEL DOES THIS," USING MICAH 7:11-17 AS OUR TEXT SCRIPTURE, WHICH DEALS WITH WHAT ISRAEL WILL DO TO FULFILL THESE VARIOUS PROPHECIES SET FORTH IN THE MESSAGE "LOOKING THROUGH WINDOWS OF PROPHECY;" AND WE HAD JUST READ FOUR VERSES FROM THE 12TH CHAPTER OF ZECHARIAH; SO THAT IS WHERE WE WILL CONTINUE ON FROM.

In Zechariah 12:2, God says, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem." Naturally those that are round about are the Arabs. They are the one's doing all the fussing and scrapping with the Jews. No sooner did they sign this peace thing with Israel about the Gaza Strip and the Jericho territory, Arafat said, the Jew don't know it yet; but they will leave Jerusalem also. I just thought to myself, That is what you say. The Bible tells us who will be leaving; and it will not be the Jews. I cannot project any certain time that God has determined for the Jews to start rebuilding the old city of Jerusalem; but the time between now and then is all the time they have, to continue with their negotiating. One thing you cannot help but notice though, is that everything just seems to get worse. For every individual that is in favor of negotiating a peace settlement between the Jews and the PLO, there are ever so many against it; so where does that leave the whole process? No doubt it will just get worse, and worse until finally either some Arab or Arabs make the wrong move, and that will be (as they say) the straw that breaks the camel's back. As that hour approaches, the governors of Judah are no longer going to be Peres and Rabin. We have a prophecy that goes right in here to show that. If I am looking at this right, and if God has it timed, there is a certain way He is going to trigger this whole thing. That is when the city of Jerusalem becomes an international issue for the whole world to get involved in. The Arabs will foster it of course; and that is why it will become a cup of trembling. Not only will God make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to those Arabs, the next verse says He will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: and all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. That word is describing a negotiating process. That is exactly, we can say, is when U.N. no doubt will want to try to enter into it, just like they have argued back and forth for the last two and half years over Bosnia. Those of the U.N., think it is going to be the final closing thing to the world's problems. They are not. I have to say, God is destined to tear that thing all to pieces sometime in the future. When you read that verse, a burdensome stone, and when you really think of a burdensome stone, you not only think of a stone that is heavy, but it is the way it is made. It is unhandy to get hold of. It is not an easy thing to get your arms around. It is not an easy thing to lift out of its place. God has made it that way. That is why when it begins to enter an international negotiating process, God says though all the nations of the earth be gathered together against Jerusalem, (not in a military way, but in a negotiating way) they will be cut in pieces. That is the U.N. body. God said, I will cut them to pieces. That is not firing shots. No. I cannot help but believe we are going to see hours of confusion hit the international scene where we will see diplomats from various nations stick their head in, sound off, only to walk out angry, saying, I will never return. We have so many prophecies here to look at, to thrill our hearts, it is hard to know which one to look at next.

A PREVIEW OF THE MILLENNIUM

Let us go ahead and turn to Isaiah 11. In Isaiah 11, we find a prophecy describing how God has allowed that prophet to see the Millennium. That is why when you start reading down through there, it tells how He will judge. It tells how the cow and bear shall feed together. "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: (That is looking at the Millennium first.) and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." There is one thing sure, Regardless of how many lions you put in the zoo now and try to educate him, they are not going to eat straw, because the lion's stomach has not yet been changed. You might try it, but it would probably starve him to death. "And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. (We are still looking at the Millennium.) 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." That gives a little fore view of what will follow all the various encounters the Jews are to go through as this age of grace comes to an end. God has not overlooked one single detail: It is all in here somewhere if we can just get it all put together properly.

REVERTING BACK TO THE PRESENT HOUR

Verse 10, of Isaiah 11 brings you back to the fore view of what transpires before the world goes into that Millennial hour. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, (This is talking about the Messiah.) which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, (See? He puts the Millennium first. Now he starts going back over the process approaching it.) which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Showing that in the process of restoring the nation, both elements are going to be back in the land, reunited. Verse 14 tells exactly what they did in the Six Day War.) But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; (They have already done that. Can you see it? But we are not in the Millennium yet; so just watch what He does.) they shall spoil them of the east together: (They did not do it then: this is still ahead of them. The east is across the Jordan River.) they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them." They still have not come to that yet. Where are those Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites? They are in the country of Jordan. They are in that other part of Zephaniah verses 8-11. They stopped over here short of that in 1967; so this is still ahead of them. They shall destroy the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites. We have four prophecies that tell what Israel will do to those people across the river; so let us go right back to Numbers for a further view. Here is where it speaks (Numbers 24.) of what Balaam has said to Balak, Come here, I will show you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. (Verse 17) Balaam says, "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Sier also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly." This is linking all these prophecies together; because the focal point is the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. That part of the land beyond Jordan today, (which was never a country called Jordan in ancient times) certain tribes of the Israeli people must have; because the areas of the land across the Jordan River were not occupied by the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites, the children of Israel lived over there. That is why it speaks back here in this prophecy we read, about how they will move into Gilead, because Israel has got to have it. Israel has got to have the other side of the Jordan River in order to fulfill these prophecies against these people and to make room for the last wave of immigrants to enter and take up their possession to set the stage for the last days. That is why if we can see the picture that unfolds here, all of these are tied to the last days. I remember when Bro. Govender preached that message titled "The Latter Days of the Last Days:" That is what these prophecies are pertaining to: the latter days of the last days. They are prophecies that deal strictly with the supernatural. Here in Numbers 24, Israel will do valiantly. That is when the miraculous power of God will be witnessed. That is why Micah 7 comes right in here: It speaks of the miraculous power of God that will be displayed when He begins to wrap up these end time events; so notice verses 15-17, as we read together. (Micah 7:15-17) "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. (things like the Red sea having a dry path for them to escape through, and the many other miracles of that 40 years journey) (16) The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, (That is a gesture of awe.) their ears shall be deaf. (17) They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee." When God begins to show His miraculous power on behalf of the Israeli people the way so many of these prophecies speak of, it will put fear in the heart's of those who have been their oppressors for so long: That is what all of this adds up to. As we begin to see what these various prophecies pertain to, then we can tie them together for these last days, Numbers 24, Zephaniah 8 through 11, Jeremiah 48, and 47, all about the same thing. Then we can see how all this has to come about by one miraculous sweep of the Israeli military forces, when Jerusalem is the focal point. In other words, until God is ready to show His hand, these leaders will just go ahead and fuss with each other, each one expressing his or her own thoughts about what it will take to bring about a condition of peace in the Middle East. Man will say, how soon? But when God is ready to move, He will be ready to let Israel escort those PLO people across the land, back to the land their ancestors came from, so the Jews can have the land God gave to their forefathers. We also have a prophecy I had never even thought about as being part of this picture until recently, when I was reading it again. It is in Obadiah. It just closes this thing. It lets you see exactly why God has His eye on Moab, on the Edomites and the Ammonites. It is because of how He saw them conduct themselves back in the 6th century, when the Babylonians first came to take the Jews captive and there were a few Jews that managed to escape. They would flee across the valley hoping to find refuge among their half brothers, (you might say) only to be captured and turned back over to the Babylonians, or to be held captive for some high ransom. It tells about it all in Obadiah. In that prophecy, God speaks of all three of them, I have watched you when you stood in the crossway and would not let my people escape, nor would you offer sanctuary to them. In other words, You would not extend a hand of mercy or even allow them to unmolested by you. Therefore God says, I have remembered all of this. Just think, saints, For 2600 years God has remembered what the Moabites did, what the Edomites, and the Ammonites; and He is going to bring them to account for it. There is no doubt in my mind, that this time factor is getting very close. Every day they grind away on this process in the Middle East, trying to bring it to some kind of resolution; and I just keep saying, Lord, how much longer before they start picking on Jerusalem? Once they start picking on Jerusalem, then I have to feel like God's finger is beginning to point to the climax of these prophecies. When He does turn Israel loose, they will make a sweep that will cause people around the world to stand in awe. If I had a map up here and you could see the layout of Israel, and of the Jordan area she will cross over and take, it would give you a better understanding of all of this; but we are limited in some of what we would like to do. However Israel will not be crossing over there to kill all of those people. No. When it says He (meaning Israel) will destroy the Moabites, that in reality means Israel will take hold of them in such a way that they will never again be allowed again to multiply and become a powerful, hostile force against Israel. There is no doubt though, that when Israel does this, still off to the east of all of that you will still have old mad man Hussein, (as I call him) and he will certainly feel that he must take up the cause against Israel; and Israel will know that. Therefore if this thing is as close as it looks like it is, I cannot help but believe Israel will not stop with just the Jordan area. She will not stop until she has reached the Euphrates River. You might ask me why; and here is my answer: It is because if Israel was to make a move today to attack Jordan, there is no doubt that the old mad man is just waiting for the opportunity, hoping for a chance, militarily, to come against Israel with his forces. That is why I have to believe that when God does turn Israel loose to do this, and God shows His miraculous power on their behalf, He will not let Israel stop until she has gone all the way to the Euphrates River and put everything across the Jordan River to rest. It is the only way she can do what it says in Zephaniah, He will destroy all the gods of the earth in that day. They have to destroy that Islamic belief. That turns them around to fulfill what is said in Isaiah 63. Brothers and sisters: God has all of this laid out so beautifully: if we will just purge our mind's of all former ideas we have held by tradition and allow the Spirit of God to show us how it really is. Praise His name!

WHEN ISRAEL SPOILS THEM OF THE EAST

Let us go back to Isaiah 11, to continue on with our look at these prophecies. There is no doubt in my mind, that when these prophecies we are looking at for the end of the age do begin to be fulfilled, it will all wrap up in very short order. It will not string out over a twenty year period of time. While we understand that there are many prophecies dealing with the same period of time, yet everything from the starting of that certain point will come about miraculously. As we said earlier, From back here in 1939 when God started dealing with the Jews in Europe, it has been a long period of time. It has been a struggle. A lot of Jews lost their lives from 1939 on through the war years. Then the birth of the nation came about in 1948, and think of how they struggled through the war of 1967, and what they have been subjected to since then. Almost 27 years have come and gone since that war of 1967; and now it looks like there is a stalemate in the progression of events leading up to the next prophesied events; but no doubt this stalemate is the period that can launch Israel right into the era of the miraculous; and I believe it is going to be very soon now. As we have pointed out before, All of this has to be kept within the generation that saw the hand of God begin to move to restore Israel; so whether you figure it from 1939, or 1948, that generation cannot be stretched very far beyond the year 2000 A.D. The generation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24, that cannot pass away until all these things be fulfilled, is the very generation that watched Israel returned to statehood after all those other Jews had been slaughtered in WW2. Well we read the verses of Isaiah 11, that actually put the Millennium in the forefront; and therefore from verse 14, where we are going to begin reading now, it reverts backward to the conditions that will transpire prior to the Millennium coming into focus. Let us notice how precise these little prophecies are. "But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west." According to Zechariah 10 we find that was accomplished in the war of 1967. Zephaniah 2:3-7, that was fulfilled, where they fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines to the west. They took the Gaza Strip. Keep in mind these prophecies we are reading are not prophecies related to different intervals of time: They are all dealing with the same thing. Each prophecy shows how God let that prophet in the hour the prophecy was written, see the picture. The picture then becomes a specific thing as to how God brings it about. Therefore the first thing this prophecy brings in, is how Israel will take the Gaza Strip. Then notice the rest of the verse. "They shall spoil them of the east together." That means when you go to Zephaniah 2:8-11, you find the prophecy concerning how God will deal with Moab and Ammon, which is exactly what we were just speaking of. When Israel crosses the Jordan to actually spoil them of the east, and take possession of the land now known as Jordan, that is when that verse goes into complete fulfillment and application. "They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them." I believe we should all understand that by now. That is what Numbers 24 pertains to, where Balaam prophesied coming through the wilderness, when he said to Balak, Come here and I will show you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. Right there is where God caused Balaam to prophesy that the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites would in the last days fall subject to Israel. It is very important that we see how these prophecies paint the picture if we expect to keep abreast of where time has progressed to; because we are living in that time factor right now, when we can expect to see these prophecies fulfilled without it being a surprise to us. The unbelieving people of the world will be surprised, or I should say shocked, when Israel begins to excel; but we who have followed these prophecies will only rejoice. Not because of any misfortune that comes to others, but because of the accuracy of every prophecy God has spoken concerning these things. Furthermore we do know for sure, that these prophecies are not pertaining to something that will take place way over here in the Millennium. The reason I put this sketched map up here, is to try and show you the relationship of these other areas to the present land of Israel. Right in here (pointing to map) is the land of Israel. Right across here is the land of Jordan; but looking on eastward, you see Saudi Arabia. If we had a Bible map, it would make it much clearer to you why Israel must fulfill these prophecies; because those old Bible maps show where the twelve tribes of Israel originally dwelt when they finished the wilderness journey and settled in the promised land. She must have all of the land given to Abraham and his heirs; and the only way she is going to get it, is for some condition to arise that will justify her taking it by force; and the only way she can take it all by force, is for the hand of God to cause her to perform miraculous feats. That is why it says in Numbers, "And they shall do valiantly." That means it is a military thing. Let us finish reading the rest. "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams." If you look at a map of the Nile River, where it comes into the delta, facing the Mediterranean, you can get this picture; but we need to understand something: There have been natural forces, (we will say, for the last twelve years) going on in the eastern areas of north Africa, from the Sudan, Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, down into Somalia, running down the eastern coast of Africa all the way into South Africa, that have made a difference. The Nile River flows northward; and for a long period of time, at least twelve years or more we have heard of the various droughts that keep hitting in those eastern countries of north Africa and along the eastern coastal areas. What is it doing? It is affecting the watershed; because the Nile drains out of the northern plateau regions that extend back into Ethiopia and Sudan. That is the watershed area of the Nile. It is true, since Egypt built that big dam that Russia helped her to build, called the Aswan Dam, she can control the flow of this water. But keep in mind, you can only control the flow of water in a massive river like that as long as you have water that falls in the watershed area at various times. But once that stops completely, sooner or later all that water you have been controlling is no longer there. When the day comes they have to shut off every dam for the sake of fresh water to the people, so this means that eventually there is no water that reaches the delta to go into the Mediterranean. Can you understand that? We have two prophecies where God speaks of that day, so let us continue to reading here, in Isaiah 11:15. "And with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, (that is the delta area) and make men go over dryshod." The 16th verse is applicable somewhere yet in front of us. It is not behind us. God has done some extraordinary things in bringing the Jew back home to fulfill these various prophecies and get them in place; but from now onward (we will say) is where the pressure comes. It is how God begins to show His hand. Notice this verse, "And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that He came up out of the land of Egypt." Common sense will tell you when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, there was no highway out there in the wilderness; so what kind of highway is it talking about? It means the route of the miraculous, the way of the miraculous. To me, this is why God has narrowed this time factor down to a few short years before we reach the week of Daniel. This is where when He begins to show His hand; and when He starts it, He will never let up until it is all over. That is why when the era of the miraculous starts, it will take this that somewhere out here in the world, and in some of those scattered mid east territories there is a few hundred Jews here and there still somehow or other kept there; but as the era of the miraculous starts, then those territories like Yemen, and Syria, which has kept several thousands of Jews shut up, and would not let them go home, God is going to miraculously make a way for them to be released and come quickly back to fulfill this picture. This is why as I look at the overall following of Bro. Branham, and please believe me, I am not talking about him personally: I am talking about the followers who have set for almost thirty years and read book after book after book until they have almost memorized every word of them; I realize that those people cannot possibly know how and where to fit in these prophecies. Not one of those books will refer you to one of these prophecies and show you how it will be set in motion and fulfill the picture for the last days. Too many of them have been left with this idea, God is going to come and the rapture take place, phooey with the rest, what do I care about what else takes place? That is absolutely a detrimental attitude for any human being to take toward the word of God. God does not even have to show mercy to a person who wants to take His word and treat it like that. What Bro. Branham brought to this age was a message to wake us up and get us looking forward to the hour and time we could recognize the hand of God bringing us back to scriptural, spiritual truth, in order that we might be put in the right relationship with God, our heavenly Father. As you look at all of this you realize, that does not change the picture written in the scriptures as to how Israel will come toward this point. If we can see ourselves as being the Church the word of God speaks of, and see Israel as she is moving forward to that hour we have been speaking of, we have to understand that when we coordinate the two together, the Church and Israel, they are running parallel toward a strategic time factor. As time moves quickly for Israel to face that week then when we look at the Gentile Church and how she should be moving into her final revelation of how to acquaint herself with Him for the rapture, which is just before the great tribulation in the week of Daniel. Just do not try to make the rapture take place 5 or 10 years before the week starts. That is not in harmony with the whole plan of God. Otherwise Paul would not have said concerning the coming of the Lord, in Thessalonians, and our gathering together unto Him, he wanted them to know that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed. That certainly does not even suggest that the Church will go through any part of the great tribulation; but it does let us know the Church will still be here when it becomes known who the antichrist, or man of sin really is. The world leaders will be compelled by circumstances to initiate the era of this evil prince by allowing him to take the oversight of world affairs; and that should be the very thing that points the Church to the reality of what is taking place. She will know something is about to happen; and she will know what it is. That very incident is what activates the seventieth week of Daniel: Three and a half years of false peace, and then three and a half years of great tribulation. I cannot tell you exactly how much the Church will see take place before she takes her flight; but I can assure you she will be gone before the middle of that week comes. It is only the foolish virgins from among what is looked upon as the Gentile Church that will have to go into the darkest of that dark hour and give their lives in martyrdom to seal their testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. That is a result of playing around with every kind of idea and failing to be clothed in the revealed word of God until the hour when the door of revelation is closed to them. According to the parable, they come knocking; but that door is already closed to them. As for the fulfillment of these prophecies we have been looking at, they cannot be fulfilled until God has created a situation in the government of Israel that gets rid of this silly idea Rabin and Peres has been participating in, thinking they can compromise with the PLO, give up territory, and live in peace with the Arabs. In the plan of God there is no such thing as negotiation. God is not going to negotiate with anyone. God said, I shall do this, and He will. He is not going to compromise with the devil. I will say this though, God will give carnal man an opportunity to do certain things: just to prove to carnal man that he (the natural minded man) will always choose to do the wrong thing; and never the right thing. Then when man has proved himself always to do the wrong thing, God comes on the scene and does it right. As He does it, He is magnified before people whose attention He gets. At the same time, those who do not yield their attention toward God will only become angrier than they were already. However if you think God cares how many millions of people get angry at what He does you have another thought coming: He is not going to shed one tear over any of that. People left alive on this earth until that time will either submit to the will of God or they will be treated just like trash that is good for nothing but burning. What this Bible portrays for us is the plan and purpose of God; and it was all settled in His great mind before He ever created anything.

THE KIND OF MEN GOD USES

We are looking at how God is going to deal strategically with the Middle East on behalf of the Jews in these last days. He has already caused them to take the land of the Philistines, but in order for them to subdue those of the east, there has got to come about a change in the Israeli government. Peres and Rabin are in no frame of mind to take more territory in any direction. All they want to do is compromise, and give into world pressure. That is why it looks like everything is questionable right now. But if we believe all these things are true, then we know God has a time factor somewhere in front of us, whether it is in the next half year, or a year, or a year and half. God is going to let some Arab or any element of Israeli people make a fatal mistake which is going to throw everything into a disruptive state. This is going to force the nation of Israel either to have an election or to choose some kind of new leadership. Once that new leadership is chosen, I believe the God of heaven is going to say, Alright, I have let various leaders through the years of time as Israel has slowly reached this point do as they saw fit to do; but now it is time to move forward and get on with what has to be done. You have had an up and down, see-saw situation in your government: Some wanting to give up, some wanting to hold on to what you have, and others wanting to move on; and now it is time for all of you to move forward together. Saints: if I am looking at the scriptures right, it is time for all of that see-sawing to stop. Let us go back to Zechariah 12. We have shown you already how in verses 2 and 3 God said He would make Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone and so forth; and we want to see how all of this ties in with Micah 7:11-17. These things help us determine how close we are to the renovating and rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, and the temple, which is all described in the two chapters of Isaiah. Here in Zechariah 12, to me, is the focal point and condition that God sets forth for all of this to come about. Through the first three verses, especially verses 2 and 3 of Zechariah 12, He makes Jerusalem a cup of trembling to some people. You see that. That is how the Arabs will look at Jerusalem. They want it to be their city. But verse 3 makes it a burdensome stone to all them that get involved with it: That is the international, diplomatic scene. Now we come to verse 4, to see how God looks at Jerusalem when the hour has come for their walls to be built. "In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: (He is actually saying, no matter what Israel's hostile enemy forces will be, which will be the Arabs for that period of time, He will smite every one with madness.) and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, (Judah we realize is the first major tribe that was to come back, to start this gradual process of the restoration of the nation. That is why in chapter 10 it speaks of the order of it.) and will smite every horse of the people with blindness." In other words that tells us no matter how many Arabs are armed with modern equipment, their hostility is not going to succeed against Judah when the hour has arrived for God to send them forth victorious. Then verse 5 tells us what kind of leadership Israel will have to have in that hour in order for this to be brought about. "And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God." Naturally that has to be explained: At first glance it does not seem to make sense. First off as we look at Isaiah 49, which is in front of us somewhere just in a short time factor, Isaiah 49 tells us out there somewhere is an element of a certain type Jew. They are of the tribe of Judah, but they are basically of the lineage of David. Those were the early inhabitants and occupants of this ancient city of Jerusalem. King David took it; and it was mainly his relatives that occupied it. We have to keep in mind, he had several wives which brought forth several children. King Solomon followed him and he had many wives, did he not? Therefore you have to realize that eventually the occupants of the city of Jerusalem became mainly the descendants of many generations of King David's descendants. That is why in ancient times it was also referred to as the city of David. He took it. Therefore his descendants occupied it, lived in it. In the last days, for that to be done, it means the city of Jerusalem has to come into a time frame where God deals strategically with that city. In the 1967 war, the Israeli army took the old city; and that did fulfill the prophecy of Jesus how that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled; but even though the prophecy was fulfilled in 1967, three fourths of the old city is still inhabited by Arabs. That means there is no way that city right now can be projected into the Millennium under that social structure. It has got to be a city that is occupied by the descendants of King David, who are also out of the tribe of Judah. Therefore for twenty some years this thing has been hanging there like that: In other words, with Arabs living there. At the same time the Arabs in the Gaza Strip, and in the areas of Jericho, are now demanding of the Israeli governors, that all these immigrants Jews in those newly settled areas be moved out. Then these Arabs in the old city that have seen immigrants come in, we will say in the suburban areas and build new quarters, they are saying the same thing: The Jews have got to get out of Jerusalem. To me that sets the focal point. That is the ultimatum. That is what makes Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Because it means prophecy has come to the time when God's finger is pointing toward Jerusalem. He is going to set the agenda, the conditions, and here is where we can say His miraculous hand will go to work first. He sets the agenda Himself: He does not leave that in the hands of mortal men: You can see that as we read down through these verses. "In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire." It has never been like that yet. You know it. They did have a good man in leadership in the 1967 war; but we have to realize he did not stay in office forever. Therefore as we look at this prophecy, we see how God is looking at the time factor. When it is time for the miraculous to go into force and these prophecies drop one after another, right into place, there has to be men in places of governmental leadership that are willing to move with God instead of with other world leaders. This sets the agenda for what we see here. "In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, (That is talking about Arabs, Palestinian Arabs.) on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem." By who? Jews of course. That fulfills Isaiah 49. Now watch how verse 7 gives you a backward view. "The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first." To understand what that verse means we have to realize what Judah did do in 1967. She took the Gaza strip just as it was prophesied in Zephaniah 2:3-7. Then she took the area of Jericho. All of that territory from the Jordan River over the Judaean mountains to the Mediterranean is the ancient territory of Judah. When God says, that He will establish the tents of Judah first, that should be easily understood to mean that the tribe of Judah, which is going to be the war tribe, the beginning tribe, will be the beginning process of the restoration and gradual rebuilding of this nation. He will start this process with Judah first. Therefore He is going to give her her territorial place of habitation. He has done it and now the Arabs are saying, But you have got to give up some of it. As we read this, do you think our western world leaders are reading this Bible? Not at all. It means nothing to them. However if their whole process of peace negotiation goes wrong, then you and I who are Christians, ought to say, Thank You Lord: You have given us a word of promise. Let us follow this on through. "The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, (Why? What is the importance of them being first?) that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah." So to sum that all up, it means this, God knew He will give that tribe their place of habitation first, because they are going to be the war people: They are going to be the people who have to do the fighting and put up with twenty some years of fussing. Do you catch the point? If He would have given this particular kingly element of Judaean Jews the right to come back and live in Jerusalem first, can you not see how carnal man likes to brag? I live in Jerusalem! You live out in that little back woods place. I know where you come from! Keep in mind, you have to understand the natural reaction of carnal earthly people such as we are. You get New York people. Oh, you're from Tennessee. What part? Oh, way down there where they say You all, back in the sticks. That is how natural minded creatures magnify themselves. I'm from New York! The big apple city! That is what God was talking about in that one verse. He does not want the city people, because of their lineage connection, to be able to brag and boast over the Judaean people that are going to be the ones that have to move out here and put up with twenty some years of Arab hostility, living behind chain link fences, as it says in Ezekiel 36. That is what they have been doing since the Six Day War. By now we ought to begin to see the picture. Knowing what the next issue is, that they want Judah to get out of this territory, I just have to say, Judah is not going to budge one inch. It may look like it. There may be certain things done that makes it look like prophecy is moving backward; but you rest assured, God knows exactly what He is doing. The hour God wants it to go the right way, something is going to happen that will blow things sky high in the Middle East. I believe with all my heart, it is going to cause Israel to have some kind of election that will change their leadership. Then all those Jews that have been put under pressure, and fear they are going to have to give up and get out of these territories where they have risked their lives to live in, will have a chance again. They risk the lives of their children to move out there in those territorial places and build those villages and put up those chain link fences and suffer the consequence of the hostility, being invaded at night, and having mortar shells dropped in their midst. Do you think those Jews are going to feel at ease when their own government leaders breathe down their neck and say, Come on, you have to get out of here. That is why we have hundreds of Jews living in Israel today in these rebuilt villages which have been fulfilling prophecy of how they would come back in the last days, they would rebuild the desolate place and the ruined place. The desolate place would also be tilled. She has been doing that for twenty some years, only to be faced with a bunch of leaders right now that want to sell out to the Arab cause. As I look at this I have to say, Brothers and sisters, get ready to watch the show. Something is going to blow; and when it does you are going to see the miraculous hand of God intervene on behalf of the Jewish people. As these prophecies begin to unfold, one right after another, the world is going to have to watch the miraculous hand of God. Israel is going to do valiantly; but it will be because they have a great and powerful God fighting for them. Once she enters that era of time, the Israeli governors will never again turn their heads to say, Yes, we will do this or that for the Arabs. The leaders of Israel will truly be dedicated to the Israeli cause; and that of course, will be to do the things these prophecies say she will do. Of course I realize, that once Israel has gained the land she is supposed to have and passed through that era, and she is in the process of rebuilding and doing the things the Bible says she will do, here comes the antichrist. Remember this though, the fact that the Jewish leaders will sign a covenant with the antichrist to be in effect from that hour on, does not change these prophecies one bit. All of this is written in the scriptures; and we already know what is going to happen. Therefore as we finish this up, and we see how the governors of Judah will be like a torch of fire in that day, we can take these thoughts and turn to Isaiah 19, where it picks up the picture again and tells us how God will look upon that hour of time. As Israel enters that hour of time that she takes this east country, she is doing it to bring the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites under her control. It will bring the country of Jordan to an end. In ancient times there never was a country of Jordan. Those tribal people were over there, but those people functioned independently within their own identity. At the same time, across the Jordan, there were territories that still belonged to part of the ten tribes of Israel. Your old Bible maps will show you that.

WHAT PLACE EGYPT IS DESTINED TO HAVE IN THE FUTURE

As we move into these last days for Israel to be completely restored, getting ready for the week of Daniel, Israel has got to have all of her territory; so let us see how God is going to deal in a strategic way and use Judah in that hour. "The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom." To make this short, let us go to verse 5. We read in Isaiah 11 how the tongue of the Egyptian sea would dry up, so notice this verse. "And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up." Another prophecy that is speaking about the mouth of the Nile. "And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither." It comes right on down through there and tells you about the lakes, the fishermen and such like. Let us just move on down to verse 15 now. "Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: (Now this is looking beyond 1967. In 1967 they had a Nasser, right? He was the one that led the Arab forces, saying, We will destroy this Jewish state. There will be no such thing. But they took a licking. Then again the Egyptians took a licking in 1973. This is looking beyond all of that.) and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, (That cannot be until Zechariah 12, the governors in leadership. It goes together. The land of Judah cannot be something that people are afraid of until there are governors sitting at the top of it ready to say, You will do so and so, or else.) every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which He hath determined against it." Now as we read the rest of this prophecy, keep in mind, on one hand God is dealing a blow of judgment against that Egyptian nation. But at the same time He is doing it to get rid of a spirit of hostility that is fostered by certain Egyptian people who have harbored this Islamic religious spirit; and we have to understand this Islamic religion that started approximately 627 A.D. is to Judaism an anti religion, just as Catholicism is an anti religion to true Christianity. Islam is hostile to Judaism, just as Catholicism is hostile to what you and I stand for. When we realize in Zephaniah 2, verses 11, when Israel in that hour is to make her crossing into Jordan and conquer the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites, right there in that area and right on down into Arabia is where that Islamic spirit rose up to start with. So this is why God has to deal with these people in this fashion. Because He is going to put that old Islamic religion to sleep. Therefore He has to judge it drastically to some of the people. That is why it is like this to Egypt. But when you read on here, you see something else. "In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan." Which will be Hebrew. That does not mean five cities in the land of Egypt want to speak the dialect of the old Canaanites who God used Israel to drive out of there. You have got to realize, as God uses Judah to do this thing in an hour of the miraculous, yes it is going to bring a drastic judgment effect on some Egyptian politicians and military men. But it is also going to cause the simple and honest in heart Egyptian to recognize that the hand of God is with the Judaean people. "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, (Can you find that now? No. As long as Egypt is under that Islamic spell they are not about to build an altar to the same God the Jews look to.) and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord." That should show us what is causing that to be like that. It is because Israel is moving into the era that it takes the miraculous hand of God to bring these things to pass. To some He is bringing judgment. At the same time He is bringing judgment to some people, others will have their eyes opened. I just have to say, Praise God! He knows what He is doing. You can come right on down through there and it will tell you exactly why: just notice, "And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, (Politicians, old Islamic fundamentalists who want to create a holy war, and Egypt has had some of these episodes in the past few months.) and He shall send them a Saviour, (which means the knowledge of the Messiah to be) and a great one, and He shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, (This takes it right on into the Millennium) and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it." First He smites it with judgment, puts her in her place, strips them of the old Islamic religion and gives her the knowledge of the true God of Israel. God is doing two things at once. We have too many other scriptures here, so you will just have to read the rest of it. It tells about a highway. Keep in mind, the highway here is a literal highway. That is why I read from the Jerusalem Post, it has been approximately two and one half months now, Israel has sent to Egypt, maps of the Sinai. While they owned all the Sinai all the way to the Red Sea, before they gave up some of it. They explored, scientists and archaeologists, they discovered where certain deposits of mineral rights are. We will say potash and all that kind of things. She sent that to Egypt. Why? Because between the two countries, there is already plans for Egypt to bring a gas line into Israel, hooking up the gas lines, as well as electric lines. Then the future is, that there be a giant highway, like a super highway, like an interstate, all the way from Egypt to Israel. In the Jerusalem Post, it states that there is also plans for Syria. Even though Syria is a hostile nation against the Jewish state, yet on the other hand, monetary wise, and political wise, they are negotiating the process of building a super highway from Damascus into northern Israel. Think of it saints: even before there is a Millennium. Yet it tells you in the Bible that there will be a highway out of Egypt into Israel, and a highway into Syria that links these three nations together. You can read in the rest of this how God looks upon it.

Continued