HomeARC ML 1503
EZEKIEL 38!--Part 2!--Russia Wins the War!--Verses 8-23! DO 1503 13/3/81
1. PTL! TYL! HALLELUJAH! TYJ FOR THY WONDERFUL WORD, LORD, & that we can learn so much from it! You've told us so much so we'll know what to expect & who to expect & when to expect it, especially those of us who are living now in these Last Days. Bless us now as we study some more of this marvellous prophecy of this Prophet Ezekiel regarding this Endtime & the invasion of Israel by Russia, which it looks like is coming very soon. Help us, Lord, to understand it & be prepared for it.
2. YOU'VE TOLD US SO MUCH SO WE'LL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT & WHEN & WHERE TO EXPECT IT & WHO, so that we won't be surprised & we won't make any mistakes by making wrong friends & betting on losers. You surely must have told Thy children who was going to win in order to prepare them to choose the right friends.
3. SO HELP US, LORD, NOW AS WE STUDY TO UNDERSTAND IT, so that the wise shall understand, & they of understanding shall instruct many about these Last Days, in Jesus' name. TYL! May it be a blessing. May it make Thy children a blessing to others. So many people are worried about the future, wondering what's going to happen, & we can tell them because we know, because You've told us in Thy Word, in Jesus' name. Amen! PTL? TYJ? Hallelujah?
4. ARE YOU ENJOYING THIS STUDY OF BIBLE PROPHECY & these specifics about coming events, of what the news is going to be & who's going to be in it? PTL? Well, you know, the Bible is really the only newspaper in the World, because that daily newspaper you read tells you what has happened, it's just a history book, it tells you what's already happened. The Bible is the only news book in the World, it tells you what's going to happen! PTL? Good idea? So the Bible is really a news book! If you want to really read the latest news even before it happens, all you have to do is read the Bible! Hallelujah? Praise God! Isn't that wonderful?
5. AS I TOLD YOU BEFORE, THE BIBLE THAT WE USE IS THE HOLY BIBLE, THAT'S THE ONE TO USE! Praise God! We prefer the King James Version because most of us are English-speaking & it is the best English-speaking version. It's the most beautiful translation in Elizabethan-Shakespearean English, it is the most fundamental, believing translation & it's the most widely used in the English-speaking World.--The most familiar & the most beautiful poetic translation.
6. YOU'LL FIND A LOT OF THESE PROPHECIES ARE REALLY BEAUTIFUL POETRY & you'll find them even beautiful reading, even if not informative. But if you understand these prophecies, then they're not only beautiful to read, but they're thrilling to read & exciting to read because you're reading the news in advance! Praise God? Hallelujah? Isn't that wonderful to be able to read a newspaper that tells you what's going to happen?--Not just what's already happened, anybody can tell you what's already happened. But the Bible, this book here, hallelujah, tells you what's going to happen! Praise God? Isn't that wonderful?
7. WELL, WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS 38TH CHAPTER OF EZEKIEL & we found in the first few verses that the invasion of Israel & the Near East or Mideast countries by Russia is very clear. It tells you that Gog is going to lead Magog. Magog is an ancient name for Russia, Gog is going to be the leader of Russia, or the Antichrist, the Prince of Meshech--Moscow--& Tubal--Tobolsk--& he's going to invade the Mideast & the lands around Israel. Notice the 5th verse.
8. SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES THAT ARE GOING TO BE WITH HIM & cooperate with him, & be his friends & some who are going to be on the side of Russia when Russia invades Israel are going to be Persia, which is today Iran. As we brought up before, you wonder who Iran is going to go to? Iran's going to go to Russia, of course. Ethiopia, which is already pro-Communist, & Libya, which is already working with Russia. And Gomer, of all things, Germany, half of which, of course, is already in Russian hands. And Togarmah, Turkey.
9. WELL, THAT'S INTERESTING, ISN'T IT? If you wondered who some of these people are going to cooperate with & whose side they're going to fight on, or at least to whom they're going to surrender, here you have the picture right here in the Bible, it tells you exactly what's going to happen & how. And now we finished the 7th verse & we're going to be on the 8th verse.
10. NOTICE, BY THE WAY, IN THAT 7TH VERSE THAT RUSSIA'S GOING TO BE A GUARD UNTO THEM. They're going to be a great company assembled together, Russia & all the nations that work with Russia. And in tonight's study, we don't have very long, we're going to try to finish up what it has to say here in the 38th Chapter of Ezekiel about who the enemies of Russia are going to be.
11. 8TH VERSE: "AFTER MANY DAYS, THOU SHALT BE VISITED; IN THE LATTER YEARS THOU SHALT COME INTO THE LAND THAT IS BROUGHT BACK FROM THE SWORD." Now he's talking to Gog, the Antichrist leader of Magog, Communist Russia. You're going to "come into the land that is brought back from the sword, & is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel." Well, the Jews certainly have been brought back from suffering persecution throughout the World & gathered out of many people, many nations all over the World, right? And into the mountains of Israel--
12. "WHICH HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WASTE, BUT IT IS BROUGHT FORTH OUT OF THE NATIONS, & THEY SHALL DWELL SAFELY ALL OF THEM." Israel was just a wasteland, just a desert until the Jews began to come back about 50 years ago & improve it & irrigate it & water it & cultivate it, & they have caused the desert to blossom like a rose! (Is.35:1.) And since then, for the first time in 2000 years of history since the Jews killed their Messiah, God has been merciful to them & allowed them to dwell fairly safely, at least in a country of their own, in the land of Israel. So now he is again speaking to the leader of the U.S.S.R., this Antichrist leader who will come & who will invade Israel as a punishment against the Jews for their sins:
13. "THOU SHALT ASCEND & COME LIKE A STORM, & THOU SHALT BE LIKE A CLOUD TO COVER THE LAND, THOU, & ALL THY BANDS, & MANY PEOPLE WITH THEE." Remember the prophecy which Grandmother received when she told us about the Great Confusion that was coming, that it was going to begin in Egypt, of all places? Maybe with the Camp David agreement or disagreement. And Jeane Dixon, famous woman prophetess of the United States in Washington, D.C., saw a young man coming out of Egypt also, a descendant of the pharaohs who was to become this World leader.
14. OBVIOUSLY HE GOES TO MOSCOW TO GET HIS TRAINING. If he's going to be a Communist & an outstanding leader of Communism & Russia & all those that are going to be with Russia, he's got to go there & become well-trained & well-experienced & powerful & famous so that he can lead these Eastern forces.--The great nation with them, perhaps China, or Russia, & many Eastern nations with them as well. God's Word told my Mother this Great Confusion would actually originate in Egypt, the leader of it! But apparently he then goes to Moscow, because when he invades Israel, he comes from the North. Well, now let's see what it says here. In Ezekiel 38th Chapter, 10th verse, it says,
15. "THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; IT SHALL ALSO COME TO PASS, THAT AT THE SAME TIME SHALL THINGS COME INTO THY MIND, & THOU SHALT THINK AN EVIL THOUGHT." Now this is speaking of the Antichrist. He's talking directly to the Antichrist himself. "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages: I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, & having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, & to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, & upon the people that are gathered out of the nations."
16. NOW THIS IS A VERY STRANGE THING THAT'S HAPPENING HERE, because up until this latest day, the day in which you & I live, all villages & towns & cities had huge walls & gates until the last hundred years or so! Even after the invention of gunpowder & cannons, walls were still an effective protection against enemy forces, & walls were still used & gates & such protections, fortifications, forts, various bastions of that kind were still used as protection against enemies.
17. BUT TODAY, WALLS ARE NO PROTECTION AT ALL! Today walls are no help whatsoever because the planes can fly right over & drop bombs inside the walls, or the big guns can shoot right over the walls. The rockets can be fired over the walls. Even little bazookas can be fired over the walls or hand grenades thrown over the walls! So there's no use even building walls around towns & villages today.
18. SO THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN MAN'S HISTORY FOR, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ALMOST 6000 YEARS, THAT CITIES & TOWNS & VILLAGES HAVE BEEN BUILT WITHOUT WALLS FOR PROTECTION! And here it describes how the Jews have come back to Israel, rebuilt the land & rebuilt villages & towns & cities without walls! So it's talking about this day & age, now! This is the day of this prophecy! This is the day in which this prophecy is going to be fulfilled! Now is the time that Ezekiel is talking about, because this is the first time in World history, just within the past 100 years or so that towns have been built without walls! So he's got to be talking about the present day & the immediate future, amen?
19. SO HE'S SAYING, "HEY GOG, ANTICHRIST, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO! I can read your mind. You're thinking, 'I'm going to go down into that little country down there with all those stubborn rebellious hardhearted stiff-necked Jews that are causing so much trouble with the Arabs & with the whole Christian World! They've got the World on the brink of war because of their cantankerousness & their unwillingness to share Israel with its inhabitants, the Arabs, unwillingness to share Jerusalem with the Muslims.
20. "'THEY'RE CAUSING ME SO MUCH TROUBLE HERE IN MY NEW WORLDWIDE KINGDOM, I'M JUST GOING TO GO DOWN THERE & INVADE THEM & I'm going to take it over by force! After all, what can that little country do to me? A bunch of little un-walled villages, towns, cities without walls. It'd be very easy for me to go in & conquer it.'" And so he does. (A Russian leader recently said, "We could wipe Israel out in two days!") So what does it say next? Here we have it in God's Word! PTL! He says they've gone back from all the nations, & they've "gotten cattle & goods that dwell in the midst of the land."
21. LET ME TELL YOU, THEY'VE GOTTEN A LOT MORE THAN CATTLE & GOODS, THEY'VE GOT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF ARMAMENTS from the U.S. alone, & all kinds of military & weapons help & so on. So the United States is spending the equivalent of, I think it's something like 100 million dollars a day on Israel, & is giving more assistance, foreign aid, to Israel than to the other 95% of the World! The U.S. gives 90-some-percent of its foreign aid to Israel alone, think of that! So she's gotten quite a few "cattle" & quite a bit of goods out of that deal!
22. NOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?--IS ANYBODY GOING TO OBJECT TO THIS INVASION? Is anybody going to object to Russia's deciding to go down there & take Israel over because she keeps causing her so much trouble? Shall we see? Would you like to know who the enemies of Russia are going to be? Who's going to object & fight against Russia's invasion?
23. VERSE 13: "SHEBA & DEDAN." Do you know who Sheba & Dedan are? That is Arabia, Saudi Arabia, the Princes of Arabia, the various Oil States, these Arabian princes. That is Sheba & Dedan, definitely in the Word of God! So apparently very conservative Saudi Arabia who is getting military help from the United States, as well as Egypt, as we found out in the last lesson, who is also getting a lot of military help from the United States, Egypt & Saudi Arabia are going to side against Russia!
24. ALONG WITH, 13TH VERSE, "THE MERCHANTS OF TARSHISH, WITH ALL THE YOUNG LIONS THEREOF." Now Tarshish has for a long time been interpreted by most Bible students as being the British & the British Isles. They're merchants, they operate a lot of ships. And what is the animal symbol of Britain?--A lion! So "all of her young lions," what does Great Britain have scattered throughout the World?--All kinds of former colonies, all kinds of former possessions known today as the British Commonwealth, who used to be known as the British Empire. Even the United States is one of her young lions, Canada is one of her young lions, Australia is one of her young lions!
25. ALL THE VARIOUS FORMER BRITISH COLONIES, THE COMMONWEALTH, FORMER PARTS & PARTNERS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE ARE THE YOUNG LIONS OF TARSHISH, the young lions of Britain, & they are the ones who are going to oppose this Russian invasion. Of course! Britain, the U.S., Canada & the British Commonwealth, former British Empire, all of them are going to be against this Russian invasion of Israel. Well, that's pretty clear. You say, "I didn't have to read the Bible to find that out, I just read the newspapers every day!" Yes, but the Bible's been saying this for the last 2500 years! Why didn't you read it sooner? You could have known it before the newspaper did!
26. SO THEY'RE GOING TO OBJECT TO THIS INVASION! Now actually here it doesn't say that they do very much, & that's rather strange, isn't it? Maybe they're really not going to do very much at first. They're just going to diplomatically object in the United Nations & they're going to send in those protests, you know, diplomatic protests: "We don't like this!" You know what the U.S. is doing about Afghanistan, what she's doing about Ethiopia, what she's doing about Angola, all these other places? She's not doing anything about it, she hasn't sent any armies there, she's just protesting 'cause she doesn't want to get involved in another war. So at first they just protest, let's see what they have to say, shall we? OK?
27. SO WHAT DO THEY SAY? FIRST OF ALL THEY ISSUE THEIR DIPLOMATIC PROTESTS: "ART THOU COME TO TAKE A SPOIL? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver & gold, to take away cattle & goods, to take a great spoil?" Notice that word spoil ends with "oil," too! After all, they didn't know anything about oil in those days, they didn't burn oil, at least not the kind of oil we do today. Their whole civilisation was not dependent upon industry run on black-gold oil pumped out of the ground. So how could he be specific? The prophet had never heard of oil, that kind of oil, & he had to just say whatever he could to try to indicate that they were going to get great riches out of that part of the World.
28. VERSE 14: "THEREFORE, SON OF MAN, PROPHESY & SAY UNTO GOG"--now He's talking to Ezekiel, His prophet, "You tell the Antichrist, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?" Yes, he knows it right now! And he knows also how vulnerable Israel is, despite all the U.S. help. "Thou shalt come forth from thy place out of the north parts." What direction is Russia from Israel?--Due North!
29. "THOU, & MANY PEOPLE WITH THEE, ALL OF THEM RIDING UPON HORSES, A GREAT COMPANY, & A MIGHTY ARMY." Is the U.S.S.R. composed of many different people? Is the Communist World composed of many different nations? And what are the modern horses of today?--Tanks, guns, planes, etc. "A great company & a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days." When are we living now? These Last Days!
30. "AND I WILL BRING THEE AGAINST MY LAND, THAT THE HEATHEN MAY KNOW ME, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." Why is God bringing Russia up against Israel? To let the World know that God is righteous. He is a good God, a fair God, He is a just God, & therefore the World knows that Israel needs it! The World knows that Israel is being very stubborn & rebellious & is bucking the entire Earth in her selfish possession of Palestine, refusing to share it with its original inhabitants & occupants, the Arabs, the Palestinians, the Christians.
31. I MEAN, IT'S BAD ENOUGH FOR THE JEWS TO INVADE PALESTINE & TAKE A BIG SLICE OF IT--first of all a third of it, then a half of it, than two thirds of it--now she's grabbed the whole thing, like the camel's nose, & they're not willing to share any of it with the Arabs, none of it! They've just made slaves out of the conquered Arab inhabitants! So do they deserve to be judged by the Lord?
32. DOES ISRAEL, DO THE ISRAELIS, THE JEWS, DESERVE TO BE JUDGED BY GOD FOR THIS CRIME of driving the Palestinians out of their homes & their own country, robbing them of not only their homes but their whole nation? Does Israel deserve to be judged for it? Does Israel deserve to be punished for it? Yes! So who is God going to punish Israel with?--Gog & Magog! Russia & the Antichrist are going to invade that country & are finally going to bring some measure of justice to the Palestinians.
33. THAT'S WHY THE PALESTINIANS & THE P.L.O. LOOK TOWARD RUSSIA TODAY AS THEIR REAL BIG FRIEND, because certainly the U.S. & its Jews, & Israel & its Jews are not their friends! And if it's left up to Israel & the Israelis, the Jews & the U.S. & the West, the Palestinians will never get any justice! They'll never have any autonomy! They'll never get a home of their own! They'll never get the homeland that they deserve! It'll be only the Jews.
34. SO GOD HAS GOT TO SEND RUSSIA DOWN THERE TO STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT & to force Israel to share the land with the Palestinians, & to force the religionists to stop fighting over Jerusalem & to share that too. So it's a part of the judgements of God! He's saying here that He's bringing Gog, the Antichrist, & Magog, Russia, down there to conquer Palestine, or Israel, & make a just & peaceful settlement, a holy covenant with them & the World to fairly settle this major & most dangerous problem in the World today which is more apt to precipitate the World into another World War than any other question aside from the oil!--And oil's part of it!
35. THE OIL IS CLOSE BY TOO, THAT'S A VERY HANDY THING TO HAVE ON THE WAY! It's very possible that Russia will use the Palestinians as an excuse to go down there as their saviour, & at the same time, incidentally, it'll be very convenient to grab all that oil on the way! And the only ones to object are obviously the West, the British Empire & her former colonies, the U.S. & Canada & all of them.
36. BUT, "THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD"--HE'S TALKING TO THE ANTICHRIST--"ART THOU HE OF WHOM I HAVE SPOKEN IN OLD TIME BY MY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL?" Wow! Haven't we just been studying some of the other prophets that predicted the Antichrist? Daniel talks about him time & time again all through the book. We're going to find a lot of others too. "Which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?"--"Didn't I tell My prophets a long time ago? I'm not only telling Ezekiel, I've told many of My prophets about you, Gog." He's talking to Gog. He says, "I've prophesied about you for centuries," in fact, for thousands of years now, "that I would bring thee against them." He is going to judge Israel with Gog & Magog!
37. SO HE SAYS, "AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS AT THE SAME TIME WHEN GOG SHALL COME AGAINST THE LAND OF ISRAEL, SAITH THE LORD GOD, THAT MY FURY SHALL COME UP IN MY FACE." All right, & now we're on the 19th verse: "For in My jealousy & in the fire of My wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." Now, first you're told very specifically, aren't you, that the Antichrist leader of Russia is going to invade Israel as a judgement of God against the Jews for their selfishness & their cruelty to the Palestinians & throughout the whole World!
38. NOW HERE IN THIS PASSAGE IT'S DEALING PRIMARILY WITH GOG & MAGOG, THE ANTICHRIST & RUSSIA, the Communists, & their war with Israel. It doesn't tell you, as it does more clearly in other passages in God's Word, how long they stayed there after the invasion & what they did while they were there. He's primarily interested in just talking to Gog & Magog. He is primarily interested in just talking to the Antichrist & Russia & the Communists & telling them that He brought them down there as a judgement upon the Jews for their wickedness & their sins. But then, watch out, He's warning them that He's going to then judge them too, Gog & Magog, the Antichrist & Russia & the Communists, for their sins.
39. THIS IS A PROCEDURE GOD HAS SO OFTEN FOLLOWED. He has used the heathen, the Godless, the anti-Christ, the wicked of the World to judge & punish His Own people. But then He has turned right around & He has judged their enemies as well! Nobody escapes! God is just & everybody that deserves to get punished, gets punished & gets judged! And so God is not only going to punish Israel, He's also going to punish Russia for her sins, afterward. After a little while, in fact.
40. AND ACCORDING TO GOD'S WORD THE RUSSIANS ARE GOING TO BE THERE A LITTLE WHILE, ABOUT THREE-&-A-HALF YEARS! The Antichrist & the Russians are going to invade & are going to take over the land of Israel. And as we have already studied in Daniel 11--& you can turn back to it yourself--it says that he will set up his palace, his tabernacle there in Jerusalem. (Dan.11:45)
41. THE ANTICHRIST, THE LEADER OF RUSSIA, WILL NOT ONLY INVADE ISRAEL BUT HE WILL MAKE JERUSALEM HIS CAPITAL! He will set up his headquarters there, his palace, & he will rule the whole World from there for three-&-a-half years! He makes this invasion right in the middle of his reign, at the end of the first three-&-a-half years, because of the rebellion of the Jews against his Holy Covenant in which he has insisted that they share Israel with the Palestinians, & Jerusalem with the Christians & the Muslims. And the Israelis don't like that.
42. THEY'VE GOT EVERYTHING THEIR WAY RIGHT NOW! They've got all of Israel & they've got all of Jerusalem & they want to keep it all & they don't have any intention of sharing it with anybody. But God sends Russia down there to make'm do the just & the right thing & make them share it with the ones they should be sharing it with voluntarily now. The whole World is trying to plead with them to share it so they won't start another World War, but do they listen?--No! Do they pay any attention to the United Nations?--No! They vote, one sole lone vote against the United Nations! Everybody's out of step but them. Everybody's out of step but Israel.
43. LIKE THE OLD LADY WATCHING THE BOYS MARCHING OFF TO WAR. She saw her little son Johnny amongst the boys there, not-so-little any more, grown son, one of the soldiers, marching with his company, marching off to war. And poor Johnny hadn't been in the service very long & he'd sort of gotten out of step somehow. But that's not the way it looked to her! She said, "Look there! There's my Johnny! And everybody in his company is out of step but my Johnny!" That's exactly the way Israel looks at the World!
44. "EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD IS OUT OF STEP BUT US ISRAELIS! Everybody in the World is out of step but us Jews. We're the only ones that are right! We don't care if the whole World says we're wrong, we know we're right. It doesn't matter what we do to the Palestinians, it doesn't matter how selfish we are with our land & Jerusalem, with the other religions, we know we're right & we're not going to back down an inch!" No, not until they're forced to! And the one who's going to force them to is the Antichrist, the leader of Communist Russia & the Communist World, when he comes & takes over the World! And he is going to invade Israel!
45. YOU SAY, "WELL, WHEN IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?" Well, according to God's Word & according to Daniel which we've already been studying, if you'll review, this happens in the middle of his reign. He starts with a Covenant with the World & Israel & the Arabs & all, & the various religions.
46. THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THE HOLY COVENANT BECAUSE IT'S A RELIGIOUS PACT, a religious treaty, a religious Covenant to share Israel & Jerusalem with the Palestinians, the Arabs, the Muslims & the Christians, that Israel must share the land & the city. Israel doesn't like to do it, in fact, she wouldn't do it if she weren't forced to! And she never will do it until she is forced to! And the U.S. will never force her to.
47. EVERY TIME ISRAEL DOES SOMETHING WRONG, THE U.S. MAKES SOME LITTLE PITIFUL KIND OF A WEAK PROTEST, not even hardly a little slap on the wrist: "Oh you naughty little country! You went & used our planes to bomb all those innocent civilians in Lebanon, & all those poor defenseless people in that pitiful little country of Lebanon. You went & used our planes, tanks & guns that we gave you to fight your enemies & just for defensive purposes. Your attacks on Lebanon are strictly illegal according to the laws of the United States & the agreements under which you were given those armaments & tanks & planes & guns. You were only supposed to use them for defensive purposes.
48. "BUT INSTEAD, YOU'RE INVADING LEBANON, TOOK ALMOST HALF OF THE COUNTRY FOR AWHILE, & now you keep flying over there & bombing the people." Israel keeps saying, "Oh, that's just to defend ourselves. Just to defend ourselves. We have to defend ourselves against these terrible Lebanese & these awful Palestinians who are living over there with them. We have to defend ourselves!" Against a few little handfuls of angry Palestinians who throw a bomb once in awhile, they've got to go over there with big planes & bomb whole villages & slaughter scores & hundreds sometimes in retaliation, they say. "Oh, we're just defending ourselves."
49. SO ISRAEL WILL NEVER GIVE UP AN INCH OF THAT TERRITORY! She only gave back some to Egypt because Egypt signed a peace treaty with her & became her friend, & Egypt's going to be therefore on the wrong side when Russia invades! The U.S. & Egypt & Israel are cooperating together against Russia. But Russia's going to come down in mighty power & going to invade the country anyhow under the Antichrist & force the Jews finally to share the land with the Palestinians, & share Jerusalem with the Muslims & Christians, & make that religious Covenant or holy pact. But as usual, the Jews cause nothing but trouble.
50. SO IN THE MIDST OF THE SEVEN-YEAR PACT, AT THE END OF THREE-&-A-HALF YEARS, THE ANTICHRIST GETS VERY ANGRY WITH THEM! He sees the only way to make them keep any kind of a promise or agreement or pact or treaty, the only way to make those Jews ever do anything is to force them. [DELETED] That's what God had to use on them all the time! Read the Bible!
51. HE TOLD PROPHET AFTER PROPHET, "THEY'RE A REBELLIOUS & A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE! They will not listen to Me, neither will they listen to you!" So the only thing they heed is force! The only thing they listen to is tanks & planes & guns & bombs, & that's what they're going to get from Russia & the Communists & the Antichrist! Because he gets so furious with them for breaking the pact, the Covenant, that he comes down there & he forces them to keep it! He forces them, he invades & he makes Jerusalem his capital.
52. HE SEES THAT IF HE'S GOING TO RUN THE WORLD HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO RUN THE JEWS FIRST. [DELETED] So he decided he's going to have to set up his headquarters right there in Jerusalem & control them first! Because if he can't control those Jews & Israel, he'll never control the rest of the World!
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54. SO FINALLY THIS ANTICHRIST COMES DOWN WITH HIS RUSSIAN FORCES & HE FORCES THE JEWS TO COMPLY & FORCES THEM TO OBEY! He gets so furious with them all, all the religions, that he abolishes them all & forces them all to kneel down & worship him as their god, & sets up his Image right in their holiest of holy places on top of Mount Moriah where their major temples are located. That's when he invades. That's when this invasion is taking place that we're reading about here.
55. AND MOST OF THOSE COUNTRIES WILL BE WITH HIM AS WE STUDIED BEFORE, & most of the countries in that area will be his friends. We found out already that Ethiopia & Iran & Turkey & Jordan & Libya & all those countries around there are going to be on Russia's side. The only ones that are going to buck Russia or try to fight with the U.S.' help are going to be Egypt & Saudi Arabia & Israel! Whereas all the rest are going to be with Russia. So, what does that mean?
56. WELL, IT DOESN'T EXPLAIN IT HERE BECAUSE IT'S EXPLAINED IN OTHER PLACES IN GOD'S WORD, both in Daniel & in even more detail in Revelation, that the Antichrist makes this invasion then in the midst of the seven years, in the middle of the seven-year pact, & he sets up a new religion & he occupies Israel & the Holy Land for 42 months, it says specifically in the 13th chapter of Revelation. (Re.13:5.) We'll be studying that more specifically later. That's what happens when he comes down & invades & takes over Israel. It doesn't go into those details here in this passage, but here it goes into the details of what happens to him afterwards.
57. GOD PERMITS RUSSIA TO COME IN & THE ANTICHRIST TO TAKE OVER ISRAEL FOR THREE-&-A-HALF YEARS, 42 MONTHS, 1260 DAYS TO BE SPECIFIC, according to the Jewish year, & rule the World from Jerusalem for three-&-a-half years. But the Lord says that's going to be a time of such great trouble as the World knew not since the World began, & never will be again!--The great time of Jacob's trouble, Israel's trouble!--The great time of Great Tribulation for all the World, because the Antichrist will then try to force the whole World to worship him & obey him & take his Mark & kill those who won't! So it's going to cause a lot of trouble, a great big trouble! Because the Jews won't like it, the Christians won't like it, the Muslims won't like it & hardly anybody will like it. Because these religions are very dear to the hearts of most of the World's nations.
58. SO BY THE TIME GOD HAS FINISHED PUNISHING ISRAEL FOR ITS SINS, & as He says He is "sanctified in the eyes of the World," the World sees that God is righteous in sending Russia down to punish the Jews for their cruelty to the Arabs, both Muslim & Christian, then finally God has to deal with Russia. So, a good deal of this passage then from there on tells about what God does afterward, at the end of this time of terrible trouble in which the Antichrist is trying to run the World & dominating Israel. We will find out the fate of Russia in the end. Would you like to read it & see what it has to say? All right, let's look again. PTL! TYL! Are you enjoying this study? Are you learning anything?
59. HE SAYS THERE'S GOING TO BE A GREAT SHAKING THEN WHEN GOD FINALLY DECIDES TO JUDGE AFTER THE ANTICHRIST HAS TAKEN OVER ISRAEL. He's been there for three-&-a-half years, it's his headquarters, he's been running the World from there, but finally he's caused so much trouble, he's persecuted the people of God, children of God, Christians, Jews, Muslims & the World over, & he's gone much further than he should have. So God finally has to put a stop to it. God sent him there in the first place to judge the Jews for their sins. [DELETED]
60. BUT FINALLY AT THE END OF THAT GREAT TRIBULATION, AT THE END OF THAT TERRIBLE TIME, GOD HAS LET THE ANTICHRIST GO FAR ENOUGH, He's fed up with him & it's time to judge him, time to stop him. 19th verse: "For in My jealousy & in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." So then God starts judging the Antichrist & his Worldwide kingdom, his anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-religious kingdom of which he's made himself god, & God's going to send great earthquakes to Israel, because it has become his capital. It's his head city.
61. "SO THAT THE FISHES OF THE SEA, & THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVEN, & THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, & all creeping things that creep upon the Earth, & all the men that are upon the face of the Earth, shall shake at My presence, & the mountains shall be thrown down, & the steep places shall fall, & every wall shall fall to the ground." This sounds like the Wrath of God, doesn't it? "And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother." It's going to be a horrible chaotic Worldwide War! Nation against nation!
62. "AND I WILL PLEAD AGAINST HIM WITH PESTILENCE & WITH BLOOD." These are the things He's going to rain upon the Antichrist & his kingdom, his Worldwide government. "I will rain upon him, & upon his bands, & upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, & great hailstones, fire, & brimstone!" What kind of a war does that sound like?--Atom bombs? Well, it can be atom bombs or it can be volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hailstones from Heaven!
63. WHEN KRAKATOA EXPLODED THERE IN THE SUNDA STRAITS BETWEEN JAVA & SUMATRA way back there in 1883, it exploded with such a tremendous force, that great volcano, greatest volcanic explosion that the World has ever known, that it was heard around the World, believe it or not! Tidal waves washed the shores of four continents & the jungles of Java & Sumatra were buried under 100 feet of ashes, completely covered the trees, & 4000 people were killed! The sun looked blue like the moon in London & Paris & around the World from the ashes that had been cast up into the stratosphere!--It was such a tremendous explosion!
64. YOU THINK ATOM BOMBS ARE SOMETHING BIG? LISTEN, GOD HAS BIGGER EXPLOSIONS THAN THAT IN HIS ARSENAL! God's got bigger weapons than the atom bomb could ever hope to be! The atom bomb is bad enough, & man is going to do enough damage with the atom bombs, probably before the Antichrist takes over. Probably the next war, which looks like it's going to come very soon, maybe this year, who knows? Our dear Reagan seems to be determined to have war with Russia, & in a way, I guess they figure they'd better, because this is their last chance to win it!--Especially if they push the button first! But of course the Russians know that too, therefore they'll probably push the button first.
65. ACCORDING TO ALL WE'VE GOTTEN FROM THE LORD ON IT, IT'S NOT RUSSIA THAT'S GOING TO BE WIPED OUT MOSTLY, IT'S THE UNITED STATES that's going to be mostly wiped out! God is going to be more merciful to the Russians than to the U.S. because the U.S. knows better. The poor Russians have not had as much light as the United States has had. And the poor Russians have not sinned as much against God & been as cruel to the poor & as wicked & waged so many wars & started so many World Wars & devastated so much of the Earth & polluted the Earth so much & robbed the poor as much as the United States has!
66. BUT AFTER THE ATOMIC WAR, UNDOUBTEDLY RUSSIA IS GOING TO PICK UP THE PIECES & THE ANTICHRIST IS PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE OVER. That'll be his chance to restore peace & the economy & prosperity in the World, & establish a Worldwide government. And then will be the time of the seven-year pact. And then in the center of the pact he gets angry at those that break it, like the Jews, & he invades Israel & he tries to force the World to worship him & so on, & there'll be nothing but trouble till the end of it! Then God is finally through with him & then begin these judgements of God which we're reading here. Shall we go on now & read the rest of this passage? PTL! Hallelujah! TYL!
67. 23RD VERSE: "THUS WILL I MAGNIFY MYSELF"--THE LORD'S SAYING--"AND SANCTIFY MYSELF; & I WILL BE KNOWN IN THE EYES OF MANY NATIONS, & THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD." Again, God's going to manifest His justice, His righteousness to the World. Because the World by this time will know that the Antichrist has gone too far, & if there is a God in Heaven, that he ought to be punished! So God's going to punish him. Just like the [EDITED: "Israelis"] have gone too far, so God punishes them with the Antichrist, with the Russian Communists. And then when the Antichrist & the Communists, the Russians, have gone too far, God's then going to judge them & punish them.--And then the whole World will know that it's the true, just, righteous, fair judgements of God!
68. 39TH CHAPTER: "THEREFORE THOU SON OF MAN, PROPHESY AGAINST GOG, & say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech & Tubal"--Moscow & Tobolsk--"And I will turn thee back, & leave but the sixth part of thee." Now we're beginning to jump way into the future, clear up to the end of the Antichrist's reign & clear to the end of the World, in fact. We're going clear to the Wrath of God & the Battle of Armageddon!
69. AND I COULD STOP HERE, & PERHAPS WE SHOULD, TO STUDY WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE THAT. Because when we get into the 39th Chapter of Ezekiel, we're getting into the final great War of Armageddon, we're getting into the Wrath & Judgements of God against Israel, & I think perhaps we should end our Bible Study in Ezekiel then for tonight. If you want to know how bad this war's going to be, this final war, the War of Armageddon, the War of the Judgements of God & the Wrath of God against the Antichrist & his Worldwide kingdom, & you want to know how bad this War is going to be when Jesus Christ leads the Saints of God Himself from Heaven to fight against the Antichrist & his kingdom on the Earth, a direct war with the forces of God & His angels against the forces of the Devil & his people, then you'll find it right here in this 39th Chapter of Ezekiel!
70. IT'S GOING TO BE SUCH A HORRIBLE SLAUGHTER! We don't have time to read it all now, but He says five-sixths of the Antichrist forces are going to be slaughtered! And the horses & the animals & the people, as they stand upon their feet their eyes will be burned out of their sockets! Sounds like atomic bomb explosions, doesn't it? That's exactly what happened in Hiroshima & Nagasaki! The poor people's eyes were burned right out of their sockets if they looked at the explosion!
71. AND IT SAYS THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE SO MANY DEAD PEOPLE THAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE SEVEN MONTHS TO BURY THEM ALL, think of that! And everybody's going to have to go to work.--Everybody!--Just burying the dead! It's going to be such a pile of garbage, such a horrible slaughter & so many bodies! That's what it's going to take just to bury the dead. There's going to be so much ruin & wreckage from it all that the people won't even have to gather wood or try to find any fuel for seven years, they'll just be burning the wreckage & the ruins & the weapons, etc., that were used in that war. Think of that! They won't even have to worry about oil for seven years, they'll have enough fuel for seven years, & it's going to take'm seven months just to bury the dead!
72. THAT'S HOW HORRIBLE THAT LAST HORRIBLE WAR'S GOING TO BE, THE WORST OF ALL!--The War against the Antichrist conducted by the forces of God from Heaven to wipe him out & all his Mark-of-the-Beast people, his bestial people, His bestial followers who have persecuted the Children of God, who have tortured the Family of Love!--All those who have persecuted us & have caused us trouble & who have pursued & imprisoned & tortured Christians & slaughtered them, God is going to send us down from Heaven then after the Wrath of God & we are going to slaughter them! That is the judgement of God! That is exactly what God has said is going to happen.
73. SO THAT'S WHAT THE 39TH CHAPTER TELLS YOU ABOUT, & that's yet so far in the future that I think it would be a little out of chronological order if we get into that now. But I thought you would be interested in the Russian invasion of Israel which we have read about now, described in the 38th Chapter in which it names the various countries who are going to be involved, & whose side they are going to be on.--All right there by name in the 38th Chapter of Ezekiel! PTL?
74. GOD'S WORD IS SPECIFIC! GOD'S WORD IS VERY CLEAR! It's very plain & it tells you exactly who & where. You say, "Yeah, but when?" Well, it tells you that too. This will happen at the End. First of all, the invasion of Israel will happen in the middle of the Antichrist reign, when the Antichrist invades Israel, takes over, & Jerusalem will be trodden under foot of the Gentiles--He says in Revelation 13, which we'll study later--for 42 months. And the Antichrist will set up his palace there as Daniel tells us in Daniel Chapter 11, etc. All that happens during that final great seven-year period of World history, the rule & reign of the Antichrist & its last three-&-a-half years of horrible Tribulation. So that's what's coming, that's what's going to happen, & that's what we've been studying about here.
75. BUT I THINK BEFORE WE GET THAT FAR IN ADVANCE INTO THE EVENTS OF THE WRATH OF GOD after the coming of the Lord & the Battle of Armageddon when we return to set up His kingdom, that we should study in a little greater detail events which are going to precede that, which you need to know about now to recognise when they happen, which will be happening very soon. So I think that's perhaps all we should study about Ezekiel for tonight. PTL? That was interesting though, wasn't it? Amen? Well, PTL! So much for Ezekiel! We have studied Ezekiel, we have studied Daniel & we've studied all about the course of empires. We have followed World history in the future. The things that we need to know now are what's going to happen next--soon!
76. WE'RE STUDYING NOW ALL ABOUT THIS SEVEN-YEAR REIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST, because that's the final great important period of history, & we need to know all about that, exactly the times, the days, the seasons, the number of the years & the number of the days, even the number of the months that God tells us all about in both Daniel & Revelation, & He tells us about these things in Matthew.
77. JESUS TALKED ABOUT IT, ALL THE PROPHETS OF GOD TALKED ABOUT IT! Here God Himself said in the Bible, "This guy Gog, this Antichrist, I talked about him for centuries! All My Prophets have spoken of him & said he was coming some day!" That's how important he is, because he will be the false Messiah, the Antichrist, in the place of Christ, against Christ. So it's a very important period in World history & it's coming soon, very soon! That's why you need to know about it & need to understand it & study it.--Amen?
78. WELL, LET'S SEE, WHAT SHOULD WE STUDY NEXT? We don't have time to get into all the old fulfilled prophecies, & we're not ready to study the Messianic prophecies yet, of the marvellous Kingdom of Christ on Earth during the Millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth, because that's afterward. That we get mostly in Isaiah & in Psalms & in places like that. But a very important passage which is very short & very brief, which perhaps we can get a bit into, & then continue later, will be the 24th Chapter of Matthew!--See you later!--Look out for the Alligator!--The Great Red Dragon, the Devil, & his Beast, the Antichrist!--He's coming soon!--Are you ready? GBAKY!--In Jesus' name, amen! ILY!
P.S. REMEMBER! THE ANTICHRIST FORCES THE COVENANT ON THE JEWS & OTHERS AFTER HIS FIRST INVASION OF ISRAEL described in Daniel & Ezekiel (Dan.1:25; Ez.38:8-9,15,16), probably after the Atomic War. Then when they rebel against it later he invades again to break it & abolish all religions & set up his own & his Image. Therefore there are actually two Antichrist invasions of Israel! The second is followed by the Tribulation & finally the Wrath & Armageddon--God's invasion! The two Antichrist invasions seem to be one from the North & one from the South, as in one he's "King of the North," & in the other "King of the South"--both! As Abrahim says in "Questions & Answers" (No.111:39.) Ha!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
