As for any suggestion that the Kingdom will arrive with great pageantry, the early stages will see some very humble beginnings, not least of which is a reenactment of the arrival of the King as it was portrayed by the Christ two thousand years ago. Jesus fulfilled the part of the prophecy relevant to that time when He rode a donkey into Jerusalem. He plans to do it again when Ephraim and Judah are in serious trouble. It’s the latter part of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that remains to be fulfilled. And the time is rapidly approaching, and is about to be fulfilled: Zech 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River (margin: Euphrates) to the ends of the earth. As for you (Daughter of Zion), because of the Blood of my Covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword." At the time when the Daughter of Zion will rejoice to see their King arrive on a donkey, they will be prisoners about to be freed. God’s battle-bow will be filled with Judah and Ephraim when God rouses his Sons of Jerusalem for battle against the king of Greece. There is a clear distinction here between the Sons of Jerusalem and the Daughters of Jerusalem. God mentions the Blood of His Covenant in relation to the Daughters of Jerusalem, and calls them prisoners of hope. They will enter into captivity with the hope of being rescued (note the words: and having salvation). Perhaps in the past, your ideas of salvation have been a little different from God’s – yet it should not be! The Scriptures are very clear, and the prophets of old declared it, salvation means salvation from our enemies (see Luke 1: 69-71).

Now is a very good time for the Churches to speak of the hope of salvation, provided they make it clear what the Bible definition of salvation is, because it is about to become a life and death issue. When this occurs, these prisoners of hope will be rescued, and God has announced that He will restore twice as much to them. This is a clear indication that they will lose everything they own, and forfeit all their rights to freedom in the hope of being rescued by God. When they’re rescued, they will find themselves in another place, and a better place, and they will truly know who God’s enemies are. In this newfound environment, they will fulfill what God has said to the Churches: Rev 2:26-29 "To him that overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations – he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery – just as I have received from my Father. I will also give him the Morning Star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches." This Spirit is now telling the Churches, and this Spirit is the Spirit of Prophecy – the Testimony of Jesus (Rev 19:10).

One thing that is abundantly clear is that what the Churches have been teaching for years is not prophecy, but foolish fabrications that have been generated from their own minds. They have taken woeful liberties with God’s Word in concocting their wild ideas. Now is the time to repent of their foolishness and to start waking up to themselves. What did they hope to gain? Surely not salvation! As long as they persist with their lies against God’s best interests, there is no hope of them being rescued. And this comes from the mouth of the one who is appointed to rescue (see Luke 1:69 again). As a point of interest, the words spoken by Zechariah the father of John, were spoken six months before the Messiah was born. Those Church leaders who desire to hold their respective congregations together, let them do it with Truth, and give credit to God that He has mounted the rescue bid for all those who live in hope, and are the recipients of the Blood of the Covenant.

Continuing in the Book of Zechariah we find that after the Christ’s second appearance on a donkey entering Jerusalem, the iron bar will be smashing people to pieces like pottery as God’s mounting fury gets underway, and will culminate with the Christ challenging all nations to come to Jerusalem for a showdown (Zech 14:1-3). The iron bar smashing pottery is a figure of speech to show how utterly destroyed God’s enemies will be. In fact, the weapons of God are far more sophisticated, and unlike anything on earth today. Zech 9:14 "Then the LORD will appear over them; His arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; He will march in the storms of the south (see Isa 63:1-6 for a more complete account of this), and the LORD Almighty will shield them (the Sons of Jerusalem – see V13, last part). They will destroy and overcome with slingstones." When the Sons of Jerusalem destroy God’s enemies, it will be no contest with the LORD Almighty shielding them, and if armed with only slingstones, the result would be the same. In terms of destroying, which is God’s overall objective – to wipe out Satan’s brood – God’s enemies – and to establish the House of Israel as the premier nation on earth, God has appointed a destroyer – one who will rank with the mightiest of warriors. In fact, he and his brothers will be fellow servants with the mightiest of God’s warriors (Rev 19:10, Zech 12:8).

In the same theme where the Sons of Jerusalem are mentioned as being taught by God (Isa 54:13), God also mentions the destroyer that He has equipped and armed for the task. Concerning the Sons of Jerusalem, God says this in the next verse: Isa 54:14-15 "In righteousness you will be established; tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you." It’s always comforting to know the outcome in advance. At that time, there are sure to be some who want to make a name for themselves by attacking the Army of the Living God. God will enforce their surrender. At that time, these captives will be stripped naked, jailed, whipped and humiliated for all the world to see, and the pictures will be circulated to the Moslem media as a deterrent to anyone else who thinks they can challenge God’s army. Some may even be dragged through the streets and then strung up from a bridge. After these Moslem scum have publicly admitted their evil, and apologized, they will be dispatched in the same way that Jewish reporter Daniel Pearl was, and their bodies cast on a dung heap. Then they will have the opportunity to test Satan’s lies about the 70 virgins in heaven. Their eagerness to get at them will be a disappointment! Justice will be done, and retribution will be swift. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will be the standard when dealing with God’s enemies. God’s servants will not be blindsided into believing that God’s enemies must be treated with kindness when captured. God’s servants will demonstrate to all that any of God’s enemies can expect no mercy. What these Muslim scum have done will be brought down on their heads tenfold. There will be no thoughts of treating such prisoners humanely under the false premise that they might do the same to allied prisoners. Retribution will be ramped up to the point that God’s enemies will fear to harm their captives knowing what the outcome will be when retribution follows. Any attack on the occupants of the Holy Land will result in devastating destruction and slaughter, and the guilty will never be spared! Did God ever suggest that His sons of Jerusalem will weak? No, He plainly said that they would be notably strong! As for that cute little document everyone refers to as the Geneva Convention, only God’s people Israel upheld it, while God’s enemies continued to violate it to this very day! In the day of rescue – the day of salvation – it will become abundantly clear to all why the Sons of Jerusalem don’t uphold the Geneva Convention, because those who hope to be rescued with have seen plenty of violations of this Convention in the most vile form, and will know that it was designed against them, in order to protect God’s enemies.

Continuing in Isa 54:16 "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me" declares the LORD." Just remember that this is speaking of the Sons of Jerusalem – the very ones that Jesus said would be taught by God (John 6:44-45). I hope that no-one is silly enough to imagine that their pathetic ‘prophecies’ of the past had any connections with the teachings of God Almighty! The only coals that were fanned into a flame by the mindless dribble of so many wannabees in the Churches, is God’s anger against them for their wanton disregard for His Living Word.

What everyone needs to know is that wars will continue to the end when the Mighty Christ finally hands over the Kingdom to the Father (1Cor 15:24). And God doesn’t intend to be on the losing end of these wars, otherwise how would the Kingdom be established? It’s true that nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and victories and losses will abound. But when God wages war in the interests of His emerging Kingdom, things will be very different. Presently, God is awaiting the vilest of outrages by Satan and his demons (Rev 12:7-10), and once this happens, all bets are off! While God’s servants will be engaged in fighting the whole world, God will set equalizers in place to even the odds. Satan will be earth-bound, but God’s servants will not! They will be highly visible in the air, like an eagle flying overhead, and their firepower from the sky will be unlike anything that could be imagined. Anyone who tries to harm them will receive an instant and devastating response. Isa 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on eagles wings; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Why should anyone doubt God’s intentions to make those who trust and hope in the LORD like His Mighty Son Jesus? Would God send them on potentially dangerous missions but not equip them with the strength and vigor to handle it? God makes the point that even youths grow weary, but says that those who hope in the LORD will not grow weary. There is an example of this in the Bible; this was when Elijah outran a galloping horse over a distance of twenty miles (1Kings 18:45-46). God wants everyone to know this, and to understand what it means.

Let’s not kid ourselves that self-righteous platitudes will ever sway Satan or his brood! Don’t think for one moment that God has any expectations that Satan and his offspring could even be remotely decent or compassionate. Let’s dispel any thoughts of favourable or compassionate behaviour from any human beings that have aligned their philosophies with the mind of Satan. Those who put their hope in the LORD, rather than the concepts of men, will soon learn the wisdom of such actions. God envisages a whole new world through the establishment of a Righteous Kingdom – a Kingdom that will not rely on the hopes and dreams of those who never knew God. At the most crucial moment of His time on earth, the Christ made it clear that His servants would fight to establish the Kingdom of God (John 18:36). Jesus had previously said this: Matt 11:12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear." John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied concerning his son (Luke 1:67). What he said through the Holy Spirit concerning his son (Luke 1:68-80) was not fulfilled at that time. John the Baptist died prematurely, just as Jesus did, before fulfilling all that is written of them both. As John 18:36 indicates, there is a future time when forceful men will establish the Kingdom of God. If this is unclear to some, just remember that hours before His death, Jesus instructed His disciples to arm themselves with swords to give the appearance of being transgressors. He pointed out that this was to fulfill a certain prophecy, which is found in Isa 53:12. The lying scribes and even the Churches of God today, cannot bring themselves to believe what Jesus said, when He spoke of fulfilling that which is written in the Book of Isaiah. They tried to camouflage the meaning to support their own sickly, weak doctrine. Isa 53:12 "Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils [of war] with the strong, because He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with transgressors. For He bore the sin of many (not the whole world) and made intercession for the transgressors." Who were these ‘transgressors’? They were His own disciples! The whole world will consider them to be transgressors, because they won’t be living according to the standards of this world. Jesus was numbered with these; so was Jesus also a transgressor? You should know that He was not! So it was the perception of others that caused this tag to be applied. Who are the ‘transgressors’ for whom Jesus makes intercession to the Father? We are given the first clue in Isa 53:10 "Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand." So the ‘transgressors’ are those who are patterned after the Son, and who become His offspring. And what is Jesus the Christ that must be emulated by His offspring? He’s a Mighty and Just Warrior of God who will deliver a righteous Kingdom to the Father. Jesus is no transgressor, so who is it that loves to accuse His offspring of being transgressors? It’s none other than Satan the devil, and all his offspring who love to falsely accuse: Rev 12:10 "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the Power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short." What follows in the next five verses identifies the object of Satan’s hatred – a woman and her offspring.

As a point of interest, there is no Mark 15:28 in the NIV. This reference to transgressors was deliberately inserted in the KJV, to put a completely different meaning to the prophecy. John Mark’s book was sloppily written, and has almost no references to the Old Testament, but it was most likely lying scribes who added V28 and which has been omitted from the NIV. Presumably, they wanted to add their own ideas to the meaning of the Scriptures that Christ used.

So what will prompt Satan’s venom against the woman and her offspring? I can tell you this that it is not because they sing Christmas carols about the baby Jesus! Rather it’s because for all the peoples on the face of the earth, only this woman has arisen in defense of God and His reputation, and the reputation of His Son Jesus. Only these have stood steadfast in the face of lying wannabe’s who twist and pervert the Scriptures to their own advantage. Only the woman serves their Creator faithfully and upholds His values. And only the woman knows who the children of the devil are, and who the children of God are (1John 3:10) and only these know the reason why Christ came (V8). Everyone else has neither understood nor cared! They neither cared about God’s kingdom nor took any interest. They cared only for their own welfare and reputations. Satan doesn’t bother to persecute and accuse those who present no threat to him among Christianity (though he still hates all of Christianity), but his venom is reserved for those who pose a threat to him. Slowly it began to dawn on him which direction this threat would come from. His capability of deceiving the whole world is beginning to erode as he realizes that God has appointed a ‘woman’ that can’t be deceived (see Matt 24:24 – and note the words ‘if it were possible’). They know that Satan will resort to lying wonders and deception, and he will deceive a lot of people, in fact, he has deceived the whole world in one way or the other. Sure, Satan has picked off some even in this Brotherhood over the years, but only by using his devices that appeal to towering egos and the love of money. But God knows how to refine His people like silver and gold, and to prepare them to withstand the most vicious attacks of Satan and the rulers of the Heavenly realms. Most of the refining process (Mal 3:3) comes from believing God and the desire to serve Him to the exclusion of all else. And these sons who serve Him are described in Mal 3:16. Remember how Satan offered great power and cities and wealth to Jesus if He would fall down and worship Him? Jesus treated him with the contempt he deserved. No amount of inducement could persuade Jesus, and the same is true of His faithful offspring. Why would this Brotherhood care about the riches of this world, when they will be administering in the Kingdom that will girdle the world? What could Satan possibly offer that would be of any worth? What about life itself? Satan can’t even offer this, but he can offer death forever. And this is the reward for those who are beguiled by him.

You may be beginning to wonder what all of this has to do with God’s Great Plan. It may seem to be far removed from any purpose that God has for mankind. But in fact, God is conditioning His people to form a righteous nation that will continue forever, and to be citizens of the Kingdom of God. In order to augment this, God is calling certain people to duty beginning with the Tribe of Levi, followed by the Tribe of Judah, and afterwards, joined by Ephraim. The first crop, or the firstfruits, will be the Levites who have forsaken the evil that would be detrimental to sound government. Just as Adam and Eve succumbed to the knowledge of evil and corrupted their minds, so God is vigilant for those who reject the call of evil and hold to righteousness in all its forms. The first step in rejecting evil in all its forms is to be able to recognize it. It’s not enough to do what seems right, because, increasingly, what seems right is becoming the norm, and it actually leads to death just as God has said (Pro 14:12). This is just as true of nations as it is of individuals, because it’s individuals that pervert the course of nations. When individuals pervert nations, they do it by doing what seems right and structure their arguments to win others to their cause.

The Apostle Paul made a very good observation in this regard in Rom 8:5-7 "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God." Doing what seems right leads to death, and crooked pathways lead nowhere, but Paul went on to advise on the correct path in V7 "It (the sinful or hostile mind) does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." Lawlessness marks all those who are sinful and hostile to God’s Spirit. For this reason, God plans to write His Laws in the hearts and minds of all those He saves and redeems from death. At that time, all those who were receptive to God’s Laws will find rest and stability, and after God writes His Laws into their hearts and minds and pours out His Spirit upon them (Eze 36:26-27), they will rejoice at the perfection of those Laws. The lawless, however, will have no place of rest, and in their distress will seek death. They will quickly find that there is no place on this earth for those who treat God as a fool.

Once out of Egypt, God used a series of miracles to reestablish His Laws, and to demonstrate which days were holy to Him. The Levitical Priesthood was established to oversee these requirements, and a temporary facility was established, which was called the Tabernacle. This facility was fashioned as an exact replica of the one in Heaven (Heb 8:5), where the High Priest of God administers to His Father. It was vitally important that everything was made as a perfect reproduction of what exists in the Heavenly Sanctuary. And those who ministered in this earthly sanctuary had to stand in the place of the High Priest of Heaven. In so doing, they were the Christ’s surrogates, so the standard had to be very high.

But is this what God intended? Wars are won by fighting – not talking! And God’s intentions, and His instructions, were clear. So the House of Israel learned their lesson the hard way, and found themselves in constant conflict with God’s enemies. All this served as an example for those on whom the end of the age has come (1Cor 10:11). It all had to be done differently, and God’s instructions would finally be done to the letter. Those who are created don’t have the right to tell the Creator how things should be done. God is God – and He will be obeyed!

No, God will have to appoint His own army to do this, and He has already set His plans in motion. God is presently preparing His commanders to do the job. And commanders they are – of devastating weaponry that this world could not imagine. The fire that comes down from the sky at that time will not be AC-130 Spectre gunships. Such weaponry will look like toys compared to the devastating armaments of God. Initially, God will not put His commanders up close and personal with the enemy, where they might allow a worldly compassion to override God’s instructions. God intends for His human sons – His commanders – and their wives and children to be very strong in the eyes of all observers. After the first few salvos, whenever the world sees the eagle overhead (see Isa 40:31 again) they will tremble and choke with fear. God intends to make His mighty power known! And He intends to make the nations really tremble; not with words or threats, but with action!

History is not written to honour the dead but to inspire the living. And if we cannot learn from the lessons of history, then history will be repeated – surely and inexorably! The very satanic brood that caused the Tribes of Israel so much trouble millennia ago are in the process of repeating the outrage. As the Apostle Paul noted in Eph 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm." These are the rulers of the spirit realm – that unseen dimension, but they are real and they are the rulers, they wield authority over lesser beings, and they exercise the power of this dark world. They are the evil motivating force behind all outrages, and it’s their declared intention to wipe the Tribes of Israel from the face of the earth. While our struggle is against them, it’s through their brood that outrages are committed. Incredibly, there are some who not only deny their existence, but can’t imagine that anyone would be involved in a struggle with them. God’s true servants will tell you differently! They know all too well who the enemy is, and they stand ready at all times to combat their vile schemes. Paul made it clear that we should be equipped with the armour of God to ‘extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’ (V16). All of which is the precursor for the reality that is about to unfold.

But it runs much deeper than this. God has called upon His true servants to be raised to the rank of the mighty spirit commanders of God. These commanders of God are mighty warriors, and the Bible gives us two very good examples in Michael and Gabriel, and the measure of their battle prowess is found in Dan 10:20. The prophets of God come equipped with the Testimony of Jesus. The Apostle John, the last remaining Apostle of that era, was also a prophet. In the twilight of his years he was raised to the rank equal to the mighty commanders of God: Rev 19:20 "At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the Testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy." You may have noticed that at this most extreme time in all of history, the Churches do not have the Spirit of Prophecy! In fact, all their contrived ‘prophecies’ have been an offence to God. They all failed dismally!

God intends to make clear who His servants are, and in a manner that cannot be refuted. When you see the eagle flying overhead, you will have no explanation for what you see, but you will know that it is nothing like any man-made object. The eagle is a combat craft with far-seeing ‘eyes’, and it also has devastating weaponry – unlike anything on earth. Didn’t God forewarn of this? He spoke of his sons, all of whom are taught by God, and He also spoke of their appearance in Jerusalem at a time of great chaos and confusion (Zech 12:5). One of their first tasks will be to hammer the nations that surround the Holy Land and turn them into ashes to be trampled underfoot (Mal 4:1-3). So who are the Sons of Jerusalem to be like? God tells us! Zech 12:8 "On that day, the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest of them will be like David, and the House of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. On that day, I will set out to destroy the nations that attack Jerusalem." At that time, these people will already be living in Jerusalem, and their great power will cause the leaders of Judah to say, "The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD is their God" (Zech 12:5). Then the Jewish people will be called upon to consume nations like flaming torches among sheaves of wheat (V6). Note the words: "They will consume right and left and the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place." As a student of the Bible, you no doubt know who surrounds the Holy Land! They are all Moslems! And Judah (the Jews) will join the Sons of Jerusalem in destroying them. And why is this so hard for some to believe? Hasn’t there been enough evidence of their rampant evil? They claim to be doing all this evil in the Name of Almighty God, but they completely reject the Bible in favour of the Koran their most ‘holy’ book. They don’t honour God’s Name, but instead use the parochial word for the oak tree – Allah! Clearly, this is their hostile way of discrediting God’s use of the olive tree as a symbol. Olives and acorns are similar in appearance, but markedly different in substance. This is yet another example of Satan’s mindless fakery. Generally speaking, Muslims are as thick as two bricks when it comes to intelligence. Have you ever wondered why? In the madrasses in Pakistan for instance, they learn nothing except the Koran. They sit bobbing up and down reciting the Koran for year after year. They have to memorize it in order to become a mullah. Even if they do succeed in memorizing it, they still finish up with an IQ of less than their hat size. Pakistan has 80,000 madrasses (schools), so Islam generally has generated a fair crop of idiots who can’t think for themselves.

At the end of a long dark night, there will be a new dawn. The Apostles and prophets spoke of it, and longed to see that day: Luke 17:20 "Then He said to His disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you ‘There He is!’ or ‘Here He is!’ Do not go running off with them. For the Son of Man in His Day will be like the lightning that flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other." Lightning, of course, flashes briefly, but it does light up the sky momentarily. This is what one of the days of the Christ will be like. In fact, great flashes of light will consume left and right the enemies of God, and they will be ashes underfoot, just as God has said in Mal 4:3. This is the day that the Apostles won’t see, because all of this will occur before the resurrection of the saints. It’s almost beyond belief that any erstwhile student of the Bible could have failed to realize this. Preachers have been so preoccupied with pumping up the emotions of their congregations with promises of glorious outcomes for doing nothing, that they have send them all into a deep slumber. They reason that there is no need to check any further; after all, they’ve got all they need from God. They believe that their reward is eternal occupation in heaven, but strangely, none of them are too keen to get there!

So what is the outcome? Will America win the war on terror? Will their desire to curry favour with God’s enemies win the day? Will the whole world rejoice to have peace and security and prosperity? Will it happen? The answer is an emphatic no! Those to whom America wants to bring peace and security are just as treacherous as they have always been. No amount of kindness will change that fact. Can a leopard change its spots? No, and neither can these degenerate Moslem beasts change their ways. I would have thought Jesus’ advice would prove this point in Matt 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Jesus made it clear which dogs He was talking about (Matt 15:26), He was speaking to a Canaanite.

Firstly, the whole Book is for the Churches of God as the opening chapters show. And this is confirmed in the final chapter by these words: Rev 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this Testimony for the Churches. I am the Root and Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the Water of Life." So it’s very clear that the Churches of God have a very significant role to play in the Kingdom of God. What has never been clear to them is what this role is! To this very day they’ve continued to put their own spin on everything without any concern for all that God has spoken of throughout the Bible. The only prophecy they want fulfilled is anything that is beneficial to them. Actually engaging in strategy to ensure that all prophecy is fulfilled is totally alien to them. Their idea is that if God wants to do something – then let Him do it Himself. We can be thankful that Moses and all the great men of God were not this way. God’s servants do everything in their power to ensure that all Scripture is fulfilled – just as the Christ did (Matt 26:53).

In the wake of all that has happened throughout 6,000 years of human turmoil, God has raised up a son to serve Him. This son is one of the Tribes of Israel – the son of Joseph. This son has been given wealth and power and prestige above all the nations of the earth. From the humblest of beginnings this son has become the most powerful and influential nation on earth. No nation can stand against him when he goes out to war as the armies of the Living God. But this mighty son doesn’t know how to bring peace. They should know since Almighty God has given them enough examples of how to deal with those who reject God’s model for humanity. While this son has all the wealth, power, prestige and strength above any other nation, they lack one vital ingredient: Wisdom! And this is the Wisdom of God – which is also the Testimony of Jesus – and the Spirit of prophecy! (See Rev 19:10). At a precise moment, another Son will arise who will receive all the gifted qualities of Ephraim: Rev 5:12 "In a loud voice they sang, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and Wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise."" In this, God is foreshadowing the removal of His prodigal son, in favour of One who is worthy of praise and honour!

We have come to the time when prophecy must be fulfilled relating to this son of God. Their sins have been stored up (Hos 13:12) until the time of discipline: Jer 31:18 "I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him," says the LORD."

Ephraim is like a silly dove (Hos 7:11), easily deceived and senseless – always trying to bring peace to nations who have never understood the meaning of the word. God’s instructions are clear to the House of Israel: When they go in to possess the land that God is giving them, they were to drive out or utterly destroy the inhabitants and not leave any to regenerate and turn and cause them trouble. They were to remember that the House of Israel is God’s chosen nation for populating the earth and that no other people anywhere have any rights to life – except if God grants it. In order to be granted life, Gentiles must be grafted into the genealogical tree and become grafted Israelites. God has held out the olive branch to all those who willingly obey Him, and who choose to live as His people Israel – their heirs and successors – and according to Law.

Almighty God has never departed from His Plan to make all Israel the heirs of all the earth. From the very outset He created a division of mankind (Gen 3:16) and declared His intention to create a nation patterned after His Son – the Word of God – His Spokesman. He placed it all in His hands to bring a righteous nation to fruition. And this is what all the Scriptures speak about. God intends to restore the House of Israel as the premier nation on earth and to teach the Gentile nations the Way of God. But this won’t be accomplished until they come to understand – and beat their breast! Ephraim is presently steering a course away from God and His Way. God has made Ephraim the premier nation on earth, but the more God calls them the further they go from Him (Hos 11:2). They sanction evil in all its forms, and care nothing for upholding God’s Law and instructions. They devise roadmaps for peace – but never deliver peace! They seem obsessed with only bringing peace to God’s enemies! They have yet to understand that there is no real ‘roadmap for peace’ according to their philosophy! They are never going to bring peace to God’s enemies, and because they insist on doing so, God will bring destruction on them!

Because they have refused to acknowledge God’s Way and have devised ways of their own, these have led to crooked pathways. Their efforts will be expended in vain, and will never achieve the desired objective. Long ago, God instructed the House of Israel through the Levite priesthood. God chose the Levites for this very role. The priesthood was still in effect when John the Baptist arrived on the scene, but had become corrupted, with simony filling the seats of the priests. John was the son of a Levite priest, and was a true Levite priest, but he disdained the Pharisaical priesthood as being corrupt and called them vipers – a term used by the Christ on a number of occasions – meaning the offspring of the Serpent Satan. The Apostle John identified them as the children of the devil (John 3:10). And truly they were! They were greedy, self-serving hypocrites who loved the approbation of men. These vipers were the same creatures that were present when Cain killed Abel (Matt 23:33-36). These vipers ruled over the Jewish people and sought every occasion to make their burden heavier, but they didn’t raise even their smallest finger to uphold their own fabricated laws. They were lovers of money, honour and prestige, and would not accept any challenge to their authority. While they held John to be a prophet, and acknowledged that he was also a true Levite priest – something that they themselves could not claim – they were somewhat hostile towards John for refusing to align with them or even dress like them.

Throughout the days of the Apostles there was a perception of imminence, of a quick end to human rule and the return of Jesus Christ. These were the men who knew and understood the teachings of the Christ and lived their lives believing that His return was imminent. Around 66 years later, probably 96 AD, John, the last remaining Apostle, received the Book of Revelation. Again the theme of imminence is present, and the Church is instructed that the Christ will come quickly. The whole Book speaks of prophetic events, which will culminate in the rule on earth of the Father and the Son. Though the Apostles were aware of many prophetic events that needed to be fulfilled prior to Christ’s return, the Book of Revelation enumerated them in far greater detail. But of all the Apostles, John was the only one still alive to receive this instruction (John 21:22). With the passing of John, the Book of Revelation was left to gather dust as far as the fulfillment of the prophecies were concerned. Generation after generation continued for many centuries without any indication of the final fulfillment.

The Bible speaks again and again of Ephraim in the capacity of being a prince among his brothers. The rest of the Tribes scattered throughout Western Europe receive far less mentioning. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph the son of Jacob. Joseph became a prince over his brothers in Egypt just as Joseph’s dream had foretold (Gen 37:9-11). At the time of the dream, Jacob chastised his young son, but kept the dream in mind in anticipation of its fulfillment. When it was fulfilled, Jacob himself bestowed firstborn status on the youngest of Joseph’s sons – Ephraim was the prince over his brothers.

Today, the Tribes of Israel have no idea who they are, but with one exception: the Tribe of Judah has never forgotten that they are the people of God. And the reason is that they continued to honour God’s Sabbath Day and all of His Holy Days. This has continued to be God’s identifying sign down through the ages: Isa 58:13-14 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my Holy Day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S Holy Day honourable, and if you honour it by not doing your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the Land and to Feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken."

It was very clear to Isaiah to expect a future time of God’s intervention, like when the mountains quaked at the time of Moses – a special time when they would see the mighty Power of God: Isa 64:1 "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when the fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your Name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no-one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who REMEMBER your ways." And just to put things into context, Isaiah spoke of the new heavens and the new earth, and this will definitely cause the mountains to tremble. Isa 65:17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth." God plans to renew the face of the earth. It will be as it once was – a symbol of the Power and Might of Almighty God. Isaiah had previously spoken of this in Isa 40:3-4 "A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the Glory of God will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Isaiah’s words recorded here were to become the frontispiece of the Message of the one whom Jesus identified as the Elijah to come – John the Baptist (Luke 3:2-9), and he spoke of the axe being laid at the root of the tree, and that every tree that does not produce good fruit will be thrown into the fire (V9). This certainly doesn’t sound like God is kidding around, does it?

When God comes down and shakes the earth again, He’s going to make His Great Name and reputation known to all. Not to do them good, but to repay them for their evil! The created ones don’t dictate to the Creator how they will behave. The Creator Himself makes the rules! He makes the distinction between those who are good and those who are evil. In Isaiah, chapter 63, following right after the great slaughter of those in the land of Mecca and Medina (the cities holy to Moslems), detailed in V1-6, God begins to remind the House of Israel (V7) of all that He did for them. He says: V7 "I will tell you of all the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which He is to praised, according to all the LORD has done for the House of Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses. He said, "Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me", and so He became their Saviour. In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them." We have not yet seen the bloodbath of Mecca and Medina in the ancient homeland of Edom (Esau). This is still to come. But the timing is identified as: V4 "For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come." Surely it’s no surprise that God would act to take vengeance Himself against the cities of His enemies. Especially since the House of Israel has refused to do so! Even worse, the House of Israel is now paving the way for the most evil of cities to arise: Babylon! The House of Israel is intent on doing the Babylonians good, rather than repaying them for their evil. The Mighty Christ will set the example of destroying the ‘holy’ cities of Islam, and later, after Babylon has served God’s purpose of punishing the House of Israel, it too will be destroyed, and in a spectacular way.

God said, "Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me." Would a faithful son side with his father’s enemies? Would they side with a religion that is plotting the destruction of the people of God? They’re sending their sons and daughters to be killed by a foreign god, and for the express purpose of honouring that foreign god and his religion. The House of Israel should have remembered that God is a jealous God (Exo 20:5). They should have made some attempt to understand what provokes Him! The House of Israel refused to honour God’s Sabbath, and now they’ve sought to honour a foreign god who has supplanted God’s Sabbath with the sixth day – Friday. And they’ve chosen to honour this god! Are they crazy or what?

In the past when God destroyed the northern Ten Tribes of Israel, it was because of the religion of the nations around them that they became enamored with, and chose to forsake their God. They loved all the pageantry and the fornication that went with it, and they lost their minds in the realm of evil. That realm of evil pervades them even today, and everyone wants the right to do as they please, even those things that are against the very course of nature. Somehow they’ve developed the mind to support any evil, but have a mindset against doing those things that God has proclaimed as good. The first day or the sixth day of the week is OK by them, but the Seventh Day? They’ll have none of it! Little wonder they never understood the principle behind it! It was the precursor to the Millennial Sabbath – the Day of the LORD – and that Day is here. Mind you, the start of the seventh millennium in 2001 (which is the correct way of calculating millennial beginnings) brought some severe warnings to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were hit by Satan and his rulers of the heavenly realms. It was planned to put ten aircraft into action, with the fourth destroying the White House in Washington, but the timing was out as far as fulfilling the prophecy concerning this city (Isa 28:1-3). The Babylonians had to be beaten down one more time.

So despite all efforts to sanitize the behavior of these Moslem nations, they continue to prove to be enemies of all Christians and Jews, but most particularly Americans and Israelis. And no amount of window-dressing is able to disguise this fact. But vengeance is in God’s heart and He will repay His enemies, and the Mighty Christ can’t wait to get started! Once the fire is kindled, it will become an inferno: Luke 12:49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." So much for the petty and mindless nonsense being taught today by those who never knew God or His Christ!

Unfortunately, the House of Israel did not receive any good advice from the Churches of God or any of Christianity generally. But this will gradually change as the intensity of war and terror increases and certain trainee ‘kings and priests’ will begin to understand the error of their ways and repent of their former beliefs – the leavening of Satan, and turn to God in earnest. These will begin to instruct many among the House of Israel, and lead them to expect salvation at the appointed time. For their faithful service (even though belatedly), and this service is detailed in Dan 7:21, 25, they will afterwards inherit the Kingdom of God (V27). These are a special people who will bring many others to salvation, to be rescued and brought back to their ancient Homeland – the Holy Land. As the offspring of the Woman (Rev 12:17) – the Woman is the people of Jerusalem – and their offspring will receive some very special help. They will receive the Testimony of Jesus – the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev 19:10), and they will be known as faithful Commandment-keepers of the Almighty God. Their service will bring many others into the fold. God has made it clear that those who reject knowledge now can only look forward to destruction now and death forever. The unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit, and those who fail to acknowledge God’s Holy Spirit in those whom God has appointed to detail His Will as His Holy Spirit leads them, will get what their actions deserve (2Cor 11:13-15). God couldn’t be clearer on making His intentions known. For those who turn away, there is no further sacrifice for them! For those who once had God’s Holy Spirit, they can only expect to face a raging fire, which will consume them. Then they will know the consequences of treating God like a fool!

It’s true that for a long time God winked at (as Paul put it - KJV) or overlooked ignorance, but the time has come to repent of such ignorance (Acts 17:30). Even the sins of Ephraim were overlooked – though kept on record (Hos 13:12), but now God insists on everyone coming to their senses and repenting of their outrageous views of His proposed salvation.

Did you even wonder why the blessings of Moses the man of God did not include the Tribe of Simeon (Germany) in Deut 33? Or why Dan is described as being like a young lion cub among the flocks of Bashan? A young lion cub kills for the sake of killing, and when set among the sheep for which Bashan was famous, was determined to destroy the flock. The Tribe of Dan you will recall is omitted from the Blessings of the House of Israel in Rev 7:5-8, but Simeon is included there. What must Simeon have thought of Moses’ omission? And particularly since Moses departed immediately for Mount Nebo in Jordan, and there he died and was buried in the valley opposite Beth Peor. So Simeon was left with the stigma of receiving no blessing or mention. It’s my guess that this was the start of Simeon’s long-lasting jealousy and arrogance towards his brothers. This arrogance was to raise its ugly head many times throughout history. Almighty God exploited this arrogance in Simeon, and provided us with many lessons – foremost among these was Simeon’s (Germany’s) arrogance towards his brothers. Germany never stopped trying to gain ascendancy over all his brother Tribes. So there are compelling reasons for Moses’ omission of Simeon from the blessings. Yet in the final carve-up mentioned in Rev 7 Simeon is once again in great favour. All that happens to bring about this change of heart is another story entirely which has yet to unfold.

Only eleven of the Apostles remained faithful and confessed that Jesus was the Christ and held the key to life. Nothing would turn them from their resolve to serve the Father and His Christ. And, of course, their faith was vindicated prior to His death and departure when He said: Luke 22:15 "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Jesus then went on to show that He was the Passover Lamb, and they had to eat of His body and drink of His blood. Those who ate the traditional sacrificial lamb had to eat the lamb, but not the blood because the life is in the blood. But under the terms of the New Covenant it was a requirement to drink the blood of the Lamb of God in order to impart life to the receiver. The eating of the Passover Lamb and the drinking of His blood was the new Passover. There was no need to purchase a lamb; the Passover Lamb was already there. It remained only to eat His flesh and drink His blood. It was the drinking of the blood that imparted life. There are some today that deny that Jesus is the Lamb of God – the Passover Lamb – that must be eaten in remembrance of Him as the Passover Lamb. Those who fail to observe the New Passover as He instructed have no part of Him, and neither are they His. This is what He says: Luke 22:19-20 "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." If the life is in the blood, then you have to wonder why some people seem to think they have rights to life when they refuse the very blood that can impart it!

The whole point of the New Passover was to partake of the very body and life of Jesus the Christ. No-one can have any part of the Christ or the Kingdom of God if they are not seeded with His bloodline. Since babies don’t choose their parents, God provided another way for anyone to become a part of the bloodline of His Glorious Son. And the New Passover is it! It’s a glorious blessing to all those who participate, but a mailed-fist to all those who do it unworthily. The New Passover is the first step in participating in the body and life of the Christ, and a reminder that God plans to populate this earth with the offspring of His Glorious Son. Almighty God is less concerned with the circumstances of our birth than He is with the circumstances of our minds. The New Passover is the first step in developing the mind of Christ, and actually being a part of His Body. God intends that this new body has no hint or trace of the mind of Satan or his body. The offspring of Christ must be a whole new entity by the renewal of the mind. And none can come to the Father except through the Son, and none can come to the Son except the Father draws them (John 6:44). It’s these who are drawn by the Father and received by the Son who are taught by God (same verse). As Isaiah points out in Isa 54:13, these are the Sons of Jerusalem. How evident this is becoming today! You only have to read what the religious pretenders are teaching today to know they have not been taught by God! And neither do they have any concern for the instruction of God’s Spirit.

In the context of the Passover, the offspring of Christ is mentioned in Isa 53:10 "Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the Will of the LORD will prosper in His hand."

In order to participate in the New Passover, each potential seed or offspring of Christ should have every trace of the contamination of Satan washed away in baptism – or – at the very least, their feet should be washed as a prelude to participation. The feet are a symbol of the true Gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). The washing of feet symbolizes a commitment to walk in the ways of Christ. Remember how Jesus said to Peter that he could not have any part of Him, except his feet are washed by Him? And how Peter responded with ‘not only my feet, but my hands and head also’ (John 13:7-9). It was an interesting and thoughtful statement by Peter, and whatever our hands do, and whatever we think with our minds, it should be to the glory of God. Self-interest should be far-removed from the offspring of Christ. Unfortunately, self-interest is endemic in the churches of this world. They seem intent on making everyone in their congregations twice the sons of hell as they are. If you follow their line of reasoning, you would have to believe that God’s only purpose is to give everyone on earth a clean bill of health, and to welcome them into everlasting pastures. The blood on their hands, and the mindless rhetoric of their feeble understanding, they believe should not be an issue, as long as their lip-service is compatible with the emotional fervor they love to generate. In some cases, they equate God’s Holy Spirit to falling flat on their backs and foaming at the mouth. What logical mind could possibly equate such activities with God’s Holy Spirit? Such activities can only result in severely muddled minds – the very antithesis of the Mind of Christ.

Interestingly, amid all this New Passover ceremony, and the betrayal that was to follow, Jesus took time to reiterate the problem of religious pretenders wanting to lord it over their brothers: Luke 22:24 "Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them call themselves benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father has conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel." How could they be like the kings and authorities of the Gentiles and still hope to judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel? There’s not a chance of it happening, and Christ warned them not to be this way.

This was not the first time the matter was raised and Christ made sure that this lesson was hammered home for all time just prior to His death. Jesus had previously made it very clear when He had gone into great detail about avoiding the ways of the Gentiles in Matt 20:25-28! And He had also mentioned the cup from which they were then drinking, and no doubt they recalled what Jesus had previously said in Matt 20:22-23 "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the CUP I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my CUP, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." Jesus had no authority to grant those sorts of privileges and he made it very clear! But not clear enough for some people! And later, when they did drink of that CUP, there was one there that did not see this clearly at all. This was the insidious liar Judas Iscariot.

Jesus Himself suggested another way out for such people: Matt 18:6 "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." There are plenty of self-serving teachers of lies who openly advocate disobedience to the CUP, which Christ drank, and to the New Passover He instituted as the Lamb of God.

All those who do serve God have very great responsibilities! And if they let down in their responsibilities, they will find themselves in big trouble: Luke 12:46 "The Master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect Him, and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers." That Master had poured the CUP when a certain hour had fully come (Luke 22:14). As for coming on a day when He is not expected, or at an hour that unbelievers are not aware of, this is precisely what will happen! And while no-one knows the day or the hour except the Father, that certain day and hour determines who are God’s and who are not. Anyone who defies Christ’s instructions, and teaches others to do the same concerning the Passover, are already condemned. And their best option is the millstone. The same dialogue continues in Luke 12:47 "That servant who knows his Master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his Master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much more will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." If this is speaking of God’s servants who do understand God’s requirements and know how they are supposed to serve God, what will be the outcome of those who have attempted to serve God according to the precepts of men – who refuse to follow the instructions of the Master? Well, again, the millstone is the best option! God is not concerned with those who reject knowledge – they are already marked for slaughter but not for reasons honourable to God. God is only concerned with those who will willingly drink of the CUP that Christ drank from, and who are prepared to undergo the same baptism that He endured (Luke 12:49-51). And the key word here is willingly!

Note: We have an example of Jesus calling Peter the rock, and it was on this rock that He built the Church. In fact, from the first meeting of Simon son of Jona (Peter), Jesus changed his name to Cephas, which means a ‘small rock’ (John 1:42). Nevertheless, shortly afterwards, Satan was able to manipulate Peter’s thinking process, and he momentarily began to reason from a human point of view. And if you believe Christ (and hopefully you do!), then you will realize that Satan was right there as part of the action. He fed Peter some mumbo-jumbo prompting him to suggest that Jesus should try to save His life (Matt 16:22). It drew the response from the Christ in V23: "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

But the dawning of a new Day – a millennial Day – was to bring about great changes, and preparations had to be made. Firstly, a shepherd had to be raised up (Zech 11:16) to gather the flock in preparation for fulfilling the prophecies of the Seven Churches. And as reluctant as they are to fulfill their commission, they will be compelled to do it, just as Jonah was when the great fish swallowed him when he attempted to run away from his responsibilities towards God. And this just happens to be the point made by the Christ in relation to His death and resurrection as the Passover Lamb – the sign of Jonah the prophet (Matt 12:39-40). Only those raised up by this shepherd will have the grounding in Bible Study to understand the requirements, but not until it’s forced upon them. Perhaps they believe that staying away from big fish will save them and thwart God’s plans? Who knows! But nothing will thwart God’s plans; the chains will only get heavier (Isa 28:22). Isa 28 is of course, the chapter that speaks of the City of the greatest nation on earth – Ephraim – the United States of America (V1-3).

There is an interesting adjunct to the story of Jonah. Firstly, it should be borne in mind that Jesus made a direct comparison to Himself and Jonah concerning his death. The main point that Jesus made was that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea creature, so would Jesus be three days and three nights in the grave. Jesus gave this answer in response to a request for a sign – by the rulers of the heavenly realms. To them, Jesus said no sign would be given except that of the prophet Jonah. What later troubled His questioners was the fact that Jesus fulfilled this perfectly. At face value, this would seem to be the end of the matter. Far from it! It was only the beginning. And while the Book of Jonah only runs to about 48 verses and then abruptly ends, it points to other significant prophesies. Foremost is the prayer of Jonah that points to Psalm 18 directly. Many have assumed that the Book of Jonah is a quaint story that has no real meaning, yet Jesus referred to Jonah as a prophet, and indicated that He, Himself, would fulfill the sign of Jonah. And this adds a whole new dimension to what the prophet wrote.

Jonah called out to God in prayer from the belly of the sea creature, and this is the account of what he said: Jonah 2:1-10 "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said, "In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled around me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished in your sight; yet I will look again towards your Holy Temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit (means destruction or grave), O LORD my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer arose to you, to your Holy Temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." After this God rescued him, and he went and did as he was commanded.

In relation to God’s Holy Temple, which Jonah mentions twice, there is also a reference by the Christ to His own body. He said, "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus was referring to the Temple of His body (John 2:19-20). It was this selfless act by Jesus that guaranteed that God would grant salvation to His people, and this is reflected in the words of Jonah: "Salvation comes from the LORD". So there are very good reasons why the Christ referred to Jonah as a prophet! When Jonah cried out to the LORD, he was in some very serious trouble, yet at this time he quoted Scripture – a sure sign that he was a man of God and was still living according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He was quoting from Psalm 18. What is so interesting about this is that he was quoting King David – the forefather of Jesus, who was called the Son of David – a major point that is driven home in Rev 22:16 in a message to the Churches of God. In addition to this, the words of Psalm 18 are also found recorded by the Levite priest and prophet Samuel in 2Sam 22. And finally, they are reproduced in the Book of Habakkuk (Hab 3). Jesus likened His death at the hands of His enemies to that of Jonah with His reference to three days and three nights.

Jonah described his pending death in this manner: Jonah 2:5 "The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever." In the Psalm of David, we find a slight variation to the wording but the message is the same: Psalm 18:4 "The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave (Sheol) coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me." In both cases of Jesus and Jonah, they were rescued from the power of the grave after three days and three nights. Yet the three prophets: David, Samuel and Habakkuk expand greatly on this and give escalating events in very graphic detail. While Jonah made mention of the roots of the mountains, Habakkuk describes the mountains as crumbling and collapsing: Hab 3:3 "God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran (Moses also mentions this in regard to endtime prophecies in Deut 33:2. Both prophets are speaking of the same events). His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from His hand, where His power was hidden. Plague went before Him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal."

When God says He will once again shake the earth – He really means it! And when He does, the mountains will crumble and the age-old hills will collapse and the foundations or roots of the mountains will be exposed (how do you think manmade buildings will fare in this day, when mountains crumble and collapse?). This is also mentioned in the Book of Revelation, where the nations will be so traumatized that they will call on the mountains to fall on them to hide them from the face of the One who sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16-17). John the Baptist began his ministry by detailing these very things: Isa 40:3 "A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the Glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (See Luke 3:4-6 for the appearance of John the Baptist and his quoting of these words.)

And what was the significance of Nineveh – the City where Jonah was sent? It was called a great city, but by today’s standards, 120,000 people is not all that significant when one considers the cities today that have numbers in the millions. No doubt it was a great sprawling city if it took three days to walk through it. When Jonah finally got going, he walked a day’s journey into it before he began to prophesy (Jonah 3:3-4). Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which was defeated by the Babylonian Empire. The people of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire are the Kurds today. Formerly, they allied with the Persians under the name of Medes, and joined in the defeat and conquest of Babylon. Amazingly, the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah’s message and repented in sackcloth and ashes. Even Jonah was amazed at the outcome, and being familiar with the prophecies of David, Samuel and Habakkuk, he still expected disaster to befall them. In fact, he went out to a barren hill to wait for the city to be destroyed, and came dangerously close to perishing from the heat of the sun (Jonah 4:8).

The Christ made it clear that those men who repented at that time in Nineveh will arise in the judgment to condemn the generation of serpents and vipers who love to corrupt human beings (Matt 12:41, 43-45). God is not averse to placing His Spirit in Gentiles who have truly repented and become God-oriented, and who live their lives in obedience to God. In fact, it is said of Jesus’ teachings that the Gentiles who were living in the very shadow of Death have seen a great light. Matt 4:13 "Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake (Sea of Kinnereth) in the area of Zebulon and Naphtali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulon and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near."" When we study what Isaiah said in this regard (Isa 9:1-2), we find that the scenario is greatly expanded. We find that nearly 800 years later, Jesus is fulfilling the first part of what Isaiah wrote showing the starting point for the fulfillment. But Isaiah goes on to say much more, and in this context, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is near – but not there yet! And when you see all these things happening, you will know that it is very near, and when it begins it will never end – just as Isaiah says: Isa 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne (which was in Jerusalem) and over his kingdom (which is still the Holy Land – not Britain as some have foolishly imagined), establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Obviously, these things have not yet occurred, and David’s throne is not yet occupied, and neither is the Christ ruling over David’s kingdom. If Christ were ruling over David’s kingdom, then no external power on earth would dare to try to enforce a roadmap for peace against the Prince of Peace! Once again, the king of Assyria (who is also the ruler of Persia – see Ezra 6:22-7:1) will be a rod or club in God’s hand to exact justice against a godless nation: Isa 10:5 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I will send him against a godless nation, I will dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says."

God will favour and protect the ruler of Persia in order to ensure that prophecy is fulfilled (much more on this in the next chapter). God’s overriding desire is to establish the whole House of Israel in the land that He gave His friend Abraham. It’s the only place where they will find peace and rest in the coming holocaust – but not yet! The House of Israel, and Ephraim (U.S.A) in particular, still think they know the way to peace, and they love to design roadmaps for peace. They still think they can march into the very heartland of Satan’s brood and win the hearts and minds of the people. What they fail to understand is the treachery of these people. They’ll greedily take all the aid that is offered by America, but continually plot their overthrow. Geraldo Rivera, war correspondent of Fox News, recently said that these Moslem hordes in the battle zone appear hospitable and friendly, but would cut your throat for ten cents. Moslems are greedy opportunists who are driven by a desire to take things that are not their own. God mentions this Hab 1:5-7 "Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling-places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honour." With the term ‘in your days’, God goes on to make it clear which days He is talking about. In chapter three of the Book of Habakkuk (Hab 3:3) we find the prophecy of the Mighty One arriving from Teman, which is also spoken of by Moses, Samuel, David, and as well as Habakkuk. Teman is the area of the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia. It’s in this area that Islam was born and spread to the rest of the region and now to the world. They are rapidly infiltrating virtually every nation on earth and stirring up trouble and bloodshed, and all because of a religious ideology – which just happens to be Satan’s ideology! It’s Satan’s ideology to destroy the Western nations and rid the earth of the Tribes of Israel.

As for the Mighty One coming from Teman and Mount Paran in the Sinai Peninsula, Isaiah records His purpose in Isa 63:1-6. This is when the Mighty One, the Christ, becomes covered with blood after waging war on the Moslem hordes in the south. It also prepares the way for the king of Greece to come (Dan 10:20) after Gabriel has softened up the Persians (same verse). Interestingly, Moslems like to infiltrate and live in Western nations, but they make it extremely unpleasant for Westerners to live in their lands – particularly around Mount Paran and in Teman. The traditional homeland of Esau is the region surrounding Mount Paran, and Ishmael lived in Teman – Arabia today. So it’s obvious whom the Mighty Christ will be targeting! It’s certainly not Christians and Jews! God openly states that He hates Esau: Mal 1:2 "…Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

God’s faithful servant David made it clear that he hated God’s enemies: Psalm 139:19 "If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your Name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies." The latest catchcry in Islam is to scream in the streets that Americans and the Israelis are fighting against God and Islam. These enemies of God seem to think they have the right to misuse God’s Name to condemn God’s people. As for the Edomites (the children of Esau), God has some very unflattering remarks for them! Ps 137:4 "How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the root of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day that Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he (Edom) who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks." Yes, Esau and his brood are called a daughter of Babylon – one of many of Babylon’s harlot daughters! Babylon is the mother of harlots (Rev 17:5).

And here again God speaks of salvation, and again details the meaning of it: Ps 108:6 "Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. God has spoken from His Sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmut, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal (a severe insult among Moslems); over Philistia I shout in triumph." Who will bring me to the fortified City? Who will lead me to Edom? (a reference to Christ destroying Edom – Isa 63:1-6) Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we shall gain victory, and He will trample down our enemies." It’s not surprising that the children of Joseph – Ephraim and Manasseh – feature prominently in the salvation and deliverance of the House of Israel as also does Judah. The rest of the Tribes of Israel are conspicuous by their absence in these verses. Those other Tribes in Europe are hell-bent on defending Islamic nations and making a case against Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah as aggressors against the innocent. Their foggy reasoning seems not to recognize the vile despotism of the rulers of Islam! They certainly don’t see anything wrong with Islam using God’s Name to condemn His people. In fact, they tend to agree with Islam in this matter. On the one hand they are fearful of Islam and their treacherous ways and the vulnerability they feel to Islamic bombs, but believe they can find favour with them by ostracizing America and the Israelis. This type of reasoning is destined to prove to be very costly in human terms. The old European Tribes of Israel have almost no role in the rescue of Ephraim, Manasseh or Judah from captivity, because they themselves will experience captivity and a persecution that will eclipse that which they imposed on the Jews. Those who shipped out Jews to death camps will suffer an even worse fate! In some ways, it’s poetic justice that they will be enslaved by the very nations they loved and defended and supported. Immediately to the south, in the African continent, there are many Moslems just waiting to enter Europe to seize dwellings that are not their own. They’ve been trying to do this for centuries! These evil creatures are filled with the wine of Satan’s fury for the House of Israel. So old Europe can expect some company!

There would not be a lot of significance to Jonah’s account about Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians – except for one thing! Nineveh occupies a position on the Tigris River, north of the Euphrates River and the evil city (Babylon) that resides on it, and is the traditional home of the Kurds – the former Assyrians. God sets up rulers and He also destroys them (Dan 4:17). God plans to set up a powerful spirit ruler called Cyrus who will do God’s bidding. Cyrus will choose a Mede as the human ruler, and later, will facilitate the reconstruction of the Temple of God. For this service he will enjoy God’s protection, and Gabriel the archangel will be assigned to this task (Dan 11:1).

The first group will be men of war – elite soldiers – who will join the sons of Jerusalem and Judah in their war to clear the Holy Land. The Tribe of Joseph is destined to play a significant role in the ongoing development of the Kingdom of God. Presently, the House of Joseph is greatly at odds with God on the way and means to ensure peace. When it comes to organizing the church choir, or rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic, America excels, but when it comes to preparing the pathway for the Kingdom of God, they are hopeless and increasingly useless. They’ve lost the plot completely! In speaking of the House of Israel, God says this in Isa 59:8 "The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned into crooked roads; no-one who walks in them will know peace." And just before the start of Chapter 60 of Isaiah (which is titled ‘The Glory of Zion’ in the NIV) God has this to say: Isa 59:15-20 "Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no-one, He was appalled that there was no-one to intercede; so His own arm worked salvation for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate and the helmet of salvation on His head (see Eph 6:14-17); He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will He repay wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes; He will repay the Islands (or continents) their due. From the west, men will fear the Name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun (see Mal 4:2 concerning the Sun and God’s healing), they will revere His Glory. For He will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along." (This pent-up flood is mentioned in Matt 24:38-39. Notice the words ‘this is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man’ - V39.) When the Sun of Righteousness arises, the Ephraimites will be fired as the ‘armies of the Living God, and God will no longer go out to battle with them. Instead the Redeemer will come to Zion and her sons – those who repented and were taught by God. Continuing in Isa 59:20-21 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD. "As for me, this is my Covenant with them," says the LORD, "My Spirit who is on you, and my Words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD." Isa 60:1 "Arise shine, for your light has come, and the Glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His Glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

I still remember a certain newsgroup and the crazy contributors who so hated the Great God of the Universe that they relentlessly attacked His Son and called Him a fake. What characterized these people was their appalling ignorance of the Bible. They rejected Jesus, being the fake Jews that they are (Rev 2:9, 3:9), but were never able to explain why Jesus was able to do so many miracles or by which Power He did them! In this they were identical to the demon-possessed Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The funny part about it all is that while they rejected the New Testament, they also rejected most of the Old as well. It was a clear demonstration to this Brotherhood of what to expect when dealing with mindless fools, and as Paul said, "Have nothing to do with them!" (2Tim 3:5). Our Beloved Christ said much the same thing when He said in Matt 10:14 "If any will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town." This also applies to newsgroups that are populated by pretenders! God has also said "If they won’t listen to Me, then they won’t listen to you" (Eze 2:7).

As for these false prophets, God has this to say: Jer 20:16-20 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the [false] prophets are telling you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They keep saying to those who despise me, "The LORD says, ‘You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’ But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or hear His Word? See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart. IN DAYS TO COME YOU WILL UNDERSTAND IT CLEARLY." When they see all the doom and fearful gloom around them (see Isa 8:22), it’s as well that they do understand clearly the reasons for it.

God takes a slightly different view to America on what the present war is all about. They take the view that the war is against terrorism, and truly it is against terrorists, and most assuredly, Ephraim will end their days in terror, but God has made it clear that the war is against Islam, and even identifies the territory of their origins. Islam is Satan’s religion for rallying his brood. And Islam is the visible enemy, but as Paul said in Eph 6:12, the real enemy are those who control them, and these are not flesh and blood! These are the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms; in other words: spirit rulers of another dimension that is invisible to human beings.

Since God intends to establish a Kingdom that will last forever, and since that Kingdom is to be populated with human beings, it stands to reason that God intends a certain class of human being to predominate and to set the example as the Kingdom expands to fill the whole earth. Whereas human beings have generally reviled God’s Laws, God intends to establish a people who will never depart from them. At a certain time, God will pour out His Spirit on the whole House of Israel, and write His Laws in their hearts and minds. But first the land of Israel, that is, the Holy Land, must be prepared for the arrival of the House of Israel, and with their arrival, God’s Spirit will be poured out on them. Eze 36:6 "Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel (that is, the Holy Land) and says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn. But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, FOR THEY WILL SOON COME HOME. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favour; you will be ploughed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel." That is, all who are still alive or in a word – the remnant. As the Apostle Paul wrote: Rom 9:27-28 "Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though they be as the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out His sentence with speed and finality."

This is God’s purpose, and this is God’s Plan. He will establish a Kingdom forever, and populate it with the only people He has ever chosen on the face of the earth (Amos 3:1-2, Deut 7:6, 14:2, 2Sam 7:23-24). God further states: Eze 36:24 "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you back from all the countries and BRING YOU BACK INTO YOUR OWN LAND. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my Decrees and be careful to keep my Laws." It’s amazing how many corrupt Christians there are out there who have devised many arguments against obedience to God and His Laws. At the most crucial time in all history, God is going to demonstrate the importance of obedience to His Laws. And those who have willingly taught to the contrary will get what they deserve! And in V28 "You will live in the land I gave to your forefathers (Abraham, Isaac and Israel); you will be my people, and I will be your God."

Cunning and deceitful men have devised all sorts of teachings to make God look foolish and even petty. In the course of six thousand years every conceivable form of religious idealism has been explored and practiced, yet God has made it clear for this entire duration that He requires obedience to Him and the Laws that He has established for the good of all mankind. Anything that falls short of this is not righteousness, and neither is it acceptable to God. Sin is the transgression of God’s Law (1John 3:4), and God has made it clear that the breaking of His Laws is lawlessness. Just imagine a world where lawlessness prevailed and everyone did as they pleased! God knows that laws are essential for good order, and good laws should be based on the teachings of the Creator! All right-thinking people know that the laws of the land are important for their well-being and safety. Most Christians and Jews also believe that the Ten Commandments of God are the cornerstone of the law of the land, and that the Word of God – the Holy Bible – is the basis for the ultimate oath that can be made in the courtroom. Generally speaking, Christians and Jews are not offended by the presence of God’s Ten Commandments having a pride of place in the hallways of the court system, and neither do they object to the presence of the Bible in the courtroom. So what caused the turn of events that resulted in a monument to God’s Ten Commandments being removed from a courthouse with such a public display of antagonism?

And how many people are there today in the West who believe that Islam has some sort of claim to the Holy Land? The answer is that most of the House of Israel does, together with most of Christianity! How could they get it so wrong? God plainly states whom He gave this land to, and He also states who are going to be brought back to occupy it. And just so there is no possible mistake about God’s intentions, God makes it very clear what the outcome will be: Eze 37:24 "My servant David (who was long deceased when this was written) will be king over them, and they will have one shepherd. They will follow my Laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children (children will continue to be born – forever) will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a Covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting Covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my Sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling-place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my Sanctuary is among them forever."

It’s fairly obvious that God intended for America to delay entering the war, and this is why a do-nothing Democrat was in power at the time. The reason for America’s late entry was so the world would know that a mighty power was about to arise just as God had foretold. God wanted the whole world to know that it was at the mighty hand of His son Ephraim that the war was won. It was obvious to all from that time on that the ‘sleeping giant’ had awoken. But all the power and might does not compensate for lack of wisdom – a point made by God (Hos 13:13). God has some other comments as well, such as Hos 12:8 "Ephraim boasts, "I am very rich, I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin." Because they are so rich, they feel they can do no wrong. But let it be far from other nations to bring accusations against them. By the standards of this world Ephraim really is a righteous nation, but they have not attained the righteousness that God expects from them. If Ephraim really wants to possess Godly righteousness, let them now identify God’s enemies and do them harm rather than good. In this regard, Ephraim’s lack of wisdom has become a treasonable offence against God.

God set their instructions in writing when He said of Joseph: Deut 33:17 "In majesty he is a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox, with them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh." Ephraim takes the name of his father Joseph as the premier son, the equivalent of the firstborn, in the final carve-up of allotments (Rev 7:8) while Manasseh appears under his own name (V6). God makes it clear who will emerge as the mightier power with ‘ten thousands of Ephraim’ and ‘thousands of Manasseh’. When Joseph gores the nations to the ends of the earth, who fields the greatest army? Isn’t it Ephraim? Isn’t it Ephraim who relies on their own strength and their many warriors? And isn’t this what God has said in their regard: Hos 10:13 "But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your strength and on your many warriors, the roar of the battle will rise against your people…" Though it may be an affront to the sensibilities of those who never knew God, it must be said that Ephraim is in the very heartland of the wicked Babylonians, desperately trying to do them good. Those who plant wickedness, reap evil! ‘Eaten the fruit of deception’ is an interesting term. Didn’t Satan himself deceive Eve, when she ate of the fruit of deception? America is in the heartland of Satan’s territory, and have eaten the fruit of deception. While they envisage peace for the Iraqis, God has said that the roar of the battle will rise against your people. And so all the doubters will just have to wait to see if God is right! But I can state most emphatically that Ephraim is not! Here we see that the one who has the majesty of a firstborn bull is acting like a silly heifer. Lack of wisdom seems to be the problem just as God has said. God has said this: Hos 10:11 "Ephraim is like a trained heifer that loves to thresh, so I will put a yoke on her fair neck…" They just love to harvest in Satan’s fields, which is largely a carry-over of the philosophy of the clergy, who love to cast pearls before swine. V12 is where God speaks of planting wickedness and reaping evil. Surely the message is clear, but Ephraim is too busy prancing around like a heifer in Satan’s field to notice what is happening.

But anciently, God spoke to the Levite Priesthood of a red heifer that was without blemish and had never been under the yoke. The instruction was to take the heifer and slaughter it outside the camp (Num 19:1-10). But why specifically a red heifer? The answer is because this red heifer is currently engaging the rider of a red horse – the emerging Medo-Persian Empire, which is described at the opening of the second seal (Rev 6:3). The American nation has never been under the yoke of tyranny, but all of this is about to change. This is one of the many parables that God has spoken to His servants the prophets, just as the Book of Hosea states: Hos 12:10 "I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions, and told parables through them." Jesus spoke in parables so that no-one would understand, but now the time has come to speak plainly, the time of which God spoke these words: Jer 23:25-32 "I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in My Name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy delusions from their own minds? They think the dreams they tell one another will make the people forget my Name, just as their fathers forgot my Name through Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my Word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not my Word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares’. Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send them or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least." Declares the LORD". God’s Word is like a consuming fire, and like a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces. How does this compare with the feather-duster approach of the clergy today? And how they love to have dreams that cast them in a good light. They love to lie of such things as ‘fire on the horizon that disappears when they pray’ (a private joke among the Brotherhood). The message of their lies can only be assumed from their convoluted minds, and is meaningless! In fact, worthless except to magnify their worth in the eyes of the gullible and make them feel important. All their lies serve to do is to destroy God’s Name and reputation.

God makes the point: "For what has straw to do with grain?" (V28). When threshing, the straw is the worthless part that is discarded, and only the good grain is kept. The message is that Ephraim is like a heifer that loves to thresh, but they value the straw over the good grain.

So what was God speaking about when He makes the distinction between straw and grain? God has made it very clear at the start of Jeremiah Chapter 23. Jer 23:1-6 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. "Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care upon them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the LORD. "I myself will gather THE REMNANT of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to my pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD. The days are coming," declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the Name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness."

God makes it very clear that only THE REMNANT will be saved out of the House of Israel (Rom 9:28-29, Isa 10:22-23), but of that REMNANT – those who remain – they will be gathered from all the foreign lands where God will drive them, and none of the remnant will be missing. They will have learned a hard lesson, and will willingly serve God from then on and forever. Obviously, it is going to take a distinct change of heart, the type of change that is not gained by their present affluence and uncommitted loyalty to God. This remnant will be miserable, pathetic people who will come trembling and remorseful and grateful to God for rescuing them. They will not be in the physical state to be armed for war. But this won’t matter, since God’s Army will be active anyway. But God does have a surprise for these people. Once again they will be able to reproduce offspring, and to be fruitful and increase in numbers. None will need to say ‘I am only a dried out tree’ because of being a eunuch (Isa 56:3-5). And most will be eunuchs until God gives them the means to reproduce. God confirms this as the time when He gathers the exiles of Israel (V8). Castration will be the means that Satan will adopt to ensure the extinction of the House of Israel, but God has other plans.

War will continue to the end, just as Daniel confirmed (Dan 9:26) when the Kingdom of God will have filled the entire earth. With the continuation of these battles, right decisions must be made, and these decisions will be based on God’s long-standing instruction. His Word that has been ridiculed by both the clergy and the Tribes of Israel will become the standard for all nations. The distinction between straw and grain will become evident to all, but most particularly to those who fight the wars in the Name of God. Throughout this entire period, no consideration will be given to any nation that attempts to stand against God and His people Israel. To do so will be seen as defiance of God and the retribution will be fierce. At that time, God’s Name and Reputation will be greater than any living being, and of greater worth than all the nations of the earth combined. His Sons and Daughters will defend this Great Name and Reputation (Mal 3:16) forever into the future. And those who rise up in defiance will be crushed like ants. The lessons that are now in progress will loom too large in the minds of God’s Sons to ever let it happen again. No rebellion will ever again succeed, because at the first sign of it, those responsible will be crushed to extinction!

Perhaps you know that when God instructed Joshua to enter the Promised Land, He told him to be strong and courageous – four times! (Josh 1:6, 7, 9, 18). Why so much emphasis? The reason was that there was always a danger of being weak and conciliatory to God’s enemies, and failing to observe His instructions. Perhaps not from Joshua’s point of view, since he was a man of great courage, but because others may have attempted to inject their weak opinions, and try to water down Joshua’s resolve to faithfully obey. There is something of a twist to all this. You see Joshua was of the Tribe of Ephraim. And Joshua was the righteous example of what God expects from the leaders of Ephraim. As for the righteous acts of Joshua, we will deal with these shortly.

God knows how to get His peoples attention. He knows how to eradicate faulty reasoning, and He knows how to purify His people. When people are reduced to mendicants, and in want of all things, they become all too aware of what lead them to their own demise. Almighty God knows this is the starting point to getting His peoples attention. He knows that the more He blesses them, the further they go from Him. But God had in mind to show Ephraim the extent of the many blessings He was willing to impart for obedience, and during the course of this prosperous time, God continued to overlook their faults, and to store up their sins for punishment at a later time. Today, it’s become fashionable to discredit the Creator, and to devise the means to eliminate His influence. Those who uphold the principle of a Creator God and acknowledge Him as the Creator of all things, quickly find themselves isolated by the ‘intellectuals’. In fact, God relishes the challenge of demonstrating His Great Power, and proving His existence. But He also knows that when His people knew Him as the Creator, they were not thankful, and neither did they serve Him, but sought other ways to occupy their time. And as Paul has said, they gave themselves over to vile practices that were not only against God’s instructions, but also against the very course of nature. They didn’t want God to regulate their practices, and so God gave them over to reprobate minds to commit unspeakable evil. Rom 1:18 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the Immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the Truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen."

In case you haven’t noticed, licentiousness is becoming rampant as it gains momentum across the nation of Ephraim. Whereas once upon a time, propaganda was received with skepticism among the wise, but today, anything that is anti-Creator is widely accepted as the norm. The theory of evolution is being widely promoted as the ‘fact’ of evolution. The word ‘creature’ indicating a created entity, is now called an ‘animal’ – even if it’s a worm or a fly. Have these people become fools or what? They’ve become like ‘animals’ themselves, and incapable of rational reasoning. Personally, I would prefer to call such people ‘worms’ – a term God uses Himself against the Tribes of Jacob (Isa 41:14). To fully understand what God means you would have to study some references in the Books of Job and Psalms. To touch very briefly on it, Job referred to his Arab ‘friends’ as those who turn night into day (Job 17:12), and then proceeded to identify himself as one who faces corruption and death, and then made a reference to worms being his mother and sister (V14). Not to miss an opportunity to attack Job, Bildad the Shuhite referred to Job in these terms: Job 25:5-6 "If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less a man, who is but a maggot – a son of man, who is only a worm." Naturally enough, Job delivered a salvo over this, but the thrust of what he said in the distress of facing death, was to give glory to God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In the Book of Psalms, David, a son of man, and the King over all the Tribes of Israel, speaks of a son who was nurtured from birth (Ps 22:9). In this parable, David became the son of man and referred to himself as a worm and not a man (V6). He then describes a scenario of being surrounded by ravenous animals moving in for the kill (V12-22). Yet in this parable we find references to the Son of Man Jesus relating to His hands and feet being pierced, and the casting of lots for His clothes (V16-17), which was obviously fulfilled by Jesus. As we have said many times before, Ephraim is a son of God (Jer 31:20) and one who will be rescued and brought back to the Holy Land after he has repented and been restored to grace (Jer 31:18-19) after he has acknowledged the disgrace of his youthful behaviour (V19). This son is about to lose all his wealth and power, and will soon experience the nature of the ‘ravenous animals’ that God will bring against them. God speaks often of His evil enemies as being ravenous animals and vipers.

God has told many parables through His servants the prophets and traditionally these warnings have been ignored. God raises a point by asking if it is because He has been silent that they don’t fear Him: Isa 57:11 "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have been silent that you do not fear me? I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you. When you cry out for help, let your collection [of idols] save you! The wind will carry them all off, a mere breath will blow them all away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my Holy Mountain." Those who possess God’s Holy Mountain will be called the Sons of Jerusalem. Have you seen an increase in strong winds lately? Any record gales and flooding?

But who are these who have been false to God and have not feared Him? In view of their conduct, they wouldn’t want to hear God speak out, because when God speaks the mountains tremble and quake, as the ancient Israelites found out at Mount Sinai. But God won’t remain silent forever and when He breaks that silence, they will surely fear Him! And to whom is God speaking? At the end of the previous chapter He tells us: Isa 56:9 "Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest! Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain. "Come," each one cries, "let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! For tomorrow will be like today, or even far better." Israel’s watchmen are so blind that they cannot see the beasts of the field amassing against them! They can’t seem to bark to warn God’s people. They are in a slumber, an intoxicated delirium, drunk on the power of their collection of idols, and always optimistic that things will continue to get better. As long as God is far off somewhere, they have no desire to fear or serve Him!

But those who will possess God’s Holy Mountain disagree with Israel’s blind watchmen and their shepherds who lack understanding. God calls on His faithful servants to shout out the warnings of God, because Israel’s watchmen and shepherds are never going to do it! Isa 58:1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the House of Jacob their sins." Of all the shepherds and watchmen and other wannabe’s on the face of the earth, only God’s servants have been shouting it out that the ‘wild beasts’ of the earth stand ready to devour the Tribes of Israel. It’s to God’s servants that He has commissioned this task: Isa 57:14 "And it will be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people." God plans to bring His people Israel home by a tortuous route, and this road must be prepared. It’s a real road, in fact a highway, for the people of God that will be built. God makes a few other points such as the one in V17 about sinful greed. During their long fast they will turn to seeking God, and at that time they will be required to share with the hungry, and provide shelter, and not to turn away from their own flesh and blood (Isa 58:6-7). At that time, if anyone has two coats he should give one away to the needy, and actively show compassion to the poor and downtrodden. When all greed and avarice are gone, and His instructions observed: V8 "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the Glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."

But Israel is not willing to drink from the Cup of righteousness, but only from the cup of evil. God is now telling them to drink deeply of the cup of evil, and to expect the consequences of their actions. Long ago God warned against listening to the lying deception of Babylon and her harlot daughters, and God tells why He will destroy that city of Babylon: Rev 14:8 "A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries." Perhaps you may now realize why the Cup that Jesus gave to His disciples was so important, since it represents the diametric opposite of Satan’s cup of deception. Because they have repudiated the Cup, the watchmen and the shepherds of Israel must drink the cup of Satan’s harlot city – the cup of deception until they go mad. And believe me, they are already doing it! So the choice is to drink from the Cup of Purity or to drink from the cup of deception. But there is also a third cup! This is the cup of the wine of God’s fury!

Hasn’t God said that He will give this harlot the cup of His fury? Rev 16:19 "The great city split into three parts, and the cities of nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath." Didn’t Jeremiah speak of this very thing? And hasn’t God spoken of punishing Babylon and burying it so it will never be found again? God makes it very clear who will drink of the Cup of the fury of His wrath in the Book of Jeremiah. Jer 25:15-16 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the SWORD I will send among them." What is so interesting about this is which nations will feel the Sword of God at their throats! God actually names them! He actually tells us which countries are drunk on the cup of Satan and his city of Babylon, and who will subsequently feel the wrath of His Sword as they drink the cup of the fury of God’s wrath. He’s going to repay these harlot daughters of Babylon with real blood – their own!

And who are those who will feel the Sword of God at their throats? God tells us: Jer 25:17 "So I took the cup from the LORD’S hand and made all the nations to whom He sent me drink it. Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, it’s kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn and cursing as they are today; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people, and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the people left at Ashdod); Edom, Moab and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlines across the sea; Dedan, Tema, Buz and all those who are in distant places; all the kings of Arabia and all the kings who live in the desert; all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other – all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach (margin: Babylon) will drink it too."

You may have noticed that Jerusalem and towns of Judah are first mentioned. God intended Jerusalem and the towns of Judah to be an object of horror and scorn and cursing – as they were in that day when this was written. When this was written they were a captive remnant in their own land after the mass of them had been slaughtered or transported away as slaves. Only a remnant of them was left. Today, you must have noticed that all the Babylonians (including her harlot daughters) have openly declared that they will destroy Jerusalem and Judah and everyone in it. Well, there is going to be a slaughter of all the rebels, and the remnant will be an object or horror and scorn and cursing once more. The Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah illustrates clearly what it was like after the Babylonians sacked the country.

But the Sword of God will descend on all those who seize the Holy City and the lands of Judah before anything else! They Sword of God will clear the Holy Land of all the harlot daughters – not one will remain! It’s then that the leaders of Judah who remain will understand the strength of the Sons of Jerusalem. Immediately after this, they will jointly start consuming the surrounding nations like a firebrand in a woodpile or sheaves of grain (Zech 12:4-6). From then on, the Sword of God will sweep through all the surrounding nations (and God has named them), and the Babylonians will be destroyed one after the other.

Then the King of Greece will come (Dan 10:20), and with great subtly will deceive many. The King of Greece will flange together a coalition of all the Balkan states to form a formidable Greek/Macedonian Empire. He will see himself as the reincarnation of Alexander the Great, and will have his heart set on the conquest of the Holy Land. Unfortunately, many will be overcome by his wine of deception and will think him to be the good guy. The Sons of Jerusalem will find themselves isolated and will make a last stand on the Temple Mount. Both the Princes of Levi and Judah will be killed, and the world will rejoice. But this is a story for the distant future. Many years will pass before this happens. Only those who are not drunk on the wine of Babylon will see and understand the how’s and why’s of all this. God has covered it all in the glorious Book of His Word, and has made it known to His servants the prophets. Now is not the time to be declaring the minutiae of all that will happen. God has no intention of declaring His hand to His enemies.

The American people know themselves that as long as all is going well for them, they can wax very lyrical about their concerns for others. They believe their great wealth can solve all problems on the international scene. But they are becoming aware that their benevolence is not well-received by those who have never learned about righteousness. Like wild animals, they turn on the hand that feeds them – America. In this regard, America has become just like the wild animals they’ve been feeding; they have turned against the very One who fed them and led them, and brought them to manhood (Hos 11:1-4). The news today is starting to read like a parable of condemnation. All of America’s virtuous overtures towards God’s enemies are being spat in their face. Would a few billions of dollars more help the problem of failed political lobbying to convert Satan’s brood. What about a trillion dollars? Would this win the hearts of minds of the Babylonians? No! Satan and his hordes want it all – and they want to see the whole House of Israel plundered and destroyed as nations and eradicated from the earth. They have in mind to kill the old, rape the young women, and castrate the men.

It’s probably not all that surprising that America seems so prone to making mistakes. They just do what seems right to them. As God has said of them, they believe that with all their wealth no iniquity or sin will be found in them (Hos 12:8). So this is their excuse! But what about the Churches of God? What’s their excuse? If only some of the loose cannons in the Churches of God would learn a little history! They keep raving about Assyria being Germany! But they can’t supply a shred of evidence in support of their views. If only they would believe God, then perhaps they might be able to face reality and shed some of the nonsense that has so beguiled them for so many years. For all these years they’ve had their gun-sights trained on other Christian religions as being the enemy, yet have utterly failed to notice the real enemy – God’s enemy – Islam!

Almighty God doesn’t favor giving food aid to Moslem countries. And the reason why so many are starving is because He has withheld the blessing of rain in due season. Generally, God sends rain on the just and the unjust, but He also reserves the right to withhold it, and He frequently does. It’s one of the penalties nations pay when they act against God’s best interests. And this penalty is not something that will pass real soon, but will continue on – probably forever. God makes it clear: Zech 14:17 "If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague He inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles." Since this is clear enough, it remains a mystery why the Western nations are so hell-bent on feeding Satan’s brood. It’s doubly baffling that they do it through a crook’s paradise like the UN, when they know that the food aid never gets through to the starving people.

Men of faith down through the ages longed for a country of their own (Heb 11:14). They didn’t long for what this world has to offer, but desired with all their hearts to live in the Land of God’s righteousness. They saw it afar off and longed to return. It was this attitude that characterized the Jewish people throughout the ages, who always longed to return to the Land that God gave them. They had a saying, ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. Through good times or bad, their resolve was never shaken or altered. They always wanted to return to God, and it was all or nothing. So perhaps everyone can understand why God loves the Jewish people so much. From their inauspicious beginnings, they became an invincible force in the Middle East, and whenever they were attacked, God acted to give them victory.

But as always, those who are insincere joined them, and slowly introduced heresies that are against God’s interests. In recent years, they’ve taken on many of the characteristics of this world, the type of political correctness that leads to disaster. God intends to purge the rebels, and get the little nation started once more on the right track. When this occurs, they will know that a prophet is among them, and they will know that the Sons of Jerusalem are strong! Political correctness will have no part of the decision-making; instead, they will receive their instructions from God. At that time, those who oppose God will die without mercy – just as the Scripture says: Heb 10:26-31 "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the Knowledge of Truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace? For we know Him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God." Under the Law of Moses, which many reject today, offenders died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. The writer then goes on to say, "How much more severely…". Well God will treat it much more severely when people treat as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified them! What can be more severe than death without mercy? When God speaks of a raging fire consuming His enemies, He is speaking of those who have treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant! It’s going to be much more severe for such people! Those who have treated the precious things of God as unholy, and especially those who have taught others to do so, will die without mercy, and at a time when they will seek death but cannot find it. So severe will be their circumstances that they will long for a merciful death!

The Spirit of Grace (see John 14:17, 26) will only descend on those who with great desire long to keep the Blood of the Covenant in a holy manner. This was God’s first gesture to the House of Israel in Egypt under the instruction of Moses. It was called the Passover, because the Death Angel passed over those who kept it according to God’s instructions. Jesus instituted a new Passover, which also fulfills the original intent of the Passover in Egypt. Those who treat this Passover – the Blood of the Covenant – in an unholy way, will be treated most severely! It’s not enough to feign righteousness and build a pretentious view of God’s requirements while ignoring very specific instruction. You will find that God clearly defines how He will be worshipped, and anything that falls short of God’s instructions renders such people useless.

Almighty God has very specific ideas on how nations should live. He is the Creator and He makes the rules. It’s not acceptable for the created to say to the Creator ‘Why have you made us this way?’ It seems that humanity doesn’t like the type of lifestyle that God envisages, and they want to make their own rules. Every despot that arises seems to have his own ideas how they will expend their allotted 70 years of life. The same is true of all those who have feigned righteousness for whatever advantage it may bring them. God is creating once and for all time a Sonship that will exist forever in the Family of God, and will bear the Family Name. God gives the precise number – it’s 144,000 (Rev 14:1-5). There are others who will be greatly rewarded for their service, and these will have a place of honour also in God’s Kingdom, but will not have the Family Name of the Father and the Son engraved on them. The 144,000 are the Bride of Christ – a relationship as close as a husband and a wife, who symbolize the perfection of a Godly Family. This has a lot to do with the profound mystery that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Eph 5:32.

In the following verses to Heb 10:26-31 (quoted above), the writer goes on to speak of the persecutions the faithful brothers endured. And then in V35 "So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the Will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." Who is this righteous one that could shrink back and earn God’s displeasure? It’s certainly not Jesus! Of Jesus, God said "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased", and when the Book of Hebrews was finally written, God was indeed very pleased with His Mighty Son. Instead, God is speaking of an offspring of Jesus who comes when the Babylonians are arising. Verse 38 is a direct quote from Hab 2:3, 4. And indeed, it is just a little while now! The Babylonians have arisen and are sweeping across the world just as Habakkuk said in Hab 1:5-7. When this Brotherhood told everyone, they didn’t believe it – just as God said inV5. Why didn’t all those ‘brain-surgeons’ in the Churches of God believe it? They were too busy inventing their own prophecy and devising their own means of what they believed was ‘Babylon’. How titillated they became with their own speculation. Now it really is time to learn the meaning of Heb 10:26-31, unless they want to die without mercy! And from what I have seen of some of these weaklings, they don’t want to die at all – especially for God. One fool said that he wouldn’t serve a God that would require the death of His people. The God he is referring to, and whom he claims to serve, required the death of His own Son! And that Mighty Son obeyed without question. This man is so poorly grounded in knowledge that he forgot the very purpose of his faith.

Since it’s God’s purpose to establish a Place of Rest (Heb 4:6), God has appointed a Brotherhood of faithful people who will carry out His Plan. These are the firstfruits, and are called the Sons of Jerusalem. They alone have been taught by God (John 6:44-5, Isa 54:13). God has definitely NOT taught those who don’t believe that Babylon has arisen and is sweeping across the earth!

In the Place of Rest, things will be markedly different to the way things are now. Contrary to the ambitions of Judas Iscariot, the Apostles and disciples had all things in common (Acts 2:44). This is also the way things will be in the future when entering God’s Rest. And when the elect from the House of Israel enter God’s Rest, it will be like a great army, which gets its food and provisions from headquarters – just as armies do today. And this was the way it was anciently when the Israelites were required to maintain a great army to drive out the inhabitants before them. When the House of Israel crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, they were told to settle their families and prepare for war to drive out all the alien inhabitants. It was a requirement that all able-bodied men present themselves to the commanders of the army and prepare for war. Unfortunately, some of them were half-hearted about it, and only wanted to settle down and stay out of the fray. This was typical of several of the Tribes of Israel, and of them it is said they didn’t share in the faith of those who obeyed (Heb 4:1-3 – see margin) and refused to believe God and trust in Him for the final outcome. Consequently, the marauding people who were left in the Promised Land became a constant thorn in their side, and constantly warred with the Israelite settlers. The Philistines became the dominant foe, and over the ensuring centuries, Israel found themselves constantly at war with them. All the judges, from Joshua to Samuel, had to contend with the same problem. It’s very probable that many regretted not taking care of the problem at the very outset in obedience to God’s instructions. Everything had gone horribly wrong, and it all hinged on their failure to heed God’s instructions from the outset!

God has in mind for the Sons of Jerusalem to be like Samson, and indeed they will be. Their strength will be renewed and their bodies transformed, and they will be strong and youthful, just like Samson. Their very appearance with strike terror into the hearts of the terrorists! These are some of the gifts God has prepared for those who love Him and serve Him, strength and vigour, and for their service – eternal life in the Family of God. How the Apostles longed to see this day, but they won’t see it (Luke 17:22), because their resurrection comes later. And how vastly different it will be to those who never believed God, and who never attempted to understand God’s purpose.

When the place of Rest is established, things will be a little different. It will be a real place of Rest, and it is called God’s Rest. There’s been a great deal of preparation for entering God’s Rest, and it all began with the Apostles. The Apostles were in the place of God’s Rest – the Holy Land – at the time, but at that time, there was no Rest – only the promise of a future Rest (Heb 4:1). They were setting the example of how it will be in God’s Rest. There are some who are not equipped to handle this, just as there was in the days of the Apostles, but certain protocols were established, and these followed along the lines of the Essenes (means ‘Breastplate’) of which John the Baptist was closely linked (the first century historian Josephus gives a good description of these people). The protocols established are detailed in the Acts of the Apostles: Acts 4:32 "All the believers were one in heart and mind." And this says it all! But there is more: "No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the Apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the Apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." So the protocols established by the Apostles were to take care of the needy in the community of believers. I would stress that this was how it was in THE PLACE of God’s Rest at the time of the Apostles. It was not God’s intention to set up Kibbutzim (Jewish settlements where all things are shared) all over the world, but only in the place of God’s Rest. It’s strange how the Jewish people understand this, but Christianity apparently doesn’t! All too often, Christian groups have decided to form their own style of Kibbutzim and live in enclaves separated from the rest of society. This was true of the Mormons in Salt Lake City, and with Jim Jones and his followers, and also David Koresh and the Branch Davidians – all of which drew the ire of the U.S. government, which then moved to break them up, and with tragic results. It seems the U.S. government will tolerate any type of religious fervor except those who isolate themselves into a kibbutzim lifestyle.

In time, and after God’s Rest is established, there will be allocations and allotments to various people, not only of houses and lands but also of cities – just as Jesus said (Luke 19:17), but this is to be determined by the Christ as part of His rewards. In the lead-up to this, no-one will have any claims over anything, and everything will be common property, as will all possessions in the place of God’s Rest. There will be no hoarding or gratuitous plundering for personal advantage, and all plunder will serve a common purpose. God’s Rest will be set up as an army, and by an army. Initially, as a small army, but later growing to a great army. The purpose of this army is to save the dwellings first. It begins with the Sons of Jerusalem, with Judah joining them, to consume right and left all the surrounding peoples (Zech 12:5-6), to secure the Holy Land and to save the dwellings in Judah first (V7). This army will be unlike any other army before, and will have supernatural powers and overwhelming weaponry (V8). In other words, Godlike power!

Many people will experience a complete restructuring of their former beliefs when they see these things occurring. At that time, they will know whom the Sons of Jerusalem are, those who were taught by God (John 6:45). Jesus quoted from Isa 54:13, and note the words ‘and great will be your children’s peace’. In time people will understand why it was necessary for these sons to precede them and establish the place of God’s Rest. There will be no place for greedy, self-serving individuals whose only goal is to grab everything for themselves and hoard it. Only those who share the common interest of all others will have right of passage in that day.

Now it may well be that a Levite established this particular protocol in the days of the Apostles, and in the place of God’s Rest, since this is included in the transcript in Acts 4:36 "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the Apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the Apostles’ feet." Others did the same. Apart from Barnabas, the only other written example is that of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, but with an entirely different outcome (Acts 5:1-10). On the face of it, I probably wouldn’t react as Peter did with this couple, but then I’m not privy to all the facts. It’s possible that Ananias and his wife were mean, covetous, chisellers who feigned poverty whenever a believer had a need. Peter made the point that it was their prerogative to keep part of the money from the sale (V4) – this was not the issue. The issue was that their secret agenda was to lie to the Holy Spirit and to God, and to claim they gave all the proceeds of the sale. In this way, they could bask in the glory of their charitable act, yet feed their indulgence for hoarding material possessions they really didn’t need. God has specific requirements for those whom He is prepared to call a son, and one of these is the willingness to show outgoing concern for others, and not just in words, but also in deeds! It’s very probable that these two people didn’t believe it is more blessed to give than receive – they saw things the other way around! Regardless, it was God’s judgment that these two people die, and it was God Himself who carried out the execution!

This is not unlike a situation that developed in the days of Joshua the son of Nun. The Israelites had destroyed the city of Jericho and killed all the inhabitants. The gold and silver of the plunder was supposed to go into the treasury of the LORD’S House (Josh 6:24), but a certain man decided to steal some of it as a personal nest egg. Suddenly, they lost their invincibility against their enemies (Joshua 7:4-5). All this occurred after they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. Joshua approached God to enquire of the reason why, and God answered him: V10 "The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned, they have violated my Covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you any more unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction." Well the outcome was that Joshua discovered the man; it was Achan son of Zerah, and he was found to be guilty, as God had said, of being a lying thief. If Peter’s condemnation against Ananias and his wife seems severe, notice the penalty of Achan son of Zerah: V24 "Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you brought this disaster on us? The LORD will bring disaster on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them."

Joshua knew that the severity of God’s displeasure called for drastic action. The action of this one man had resulted in the deaths of 36 soldiers when God withdrew His support for the army in the battle against Ai (V4), so Joshua called for the death of this man, as well as his sons and daughters and all his lifestock. In addition to this, all his possessions were burned. God was satisfied with Joshua’s judgment, and once again supported the army (Joshua 8:1) and this time they successfully destroyed the city of Ai. As a reward for those who didn’t steal the plunder of Jericho, God permitted the armies to keep the plunder and livestock of the city of Ai for themselves (V2). It brings to mind something Christ said: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you." Those who didn’t steal God’s possessions at Jericho, were rewarded with gold and silver and livestock from the City of Ai. The only loser was the lying thief Achan!

In the account of Peter and his dealings with Ananias and his wife, they had not stolen the money, as Peter confirmed, but they had lied because of their greedy, hoarding tendencies. It’s quite possible that Ananias and Sapphira had a reputation for being mean and covetous, and lacked the qualities taught by Christ of it being more blessed to give than to receive. Of special note, Paul mentioned this very thing in speaking his final words to the shepherds of the Seven Churches (Acts 20:32-35).

Oddly enough, the Churches of God have an obsession with plotting their own destiny, and are firmly convinced that all that is written is for their exclusive benefit. To be sure, they have an important role to play in the grand scheme of things, but their role is entirely different to anything they could imagine. Their role is to go into captivity with the whole House of Israel and to set the standards of obedience to God and His Laws. At that time, they will be required to extend hope to the House of Israel that a rescue bid is on the way. This rescue bid will be mounted by the one God has appointed to the task. All the Churches of God should be well-aware of the prophecies concerning this. It was foreshadowed before Jesus was born and appeared on earth – in fact, six months before: Luke 1:67 "His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed His people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the House of His servant David (as He said through his Holy Prophets long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us – to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant, the oath He swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the Way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on all those living in darkness and in the shadow of Death, to guide our feet to the path of peace." The path of peace is the path to the place of God’s Rest!

Jesus has already appeared as a man on this earth, but He is due to come yet again, but this time, not as a man but as a Mighty Conqueror – the Christ and Messiah, the promised Deliverer. And yet again, an anointed one, a prophet of the Most High will precede Him – to prepare the Way for Him. The holy prophets spoke of this long ago in Mal 3:1.

God is the God of Israel and no other nation! The holy prophets also confirm this in Amos 3:1-2. As part of the oath He swore to Abraham, God said He would rescue them from the hand of their enemies. He once did it in the land of Egypt, but He also plans to do it again, and bring them back to the land He swore to give to the three Patriarchs and their offspring.

Peter alluded to the day of a thousand years, and spoke of fires melting the very elements (2Pet 3:8-11), and adds in V11, "What kind of people ought you to be?" Well with blazing fires and magma flows everywhere, it will require some special protection to get through it: Isa 43:1 "But now, this is what the LORD says – who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by my Name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I will give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by my Name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Read it very carefully! Does this sound like anyone is already saved? It doesn’t seem to follow the expectations of Christianity today, does it! And when you hear lunatics bellowing on the street corners today proclaiming salvation, and handing out silly tracts of meaningless words together with the offer of being instantly ‘saved’, you wonder why they have so much difficulty following Jesus’ example (Isa 42:2, Matt 12:19). And who is it that God calls my sons and my daughters? Isn’t it Israel? And isn’t it Israel that bears His Name?

Firstly, he was chosen by God to be a sacrifice on Mount Moriah by the hand of his father Abraham. Abraham was prepared to follow this instruction believing that God could raise him again from the dead (Heb 11:19).

Thirdly, Isaac is known for his mistake in trying to bless Esau in preference to Jacob, and was thwarted by the actions of Rebekkah. Some believe that this was achieved through deception, but overlook the fact that this is what God planned from the beginning. Rebekkah recognized that God favoured Jacob, but Isaac did not! Rebekkah’s stance was vindicated when God later expressed how much He hated Esau (Mal 1:2). God set this woman to see through the fog of deception, and to carry out God’s Plans.

Rebekkah would have been aware of the stories of Abraham concerning Ishmael and Isaac, and how Abraham was reluctant to listen to Sarah when she requested that Ishmael and his mother Hagar be sent away. This is the account: Gen 21:9 "But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance of my son Isaac." The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, "Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your seed will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

Human beings have been setting their own agendas for too long, and they have had powerful allies in this corruption of God’s instructions. Their allies are the rulers of the heavenly realms who have masterminded all rebellion against God’s instruction, and have never swerved from their intention of destroying the offspring of the Patriarchs, and stealing their inheritance. The mastermind behind all of this is Satan the devil, and he has further urged his brood to infiltrate every Israelite nation. In Europe, they are becoming an unstoppable flood and the Europeans are beginning to baulk at giving them liberal access and particularly now that they have made their intentions known and declared their aspirations for delivering terror. It’s a pity the Europeans hadn’t listened to the Matriarch Sarah, when she said, ‘The slave woman and her son will never share in the inheritance of my son Isaac." God has in mind that if they won’t listen to Sarah, then they will eventually listen to another ‘woman’ (Rev 12:14) who will be actively involved in enforcing Sarah’s advice!

Is this what God intended? Well, judge for yourself from the words of the Book of Isaiah: Isa 51:1 "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were cut, and from the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many. The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Listen to me my people, hear me, my nation: The Law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last for ever, my righteousness will never fail." It’s never been a more appropriate time to look to Abraham and Sarah for some really good advice! Boot out the Arabs and drive them from your borders! They must not share in the inheritance of Abraham and Sarah or their son Isaac! Isn’t God’s advice good enough for the House of Israel? They seem to disagree with their mother Sarah, whom God supported in this matter. God said "My righteousness will never fail" in the above verse, and God is telling his people Israel what righteousness is. The Arabs must never share in the inheritance of Isaac!

It’s evident that God’s righteousness is entirely different to that of the House of Israel. In due time, all of Israel will acknowledge this: Isa 64:6 "All of us have become as one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No-one calls on your Name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the Potter; we are all the work of your hand." It’s a great pity that people don’t remember that they are merely clay in the hands of the Potter when they bellow out their own perceived righteousness. It’s a pity they don’t listen to good advice when the Potter gives it. But God has in mind for them to listen when He hides His face from them, in the same manner that He did when His Son Jesus went to His death. And there is a definite parallel to all this.

Satan knows he is dealing with creatures that are rebellious and hostile towards God, because this is the nature of those who followed Satan to his exile on earth following the initial rebellion against God. It’s worth noting that these creatures actually believe they drove God into exile by their wanton destruction of the earth so long ago. They corrupted their habitations and then rebelled against God when He objected and warned. They mounted an assault to dethrone God from the Sacred Mountain, and were violently hurled back to earth – and Jesus was an eyewitness to this event as He has stated (Luke 10:18).

A rational mind may have thought the best solution would be to feign obedience to the allied forces and settle into a pattern of compliance. But Satan’s mind is not rational, and neither is his desire to see the destruction of the Tribes of Israel in any way diminished. Most people seem to think that Satan sits in a corner wearing a dunce cap. They envision him as the tempter encouraging a fat person into eating another cream bun or something equally mundane. Satan’s purpose is to regulate the thinking patterns of vast multitudes to see his point of view and to coax them into anti-social behaviour by departing to unacceptable standards of decency. He prides himself on being a cunning manipulator and a broad-spectrum strategist. He is a prince of the earth – not a back-alley thug. He doesn’t get involved with mundane misadventure of human beings – as some would have you believe. He has legions of demons to do all these sorts of things. It’s these demons that have been given the power to stir up trouble and to move the masses to insurrection and chaos. Some of these are already under punishment in the Abyss, and are soon to be released to strike at the world’s population and torment them. The prince of the Abyss will be directing them. In that day, there will be no doubt in the minds of anyone who is responsible for this torment. They will see their tormentors, and will realize that all that God has said all along is true (Rev 9:2-6). No one will say in that day that demons don’t exist, they will be painfully aware that they do! Their very appearance will show who and what was behind all the madness and terror on the earth, but this time, their mindset will be programmed to attack only those who DON’T have the Seal of God. God makes it clear who have the Seal of God on their foreheads (Rev 7:3-8). It’s the House of Israel – but only the remnant of 144,000 – 12,000 from each Tribe except Dan. Joseph makes up the 12 with a double portion. These are people who are of the very essence of their father Abraham and their mother Sarah, who both honoured God and determined that the son of a slave women would never share in the inheritance of their son Isaac. These 144,000 will realize why God hated the offspring of Satan, and they will realize that inherent in all of Satan’s offspring were the locust demons – and the whole world will see them for what they are!

It’s going to be interesting to see how their belief system plays out when Bible prophecy comes crashing down on them, and their wives and children are horribly violated before their very eyes. I hope they realize at that time that since they didn’t want to listen to God, He has no obligation to listen to them as they cry out for help. And why should they cry out for help? Isn’t this type of conduct perfectly permissible under their terms of lawlessness? Didn’t they openly teach that lawlessness is the way to serve God? Why complain when they get what they deserve? (2Cor 11:13-15). I won’t complain when it happens to them, I’ll just call it justice! This Brotherhood will be too preoccupied with the affairs of the righteous to care about the woes of the lawless!

God permits Satan to slaughter and destroy his own people (Isa 14:20) because this demonstrates Satan’s mindset and clarifies God’s reasons for deposing him. History is full of Satan’s outrages against his own people, and his people never prosper except insofar as they worship him and create monumental structures to his glory. He is particularly receptive to those who worship him as the sun god, and who offer human sacrifice. This indicates that such people acknowledge him as a god and as being far worthier than mere human beings. Satan hates human beings because he considers them inferior to him. He now understands that human beings will be his nemesis, and will ultimately displace him. He has absolute control over his own brood, the majority of humanity, but is forbidden to move against the House of Israel for fear of incurring God’s wrath. Again and again, he has incited them to fight against each other, brother against brother, and then distanced himself from the outcome or any culpability. If God’s own people can be incited to war against each other, then God should act against them to stop it, he reasons. After all, he’s not their keeper! To this end, Germany was the perfect ally for Satan’s plans. They’re one of the 12 Tribes – the Tribe of Simeon, and they hated all their brothers – with a little help from Satan! Possessing monstrous pride and arrogance, they were the perfect target for his plan! Whenever adversity befell the Germans, it was always someone else’s fault. They were perfect for his purpose! You can just imagine the bun fight that ensues when Satan and his rulers get together to plot strategy. You see it all the time at the human level among Satan’s brood. The perfect example today is the United Arab League. The ‘diplomats’ spend half the time hurling insults at each other. The greatest insult against Iraqis is to criticize their moustaches. The Arabians make reference to the sole of their shoes or sandals – presumably to trample on others. It may sound petty, but this is the nature of the beast. They may appear as ‘diplomats’ but underneath they are a cauldron of hatred and venom, and their only unifying factor is their hatred for the West and the Israelis.

God is setting out to provide the pathways for entering His Rest through the crucible of war. In fact, Almighty God has set His heart on creating a righteous nation through the crucible of war and chaos (Isa 42:25). It will be a time of trouble unlike any that has ever occurred. It will be a time of decision-making, when people will need to make the right decisions or cease to exist forever. There are already nations in the heavenly realms – nations of spirit beings, but God has in mind to create a Godly nation born of the earthly realm – a realm that has understood heartbreak, carnage and deprivation, and which can appreciate the need for God’s form of justice and government.

Satan is pinning his hopes for conquest on what Isaiah wrote in Isa 42:23 "Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention IN TIME TO COME? Who handed Jacob over to become loot and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow His Ways; they did not obey His Law. So He poured out on them His burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart."

The West had the opportunity to explain to the Palestinians that since they wanted the Israelis out, so they are leaving. They wanted the land back, so now they’ve gotten the land back. The West could have concluded by saying ‘Isn’t this what you wanted? Wasn’t this your stated objective?’ But apparently it wasn’t! They only wanted to steal dwellings that were not theirs! (See Hab 1:6). And this is a favourite ploy of Satan’s brood. The Israelis exercised their right to remove their own property and left no dwellings for them to steal. Naturally enough, the Palestinians were exposed as lying tricksters, and so the suicide bombings resumed.

Getting back again to the continuing prophecy line of Isaiah chapter 11, we find that God is planning to raise a banner for the nations of Israel to rally around. The flag they presently rally around will be but a distant memory. Isa 11:10 "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His place of Rest will be glorious." It’s not just the place of Rest but also the time of Rest that is being referenced here; and this is made clear in the Book of Hebrews. Some have assumed they have already entered this time and place of Rest, but clearly they haven’t! Heb 4:1-3 "Therefore, since the promise of entering His Rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the Gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not share in the faith of those who obeyed (margin). Now we who have believed [will – see V6] enter that Rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my Rest.’" So even when the Book of Hebrews was written, the promise of entering His Rest still stood as a reminder of a future Rest that will be glorious.

It’s the time of the Rest that is all-important now, as well as the question of entering it. Whether they like it or not, everyone enters the weekly Sabbath every week. Whether or not they actually rest on this day in accordance with the Fourth Commandment is another matter entirely – and most don’t! Nevertheless, the Sabbath remains just as it existed when created: Heb 4:4-7 "For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all His work." And again in the passage above He says, "They will never enter my Rest." It still remains that some will enter that Rest, and those who formerly had the Gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later He spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts."" And if God set a certain day, calling it Today, then which Day would this be? God Himself set the day when He rested on the seventh day of creation, and commanded its observance forever as a day of rest. But God has spoken through the prophets of another day of rest that is still to be fulfilled. And this is the Day, called Today, that will require one to actually enter. It requires one to enter it in order to Rest! Whereas the weekly Sabbath requires no effort to observe – in fact, it requires one to rest and most don’t find this too hard, but the Rest – the day called Today – does require some effort: V11 "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that Rest, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

The weekly Sabbath is a pointer to Today. Six thousand long years of human misrule will culminate in a Day of Rest – the promised Day – the seventh millennial day, which is called Today. And every effort must be made to enter that Rest. Those who had trouble resting on the weekly Sabbath are never going to enter that Rest! This Rest is not only the time of the millennial Sabbath, but it is also a place! And this place must be entered into through effort. Getting back again to Isa 11, God makes this very clear: Isa 11:10-12 "In that Day (called Today) the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His PLACE OF REST will be glorious. In that Day the Lord will reach out a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth." In that Day (called Today) God plans to provide the PLACE OF REST. It will not be easy to enter it, because it will require great faith and obedience. At that time and in that Day, there will be no other PLACE OF REST except GOD’S REST! This will be the only PLACE OF REST in the day that God has called Today.

God plans to gather the exiles of Israel and Judah. He further identifies the exiles of Israel as Ephraim – the prince among his brothers – who are destined to play a major role in expanding the borders of the place of Rest along with Judah. V13 "Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile towards Ephraim. (The reconciliation of Judah and Ephraim is well-documented in Eze 37:15-28.) They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea (the Red Sea); with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over it in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of His people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up out of Egypt." Yes, it’s going to be like the exodus from Egypt all over again, and they will also come out of the territory of Assyria on foot and cross the Euphrates River as they do so. The Euphrates River will be an obstacle, and so God will divide it into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. They are going to have their feet washed seven times as they cross. Perhaps they’ll even learn to count to seven – a problem that has perennially existed when understanding that the Sabbath is the seventh day not the first day (fake Christianity’s day of rest - Sunday) or the sixth day (the Moslem ‘sabbath’ - Friday) – but the seventh day – God’s day of rest! And when the reach the seventh crossing of the Euphrates River, they will know that their Rest is near!

You’ll recall that God dried up the gulf of the Red Sea when He brought His people out of Egypt in the days of Moses. In that day they were baptized as they passed through the waters and the cloud: 1Cor 10:1-6 "For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (You might like to consider what was said of the baptism of John the Baptist – Luke 7:29-30). They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples, to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." V11 "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, ON WHOM THE FULFILLMENT OF THE AGES HAS COME." If you don’t understand that God raised up a prophet just like Moses, who appeared as the Christ, and that this Prophet was also the Rock that accompanied the whole House of Israel and who represented the Living Water, then you are totally ignorant and will never understand anything. What is more, those who actively teach to the contrary are already condemned and will never enter God’s Rest. If God was not pleased with those who refused to enter God’s Rest, and scattered their bodies over the desert, don’t imagine that anyone will find favour who refuse God’s offer of Rest now. Today is the day God spoke of!

So there remains a day of rest, and it points to the Day of Rest that God calls Today. Speaking of counting days to determine the Seventh Day, God also instructs us to count weeks, seven in all to arrive at the Feast of Pentecost. He tells us to number our years at 70. We are also told to expect a seventh millennial year, which God calls Today. For the life of me, I cannot understand how the Churches of God could fail to tumble to the preliminary meaning of the seventy weeks spoken of by Daniel! Yet the Churches of God never did! It’s so obvious, yet it demonstrates that those who are blind and deaf see and hear nothing! Little wonder that Jesus had a favourite saying, ‘He who has ears, let him hear!’ The fact is that the Feast of Pentecost is a variable date yet it always falls on a Sunday. If it didn’t, then the meaning of the seventy weeks would be negated. So those who insist on observing Sivan 6 as the date of the Day of Pentecost have entirely missed the mark and exposed themselves as foolish deceivers. There is one Scripture that absolutely crushes their idea of a Sivan 6 date, and this is found in Joshua 5:10-12. This just happens to refer to the date when the Israelites entered the Rest – the Promised Land. I’ve noticed that the Sivan 6 deceivers have now opted for a Sivan 7 date in order to circumvent this Scripture! They simply refuse to let go of their deception and believe God. Believe me that there will be a time when the House of Israel and the Churches of God will be diligently counting days, weeks, months and years in hope of entering God’s Rest! When all hope is gone, they will realize that God has planned their rescue, and raised a great army to do so!

Anciently, and after 40 long years of wandering the desert, the Israelites entered the Rest, but they didn’t do it according to Godly faith. It was a prime condition that the Gentiles were to be driven from the land completely! But they refused to do it, and consequently, the Gentiles remained a thorn in their side. There were examples of Godly faith, and the best example is that of Judah. Their leader, Caleb, sought the territory for Judah, and Joshua granted it according to Moses’ instructions. Only Joshua of the Tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb of the Tribe of Judah gave a favourable report of the land they were sent to spy out, and believed that through the mighty power of God they were well able to go in and possess it. The other nine Tribes refused (Levi wasn’t sent on this mission), and reported that the people were too strong. Because of their refusal, God added 40 years to their wandering in the wilderness and this is when their bodies were scattered over the desert (1Cor 10:1-6), and they never entered God’s Rest. Because they lacked the faith to do as God instructed, they died, and never entered the Promised Land! Joshua and Caleb however, did! They were granted long life and vigour because of their faithfulness. This is the account of Caleb: Joshua 14:7-9 "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children for ever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly." And as Paul says in 1Cor 10:11, the LORD their God whom they followed wholeheartedly was the Rock, the very One who became the Christ. Those who refused to serve the Mighty One died in the desert. V10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, He has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time He said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day that Moses sent me out, I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then." Naturally enough, Caleb received his reward for his wholehearted service to God!

God knew at the very outset that only three Tribes – Levi, Judah and Ephraim would have the backbone to enter God’s Rest! God knew because He programmed it to be so. It was all planned, and God will carry it out – Today! The day that God calls Today has arrived, but there is no sign of anyone preparing to enter that Rest, except Judah and Levi, and Judah is approaching it all wrong! They have the means to do as God requires of them – to free the land of the degenerates that currently occupy much of God’s Holy Land, but whenever victory is within their grasp, they are forced to turn back – by silly Ephraim! Ephraim is famous for turning back on the day of battle: Ps 78:9-10 "The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God’s Covenant and refused to live by His Law." They are also famous for failing to identify God’s enemies. On both counts, their behaviour seems to be heavily influenced by a corrupted Christianity who seems to suffer from the same type of delusion.

In regard to dress, God Himself will decide who gets to wear dazzling white clothing (Rev 7:9) – which represents the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:8). We have plenty of examples of people who dress to be noticed, and there is nothing wrong with dressing decently, but when it’s done to project an aura of outward display of righteousness, then there is plenty wrong with it. Popes and archbishops milk it for all it’s worth! And their followers become so bedazzled that they actually believe these people speak in God’s Name.

It is God’s declared purpose to build a nation after the pattern of His Son. They must first be willing to partake of the Body and Blood of this Faithful Son, and to live according to the pattern He has established. And a description of this pattern is found in Isa 42:1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out (perhaps a better rendering of this might be: An embattled reed He will not break, and a flaming torch He will not snuff out. Jesus made a reference to John the Baptist being a reed that is not shaken in the wind). In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on the earth. In His Law the islands will put their hope." Moses was the one who proclaimed this Law – the Law of Moses. Moses was a man of God and Jesus was just like him! (Acts 3:22, Deut 18:15). Both upheld the righteous Law that will bring justice to all nations. God has had many faithful servants, but none to equal the Righteous Son who serves Him – Jesus Christ! Yet Moses was of the same pattern and delivered his Law for all Israel (Mal 4:4). Moses endured all the same hardships as the Tribes of Israel in the wilderness, but remained faithful to God. He never complained and whined about adversity, and he kept his mind firmly fixed on the principles and instructions of God. When judgments had to be made, these were made according to the knowledge God had given him. He never departed from the desire to fulfill all that God had said.

It’s well known that the Apostle Paul established seven Churches in Turkey in Asia Minor. Throughout Paul’s ministry, there is very little to commend these Churches. In fact, Paul prophesied of them in rather scathing terms: Acts 20:25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the Kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the Church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the Truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among those who ARE sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"

Years later, the Book of Revelation was delivered, and we find the whole Book is addressed to them – and names them! What about all the other Churches that had been established all over the world at that time? Well, they don’t even get a mention! And this is very strange indeed, unless there is a good explanation. Well there is a very good explanation, and we’ll get to it shortly. But first notice the words ‘by this kind of hard work we must help the weak’.

This is not exactly what the shepherds of the Church of God had in mind when they set themselves up as shepherds in the 20^th Century. How did they ever expect to have an inheritance among those who ARE sanctified? They were not willing, by hard work, to help the weak. They did set up an infrastructure, which they called ‘third tithe’ – a product of their own invention – but the shepherds themselves never paid it. So in this regard, the shepherds never personally helped the weak. It was merely a greedy ploy to extract more from the flock and to exploit it for their own advantage. They created the illusion that they were beneficent towards the flock, but not from the first tithe, which they coveted for themselves, but were not entitled to collect anyway! Only Levi is authorized to collect the tithe! These greedy, self-serving thugs were driven by avarice and never achieved sanctification. And neither did they help the weak from their own hard work with their hands.

Paul said of these shepherds of the seven Churches that then existed, that the Word of God could ‘build them up and give them an inheritance among those who ARE sanctified’. These shepherds were not sanctified! But they could have been, but only if they followed God’s instructions. But it wasn’t to be! Yet it was these very Churches in Asia Minor which became the pattern for the prophesied seven last Churches, and God has identified them by name (Rev 1:11), and then in Chapters 2 and 3, God gives a synopsis of these Churches in the last days, and again, by name! God wanted to make sure there are no misunderstandings about this!

They became the protégé of the shepherd whom God raised up to tend the flock, and whom God positively identifies as a shepherd over the flock: Zech 11:15 "For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded." If God says He is going to raise up a shepherd over the flock, then you had better believe He did it! For further details of this shepherd, read the article ‘Who is the Flock marked for Slaughter?’ at our website.

When Paul was addressing those shepherds in Asia Minor (Turkey today), he referred to them in the plural. God had previously mentioned just one shepherd whom He planned to raise up in Zech 11:15, but by the time of Paul there were seven shepherds over seven Churches in Asia Minor. It was these seven Churches that Paul’s prophecy referred to, and this is confirmed in Rev 1:11. Eventually, the seven Churches of God in Asia Minor disappeared and were not heard of again in any detail, either by Paul or others, but still these Churches of God remained an integral part of prophecy. When the prophet John received the Book of Revelation, he was on an island adjacent to the region of the seven Churches in the region of modern-day Turkey.

The servants of God must walk a fine line of speaking of God’s intentions, yet being careful not to declare His secrets prematurely to His enemies. God views it as an act of treachery for His servants to be blabbing secrets to his enemies and forewarning them. Those who do such things will be beaten with many blows. Jesus referred to it as casting pearls before swine, and warned not to do it. The servants of God are expected to know the dangers of ‘running ahead’ as John put it in 2John 1:9. The servants of God are expected to be watching all that is happening, and refraining from foolish speculation about things that may influence Satan’s plotting and give him an advantage. They should understand who will be the object of Satan’s hatred, and whom he will pursue as his primary target when he makes the greatest blunder of his existence. It’s the Woman who is mentioned in Rev 12:13. The first thing one does in warfare is to identify the enemy, and the second thing is to make it as hard as possible for them to gain victory. Even America is not silly enough to hand their battle plan to the enemy. In fact, an important part of any battle plan is to confuse the enemy. It’s worth remembering these things. Times are becoming critical!

God has said He will dry up the seven streams of the River Euphrates so that men can cross over in sandals. Close by, in the former territories of Assyria, will be the remnant of the House of Israel who will soon be returning home to God’s Place of Rest. The seven Churches will be in Turkey to fulfill prophecy, and to provide much needed instructions to the Israelites. As the offspring of the Woman mentioned in Rev 12:17, they will be endowed with the Testimony of Jesus – the Spirit of Bible Prophecy – and will instruct many. It will be as Isaiah wrote in Isa 11:15-16. In this chapter of Isaiah, we have a description of the Mighty Christ and His resolve to deliver justice to the poor of the earth. Isa 11:3-5 "…He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist." The poor in those days will be the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ – the Ten Tribes who formerly repudiated their mother Jerusalem and finished up a conquered people and were enslaved in Assyria and Asia Minor. Their repudiation of God’s Holy City was to come back and haunt them.

In the very next verse, we find that God has again chosen Jerusalem and speaks of the restoration, in Isa 11:6 "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of a cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither hurt nor destroy on all my Holy Mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." Jerusalem will be occupied and settled, and children will be born and raised in an atmosphere free of terror and savage animals and poisonous vipers. At that time, God will have stretched out His hand to redeem those who remained faithful to the Holy City – those who refused to abandon it – just as they did during the time of, and under the rule of, the tyrant King Rehoboam. They endured his whips and scorpions for the sake of God’s City that bears His Name. Not so the ten Tribes who went into exile!

God is not amused! When He sees such wanton defiance of all that He has said concerning Jerusalem, and when He sees His most favoured nations siding with His enemies to desecrate and overrun His Holy City, there can only be one outcome: severe punishment! It’s called the Day of Vengeance (Isa 63:4, Jer 46:10), a time when God acts to set the record straight and to punish the guilty. The House of Israel are not particularly concerned though; they consider they’ve done enough in the way of service to God, and Jerusalem is just not worth fighting for. If giving away Jerusalem and the Holy Land will bring peace from Satan’s brood, then so be it, they reason. Of course it’s all a lie, Satan and his brood are as greedy as the Grave, and like Death are never satisfied (Hab 2:5). Make one concession to them and they want more. You can’t placate these evil creatures! It’s as well for the House of Israel, and particularly Ephraim, to know that handing over concessions involving the Holy City will be viewed as the worst possible act of treachery against God. And no mercy will be shown the guilty! And this act of treachery is dangerously close to being committed. The rulers of the heavenly realms have become so emboldened that they openly state that the root cause of all their terrorist acts is Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Give these to us, they say, and all terrorism will stop. And the West is starting to believe them. It’s as good as signing their own death warrant if they believe this lie! God has withheld many secrets from the House of Israel because, quite frankly, they didn’t deserve to know. God reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets, but there is one single factor that has never been a secret, and this is God’s love of Jerusalem. All of Christianity should know that this is the CITY of a GREAT KING! And even the House of Israel has no excuse for not knowing this. But in the interests of peace – the way of which they have never known – there are moves afoot to find occasion with the Israelis to desert them, and leave them to the mercy of Satan’s hordes. The fact that Ephraim will turn against Judah is well-documented in the Bible. But in doing so, they will soon find that salvation is of the Jews, and God be praised, the Jews are the most forgiving people on the face of the earth. The Jews will join God’s Army and together they will crush all the surrounding nations, and pave the way for the establishment of the Place of Rest in God’s Kingdom.

The day they crossed the Jordan River, the manna from heaven stopped, and they ate the produce of the land (Joshua 5:10-12). They had arrived, but they found no rest. Pockets of resistance continued, and these degenerated into whole nations attacking them. Was it God’s intention to inflict this upon them? No, it was God’s intention for them to come to their senses and obey Him! But right at the outset they decided they could live in peace with the heathen that occupied much of the land, and allowed them to stay – and against God’s express instructions! So they lived out the curses that God had forewarned them of and faced centuries of opposition on all sides. Real peace was not realized until the arrival of King David, and even then, peace was achieved only in the twilight of his years. But this legacy was enjoyed throughout the reign of his son Solomon. It had taken nearly 400 years to achieve this peace. Oddly enough, it could have been achieved in as many days, but the House of Israel didn’t have the heart to serve God according to His instructions. God granted Solomon peace during his reign, but this peace only lasted for one generation. The next generation saw the nation divide into two, with ten Tribes deserting God’s Holy City Jerusalem. They openly worshiped pagan gods, and soon forgot all about God their Maker. They wanted to be just like all the other nations around them and to be able to choose their methods of worship. They liked the style of pagan worship with the feasting and sexual orgies that accompanied them. They became so enmeshed in this lifestyle that any return to God was unthinkable.

To be perfectly honest, Christianity today should know who God’s ancient enemies are, because God has made it abundantly clear in the Bible. So clear in fact, that no-one serious student of the Bible could fail to see it. He has spoken again and again against Babylon and the Babylonians, and identified them as those nations that surround the Holy Land. These Islamic nations are to be the first targets of God’s Army, and indeed, that of the Messiah as well (Isa 63:1-6). So why have the Churches of God remained ignorant today? The reason is that they could never bring themselves to believe God! They followed only the powers of persuasion to believe anything except God’s Truth. They never believed that the Babylonians would swept across the earth plundering and destroying. And now that it’s happened, and continues in intensity, they still don’t believe it.

Jesus was asked a question, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" (Luke 13:23). "He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow Door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and not be able to." The Door is going to be narrow to the Place of Rest, because everyone will be scrutinized as they enter, and some will find themselves turned away – they will not be able to enter. The words ‘make every effort’ doesn’t seem to match the present conceptions of most people today, who think it only requires to mumble something about ‘Jesus being their personal Savior’ and they are instantly saved. In that day, it will require real effort, and there will be no free rides for the undeserving. Then Jesus adds more concerning their whining and complaining about their qualifications (V26) and in V27 "But He will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, you evil doers!’" And what would ‘or where you come from’ mean? Jesus had to prove His linage in order to be accepted as being of the House of David. Since these people must also prove their qualifications for being of the House of David, they must truly be of the House of David. The truth is that some of these will not be of the bloodline of the House of David, but must be of the bloodline of the Son of David – the Christ. In other words, they must have the Spirit of Christ living with them, and soon to be in them (John 14:17), to be a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18) and join God’s chosen Firstfruits or wave offering (Num 8:13-16).

But of course, the Christ will not be standing there at the Door of the House of David to vet everyone who tries to enter – others will do that. It will be those who live in Jerusalem (Isa 22:21). These will have the key to the House of David (V22). These are appointed to act on Christ’s behalf, and will act by the authority of the Father and the Son. The Sons of Jerusalem will be fully qualified to vet all the wannabe’s trying to get through the Door, and this Door represents Christ (John 10:9, 10 – the KJV uses the word ‘door’ and the NIV ‘gate’). As a point of interest, one of the entrances to the Temple Mount is called the King’s Gate, which is a doorway that was sealed off by Moslems centuries ago to prevent the future King from entering. They hope!