After the Kingdom of God is established in the Holy Land and the City of Jerusalem becomes the Capital of the earth, and the 12 Tribes of Israel are once more settled in their Tribal Lands, the nations of the earth will be required to live Godly lives – or else! But they will still have a choice, and the choice will be between peace and prosperity or death and destruction. God gives a clear example of this in Zech 14:16 "Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 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 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." (Incidentally, the LORD Almighty is the Father). God makes it clear that His Holy Days are to be kept for evermore. When the Kingdom of God is established, and the Great King, the LORD Almighty, sits on His throne, the nations of the earth will either keep His Holy Days or face oblivion. They will be required to go year after year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Those who don’t will get no rain and will suffer severe drought and famine. Added to this is a special plague that God has reserved for the recalcitrant nations who refuse to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zech 14:16 makes it very clear that all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles – or else! And the penalty for refusing will be severe. And this speaks of the time when all the House of Israel is settled in the land that God gave to His friend Abraham. But all this is the end of the story as far as Zech 14 is concerned. The beginning of this particular sequence starts at V1. Satan’s nations don’t give up so easily. As Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, and especially since Babylon will be destroyed beforehand, they will use their numerical strength to invade the Holy Land and overrun it. The Tribes of Israel will already be decimated by previous events in the worldwide holocaust, so they will be few and very vulnerable. At that time, Satan’s nations will know they are fighting God. God Himself will gather the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it. And it’s Jerusalem – the Holy City of God – that they will be fighting against. God makes it clear that anyone who raises a finger against the Holy City will die. God intends to make sure everyone understands where His priorities lie. And so they will come intent on destruction, murder, raping and looting. They will surge into the Holy Land and take the Holy City captive. This is how it’s all described: Zech 14:1 "A Day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the City." And this is when the trap is sprung! Jerusalem will appear to be an easy target, and buoyed by initial success the hordes will overrun it. Raping, looting and murder will inflame them to make the charge towards the Holy Mountain – the Temple Mount.

This is the final straw as far as the rebellious nations are concerned. What follows is a slaughter that cannot be imagined. And to the victors will go the spoils. All the surrounding nations will be plundered, and we all know which nations surround the Holy Land, don’t we? V14 "Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected – great quantities of gold and silver and clothing." This is the time when the Mighty Commander will lead His armies – the saints of the Most High – and they will fight! The outcome of the battle is predetermined, and victory is sure for the faithful servants of God. This is the time when Jerusalem will become inviolable to any marauding armies. This is also the time when the Temple Mount will be raised up on a platform and the sloping sides will span a great distance. From the Temple Mount will flow the River of Life. The River of Life is described in Eze 47:1-12. It will flow to the great seas that will lap at the apexes of the new pyramid-shaped landmass. The great seas are the eastern and western seas.

Typically, Islam is enraged! They want the Holy City as their own so they can desecrate it and prevent any Temple being built there. Satan is determined that there will be no place for his Righteous Brother to place the soles of His feet. Ezekiel describes it in this way: Eze 43:1 "Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the Glory of the God of Israel coming from the east." V7 "He said, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites for ever. The House of Israel will never again defile my Holy Name – neither they nor their kings – by their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places." V9 "Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever."

There are wicked evil men who have been plotting for years to build a Temple beside the Al Aqsa Mosque in order to accommodate Islam and to leave their structure in place. If any imagine that the Islamic Dome of the Rock will be left in place, then they must be dreaming. All the Temple Mount will be most Holy to God and there will be nothing there to honour Satan and his brood. This is how God describes it: V10 "Son of man, describe the Temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins." God makes it very clear here that the Temple is to be described to the people of Israel – not Islam! It’s worth noting because of one group who believes that Islam may accept a compromise and allow them to build a Temple there. Can you imagine any sane person trying to arrange a compromise concerning the Holy Mountain of God – and with His enemies? What weak, unfaithful people these are! While there may be some merit in their objectives, it’s a gross insult to God! V11 "Let them consider the Plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the Temple – its arrangements, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations and Laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations. This is the Law of the Temple: All the surrounding area on top of the Mountain will be most holy. Such is the Law of the Temple." Because no-one it seems is ashamed of all they have done, it’s hardly the time to be describing anything to them! With such hostility in the House of Israel to anything pertaining to God’s Great Plan, and their constant rebellious barrage against everything God holds sacred, and because they consider God’s prophet to be a fool, they’ve decided to learn their lesson the hard way. God, in His mercy, will accommodate them and teach them the lesson they will never forget.

But there has been a great proliferation of lunatic ‘Christians’ who explore every possibility to gain advantage over others. For instance, arguing over what God’s Name is, or trying to prove that Jesus never kept God’s Laws. Some have become fake Jews, and adopted Jewish names as their own. Some of these fake Jews have gone even further and repudiated Jesus as the Christ. They are not Jews, even though these lying fools rabidly claim they are. God mentions these people in very unflattering terms: Rev 2:9 "…I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synogogue of Satan." And in Rev 3:9 "I will make those who are of the synogogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." Yes, Jesus the Mighty Christ will hurl them at the feet of those He truly loves, and make them acknowledge who are those He truly loves! And those swine from the synogogue of Satan, those liars, are not those that Jesus loves.

So why is Hebrew sacred, but Aramaic is not? Jesus’ final words were spoken in Aramaic, and He was speaking to the Father when He said, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’. Later it was revealed that it meant ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matt 27:46). The Hebrew speakers standing by thought He was calling for Elijah. So they waited around to see if Elijah would come (V47, 49). How confused they were to not know that Jesus called the Father ‘Eli’. Now this raises some questions, doesn’t it?

So if Jesus final words to the Father were in Aramaic, why aren’t the ‘sacred name’ advocates using Aramaic? Apparently, the Assyrian language doesn’t sound righteous enough for them. It was righteous enough for Jesus, but not for them! Jesus, you will note, didn’t only identify the Father by the name Eli, He spoke the whole sentence in the language He was using at that time. What is more, He was quoting the Scriptures. In fact, He was directing His disciples to see from the Scriptures what was written about Him, and this is found in Psalm 22:1. Dutifully, the disciples picked up the clue and went to the source of Jesus’ quotation. Sure enough, there were many references to Jesus’ final hours, and also to His overall goals. And contrary to the teachings of Christianity in general, Jesus had not abandoned the House of Israel, and His stated claim was that He had come only to the lost sheep of Israel.

And it worked. While the righteous seed deferred marriage until adequate provision was made for raising a family, Satan’s brood was rushed into producing offspring from the time of pubescence. This is true even today. Satan sees his role as producing his offspring to outnumber and to dominate God’s righteous seed. Satan recognized this challenge the moment it was uttered (Gen 3:15), and he was resolved to tilt the scales his way. What Satan didn’t know, and still doesn’t understand, is that God doesn’t need numerical supremacy among human beings to achieve His objectives. God knew at the very outset that Satan would corrupt humanity and was not surprised that Satan had deceived Eve. Nor was He surprised that Satan had corrupted Cain and enticed him to kill righteous Abel. And neither was God surprised a thousand years later to see violence covering the earth with evil proliferating everywhere.

We are not told exactly what happened, but we do know that a large number of Satan’s demon rulers were arrested and locked away in the abyss at that time to await the judgment (2Pet 2:4-5). And Jesus Christ Himself even confirmed to them how wrong they had been in the time of Noah (1Peter 3:19). And to further add to their misery, He triumphed over them (Col 2:15), and this was a whole new development! In the past when Satan had killed someone they stayed dead, but now he faced the prospect that there was life after death under certain circumstances. He’d managed to kill God’s Faithful Son, but now He was alive and lording it over them in triumph.

Satan now faced an uncertain future. What if God started raising His offspring from the dead through His Spirit as in the case of Jesus? These would be living examples of his own treachery, and prime witnesses at his trial. He’d received prior warning of this when God told him that Abel’s blood was crying out from the grave but he didn’t believe Him. Now it was a distinct possibility if not a reality. What if the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Rom 8:11, 14) was to also raise His offspring? These would be witnesses of the first rank when the Great Court sits (Dan 7:9-12). Satan knows he can’t fool God, but his object is not to fool God but to fool all His counselors, and to convince them that God’s Way is wrong. He knows he must face this judgment, but being the subtle liar that he is, he is convinced that he will sway the jury.

God has already predicted that judgment will be given in favour of the saints, and that they will inherit the whole Kingdom (Dan 7:21). Satan is just as determined that it won’t happen, and he will use every lying argument and illegal devices in his arsenal to make sure that God’s Way is not upheld. But he faces a dilemma. He must erase the saints from the face of the earth, but he must also ensure that they don’t arise from the dead, and give evidence against him. It’s no comfort to him that the saints of God would rather die than violate God’s Laws. It’s ever in Satan’s mind that a raging fire is to be prepared specifically for him and his angels: Matt 25:41 "Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’" The Christ had previously spoken of these things in Matt 13:37-43 "He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the SONS OF THE KINGDOM. The weeds are the SONS OF THE EVIL ONE, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is at the end of the age, and the harvesters are the angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His Kingdom [everyone] that causes sin, and all who do evil. They will throw them in the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." These verses make a clear distinction between the sons of the Kingdom and the sons of the evil one. Even today, there are crazed maniacs who preach that everyone is basically good. The Lord Jesus Christ begs to differ! Everyone who commits sin, and teach others to do the same are the sons of the evil one, and in order to make it crystal clear: Sin is the transgression of the Law of God (1John 3:4). And let’s be very clear on one other thing; those who rage against God’s Truth will be condemned: Matt 12:36 "But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Those who rage against the SONS OF THE KINGDOM will be condemned for their reckless words. So should we all tolerate those who refute God’s Truth and teach lies in His Name? Should we all be bounding around kissing up to all God’s enemies and calling them ‘brothers and sisters’ and feigning ‘love’ for them? The Apostle John made his feelings clear: 2John 1:10 "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work." Obviously, there are some who have spent their entire lives being deceived by Satan’s propaganda, and they need to be taught the Truth. Provided they believe all that God has said, then they need to be welcomed as brothers. But those who come bearing teachings that are not of God, and which run counter to all God has said, should not be welcomed. And any who welcome them share in their wicked work. I’m appalled that some, who seem to think that those who defy God and have chosen the way of lawlessness, could ever be SONS OF THE KINGDOM! It would make a lot more sense to kiss up to an alligator than to kiss up to the sons of the evil one.

In Satan’s mind, the first order of business is to convince all potential saints that there is no judgment, and that they will inherit eternal life whether they obey God or not. With this firmly fixed in their minds, they will willingly cave in to his demands and even worship the image that Satan knows will inflame God’s anger. What is more, he will ensure the most excruciating deaths for any who refuse to worship the image. He’ll work on the principle that he spoke of in the days of Job, when he said that if God were to strike Job’s flesh, Job would curse Him to His face (Job 2:4-5). Satan believes that if enough pain is applied, any human being will recant. He’d hoped that this would have been the case with Jesus Christ, but as usual, Satan was wrong. He does however feel that he has a defense for this murder. He’ll argue that he didn’t do it, and that Christ’s own people of His bloodline did it. He’ll argue that the keepers of God’s own Law are the ones who put Him to death, and the soldier with the spear who struck the deathblow had no interest one way or the other; all he did was to uphold the Law by not allowing a criminal to remain on the stake after sundown on the Sabbath.

Human beings are like gods – literally! When Eve transgressed God’s instructions, they literally became like God in knowing good and evil. The tree was called the Tree of Knowledge, and immediately after eating it they lost their innocence. As God says in Gen 3:22 "And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." They then had the ability to do good or to devise evil. It was also important to prevent them from getting to the Tree of Life and eating of its fruit.

The man Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that baffled him. It also baffled the ruler that dwelt within him. He was sure it had great significance, but was unsure of the meaning. As an aside, Satan the devil is a powerful magician who uses his magic art to beguile his own rulers as well as his people. No self-respecting ruler would be seen dead without his entourage of magicians and sorcerers, and Nebuchadnezzar was no exception. God makes it clear that there will be no place for anyone who lives and rules by superstitious fear and practices the magic arts of Satan (Rev 22:15). Satan has many powerful tricks in his arsenal. You’ll recall what happened when God gave Satan permission to move against His servant Job. Satan went out and generated a hurricane that flattened the house of Job’s sons and daughters, killing them all. He has a lot of power, but as in the case of God’s servant Job, he was powerless to act against him without God’s approval.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream terrified him, but he knew that it would have great significance in the future. This is the account: Dan 4:4 "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)" (Daniel would not have considered that the name given him by Nebuchnezzar was sacred!) Clearly, Nebuchadnezzar knew that Daniel had the Holy Spirit that was not present in himself or his magicians. Even at that time, God was making known to the rulers of the heavenly realms that the administration of Wisdom comes only through His Holy Spirit. God Himself chooses through whom He will reveal knowledge, and even makes the point that He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). And Daniel was a prophet.

So here we see Nebuchadnezzar terrified by the dream, and his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners were unable to understand the meaning. It can be extremely dangerous in the presence of a madman to be a magician and to have no wisdom to understand the madman’s dreams (Dan 2:1-12, especially V12). No doubt the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners still remembered Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction to their failure in the second year of his reign, when they were about to be burned alive or fed to lions as was Nebuchadnezzar’s customary manner. At that time, Daniel saved their butts, and so it made perfect sense to keep Daniel around as part of their contingency planning. If their magical enchantments failed, they had a fall-back position in Daniel. Naturally enough, they soon forgot that God’s prophet Daniel had saved their lives, and soon they were plotting to kill him. This is typical of those who have the minds of animals or brute beasts as Jude describes them.

In earlier articles we saw how the Celtic Levites populated Galatia in 278BC (Galatia is present-day Turkey). (See the Book ‘The Literature of the Celts’, published in 1902 by Magnus Maclean, page 8). God’s purpose in this was to provide pathways for the House of Israel to migrate to Europe. It seems that many of the Celts stayed too long, and became bottled up in the Eastern Roman Empire. Collectively, they were called Aryans after the chief priest Aaron, and were responsible for building many monasteries, and places of learning. They were present in the first century when the seven Churches mentioned in Rev 1:4, 11 were established. Many of them living in Turkey began to interbreed with the indigenous peoples of the

In the Book of Hebrews, we find these words: Heb 8:4 "If He (Christ) were on earth, He would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer gifts prescribed by Law." God wants everyone to know who the priesthood Tribe is (in case they have already forgotten); it’s the Levites! And God, by His enormous Power, has preserved the Levites down through the ages in order that they come to power at the appointed time. And it is the Levites who offer the offerings in righteousness: Mal 3:3 "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years."

Of the Levites, God says they will be mine: Num 8:13-16 "Make the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and then present them as a wave offering to the LORD. In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and THE LEVITES WILL BE MINE. After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come and do the their work at the Tent of Meeting. THEY ARE THE ISRAELITES WHO ARE GIVEN WHOLLY TO ME. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman." V18 "And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel." And God again confirms this in the Levite Book – the Book of Malachi: Mal 3:16 "Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A Scroll of Remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honoured His Name. "THEY WILL BE MINE," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."

Jesus Christ serves God as the High Priest in heaven. By this we know that even Jesus Christ serves the Father. Those who would be like Jesus Christ must also serve the Father. Anyone who doesn’t understand the Father’s instructions would have no idea on how to serve Him. Jesus’ zeal for the Father’s instructions overrode all other considerations. Jesus, like the Father, sees all rebellious nations as being worthless and less than nothing (Isa 40:17). It’s important to understand that human beings are worthless unless they serve their Creator in the manner in which He prescribes.

The Catholic Church preserved the theme of the Sun of Righteousness in some of their ridiculous shrines and adornments. It made sense to them at the time in order to entice the many worshipers of the sun around the world, and to preserve the illusion that sun-worshipers were on the right track to acknowledging the true Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2). And while all of Protestant Christianity has been vilifying the Catholic Church as sun worshipers, Satan has been working behind the scenes to provide his own ‘sun of righteousness’. His sun of righteousness is the one who rules Babylon.

God rules over the kingdoms of men and sets up the basest of men to rule: Dan 4:17 "The decision is announced by His messengers; the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men." God granted Satan the devil seven periods of absolute rulership throughout history. At the time of John, five of these kingdoms had already fallen, one still existed, and one was still to come. This is what God’s angel says: Rev 17:7-8 "Then the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, NOW IS NOT, and WILL COME UP OUT OF THE ABYSS and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, NOW IS NOT, and YET WILL COME." This particular beast didn’t rule at the time John wrote this, which is evidenced by ‘NOW IS NOT’. The reason for this is that he is still in THE ABYSS, and is set to be released soon. V9 "This calls for a mind with Wisdom. The seven heads are seven [mountains] on which the woman sits [as absolute ruler]. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast that once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction." The seven mountains are seven kings on which the woman sits and rides. The eighth king (although of the seven kingdoms) is easily identified as the one who COMES OUT OF THE ABYSS and goes to his destruction. And he is mentioned and named in Rev 9:1 "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to THE ABYSS." V11 "They had as KING over them THE ANGEL OF THE ABYSS, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon." This ruler has been in the Abyss probably since the time of Noah. He was locked away and remains there to this day. Soon he will be released, and he will go to his destruction. Though locked away, he has still been one of the key master strategists of all the evil on earth, and is Satan’s highest ranking ruler. He was locked away long ago because he is totally evil.

Of course all those whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life are going to be astonished. They’ve been too busy conjuring up their own renditions of prophecy, and concentrating on the Catholic Church with their silly assumptions like ‘vicarius fili dei’, ‘dux cleri’ and all the other mad things that have no associations with the Bible, but which have been generated from their own feeble minds. Well, here’s their chance to believe God for once, and work out the name of the beast. Of course, they won’t be able to work it out – because is requires the Wisdom of God – and this is something they don’t have! Well, the Great God of Heaven decides who will rule on this earth – and among Satan’s offspring, he sets up the basest of men. All of Satan’s brood have natural-born liars and murderers ruling over them, men who have the mark of Satan the devil. They don’t worship the Great God of Heaven, but by substitution they worship Satan the devil. But just remember that it’s after the ‘one who holds him back’ is taken out of the way, that the lawless one will be revealed (2Thess 2:7-8) – whom the Lord Jesus will destroy.

With each of these six kingdoms, and also the seventh that has just begun, Satan had his former glory restored as a king of kings. And he ruled over his ruling kings with a rod of iron. Those who see him after his demise will say: Isa 14:16 "Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate; "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?" This is the one who was once a member of the God Family. He was made in the image of God just as Adam and Eve were, and like man, he had the same appearance as God. Recall how Jesus said, ‘You have seen me, so you have seen the Father, because we are exactly alike (paraphrased).’ God made man in His own likeness, and as a former member of the God Family, and a son, Satan also has the appearance of a man in his normal form.

Predictably, Satan adorns himself with purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls to resemble the same manner of his former glory (Rev 17:4). And his territorial rulership? It’s Babylon – with all its states and territories! Of the ruler of Babylon it is written: Dan 4:16 "Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal till seven times pass by for him. The decision is announced by messengers; the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men." The ‘seven times’ that pass by for the ruler of Babylon was a reference to past, present and future. At the time, the ‘seven times’ that passed over the king of Babylon were seven years, during which time he developed the mind and appearance of an animal (Dan 4:33).

At the latter part of His ministry, Jesus Christ arrived from Galilee, and entered the City of Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The religious leaders asked who this was. They didn’t seem to know: Matt 21:10 "When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." Immediately, the religious leaders scurried around to find out as much as they could about Him. On learning that He was the one born to the Virgin Mary, the facts of which they were well-aware of, they subtly accused Him of being born of fornication (John 8:41). They actively plotted to kill Him: Luke 19:47 "Every day He was teaching at the Temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words." So it was the people who became the main obstacle for the religious leaders, who out of jealousy, wanted to murder Him. Jesus made fools of them because of their appalling ignorance. They weren’t interested in God’s Truth, but only in their own glory. They constantly plied Jesus with trick questions, hoping to catch Him out and discredit Him. This is so true today! Ignorant people like to ask trick questions because they don’t have the ability to understand Truth, and their knowledge base is zero. The Scribes and Pharisees regaled themselves in extreme opulence, and at least to themselves, had the appearance of righteousness. They expected to be treated with dignity and respect! Christ however told them the Truth: John 8:43 "Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say! You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar, and the father of lies." V47 "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

All this serves as a clear example that the offspring of the devil come in all forms. Satan appears as an angel of light to those who are perishing: 2Cor 11:13 "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions (and words) deserve." You can listen to these masqueraders all day long, but you won’t hear any sort of tangible message of importance. The reason is they don’t understand God’s language, and they don’t understand how God speaks to His people. The vast majority of them reject the Scriptures that Christ used because these Scriptures are incompatible with their teachings. They can’t stand to serve God in righteousness and obedience to His Law; instead they prefer the lies of their father the devil, and they want to enjoy his lawlessness – at least until they get what their actions deserve. So Satan has a wide variety of people serving him; from the masqueraders who feign righteousness to the most blatantly evil of all men.

As the years drifted by, it became obvious that their hoped-for Messiah was not going to arrive at that time. John the Baptist had seemed like a likely candidate, but he said he wasn’t the Messiah. And even worse, John had identified Jesus as the Messiah, and many of these were present when the Holy Spirit descended and proclaimed ‘This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased’. All this meant nothing to them if they were not to be given a position of rulership. Self-glorification was their only ambition. In reality they were greedy, conniving, ruthless liars, whose only objective was to instill admiration for themselves among the people. To their utter dismay, the very One to whom all the signs pointed to being the Messiah, had disdained them. In their minds, Jesus was most definitely NOT the Messiah! He was totally unacceptable! Broadly speaking though, the people disagreed with the religious leaders on this score and welcomed Him into their city as He rode in on an ass.

And so the Apostles and disciples faced the reality of a future time when the Kingdom of God would be established. Jesus instructed them that the Kingdom of God would be taken by force, and violent men would secure it. Jesus also said this in John 18:36 "My Kingdom is not of this age (Gr. Aion meaning ‘age’ or ‘era’). If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my Kingdom is from another place [time]." It’s clear that the servants of God will fight to establish God’s Kingdom because it must be taken by force: Matt 11:11 "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God will be greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of God 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."

What most people don’t understand is that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and this was confirmed by the angel of the Lord: Luke 1:16 "Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the Wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." But John the Baptist was murdered by the vicious ruler of the heavenly realm – Herod, even though Herod feared him. It wasn’t so much John that he feared, but he feared repercussions from the Great God of the Universe, for killing one of His servants. Herod was a tyrant, and could kill anyone he wanted to, and frequently did! But killing a servant of God could have severe consequences and he knew it. (Similarly, the Egyptian pharaoh could have killed Moses, and it would have been game, set and match. It would have been all over, and the ‘troublemaker’ would be gone. But as a ruler of the heavenly realm, this ruler knew better than to touch God’s servant! You’ll also recall that Job was a servant of God, whom Satan hated, but he dared not touch Job without God’s permission.) But Herod was trapped into honouring his word to Salome, and had to follow through with John’s execution. John the Baptist was martyred, but still the prophecies remained concerning him as the Elijah who was to come. And even following John’s death, Jesus was still linking him to the forceful who would take the Kingdom by force.

John’s death did not upset the flow of prophecy, and John fulfilled all that was required of him at that time. The original Elijah was already dead and buried, and now the second ‘Elijah’, as Christ confirmed, was dead. Furthermore, the prophecies concerning the second Elijah were not all fulfilled. Of particular note is the prophecies of John’s father Zechariah: Luke 1:76 "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 (V71 tells us what ‘salvation’ means) 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 those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet to the path of peace." Years later, Peter was still speaking of the fulfillment of this when he wrote this: 2Pet 1:19 "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts." In V16-18, Peter also made an observation that was relevant to our time: 2Pet 1:16-18 "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well-pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the Sacred Mountain." The words they heard from the Majestic Glory – the dwelling-place of God – was principally the same as that heard after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 3:21-22).

Well where is this Sacred Mountain and what was Peter referring to? Peter was referring to the vision they saw of Jesus speaking to Moses and Elijah. This was a glorified enactment of a future time (Matt 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35) when Jesus would be conferring in that place with the Elijah to come and mentions this in His explanation to the Twelve. Jesus specifically told them not to mention it until He had undergone the baptism of death, and had been raised from the dead (Matt 17:9). It was important that everyone knew that it was a reference to a future time.

Concerning the Sacred Mountain, there is a good reason why this mountain is sacred, but this explanation will have to wait for another time. But which mountain is it? Well, Jesus and His disciples were in Galilee at the time, and after addressing the great crowd that had gathered with the rest of His disciples after He returned from the Sacred Mountain the following day, they continued on through Galilee to Capernaum. Almost any Bible commentary will show that Jesus was in Galilee when they ascended the Sacred Mountain. It was while He was there that He planned His trip to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). This was to be the triumphal entry while riding on a donkey.

Even after the disciples saw all these things, they were still uncertain of what to expect. They knew there were plans in place to establish the Kingdom of God, but they were uncertain when this would occur. Even after the vision of the transfiguration, they again started their ‘I’m greater than you’ contest (Matt 18:1-3). This probably had something to do with the fact that Jesus only took Peter, James and John up the Sacred Mountain, and the others became envious after learning that something happened up there. It was then that Jesus showed them the guilelessness of little children and advised them to take note.

At the start of Jesus’ ministry, He traveled from Galilee to the region of the Jordan, and there He was baptized by John the Baptist. Afterward, He returned to Galilee where He began to choose His disciples and to teach the people. At the beginning of His ministry in the Holy Land, He moved to live in Capernaum to fulfill a prophecy of Isa 9. For reasons known only to themselves, the translators of the Bible inserted a chapter break between Isa 8:22 and Isa 9:1. They interrupted a contiguous instruction. This is what it says: Isaiah 8:20 – Isa 9:1-3 "To the Law and the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, they have no light of dawn. Distressed and hungry they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea along the Jordan – ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.’"

Jesus even said that the people living in Galilee would see a great light. It was in the land of Galilee that Jesus set about to fulfill an important prophecy of Isaiah. It’s very clear that Isaiah was speaking of a more distant era that the first century. They will see a great light all right! And they will wonder what it is! You don’t enlarge the nation – in this case the Holy Land nation and the embryonic Kingdom of God – with sissy talk or feigned self-righteousness. In the language of God, severe action is called for, and this means war! God makes it clear: V4-5 "For as in the days of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire." Why would anyone doubt God’s Word? Is He speaking of battles or not? Just as the Midianites were shattered in battle, so will it be when the people see a great light, and see the ensign unfurled against the bow, then they will know that deliverance has come from their oppressor. Is this a reference to the start of the Kingdom of God? The very next verse tells us! These verses begin by mentioning that a child is born, and that the Government [Kingdom] will be on His shoulders. This same sequence is used in Rev 12 to describe this Son who is born to a woman, and who becomes the Mighty Christ – the Invincible Commander of Armies. Isaiah continues: V6 "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 [to all His offspring – see Isa 53:10), Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His Government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Does God know how to make peace? You had better believe that He does! He does this by shattering the disobedient and the oppressors. For a long time God has remained silent, and in the minds of most, God’s Will is unimportant. Such people make great pretense that God is going to whisk them away to everlasting pastures for all the nice things they said about Jesus. But these people refuse to see Jesus as the Christ – the Invincible One, the Mighty Commander of Armies, the Champion of Justice – and this, according to Bible definition, makes them the antichrist (1John 2:22). In denying His many titles, they have insulted the Lord of Glory – the First Lord of the Universe! That anyone should assume the name of Christ by calling themselves Christians, while denying His great power as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, is a gross insult to God. They have insulted the One who can rescue them from the hands of their enemies (Luke 1:69-71). If they were truly Christ’s people, then they would believe 1Cor 15:24-28, which clearly details Christ’s intentions. Furthermore, they should tremble at God’s Word! But instead, they teach lawlessness, and sneer at the Laws of God! Apparently, they believe that the Kingdom of God will have no laws, and they will be able to do as they please. And isn’t this exactly what all the kingdoms or nations of the earth are doing right now? How then, is mainstream Christianity any different? Is it because they get together and foam at the mouth saying nice things about Jesus, while teaching disobedience to God’s Law? What makes these people so identifiable is their fanatical rejection of God’s Law, and their vile outbursts towards anyone who obeys the Law that God gave to His servant Moses (Mal 4:4) and which He instructs to be remembered. They of course, demand that everyone forget all about it!

Well, the greatest nation on earth, and the greatest Christian nation – the United States of America – has spawned thousands of these lawless Christian groups who sneer at God’s Law, while demanding excessive rewards for doing nothing. Isaiah wrote the indictment as a prelude for all that we have quoted here from his writings. We only need to go back a few verses, and we will see what happens that causes men to become enraged and, looking upward to curse their king and their God. And this is what he wrote: Isa 8:9-10 "Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen all you distant lands. Prepare for battle and be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us [Immanuel)." Who is ‘us’ that God is with? He answers in V16 "Bind up the Testimony and seal up the Law among my disciples. I will wait on the LORD who is hiding His face from the House of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him."

Isaiah continues his indictment against the whole House of Jacob: V11 "The LORD spoke to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do no dread it. The LORD Almighty is the One you are to regard as holy, He is the One you are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary; but for both Houses of Israel He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a Rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured." So this is the indictment against both Houses of Israel. And the fulfillment of this indictment is now in progress!

Continuing on in Isa 9:8 "The LORD has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel (see Note 1). All the people will know it – Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria – who say with pride and arrogance of heart (see Note 2), ‘The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig-trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.’ But the LORD has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them and has spurred their enemies on (see Note 3). Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth (Note 4)."

Note 1: The LORD’S message is against Jacob – all 12 Tribes – but it will fall on Israel (as opposed to the House of Israel and in this God makes a distinction). The Israelis are of the House of Jacob, just as all the other eleven Tribes are, but as the coming saviours of the world, God demands very high standards – standards, which up until now, have not been met. And God makes a clear distinction between the Israelis and the rest of Jacob: Isa 48:1 "Listen to this, O House of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the Name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel – but not in Truth or righteousness – who call yourselves citizens of the Holy City and rely on the God of Israel – the LORD Almighty is His Name: I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass." God stresses to the Israelis that they will be called to duty. More about this further in this chapter.

 

Note 2: Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria. And who was it that occupied Samaria long ago? It was Ephraim who separated themselves from the Holy City of God and became a separate nation, calling themselves the House of Israel. These were the northern ten Tribes, while the Jewish people – the House of Judah – remained faithful to the Holy City and the God of Israel. But who occupies the region of Samaria today? It’s the enemies of God – the former enemies – who once allied themselves with Ephraim to fight against the House of Judah. And who is Ephraim aligned with today? Some people think it’s the Israelis, but in fact, they are determined to give the Holy Land to God’s enemies – the Philistines of Gaza and the Moslem degenerates from Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the Edomites and all the hogs that call themselves Palestinians – as their own state. Ephraim is of the view that the most important consideration in the region is to give the Palestinians their own state in order to bring them peace. Ephraim has forgotten the lesson of long ago, but God hasn’t! Those who now occupy the former Ephraimite homeland – the Palestinians – have become the source of their ardent desire for which to provide a homeland. And happily, Ephraim will support Samaria of the Gentiles against little Israel; based on the premise that God’s enemies can be induced to live in peace if they are given God’s Holy Land and God’s City Jerusalem. Ephraim and the rest of the world couldn’t be more mistaken!

The word ‘PRIDE’ used here in relation to Ephraim is a pointer to Isa 28:1 "Woe to that wreath, the PRIDE of Ephraim’s drunkards, to that fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley – TO THAT CITY, the PRIDE of those laid low by wine. See, the LORD has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. That wreath, the PRIDE of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot." That CITY, of course, is the Capital of Ephraim – Washington, DC.

 

Note 3: Rezin was the Syrian king who aligned with Ephraim to attack the Jewish state anciently. Syria today has a great interest in seeing the Palestinians overrun the Israelis and slaughtering them. They don’t want any Jews, Christians, Americans or any of the Tribes of Israel in the Holy Land, and they have plainly said so! Syria will certainly align themselves with America over the issue of statehood for the Philistines and the inhabitants of Samaria. God is telling us what happened anciently, and how it came about, and how He acted to make sure it did. King Rezin of Syria was intent on destroying the Jewish state in those days, and was aligned with Ephraim to achieve this. They failed on that attempt. But then God brought the Arameans – the king of Assyria against Rezin (Rezin’s foes), and took Damascus and killed Rezin. The Kurds today are the ancient Assyrians. They still remember that they are the nation of Ashurbanipal, their famous king. They are known in history as the Medes who aligned with the Persians (Iran today) to conquer the land of Babylon, and made the city of Babylon their capital. Jointly, they were the Medo-Persian Empire. Ezra made it clear that the King of Persia also had the title of King of Assyria (Ezra 6:22-7:1). It kept the Medes happy that this king of Persia was also their king, though they are clearly an entirely different people. But they have one common factor today: they are both Shiite Moslems, whereas the majority of Moslems in the world are Sunnis. If there is a distinction to be made, then the Sunnis are by far the most treacherous. The world population of the Shiites is tiny compared to that of the Sunnis.

In that day, the Assyrians overran Syria and killed their king, and established the southern Kingdom of Judah as a vassal state. This is the result of Judah’s treachery by King Ahaz, who robbed all the silver and gold from the Temple to buy the favour of Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria (2Kings 16:8). It’s not a good idea to buy favours with God’s enemies, and certainly not with His silver and gold from the Temple. But it did buy time for Judah from the enslaught of his brother nations in the north – the people of Ephraim. In fact, Ephraim’s treachery against God’s Holy City and the people that bear God’s Name (Dan 9:19) resulted in them being destroyed by the Assyrians and sold into captivity a few decades later.

 

Note 4: God uses Rezin, King of Syria as an example of what happens when Ephraim sides with Gentile degenerates to plot against Him and the Holy City. He throws out the challenge to all not to touch the apple of His eye – or face severe consequences! Thanks to Ephraim’s stupidity, Arameans from the east, and Philistines from the west will overrun little Israel in a bloodbath. Ephraim, like the Moslem world, is continually linking the ‘plight of the Palestinians’ to the general unrest of the Islamic world – which is absolutely farcical! What possible inference can be draw from the attack on the