Basic HTML Version
Why?
ls it because God has si.mply
not called them to this under–
standing? Ts it because Jesus
Christ said that His true Church
would be small , scattered and
persecuted-and that He is just
not in organized "churchianity"
at all?
As
1
began to really
study
the
Bible and its prophecies more
than 30 years ago, the answers to
these quest ions became crystal
clear.
The Key to Prophetlc
Unde rstanding
Most so-called students of Bible
prophecy fail utterly to under–
stand its meaning.
Why?
Because they are ignorant–
wilfu ll y or otherwise-of the
master key that would unlock the
significance of nearly 90 percent
of all Bible prophecy. Even when
it is explained to them, sorne
don't grasp how crucial this vital
key is.
As many longtime
P/ain Truth
readers know, the key is the cor–
rect understanding of the modern
identity of the so-called lost 10
tribes of Israel.
This matter is vitally important
because the vast majoríty of bibli–
cal prophecies have todo with the
end-time House of Israel, or with
other nations as they come in
contact with the House of Israel
and the House of Judah. Again,
most of these prophecies are for
the end
time-our time,
now and
the immediate years ahead lead–
ing up to the Second Comiog of
Jesus Ch rist with supernatural
power!
Bríefly, God foretold (Genesis
48: 13-22 and 49: 1 and 22-27)
that the end-t ime 'descendants of
the patriarch Jacob, whose name
was changed to Israel, would
include a great single nation, plus
a migbty "multitude" or com–
monwealth of nations; that be–
tween them these birthright na–
t ions would possess the choicest
material blessings of the earth
(Genesis 49:25-26); and that they
would possess the "gate" of their
enemies (Genesis 22:17 and
24:60).
December 1980
W hich nations, in modero
times, have been granted these
fantastic blessings-and many
more not described in this br ief
summary?
The Promise Fulfllled
The answer is obvious.
For sorne 150 years, the United
States and the British Empire
have been the choice recipients of
the richest national blessings ever
bestowed by Almighty God in
modern times. Between us, we
possessed nearly three fourths of
the world's developed resources.
Ou r nations were strong a nd
powerful militarily. And we cer–
tainly possessed the modero
"gates" of ou r enemies- the
great sea gates such as the Suez
Canal, the Panama Canal, Singa–
pore, the Malacca Straits, etc.
Together, with our allies we
won World War
1
and World
War 11 and we could have con–
quered the entire world had we
chosen to do so. But, having the
beneficent and peace-loving na–
ture of our ancestor, the patriarch
Joseph, we chose instead to feed
and nurture and rebuild our for–
mer enemies. After World War
1,
it was caBed the Hoover Plan for
restoration of Europe. After
World War
11,
thousands of mil–
lions of dollars of Marshall Plan
aid were given to other nations to
rebuild war- ravaged Europe.
Then America increased her
food and wheat reserves to help
other nations, and subsequently
the world was moved by the mas–
sive generosity of U.S. aid to
India and other starving nations.
Again, this is reminiscent of our
ancestor J oseph feeding the starv–
ing world of his day out of the
abundance of Egypt's grain (see
Genesis 41 ).
Punlshment Also Prophesled
Herbert W. Armstrong has spo–
ken of Leviticus 26 as a pivota!
prophecy. For here we find de–
scribed the blessings that were to
come to Israe l and also the
nationaJ ·punishments that would
come through disobedience.
Notice Leviticus 26:14, 16:
"But if ye will not hearken unto
me, and will not do all these
commandmen ts ... 1 will even
appoint over you terror, consump–
t ion, and the burning ague [fe–
vers], that consume the eyes, and
cause sorrow of hear t: and ye
shall sow your seed in vain, for
your enemies shall eat it." The
fevers and consumptive diseases
that smote Britain, America and
our allies after World War
1
were
j ust the
beginning
of problems.
No real repentance
was mani–
fested by our people after the
ravages of the Great War-'--as it
was called.
So, as prophesied, the allies
were again invaded in 1940 as
Hitler's armored columns rolled
west in the early phases of World
War 11 (see verse 17). Again,
even after terrible suffering and
sorne Divine interventions such as
the dramatic deliverance at Dun–
kirk, our nations failed utterly to
repent and turn to God. After
God once again used Britain and
Ameríca to win the war and
restore peace to the world- what
happened?
~
We began the greatest orgy of
self-indulgence the modern world
has ever seen! Moral bars were
toppled. The divorce rate sky–
rocketed. A wave of "self'-of
amusement, decadence and mate–
rialism swept over the Western,
"Christian" world. Now, we have
reached the point where such
capital crimes as abortion and
homosexuality are regarded as
the norm, where accounts of vari–
ous forms of adultery and " living
together " hardly raise an eye–
brow, and where the name of God
is used to curse and damn not
only ín our st reets and factories,
but in our publíc entertainment
on television, in the movies and
on the legitimate stage.
What does the Living God
think of this response to His
fabulous blessings?
"And if ye will not yet for all
this hearken unto me, then 1 will
punish you seven times more for
your sins. And
1
will break the
pride of your power; and 1 wi ll
make you r heaven as iron, and
your earth as brass: and your
strength shall be spent in vain: for
your land shall not yield her
increase, neither shall the trees of
29