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direction they are now headed
and if our peoples do not repent
of their sins! Sin is the transgres–
sion of God's law (1 John 3:4).
There will be
no escape
for
those who refuse to heed the
warning. There will be no safe
haven of refuge- no hiding place
from the sure punishment of God
(Ezekiel 6:1 2; 7: 15) .
Hydrogen Warfare
The destruction wreaked upon
the house of Israel will be unpar–
alleled in history. " In all your
dwelling places the cit ies shall be
laid waste ... " God declares
(6:6). Cities will be completely
destroyed- probably the result of
hydrogen bomb warfare!
How, many have wondered ,
will the combined nuclear might
of the United States and Britain
ever succumb? Ezekiel provides
the answer:
"They have blown the trumpet
[of war], even to make all ready;
but none goeth to the battle: for
my wrath is upon all the multi–
tude thereof. The sword is with–
out, the pestilence and the famine
within ..." (7:14- 15).
The United States and Britain
will be so weakened by famine
and disease that no one will be in
any condition to resist!
Why this punishment?
Why will God bring these dire
punishments upon t he modern–
day house of Israel? God himself
answers:
" .. . for they have refused my
judgments and my statutes, thcy
have not walked in them" (5:6).
And again: " ... for all the evil
abominations of the house of
Israel ..." (6:11).
Ephraim and Manasseh have
refused to obey God. They have
refused to live the way of life that
produces peace and prosperity.
They have turned their backs on
the commandments of God and
have cornmitted abominations in
his sight.
For tbese reasons God declares
"they shall fall " (6: 1
1).
When
Ezekiel wrote, the ancient house
of Israel had long since fallen into
Assyrian captivity. This prophecy
t herefore clear ly refers to the fate
of the modern -day house of
38
Israel. God is going to send it into
captivity and s lavery for the pur–
pose of learning a great lesson!
Anciently , God cbose th e
nation of Israel for a great pur–
pose-a purpose it has stubbornly
refused to fulfill to this d ay !
Instead of becoming a positive
example to other nations of God's
ri ght way of life, Israel has
instead degenerated into a shame–
ful illustration of the conse–
quences of disobedience.
Peace and harmony-the fruits
of obedience to God's laws- are
nowhere to be fo und within
l srael's borde rs. lnstead, "the
land is full of bloody crimes, and
the city is full of violence"
(7:23).
The Britis h and American
peoples a nd the gentiles who
dwell among them have been
blessed above all nations of the
earth. But in their material pros–
perity they have abandoned true
spiritual values. They have for–
gotten their God!
God is going to break their
spirit of rebellion and d isobe–
dience! T he result of that unprec–
edented punishment will be an
eye-opening, spiritual realizat ion
of the true extent of national and
personal sins- and a large-scale
national repe'ntance (6:8-9).
"They shall lothe t hemselves
for tbe evils which they have
committed in all their abomina–
tions," God declares. "And they
shall know that I am the Lord,
and that
1
have not said in vai n
tha t
1
would do this evil unto
them" (6:9-10). Is rael will at last
yield to the will of God!
"And
1
will give them one
heart, and
1
will put a new spiri t
within yo u . . .", God says.
" ... and they shall be my people,
and
I
will be their God" ( 11:19-
20).
You Can Escape!
Amid all bis prophecies of war
and captivity, Ezekiel has another
message: No one need suffer
these frightful calamities! Those
individuals who yield to God now
will be spared his corrective pun–
ishment in the d ays just ahead.
Notice: I n a vision ( recorded in
chapter 9), Ezekiel saw s ix men
bearing weapons of slaughter in
tbeir hands. Another man held a
writing implement. God in–
structed the man with the writing
implement to go through the
midst of J erusalem-the faJI of
ancient J erusalem is a t ype of the
fall of tb e modern house of
Israel-and "set a mark upon t he
foreheads of the men that sigh
and that c ry for all the abomina–
tions that be done in the midst
thereof' (verse 4).
To t he six armed men God
instructed: "Go ye after him [the
man with the writing implement]
througb the city, and smite: let
not your eye spare, neither have
ye pity . .. but come not near any
man upon whom is the mark . .."
(verses 5-6). Compare this
account with the seventh chapter
of the book of Revelation.
Just as righteous Noah was
divinely protected through the
worldwide Flood that erased all
life from the face of the land, God
today promises to spare all those
who individually turn from the
evils of this present world- those
who "sigh a nd cry" over its
abominations.
Are you one of these individu–
als?
Global Punlshment
The handwriting is on the wall!
God is very soon to intervene
migbtily in world affairs!
Britain and America ar e not
the only nations that will su ffer
God's corrective punishment. All
mankind has rejected God and his
ways! But modern Is rael will be
first to receive correction- and
later the fi rs t to be d elivered
(Ezekiel 36:7- ll) .
In the end, all nations will
learn the great lesson that God's
way of life is the
only
way that
will produce the peace and pros–
perity that all peoples seek. Then
will begin the utopian World
Tomorrow- with global peace
and abundance at last.
But first must come a time of
divine correction. The e ntire
world is entering a time of chaos
and calamity. The world as a
whole will not heed the warning!
Will
you
take Ezekiel 's warn–
ing seriously? o
The
PLAIN TRUTH