Basic HTML Version
is to place before him a tile, and
trace upon it the city of Jerusa–
lem, and lay siege against it. The
war pictured was against Jerusa–
lem, capital of Judah. But "this"
(verse 3) "shall be a sign to the
house of Israel." Then follows the
well-known key to the "day for a
year" method of reckoning
prophecy.
Continue chapter 5: "For,"
comes the warning message from
the Eterna!, "thereof shall a tire
come forth into all the house of
Israel" (verse 4). Notice, this is
to portray vividly a warning of
sorne FUTURE destruction upon
the House of Israel! Not upon
Judah,
alr~ady
largely conquered
by Nebuchadnezzar. But upon
Israel- the ten-tribed nation who
had gone into its first and original
captivity 130 long years befare!
The warning is not of the captivi–
ty already so far back in history.
It
says "thereof shall a tire COME"
upon Israel!
It
is a prophecy relat–
ing to a FUTURE destruction and
captivity.
No such destruction and cap–
tivity has ever
yet
come to the
House of Israel since this was
written. Therefore it is still in the
future- IN QUR TIME.
lt
is a
warning to Britain and Ameri–
ca-NOW!
A Captivity Yet Future
Notice more of this warning:
"A third part of thee [Ameri–
ca-Britain] shall die with the pes–
tilence, and with famine shall
they be consumed in the midst of
thee: and a third part shall fall by
tbe sword round about thee; and I
will scatter a third part into all
the winds [in captivity being
removed from our own land and
scattered over the world] ... "
(verse 12).
Coming to chapter 6, the local
scene of the vision shifts to the
mountainous land of ancient
Israel, in the Middle East--but
the message is for AMERICA ANO
BRlTAIN, today.
Will we heed it? God help us
to wake up!
Listen: "Behold 1, even
1,"
says
the Eterna! God (verse 3), "will
bring a sword [invasion] upon you,
and 1 will destroy your high
April 1981
places. ... And
1
will lay the dead
careases of the children of ISRAEL
befare their idols; and
1
will scatter
your bones round about your
altars. In all your dwellingplaces
the cities
sha/1 be laid waste
[nu–
clear bombing] .... And ye shall
know that
1
am the Lord" (verses
5-7).
Just a small remnant shall
escape and be spared (verse 8).
These are described in Luke
21:36.
Continue: "Thus saith the
Lord God.... Alas for all the evil
abominations of [not Judah, but]
the bouse of Israel! for they shall
[not
did,
in the captivity 130
years befare Ezekiel wrote, but
shall]
fall by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence"
(verse 11).
The Time ls Yet Future
This is not a popular message.
You probably have never heard it
before. The preachers and teach–
ers of prophecy almost unani–
mously will rise up to deny this
warning message-to apply it to a
different time or people. But the
warning is from the Eterna! God,
and it is sure!
The reader will do
well to heed.
Notice the time. It's impor–
tant.
"All hands shall be feeble, and
all knees shall be weak as water"
(chapter 7, verse 17) . "Howl ye;
for the day of the Lord is at
hand.... Therefore shall all
hands be faint, and every man's
heart shall melt: and they shall be
afraid ..." (Isaiah 13:6-8). Plain–
Iy, the TIME is the "Day of the
Lord"-yet in
the immediate
future!
Continue: "They shall cast
their silver into the streets, and
their gold shall be removed: their
silver and their gold shall not be
able to deliver them in the day of
the WRATH OF THE LORD..."
(Ezekiel 7: 19) . . Now compare
that with Zephaniah 1:14-15, 17-
18: "The great day of the Lord is
near.... That day is a -day of
wrath.... And
1
[the Eterna!]
will bring distress upon
men.... Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver
them in the day of the Lord's
wrath.. . ." 8oth are speaking of
the same time-a time shortly
ahead of us now, in this present
generation!
"Wherefore," continues verse
24 (Ezekiel 7),
"1
will bring the
worst of the heathen, and they
shall possess their houses: and
1
will also make the pomp of the
strong to cease.... DESTRUCTION
cometh; and they shall seek
peace, and there shall be
none ... then shall they seek a
vision of the prophet; but the law
shall perish from the priest"
(verses 25-26).
Yes, when this comes, our
people finally will cry out for a
true prophet or minister of the
Eterna! God-but it will be too
late! For then shall have come the
time spoken of by the prophet
Amos, when there shall be a FAM–
INE OF hearing the words of the
Eternal- (Amos 8:11)- an end
of true Gospel preaching. Al–
ready the people and their paid
ministers have turned their eyes
and ears from God's law.
Notice chapter 11 of Ezekiel's
prophecy .
It
is a message
addressed to the House of
ISRAEL (verse 5) . " ...
1
will
bring a sword upon you, saith
the Lord God. And
1
will bring
you out of the midst thereof,
and deliver you into the hands
of strangers, and will execute
judgments among you. Ye shall
fall by the sword . . ." (verses 8-
10) . WHEN?
lt
is future from
the time Ezekiel wrote, and it
has not yet happened since then.
GOD SA
YS
IT WILL HAPPEN!
Chapter .12, verse 1 1:
" ... they shall remove and go
into captivity."
lt
is yet future–
and it is the House of Israel.
Not Judah.
When? "And they shall know
1
am the Lord, when
1
shall scatter
them among the nations, and dis–
perse them in the countries"
(verse 15). The expression "They
shall know that 1 am the Lord" is
used repeatedly through the book
of Ezekiel-always referring to
the time of the Second Coming of
Christ, and lsrael's final restora–
tion back to her original land.
Many prophecies show that the
modero nations descended from
19