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ancient Israel are to be scattered
in this latter-day capt ivity
when
Christ comes to restare them
back to that land .
People Wo n ' t Belleve lt
Always the true prophets and
ministers of God have s tood
almost alone and opposed by the
overwhelming majority in Israel.
That is ls rael's history of old.
It
is
true today.
The 13th chapter shows the
declaration of the popular minis–
try of this day in Israe l- in
Amer ica and Britain.
"Son of man , prophesy against
the prophets of Israel. ... Woe
unto the foo lish prophets, that
follow their own spirit, and have
seen nothing! O Israel, thy proph–
ets are like the foxes in the des–
erts.
Y
e have not gone up into the
gaps, neither made up the hedge
for the house of Is rael to stand in
the battle in the day of the Lord"
(verses 2-5). lt is speaking of the
soon-comin g "Day of the
Lord"- not sorne ancient event!
... .. t hey have sed uced my
people, saying, Peace; and there
was no peace ..." (verse 1
O).
Our nations were not chosen
for special favors . We were chos–
en for a service and righteous life
we have failed' to perform. Every
time Israel of old disobeyed God,
departed from his laws and ways
and went into the pagan customs
(as we have done today, actually
deceiving ourselves by calling
thosc customs "Christian"), they
were invaded and conquered. Has
God changed?
Ezekiel catalogs our sins-ou r
customs and ways that seem right
in
our
eyes but which are con–
trary to God's laws and an abom–
ination in his sight. Sorne of them
he mentions in the 8th chapter.
In chapter 22: " Thou hast
despised mine holy things, and
hast profaned my sabbaths," says
the Eterna! (verse 8). " ... thou
hast taken usury and increase,
and thou hast greedily gained of
thy neighbours by extortion, and
hast forgotten me, saith the
Lord.... And 1 will [not did, but
wi/1]
scatter thee among the hea–
then, and d isperse thee in the
countries, and will consume thy
20
filthiness out of thee" (verses 12,
15).
"Her priests [prophetically
speaking of modero Israel] have
violated my law, and have pro–
faned mine holy things: they have
put no difference between the
holy and profane, nei ther have
they shewed difference between
the unclean and the clean [Lev.
11], and have hid their eyes from
my sabbaths, and 1 am profaned
among them" (verse 26). Our
people today can't see where
these things make any difference.
But Ezekiel says the preachers
have deceived the people, and led
them ast ray. They have condoned
all these things, unti l the people
have lost God's pure TRUTH!
At this point, Ezekiel digrcsses
through eigh t chapters, 25
through 32, to prophesy against a
number of foreign gentile nations
who have come in direct contact
with Israel. In Ezekiel 33:11, the
prophet returns to pleading with
the House of Israel. " Turn ye,
turn ye," God pleads, "from your
evil ways; for why will ye die, O
house of Israel?" Here, too, Eze–
kiel is again set a watchman to
WARN fsrael-AMERICA ANO
BRITAIN TOOAY-at the time
when this prophesied foreign
sword is coming. Ezekiel wrote
the message- but it remains for
us to whom God has revealed it
today to actually shout and pro–
claim it to the people. God help
us to be faithful in this solemn
and grave commission!
In the 34th chapter, God tells
him to prophesy against the min–
isters of our land. They have fed
themselves and not the n ocks.
They have preached what people
wanted to hear ( 11 Timothy 4:3-
4) in order to get their salaries.
The Coming o f Ch ri st!
And now the Eterna! inspires the
prophet to come to the solution.
"Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, 1 am against the shep–
herds; and 1 will require my flock
at their hand, and cause them to
cease from feeding the flock....
Behold 1, even 1, will both search
my sheep, and seek them
out. ... and will deliver them out
of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark
day (the DAY OF THE LORD-yet
future]. And 1 will .. . gather
them from the countries, and will
bring them to their own land, and
feed them [spiritual food] upon
the mountains of Is rael by the
rivers, and in all the inhabited
places of the country" (Ezekiel
34:10- 13).
Christ himself-for he is the
Eternal-shall come and rescue
our people, not only from the
coming captivity and dispersion,
but from the false Babylonish
teachings that have been palmed
off to our people cloaked as
"Christianity." He will then set
his hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of his people
Israel ( lsaiah 11: 11). The spiri–
tual blindness shall then be
removed, and all Israel shall be
saved! (See Romans 11 :25-26.)
The kingdom of God shall be
established. Men shall be tired of
their own ways, and seek God's
ways-and his law shall go forth
of Zion (Micah 4:2-3). And the
nations shall find PEACE!
1n the 36th chapter, the Eter–
na) addresses the House of Israel:
" Prophesy unto the mountains of
Is rael. ... Thus saith the Lord
God to the mountains, and to the
hills, to the rivers, and to the val–
leys, to the desolate wastes, and to
the cities that are forsaken.
... But ye, O mountains of Israel,
ye sha ll shoot forth yo u r
branches, and yield your fruit to
my people of Israel; for they are
at hand to come... . And 1 will
multiply men upon you, all the
house of Israel, even all of it: and
the cities shall be inhabited, and
the wastes shall be bui lded: and 1
will multiply upon you man and
beast ..." (verses 1, 4, 8, 10-
11 ).
Y
es, the House of Israel is pie–
tu red returning to its original
land,
not
from a condition of
wealth and prosperity from Brit–
ain and America- not in the posi–
tion of a people victorious in a
great world war-but as a slave
and captive people, scattered
through the nations of the world.
All prophecies picturing this res–
cue and regathering of Israel at
Christ's coming give us the same
The
PLAIN TRUTH