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prophetic picture. Wh y be
blinded to the truth?
Both Houses of Israel United
In chapter 37, the first part pic–
tures the "valley of dry bones."
This represents (verse 11), the
whole House of lsrael-including
Judah.
lt
has a dual significance.
lt pictures the rebirth and resur–
rection of Israel
as a nation,
from
captivity, dispersion and slavery.
lt
pictures, too, the literal bodi–
ly resurrection of the individual
who has long since died, after
which the knowledge of the
truth- spir i tual knowledge–
shall be revealed, and he shall be
converted, and God's Spirit shall
enter within, and he shall be
saved. (For more information on
this vital point in God's Master
Plan, write for our free article,
" ls This the Only Day of Salva–
tion ?" )
Beginning with the 15th verse,
the illustration of the two sticks
shows the two houses, or nations,
Israel and J udah, being once
more united, under Christ at his
Second Coming, in the land of
Israel.
" ... Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold,
1
will take the children of
Israel [from the British Isles and
America- from a position of
wealth and affluence as recent
victors in the world war? No,
but] from among the heathen,
whither they be gone, and will
gather them on every side, and
bring them into their own land:
and
1
will make them one nation
in the land upon the mountains of
Israel; and one king shall be king
to them all : and they shall be no
more two nat ions, neither shall
they be divided into two king–
doms any more at all: neither
shall they defile themselves any
more with their idols, nor with
their detestable things, nor with
any of their transgressions....
And they shall dwell in the land
that 1 have given unto Jacob my
servant. wherein you r fathers
have dwelt ... they, and their
children, and their chi ldren's
children
for ever.
...
Moreover
1
will make a covenant of peace
with them; it shall be an EVER–
LASTJNG COVENANT ..."-the
April 1981
NEW COVENANT (verses 21-23,
25-26).
And Now Comes Gog
Notice, now the story Aow- the
time sequence: The prophet has
carried us through the sins of his
people, the coming invasion and
captivity and dispersion, and the
coming of Christ as deliverer to
restare the for tunes of Israel. We
have come to the t ime when both
the Houses of Israel and Judah
shall be reunited into one nation,
rescued from captivity and dis–
persion and regathered again in
their land, once again made pros–
perous, having learned our lesson,
now living God' s way, under his
laws, enjoying his richest bless–
ings, both material and spi ritual!
And now we come to chapter
38. This chapter finds Israel
restored in her land- "the land
that is brought back from the
sword" (verse 8). We find Israel
now at rest, dwelling safely, total–
ly unprepared for war- having
"neit her bars nor gates" (verse
11), in the desolate places of the
land of Israel, now inhabited
(verse 12)- yes, inhabited (same
verse) by the people who are once
again restored to great material
prosperity-"which have gotten
cattle and goods, that dwell in the
midst of the land."
Notice it!
This prophecy does not picture
the British Isles and America. lt
pictures the Holy Land. lt pic–
tures all twelve tribes having been
taken there from a dispersion and
captivity and slavery, gathered
out of the nations where we had
been scattered, now once again
rich and increased with goods.
Notice it: the time of th is
prophecy is after- not befare,
but AFTER the Second Coming of
Christ-after the great Deliverer
has come and rescued our people
and restored us to the land of
lsrael-AFTER Israel and Judah
are reunited. Certainly the "latter
years" (verse 8).
The place of this battle is not
Britai n or America- it is the
Holy Land. " ... thou shalt come
into the land that is brought back
from the sword, and is gathered
out of many people, against the
mountains of Israel, which have
been always waste [or "once a
perpetua] waste"- Moffatt trans–
lation]" (verse 8). The "moun–
tains of Israel" is an expression
used all through the book of
Ezekiel, and always refers to the
l iteral mountainous la nd of
ancient Israel.
Our people shall have regained
so much wealth that Gog and
allies shall come to "take a spoil "
(verse 13), "to carry away silver
and gold, to take away cattle and
goods, to take a great spoil."
Chrlst's Relgn Contested
But this very fact- that this inva–
sion will not come until
after
the
Second Coming of Christ- will
seem preposterous to many, at
first thought.
That is because we have been
accustomed merely to assume
things that are not true. We have
blindly assumed that when Christ
comes, there will be no opposition.
Every person and power on ear th,
we have thought, wi ll simply submit
meekly and instantly to him and his
power. But that is not true!
The gentile nations under–
standably shall not submit unt il
forced to. The final restoration of
the Roman Empire shall be sub–
dued and conquered at a battle
commonly called "Armageddon."
But the populous nations of Eur–
asia who know not God or Christ,
shall sti ll have to be brought to
submission.
Not Prevlously Held Accountable
All nat ions, except those
spri nging from ancient Israel ,
have been cut off from God, by
God's own decree, since the time
of Adam and Eve. These nations
are not now being judged.
Jesus Christ emphasized this
when he said, " No mancan come
to me, except the Father ... draw
him ... " (John 6:44). Other
nations have never known much if
anything about God. In ancient
Egypt they worshiped their ficti–
tious gods. The ancient Greeks
and Romans and the peoples of
Asia, including Russia, had their
idol gods.
They had no salvation-but
(Continued on page 26)
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