|
Ezekiel Chapter 38
Ezekiel 38 clearly depicts more than
just an attack upon the nation of Israel in the last days, but it also depicts
an attack upon the United States. In verses 1 thru 9 there is a clear
description of an attack upon the nation of Israel. Persia {Iran}, which is one
of the nations mentioned here in this attack upon Israel, has been in the news lately, as it appears we are about to launch an attack
upon Iran. This attack upon
Iran could be the catalyst to begin this war.
1- And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2- Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3- And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,
the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4- And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will
bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and
shields, all of them handling swords:
5-Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and
helmet:
6-Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north
quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7-Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy
company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8-After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years 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: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they
shall dwell safely all of them.
9-Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud
to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
Verse 10 of Ezekiel 38 foretells of another
attack that will begin at the same time as the verse states that:
38-10saith the
Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come
into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
Verse 10 is telling us that at the same time they are attacking Israel, an evil
thought will come into their minds. It also says." I will go into the land of
unwalled villages." Israel is no longer a land on unwalled villages. For several
years now a security wall has been under construction to separate the Israelis
from the Palestinians. This cannot be speaking of the nation of Israel in verse
11, but her ally, America. An attack upon Israel will surely necessitate an
attack upon America before America can retaliate against those who are launching
an attack upon Israel.
38:11-and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;
I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them
dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
38:12-to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the
desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are
gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that
dwell in the midst of the land.
Verse 13 depicts the nations out of which
America was gathered to create
this nation of America. Young lions here clearly depicts America, as the Lion is
the symbol of England out of which the nation of America was
formed.
38:13-Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young
lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast
thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold,
to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
38:14-Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou
not know it?
Verse 15 is a clear depiction of Russia as
she is definitely to the North of not only America, but Israel.
38:15-And thou shalt come from thy
place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them
riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
38:16-And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to
cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee
against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified
in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
38:17-Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old
time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days
many years that I would bring thee against them?
38:18-And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up
in my face.
38:19-For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken,
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
38:20-So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places
shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
38:21-And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my
mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his
brother.
38:22-And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I
will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are
with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
38:23-Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be
known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall
know that I am the LORD.
The time for all of these prophecies to come to pass is near. May we all be
rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ that these days of darkness will not catch
us unaware. The hour of the Great Tribulation is here. For those who have been
told that they will escape those things, you need to go back and search the Word
for yourself. Isaiah 26: 20 and 21 tells us that we must be prepared to hide
ourselves during the time of tribulation that is coming upon the earth.
26:20 -Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the
indignation be overpast.
26:21-For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose
her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Noah was not taken off the earth during the
first destruction of the earth by the flood, but he was kept in an Ark of safety
during the time that the earth was destroyed the first time. It will be the same
in this day of great tribulation that is coming upon the earth.
Proverbs 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not
inhabit the earth. St, John Ch. 17 Jesus
prayed:
5.- I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil.
Jesus also said in Matthew Chapter 24: 21-22
21-For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22- And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
If the rapture has occurred before the time
of great tribulation then who are the ELECT here for whom the days will be
shortened ? It is clear that the ELECT of God are still on the earth during the
time when there will be such great loss of life that only a very few will be
saved alive out of it.
The scripture most used to come up with
the pre-trib rapture doctrine is found in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 verses 51 and
52.
15:51-Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed,
15:52 -In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed.
Verse 15 tells us when this event of the
resurrection occurs. It is at the last trump or the seventh trumpet of
Revelations. The seventh trumpet of Revelations is at the end of the
tribulation. The modern day church of Jesus Christ has been lied to by this
Apostate escapism doctrine of the church being taken off the earth before the
great tribulation. They are going to be like sheep without a shepherd when that
day arrives and they realize they have been lied to by their pastors, who
themselves have been taught this modern day teaching of a rapture before
tribulation.
The great apostle Paul prayed in
Acts 14:22 confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them
to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into
the kingdom of God.
Deuteronomy Chapter 4 verse 30 tells of the
latter days when we will be in tribulation.
4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even
in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto
his voice;
The time of great tribualtion is at the door and the multitudes of God's
precious people are not ready for that day, and are expecting to escape from it
through the rapture. I would like to conclude this by adding a page from my
website at www.kingdomoflight.org.
Home Page
My E-mail answer to a friend who asked the question, "What are your beliefs on
the Rapture?"
http://Subj: Re: A QUESTION FOR YOU.....
Date: 3/1/2003 9:06:12 PM Central Standard Time
From: Kingdomlight7
To: @network56.com
Hi Judy,
I will answer your question with scripture.
Proverbs
10:30The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not
inhabit the earth.
And if that is not enough let's look at the words of Jesus:
St. John 17
15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil.
Then go to Matthew Ch. 24
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into
the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also
the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the
other left.
People want to use verse 40 and 41 as being
those taken in the rapture. Verse 39 tells us that it would be as in the days of
Noah. It is the wicked who were taken away. Now let's go to verse 21 For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved:
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Who are the ELECT Jesus is speaking of here if the Church has been raptured out?
Verse 29 tells us that it will be immediately after the tribulation of those
days. Verse 31 tells us that He will send His Angels to gather his Elect.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.
Every one of Jesus deciples died horrible martys deaths. Why does this church in
the earth today think that they will not have to suffer for the Name of Christ.
The early Church in Acts recognized that it
would be through much tribulation that we would enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Acts 14;22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue
in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of God.
Corrie Ten Boon has been warning the Christians for years to prepare for
tribulation.
CORRIE TEN BOOM TELLS OF THE CHINESE CHURCH BEING UNWARNED AND ILL-PREPARED FOR
THE PERSECUTIONS THAT BEGAN IN 1949 UNDER MAO TSE TUNG'S RED GUARDS. SHE ALSO
WARNS THAT TODAY'S POPULAR FALSE TEACHERS OF A PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE ARE
SIMILARLY FAILING TO PREPARE WESTERN CHRISTIANS FOR THE COMING TRIBULATION.
Don't worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated. Corrie Ten
Boom was a Dutch survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps, and a lifelong
missionary. Corrie was a believer in facing tribulation. She was one of the many
people who were persecuted in concentration camps during the World War II. Her
family was murdered before her eyes, but though her life was threatened, God led
her through that terrible time. She lived to testify all over the world of how
God brought her out of that time of trouble. In an interview titled "Prepared
for the Coming Tribulation", she shared the following plea for the saints to
prepare for their faith to be tested. It serves today as a timely warning to the
comfortable and complacent western church as it approaches the threshold of the
endtime drama. Here is her exhortation, to us, the endtime saints, from a letter
she wrote in 1974. We might entitle this message, -
AN EXHORTATION TO SPIRITUAL PREPAREDNESS FOR TRIBULATION AND FOR THE COMING
TRIALS OF OUR FAITH IN CHRIST.
- BY CORRIE TEN BOOM. "The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great
Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great
work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of
mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this
because they are overcomers. Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are
representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence
here, things will change. My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration
camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred
of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room
built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two
representatives of Heaven in that room. We may have been the Lord's only
representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there,
things changed. Jesus said, "In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world." We too, are to be overcomers“ bringing
the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate. Sometimes I get
frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the
tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell
you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can
now come to shouting "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" for I have found where it is
written that Jesus said, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I
will be His God, and he shall be My son." This is the future and hope of this
world. Not that the world will survive“ but that we shall be overcomers in the
midst of a dying world. Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God
would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick. "Yes, the Lord will heal me,", Betsy
said with confidence. She died the next day and I could not understand it. They
laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the
women who died that day. It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God
had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy's death, today I am traveling
all over the world telling people about Jesus. There are some among us teaching
there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all
this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the
latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on
across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already
suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told that they
would be" raptured." Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians
were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly,
"We have failed.
We should have made the people strong for persecution rather than telling them
Jesus would come first.
Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution,
how to stand when the tribulation comes,“ to stand and not faint."
I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it
is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the
tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world
has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it.
We are next. Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus' sake, and since
I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think,
"Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation." Then I write it down and learn
it by heart. When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty
percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying,
"Nothing could be any worse than today." But we would find the next day was even
worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me
great hope and joy.
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of
glory and of God resteth upon you;
on their part evil is spoken of,
but on your part He is glorified."
(I Peter 3:14)
I found myself saying, "Hallelujah! Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!"
In America, the churches sing, "Let the congregation escape tribulation", but in
China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more
than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like
that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations.
But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in
our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many
members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment,
yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.
Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come
into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to
come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and
that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with
other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the
district were being systematically murdered. The fourth day I was to speak in a
little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All
during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, "Will
this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?"
The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless
windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told
them a story out of my childhood. "When I was a little girl, " I said, "I went
to my father and said,
"Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus
Christ."
"Tell me," said Father,
"When you take a train trip to Amsterdam,
when do I give you the money for the ticket?
Three weeks before?" "No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just
before we get on the train." "That is right," my father said, "and so it is with
God's strength.
Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for
Jesus Christ.
He will supply all you need“ just in time¦" My African friends were nodding and
smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people
began singing,
" In the sweet, by and by,
we shall meet on that beautiful shore."
Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. I heard
later that the other half was killed some months ago. But I must tell you
something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for
unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and
discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those
who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life. How can we get
ready for the persecution? First we need to feed on the word of God, digest it,
make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as
we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work
in our lives. Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing
Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God. We must
be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is
absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under
the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each
of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will
never be able to stand in the tribulation without it. In the coming persecution
we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other. But we must not
wait until the tribulation comes before starting. The fruit of the Spirit should
be the dominant force of every Christian's life. Many are fearful of the coming
tribulation, they want to run. I, too, am a little bit afraid when I think that
after all my eighty years, including the horrible nazi concentration camp, that
I might have to go through the tribulation also. But then I read the Bible and I
am glad. When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I
were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy
Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us
through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes.
Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For
seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me,
or let me down.
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him", for I know that to all who overcome,
He shall give the crown of life.
Hallelujah! -Corrie Ten Boom-1974 I got this letter from the Jesus is Lord
website who in turn got it from the Liberty To The Captives Website who in turn
got it from the Not Deceived Message Board This is an excellent site that is
well worth visiting.
Judy I hope this answers your question. It
is going to take great persecution to wake up the sleeping church in America.
Christians in other countries have been martyed by the multiplied millions and
are still suffering greatly for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Your Sister in Christ,
Sylvia
I am sorry to report that I have not received a response from my friend to this
E-mail.
11 Timothy 4:3--For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears;
4:4--And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables.
|