vol.23 issue no.3 july 2010 - bible magazine - search … · looks at an earth in upheaval which is...

Vol.23 Issue No.3 July 2010

Vol.23 No.3.:Layout 1 5/30/10 11:00 PM

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17

WRITTEN OVER 100 YEARS AGO

John Thomas: The nations before the advent... PAGE 3

BACKGROUND HISTORY

PROPHECY FULFILLING

REGULAR FEATURES

Prophecy Days & Events PAGE 5

BACK PAGE FEATURE The spider & its silky web

Quotables: from various writers PAGE 29

“...upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the

haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shallbe exalted in that day... In that day a man shall cast his idols of

silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one forhimself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.”

Isaiah 2:16-20.

In the days of Jesus,some in Jerusalem said:

“Do the rulers knowindeed that this is the

very Christ?” (John7:26), from the evidence

we should know also!

From volcanoeruptions to

earthquakes Ron Kiddlooks at an earth in

upheaval which iswhat Scripture foretold

EDITORIAL

“Behold I Come as a Thief”- a time to buy white raiment so thatwe might be suitably clothed and ready for inspection PAGE 30

July 2010 Vol. 23. Issue No.3A WITNESS OF BIBLE TRUTH FOR OUR TIMES

In his Milestones Update,Don Pearce brings to ournotice the impact that theeuro currency crisis couldhave on Britain and Europe.

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In this edition of the MILESTONES UPDATE by Don Pearcewe learn of the fast changing scene in current affairs and of theirrelevance to Bible prophecy. PAGE 14

Ron Kidd puts the spotlight on a significant sign of our times:earthquakes, tsunamis and volcano eruptions. PAGE 24

Food For Thought PAGE 13

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A new Government in Britain faces a Europe thathas major currency problems - problems that stemfrom the social doctrines of the Catholic Church.

As many christians today cannot put up a convincing case for themessiahship of Jesus, David Billington considers THE MESSIAHOF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES showing that Jesus is indeed theChrist. This was what the apostles taught. PAGE 6

COVER 18

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“...upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;the sea and the waves roaring” Luke 21:25.

Art Bull gives an exposition of Isaiah 14 identifying Lucifer asthe king of Babylon, and not a fallen angel devil. PAGE 32

Disarming Israel: Pressure on Israel’s nuclear force. PAGE 29

DOCTRINE

Ken Loveridge describes how Herod the Great came to power,setting the scene for the period of the gospels. PAGE 34

Complementing the edition of Milestones (page 14) PaulBillington considers the backgound to Britain’s relations withCatholic Europe in light of the economic crisis. PAGE 18

WRITTEN OVER 150 YEARS AGO:

“PUBLIC OPINION”

By John Thomas

he day of the LORD of hosts shall be uponall the high mountains, and upon all thehills that are lifted up, And upon everyhigh tower, and upon every fenced wall,

And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon allpleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shallbe bowed down, and the haughtiness of menshall be made low: and THE LORD ALONE SHALL

BE EXALTED IN THAT DAY. And the idols He shallutterly abolish. And they shall go into the holesof the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, forfear of the LORD, and for the glory of HisMajesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly theearth (Isaiah 2:14-19).

2. There is a Vail spread over all nations:—

“And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY, thatthe LORD shall punish the host of the High Oneson High, and the Kings of the Earth upon theearth. Then the moon shall be confounded, andthe sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shallreign in MOUNT ZION, and in JERUSALEM, andbefore his ancients gloriously... And in thismountain (of Zion) shall the LORD of hostsmake a feast of fat things unto all people. AndHe will destroy IN THIS MOUNTAIN the face of thecovering cast over ALL people, and THE VAILTHAT IS SPREAD OVER ALL NATIONS. He willswallow up death in victory” (Isaiah 24:21, 23;25:6, 8).

“I, Jehovah, have called thee (Messiah) inrighteousness, and will hold thy hand, and willkeep Thee, and give thee for a Covenant (beritha purification sacrifice) of the People, for aLight of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes”etc. (Isaiah 42:6, 7).

“They have no knowledge that set up thewood of their graven image, and pray unto agod that cannot save (Romanists and Pagans:) ...Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends ofthe earth: for I am God, and there is none else.I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out ofmy mouth in righteousness, and shall not return,That unto Me every knee shall bow, everytongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:20-23).

“ Arise (O Jerusalem) and shine; for thyLight, (Messiah) is come, and the glory of theLORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, thedarkness shall cover the earth, and grossdarkness the people: but the LORD shall ariseupon Thee, and His Glory shall be seen uponthee. And the Gentiles (till then in “gross

darkness,”) shall come to thy light, and Kings tothe brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:1-3).

“The Lord WILL cause righteousness andpraise to spring forth before all the nations”(Isaaiah 61:11). Until he do so the reverse is theircondition. And because of their excessivevileness, he says:

“I will tread them in mine anger, and tramplethem in my fury, and their blood shall besprinkled on my garments, and I will stain all myraiment. For the day of vengeance is in mineheart, and the year of my redeemed is come”(Isaiah 63:3, 6).

“Thou, O Lord, never barest rule over them(the nations); they were not called by thy name.Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, thatthou wouldest come down, that the Mountains(Kingdoms, States and Empires) might flowdown at thy presence, as when the melting fireburneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, tomake thy Name known to thine adversaries, thatthe Nations may tremble at thy presence! (Isaiah63:19; 64:1-2).

“At that time they shall call Jerusalem theThrone of the LORD; and ALL the nations shallbe gathered unto it, (as the seat of government)

to the Name of the LORD (Jesus), to Jerusalem:neither shall they walk ANY MORE after theImagination of their Evil Heart” (Jer. 3:17).

“According to the days of thy coming outof the Land of Egypt will I shew unto himmarvellous things. The Nations shall see andbe confounded at all their might: they shall laytheir hand upon their mouth, their ears shall bedeaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent,they shall move out of their holes like wormsof the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD

our (not their) God, and shall fear because ofThee” (Micah 7:15-17).

“My determination is,” saith the Lord, “togather the Nations, that I may assemble theKingdoms, to pour upon them mineindignation, even all my fierce anger, for all theearth shall be devoured with the fire of myjealousy. For then will I turn to the people A

PURE LANGUAGE, that they may all call upon thename of the Lord, to serve him WITH ONE

CONSENT” (ZEPH. 3:8). Anterior to this event,their spiritual language is mere confusion andimpurity; and instead of calling on the Lord’sAnointed with unanimity, they are as dividedas there are forms of superstition in the world.

“Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in thevanity of their mind, having the understandingdarkened, being alienated from the Life of Godthrough the ignorance that is in them, becauseof the blindness of their heart: who being pastfeeling have given themselves over untolasciviousness, to work all uncleanness withgreediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19).

“Because they received not the love of thetruth, that they might be saved; for this causeGod shall send them STRONG DELUSION,THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE: That they allmight be condemned who believed not THETRUTH, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”(2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

In the seventeenth chapter of Revelation isa prophecy concerning “the Great City whichsits on Seven Hills,” and which in the days ofthe Apostle John, “reigned over the Kings ofthe Earth.” Is any body so ignorant as not toknow, that this city is ROME? If there be then“let him not continue to be ignorant” still; fornot to know this is next to being a duncewithout remedy. In John’s day Rome waspagan; but his prophecy has reference to her,when she should be PAPAL. Papal Rome, then,is very appropriately styled THE GREAT

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THE BIBLE MAGAZINE Vol. 23 ISSUE No.3

CONDITION OF THE NATIONS ANTERIOR TO THE SECOND ADVENT, OR“THE DAY OF THE LORD OF HOSTS”

From The Herald of The Future Age 1848

“Public øpinion is Everything” Abraham Lincoln

John Thomas did not agree!


HARLOT; and because of the corruption andconfusion she has originated, she is termed“Babylon the Great;” and moreover, seeing thatshe has given birth to so many forms ofsuperstition, papal and protestant, she is calledthe “Mother of Harlots and abominations of theEarth.” Her motto is “Mystery,” for she delightsin deeds of darkness; and once miscribed theword upon the tiara of her Imperial image;therefore also her name is Mystery. The spirit ofGod represents her as a Drunken Harlot—drunk with the blood she has caused to be shedof the saints and witnesses of Jesus. Thisbeastly murderess not content with gettingdrunk herself set to work to intoxicate all thathad any thing to do with her. Hence it is written,

“The inhabitants of the Earth have beenmade drunk with the wine of her fornication(verse 2). And “again, ALL Nations have drunkof the wine of the wrath of her fornication(spiritual abomination and idolatries;) and theKings of the Earth” also (18:3), and by hersorceries were all nations deceived (verse 23).

This Mother of Harlots is to continue tillshe is 1260; and then like a great millstone from

aloft plunging into the sea, she is to sink downwith violence into the molten flood beneath her,and thenceforth “to be found NO MORE at all(verse 21).

It is worthy of remark here, that a short timeanterior to this “consummation so devoutly tobe wished” by the “Heirs of the Kingdom,” theaffairs of the Drunken Harlot becomeremarkably prosperous, and her prospectsexceedingly flattering. Hence she is represented

as “saying in her heart I SIT A QUEEN AND AM

NO WIDOW, AND SHALL SEE NO SORROW.” Shedraws the eyes of all the nations to her, as aCity, whose sovereignty is again shining forthwith its ancient lustre, and, under the auspicesof the Eighth Head, Imperial life her oldCaesarian sovereigns is entering upon a newand brilliant era of light and progress inharmony with the spirit of the age! Vain,illusory expectations of a deceived and drunkenworld! With what unerring truth the apostlesaid, “they that dwell on the earth shall admire(thaumazontai) whose names were not writtenin the Book of Life from the foundation of theWorld.” They will admire and praise theImperial Head of the Harlot City. They voteaddresses his Image from the WesternHemisphere; pay flattering compliments to hisofficials in the Land of the Pilgrims; give earto his syren sorceries in Legislative Halls; andshout vivas to “His Holiness” in the doomedcities of his domain! How little do they know,that the desolation of the Harlot is nigh even atthe doors! The sign of her eternal overthrow isthe fitful flashing of her expiring wick—a littlebrightening of her affairs, precursory to the“plagues which shall come in one day, death,and mourning and famine;” when “she shall beutterly burned with fire.” Reader, be upon yourguard, for the end is near.

In conclusion. When we contemplate theNations, all of them, by the “sure word ofprophecy,” we behold them, haughty, proudand idolatrous; their minds veiled with acovering of gross darkness; without divineknowledge; unrighteous; walking after theimagination of an evil heart; deaf, of vainminds; darkened understandings; alienatedthrough ignorance from the life of God; pastfeeling; strongly deluded, believing a lie; anddrunk with the intoxicating sorceries of thescarlet-robed, adulterous, and lascivious“Queen.” Such is the scripture delineation ofthose who manufacture “PUBLIC OPINION!” Inview of this, is the doctrine of Jesus, strange,that “that which is highly esteemed among menis abomination in the sight of God;” or that ofPaul, that if he “pleased men, he should not bethe servant of Christ.” Can man advocate thetruth of God, and continue in harmony withPublic Opinion? Impossible! With suchopinion there must be war even untodeath.

The spirit deals in the choicest kinds ofmerchandise, which he offers to the public uponthe most advntageous terms. His businessadvertisment is conceived in the most liberalspirit, and runs thus: “Ho! every one thatthirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hathno money: come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buywine and milk without money and withoutprice.” He then proceeds to expostulate withpeople for wasting their means in buying meresawdust of dishonest bakers, who sell it to themfor bread. “Wherefore,” saith he, “do ye spend

money for that which is not bread? and your laborfor that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligentlyunto me, and eat ye good (bread), and let yoursoul delight itself in fatness. incline your ear, andcome unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; andI will cut off to you the covenant of the hiddenperiod (or future age), the sure mercies ofDavid”—Isaiah 55:1-3. In this advertisement, thearticle offered for sale is the truth—the goodthings covenanted to David; concerning which hesaith to men, “Buy the truth and sell it not; alsowisdom, and instruction, and understanding”—

Proverbs 23:23: that is, buy these four things;but when you have acquired them, see that youdo not part with them for any consideration...

I say, it has been liberally offered for saleand extensively purchased; but it is not so now.A rival establishment has been opened,..professedly to sell the same goods; but insteadthey introduced a poisonous and intoxicatingsubstitute, which stole away the brains of allwho purchased it. The noxious compound,which causes ramollissement du cerveau, orsoftening of the brain, and rottenness of thebones, is apocalyptically styled, Babylonianwine of fornication—Revelation17:2-5.

SPIRITUAL FOOD: WHOLESOME & OTHERWISE!

No other religious leader has such a high profile with secular world leadersas does the pope of Rome: above at the U.N., below with President Obama


PROPHECY DAYS &EVENTS (God willing)

“Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thygates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God” Deut. 31:12.

ONTARIO WINTER BIBLE SCHOOL & CONFERENCE

REGISTRATION ON-LINE www.ontariowinterbibleschool.com OR BY PHONE: 519-690-0391

DECEMBER 25th through 31st, 2010

Leen Ritmeyer (Cardiff UK)The Power of Bible Places and their Lessons for Us

The fascinating lessons in Bible placessuch as Shechem, Bethabara, Mt.

Moriah etc. One can go through the lifeof Christ and realise that the location of

each event in his life had a powerfulsignificance for him and for us.

Teenage Session:Understanding the Names of God

Special Evening Session: Digging up Sodom

Tim Badger (Adelaide Australia)Separated for Service:

Learning from LeviFrom Genesis to Revelation, from the

Law of Moses to the Law of Christ, thelessons and principles of the Levites

echo again and again for God’s people.Through this tribe, with its own unique

history and responsibilities in Israel,God gives us key principles, warnings,

and encouragement for our owndiscipleship in His ecclesia.

Teenage Session:Lessons from Levi

THIS YEAR MAKE IT A FAMILY REUNION AROUND THE WORD OF GOD:THREE MAIN CLASSES EACH DAY - COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATION - SPECIAL EVENING PROGRAMMES

Saturday 21 August 2010Northlakes Community Hall Northlakes

Commencing 2:00pm & concluding at 7:45 pm

EUROPE IN BIBLE PROPHECYBro Andrew Dangerfield 2:00 pm-3:15

Afternoon Tea 3:15-3:45 pm

ISRAEL AT THE TIME OF THE ENDBro Jim Cowie 3:45 pm-5:00

Basket Tea 5:00-6:30 pm

THE REVELATION & LATTER DAY

PROPHECYBro Steven Hornhardt 6:30 pm-7:45

Please ring Bro Neville Bullock for registration on3886 0775 or email at [email protected]

Northern Prophecy Day 20103:00pm, Saturday, 30th October 2010, God Willing“We have also a more sure word of prophecy;

whereunto ye do well that ye take heed”

Paul Billington (Brantford ON)Studies in the Apocalypse:A Message for our Time

Getting to grips with the book ofRevelation, and tapping into the

excitement contained in the Lord’s lastmessage is a rewarding experience that

colours our entire outlook in the Truth. Itis not just a history lesson: it is also a

message for ecclesias - and for our time.Teenage Session:

The Revelation for Teenagers!Special Evening Session

BRANTFORD PROPHECY DAYOntario, Canada,

Saturday November 6th, 2010 at the Copetown Community Centre.

Speakers:Don Pearce (Rugby, UK)

Nicholas White (Pershore, UK)David Billington (Brantford, ON)

For programme & information contactGary Smith

[email protected]

CASTLEFORD CHRISTADELPHIAN HALLHartley Street, Castleford (off High Oxford St,)

Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 5DQSpeakers: Simon Collard (Cambridge)

Andrew White (Rugby)John Evans (Swansea)

Contact:Philip Jones. [email protected]

hen Jesus came to the well inSamaria and asked the Samaritanwoman for water, sheimmediately recognized him as aJew, saying, “How is it that thou,being a Jew, askest drink of me,which am a woman of Samaria?”

The Jesus of the New Testament scriptures wasJewish through and through—a stranger couldimmediately recognize him as such, far from themodern world’s portrayal of Jesus as a personthey would consider handsome, a tall white male,with the look of a movie star. Similarly theChristian churches have so distorted the work ofthe Messiah that it is barely recognizable. Amongother false doctrines, they teach that he existedbefore birth, was then born of Mary the mother ofGod and is part of a triune Godhead. It isexplained that he paid the price for our sins,dying instead of us. Then we are told that all weneed to do is accept him into our hearts and wewill be eternally saved, regardless of the life wesubsequently choose to follow.

The real Messiah and his work is so differentthan all of this. For this reason, it is a worthwhileexercise to consider the Messiah from the rootsof the Hebrew scriptures. Through them we willcome to appreciate the work of the true Messiahmuch more fully.

Moses the LawgiverMoses, the servant of God, is one of the great

personages of the Hebrew nation. Moses, whomGod used to effect the deliverance of his peoplefrom the iron furnace of Egypt, was the caringshepherd of the nation. In a way he was themidwife that brought God’s firstborn national soninto the world—even Israel, his firstborn nation(Exodus 4:22). Moses was a prophet(Deuteronomy 34:10), whom from within thatoffice performed many other roles, including: amediator (Exodus 24:2; Deuteronomy 5:5); alaw-giver, a king (Deuteronomy 33:4,5); a manof war (Exodus 14:25,26,31; 15:3); and a granterof inheritance in the land of Israel (Joshua 12:6;13:8; 22:4). At the end of the book ofDeuteronomy and the end of Moses’ inspiredwritings we find the divine epitaph concerningMoses the servant of Yahweh:

“And there arose not a prophet since in Israellike unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face toface, In all the signs and the wonders, whichthe LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt toPharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all hisland, And in all that mighty hand, and in allthe great terror which Moses showed in thesight of all Israel.”

Considering all this, it is quite incredible thatMoses, the great law-giver and redeemer of thetribes of Jacob, was unable to enter the land ofpromise under the umbrella of the law hedelivered to his nation (Deut. 4:21,22; 3:23–27).The lawgiver stood condemned and was unableto enter in at that time. His tragic failure hadoccurred at a moment of weakness, whileprovoked to anger by the murmuring masses. Arelaxing of self control in the heat of the moment

By David Billington BRANTFORD

caused him to utter words which were rash(Psalm 106:32–33 RSV); glory that should havebeen ascribed to the name of the Almighty wasclaimed for self. The echo of the commandmentdelivered by the lawgiver to Israel rings out:“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thyGod in vain...” The divine verdict: “And theLORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because yebelieved me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of thechildren of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring thiscongregation into the land which I have giventhem.” We all sympathize with Moses’ momentof stumbling, for we have all had our own—would any of us be as bold to imagine that wewould somehow have succeeded where Mosesfailed! That, not once in the heat of the moment,we would not have slipped and been rash withour mouth? Yet when we rightly reply that wewould have been no different, we are effectivelyburied with Moses in a valley outside thepromised land, without receiving the inheritance.“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the wordsof this law to do them. And all the people shallsay, Amen”—Deuteronomy 27:26.

If however, it was not possible for the nationof Israel to keep the law of Moses, was it fair for

the Almighty to present his law to them knowingthat they would fail and then punish them for thisfailure? If there was no hope outside the law ofMoses this question would be all the more valid.However, if there was a better hope above the lawthen the question diminishes in importance —andwe will discover that this is the case. Yet first itmust be considered whether God actually didpresent the law as something which could bekept. Let us go to the lawgiver himself and ask ifIsrael would keep the law. Moses replies clearlywhile addressing Israel in Deut. 31:27, “For Iknow thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold,while I am yet alive with you this day, ye havebeen rebellious against the LORD; and how muchmore after my death?” How did Moses knowthem? From 40 years experience during thewilderness journey—but more than this, he hadthe same nature as they. We know them too, forwe are exactly the same. The great prophetJeremiah knew it as well, he wrote in chapter17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, anddesperately wicked: who can know it?” Joshuaalso declared the same to Israel at the twilight ofhis life, as recorded in Joshua 24:19: “And Joshuasaid unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD:for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will

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The preaching of the apostles contained evidence ofthe messiahsip of Jesus, but christians today take thatfor granted, and would be hard put-to if they had toprove it. The stock passages usually advanced wouldbe quite insufficient to prove the case to Jews.


not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”Considering this should Israel then have replied‘no’ when the opportunity to serve God waspresented to them? Should we? Even though weare inadequate when we try to live up to theCreator’s standard it is vital we shouldunderstand what His level of holiness entails.Until we truly recognize our position in relationto His we are in no state to serve him. Withoutthe law of Moses we would be lifted up in pride,supposing in our deceitful hearts that we were

righteous, as we would have happily created ourown standard by which to measure ourselves. Yetwhen we look at Yahweh’s law we humblyrecognize our position and are able to accept theAlmighty’s words: “For my thoughts are notyour thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higherthan the earth, so are my ways higher than yourways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”(Isaiah 55:8,9).

In Deuteronomy 18 Moses speaks of a futureprophet who would come to the nation of Israel,that would be like himself. Being after themanner of Moses, he must then be a prophet whowas also a redeemer, mediator, law-giver, king,man of war, and a granter of inheritance in theland of Israel. God would put his words in themouth of this prophet and he would speak untothem “... all that I shall command him.” This,unlike Moses, who on that tragic occasion atMeribah had spoken rashly and had not spokenthose words which were commanded by God.The prophet like Moses would succeed whereMoses failed.

Yet not all the nation of Israel would hearkento the words of this great prophet, who wouldarise in a manner like unto Moses. InDeuteronomy 18:19, we see that there are thosewho would reject the words of this prophet. Thistoo would be like Moses, for when Moses firstcame to his nation with the intent of deliveringthem and killed an Egyptian task master, theresponse of his Hebrew brethren the followingday was: “Who made thee a prince and a judge

over us?” (Exodus 2:14). So then, to begin withMoses was rejected as a prince and a judge overthe Hebrew nation. It was only after he departedfrom his nation for a time, while they enduredgreat hardship, that they were ready to acceptMoses as a prince and a judge.

Psalm 99 transports us to another time, a timeyet to come when Yahweh reigns, when He isgreat in Zion. Just for a moment the Psalmisttaken up by the Spirit, gives us a glimpse of the

future age when Moses and his brother Aaronwill be priests together in Zion; joining themfrom a later period of Israel’s history is Samuel.For this to be fulfilled all these faithful men ofGod must have been raised from the dead. Allthat Moses longed for when the angel showedhim the land of promise, from the other side ofJordan will be realized. The angel did not showhim the land in vain, it was because Moses wasgoing there at the day of resurrection. Moses willenter the land and receive inheritance—but underwhat basis?

Forgiveness from Outside the Law.hat there is salvation outside and abovethe law of Moses is not speculation.There was the occasion when duringthe wilderness journey, the nationbecame discouraged because of theway. This discouragement, as oftenwas the case, manifested itself in

speaking against God and against Moses. Thedivine record says that the LORD sent fieryserpents among the people and many died. Thepeople quickly recognized their failure andapproached Moses to intercede on their behalf toGod. The intercession of Moses who “prayed forthe people,” and the solution provided by Godwere completely foreign to the law of Moses—salvation on this occasion came from outside thelaw.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee afiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shallcome to pass, that every one that is bitten,when he looketh upon it, shall live. AndMoses made a serpent of brass, and put it upona pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent hadbitten any man, when he beheld the serpent ofbrass, he lived” (Numbers 21:8,9).

This seems to be a rather strange ritual tobegin with, until we see the clear connection withGenesis 3:15—the promise made by God atEden, when Adam and Eve had fallen into sin,much as their descendants now had in theincident of the brazen serpent. In Genesis Godsays to the serpent, “And I will put enmitybetween thee and the woman, and between thyseed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, andthou shalt bruise his heel.” The serpent was a liarthat caused death by his faulty animal reasoningcommunicated to Eve. He was an amoral creature—yet this does not change the fact he was a liarand murderer; the bitter fruits of his words werethe introduction of sin and death into the world.In a figure, those who follow in his path, whoreject God’s word are his children. Cain, whomurdered his brother Abel, was the first child ofthe serpent. In the figure of the serpent on thepole, we see all that the serpent brought into theworld destroyed and immobilized. It took faithfor a person inflicted with a deadly serpent bite,to make the effort to arrive in close proximity tothe brazen serpent Moses had placed on the pole.In this action the victim recognized that theserpent-like deceit which as Jeremiah wrotecomes from the heart of man, must be destroyedand immobilized. As it has been shown, we areincapable of doing this ourselves; we cannotmeasure up to God’s standard. The serpent was arepresentative of the deceitful heart put to death,

it must be considered whether God actually didpresent the law as something which could be kept. Let

us go to the lawgiver himself and ask if Israel would keep the law

‘’

The Great Isaiah Scroll

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bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. Heshall build an house for my name, and I willstablish the throne of his kingdom for ever”(2 Samuel 7:12,13).

David was promised everlasting life—thethrone was to be established for ever before him;a special descendant of David’s would occupythis throne, this descendant would build a housefor the name of Yahweh. It is upon the basis ofthese covenants of promise, that David asks forforgiveness. The reader may question if Davidreally was asking for forgiveness based on thecovenants of promise and not merely upon hisbroken and contrite heart. However, the lastwords of David confirm that this was the case.

All my Salvation!After all the success and failure, in the last

words of King David recorded in 2 Samuel 23,David reveals the means of his salvation:

“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israelspake to me, He that ruleth over men must bejust, ruling in the fear of God... Although myhouse be not so with God; yet he hath madewith me an everlasting covenant, ordered inall things, and sure: for this is all mysalvation, and all my desire, although hemake it not to grow” (2 Samuel 23:3,5).

From David’s last words it is evident that:• The one who rules over men and God’s

kingdom must be just, he must rule in the fearof God;

• David’s house did not measure up to God’sstandard;

• Despite this God had made an everlastingcovenant with him, this covenant was thebasis for all things regarding the kingdom ofIsrael —it formed a sure basis;

• The everlasting covenant was all David’ssalvation, and;

• Yet God did not make it grow, this was all amatter of hope in the days of David.

The fulfillment was not in existence in hisdays. In other words David recognized hissalvation and by extension his forgiveness,would be by means of something that wouldcome later. For David, like Moses and Abraham,salvation did not come from the law of Moses—it came from faith in the covenants of promise.“...the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk2:4).

The Hebrew verb in 2 Samuel 23:5,translated “to grow” is from the root “Tzamach”XXX meaning “to sprout forth.” From this verbcomes the noun Tzemach, a sprout. This makesan incredible word link with the prophecy ofJeremiah 23:5.

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, thatI will raise unto David a righteous Branch,and a King shall reign and prosper, and shallexecute judgment and justice in the earth.”

Jeremiah is prophesying many centuriesafter king David, yet his prophecy takes up thespirit of the last inspiring words of the old king.David had said: “He that ruleth over men mustbe just.” In Jeremiah’s prophecy we see arighteous branch (Tzemach), ruling andprospering. He is an offspring of David. In the

The House of DavidInscription

without the actual victim of the serpent bitebeing destroyed. The victim recognized that, “...All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereofis as the flower of the field: The grass withereth,the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD

bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. Thegrass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the wordof our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:6–8).In this case salvation was granted from outsidethe law, from outside the priesthood of Aaron, byfaith in a representative of ourselves—the brazenserpent—in which sin was destroyed.

When considering salvation outside the lawof Moses, it is worth remembering that there wassalvation before the law of Moses. Abraham wascounted righteous many years before Moses wasborn. In Genesis 15:6 we read that on account ofAbraham’s belief in the Almighty’s promise, hewas counted as a righteous man who wouldinherit the land. The question then is, was thissalvation granted by faith in the covenants ofpromise, concurrent with the law of Moses, orwas it terminated when the law was introduced,or was it replaced by the law?

King David’s need for Forgiveness.avid, the great king of Israel, was a

man who also experienced greatfailure in his life. While at thepinnacle of his achievements, Davidcommitted adultery and perpetratedthe murder of Uriah—one of thefaithful mighty warriors of Israel.

There was no salvation for David under the lawof Moses, only death and exclusion from aneternal inheritance in the land of Israel.

“And the man that committeth adultery withanother man’s wife, even he that committethadultery with his neighbour’s wife, theadulterer and the adulteress shall surely be putto death” (Leviticus 20:10).

From where would David gain salvation andforgiveness? Psalm 51 was written by KingDavid at this time of crisis, brought on by his sin.David recognized that the offerings of the law

DD

could not bring salvation to him.“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would Igive it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: abroken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wiltnot despise. Do good in thy good pleasureunto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrificesof righteousness, with burnt offering andwhole burnt offering: then shall they offerbullocks upon thine altar” (Psalm 51:16–19).

In this section of Psalm 51, David recognizes

that in his situation God did not desire sacrifice—indeed, there was no sacrifice that could bringforgiveness for the sins of adultery and murder.He then considers that the real purpose ofsacrifice was for the offerer’s heart to be affected.God would not despise the broken, humble heart.Yet there is more before God will once again bepleased with sacrifices—“Do good in thy goodpleasure unto Zion...” David’s prayer now turnsto Zion and to the covenant the Almighty hadmade with him. This covenant is recorded in 2Samuel 7. David is promised that his throne, hishouse and his kingdom would be established forever before him. One of David’s descendantswould occupy his throne:

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thoushalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thyseed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy

David is promisedthat his throne, his

house and hiskingdom would beestablished for ever

before him.

‘’


fter describing the prophet who would arise, “like unto Moses,”Deuteronomy 18 continues on to issue a test, by the which Israelcould distinguish false prophets from genuine ones:

“...if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which theLORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of theLORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thingwhich the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken itpresumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy18:21, 22

The Lord Jesus Christ gave prophecies before his death, such as thedesolation of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin (Luke 10:13-16).Today even though many ancient cities have been restored in the landof Israel these three cities remain ruins. Also the destruction of thetemple (Mark 13:2), the dispersion of his people the Jews and the downtreading of Jerusalem, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, andshall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be troddendown of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke21:24). All these things came to pass and would have served to verifythat Jesus was an authentic prophet to his contemporaries and thefollowing generation.

Yet this great prophet has given his servants a complete book, withcontinuing series of events which have unfolded over centuries; so thatevery generation has been able to be certain that Jesus was a prophetsent by God. More than this, the Revelation of Jesus Christ wasdelivered to his apostle John after his death and resurrection; thereforeproving that he was resurrected.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shewunto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sentand signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Revelation 1:1)

Separated Christians who had an understanding of the Revelationwere correctly able to predict many events. Down through the centuriesthey have been able to understand at what point they fit into theprophetic timetable of the book and what remained to be accomplishedbefore the return of Christ. Revelation prophesies of the persecution thefollowers of Jesus would experience for centuries—they were towitness clothed in sackcloth (Rev. 11), be slain for the testimony theyheld (Rev. 6:9) and they would be beheaded for the witness of Jesus(Rev. 20:4). All these horrible things came to pass at the hands of thePagan Roman Empire, and then the Catholic Christian Roman Empirewhich persecuted and tortured Christians such as the Waldenses andHuguenots for centuries. An example of an historic event predicted onthe basis of the book of Revelation, isthe demise of the Ottoman Empire tomake way for the return of the Jews.Samuel Cradock wrote about this inhis book entitled “A Brief and PlainExposition and Paraphrase of theWhole Book of the Revelation” in1696, over 200 years before the finalend of the Ottoman Empire and thereturn of the Jews. Concerning thesixth vial he wrote:

“And the sixth angel poured outhis vial upon the great riverEuphrates.” We may compare thiswith Chap. 9:13, which is a more

clear and full explication ofit. “Upon the great riverEuphrates,” that is, thepeople inhabiting thereabout,(as Isaiah 8:7, the king ofAssyria and his army iscalled the waters of theriver). These are the Turksthat possess that part of theworld upon the riverEuphrates, so that this vialrelates plainly to the sixthtrumpet. The subjects of theother Vials are not literal butmystical and metaphorical;and therefore Euphrates, inprobability, is not to beunderstood literally here forthat very river, but of thepeople about it. “And thewater thereof was dried up”,that is, the Turkish Empire was diminished and lessened, in order to therestoring the Jews; and if their restoring to their own land be intimatedthereby, the overthrow of the Turks seems needful to removeimpediments out of their way” (Page 171).

Closer to the time, in 1885, Robert Roberts penned the following: “Anew turning point has, in fact, been reached, at which there is scarcelyanything we may not shortly see in the way of the completion of thepolitical programme on which our eyes have been fixed with earnestsolicitude for over thirty years past. If the Turkish empire disappear,which is now almost the daily expectation of politicians, the Holy Landwill be liberated from the only obstacle that restrains the fulldevelopment of impending Jewish restoration under English protection.”

Utilizing the book of Revelation, separated Christians understoodthe events surrounding the return of the Jews much better than the Jewsthemselves, who relied solely on the Old Testament scriptures. One ofthe great tragedies of Jewish history was the almost unanimous rejectionby Orthodox Jewry of the return of Jews to the land, after the end of theOttoman Empire in 1917.

Rabbi Teichtal was an Orthodox Rabbi that sadly died in theHolocaust. Before he died he recognized this great mistake of the vastmajority of all Torah scholars of his generation, in his book entitled “Themother of the children is happy.” He wished the Orthodox Jews hadjoined with their secular brethren who were building the land:

“Had the Orthodox Jews joined those who were engaged in this sacredendeavor sixty, fifty, or forty years ago, and had they inspired all ofIsrael to do the same, we would have found abundant relief in theLand. Thousands upon thousands of Jews would have settled thereand would have been rescued from death...“However, they opposed this undertaking. Not only did they opposeit, but they caused the simple Orthodox Jews to despise the rebuildingof the Land so much that if one of them begins to speak or getenthused about it, they consider him repulsive and abominable. Theyall rebuke him, saying, “You are a Zionist, an abhorrence, and anabomination.” Thus, they have truly caused the desirable Land to bedespised and detested...”

In the book of Revelation we have a prophecy proving Jesus Christ’sresurrection from the dead. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an authenticand sure word of prophecy, to which we should take ernest heed. If wefail to hearken to the words of the prophet like unto Moses, it will berequired of us.

David Billington

Rabbi Teichtal

JESUS & HIS FOLLOWERS TAUGHT THE RETURN & THEREDMPTION, BUT RELIGIOUS JEWS OPPOSED THE IDEA!

The title page of the book bySamuel Cradock published in1696, showing the Restoration

from the book of Revelation

A


days of Jeremiah this matter was still prophetical,the Almighty had still “made him not to grow.”Yet from Jeremiah’s prophecy we learn that thebranch was a person. This person then, was allDavid’s salvation. It was through faith in thehope of the descendant of David, embodied inthe covenants of promise, that David obtainedsalvation.

In Zechariah 3:8 he is named “The Branch.”We come across him again in Zechariah 6:

“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speakeththe LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the manwhose name is The BRANCH; and he shallgrow up out of his place, and he shall build thetemple of the LORD: Even he shall build thetemple of the LORD; and he shall bear theglory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne;and he shall be a priest upon his throne: andthe counsel of peace shall be between themboth.” (Verses12-13)

Here there is a clear reference to the covenantthat God made with David. “He shall grow out ofhis place, and he shall build the temple of theLORD...” Compare with God’s words deliveredto David by Nathan the prophet in 2 Samuel 7:“I will set up thy seed after thee, which shallproceed out of thy bowels, and I will establishhis kingdom. He shall build an house for myname...” Zechariah 6 is speaking of thefulfillment of the Davidic covenant recorded in 2Samuel 7.

There was then a hope existing before thelaw of Moses. We can see some of its colors atthe very beginning in the words of Genesis 3:15,describing how the seed of the woman wouldovercome and fatally bruise the descendants ofthe serpent. The covenant is visible after theflood, symbolized by a rainbow. It is embodiedin the promises God made to Abraham, thepromise of eternal inheritance in the land throughthe heir of Abraham. King David reached for thisrainbow of hope, which arched over the law ofMoses in all its brilliant colors. Those abidingunder the law of Moses could always lift up theireyes and see the eternal covenant rainbowstretching above. Then all the colors converge inthe righteous branch, the descendant of Davidwho would be a king priest upon the throne ofYahweh in the future age or righteousness. Thiswas all David’s salvation. So Malachi says of theMessiah, “But unto you that fear my name shallthe Sun of righteousness arise with healing in hiswings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up ascalves of the stall” (Malachi 4:2).

A King Priest—The law of Moses Changedhe man called “The Branch” inZechariah 6 is a king and a priest. Thiswas impossible under the law ofMoses—the constitution of thekingdom of Israel. David was of thetribe of Judah and therefore it is plainto see that all his descendants would

be also, throughout all generations. The manwhose name is “The Branch,” the Messiah, wasto be of the royal family of David and so of thetribe of Judah. This is prophesied as far back asthe end of the life of Jacob, when he told his sonswhat would befall them in the last days. Of Judahhe said, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Those abiding under the law of Moses could always lift up their eyes and see the eternal covenant rainbow

stretching above‘ ’GENESIS 3:15

THE SEED OF THEWOMAN TO BRUISE

SERPENT SEED

GENESIS 9:9&13COVENANT SIGN

ESTABLISHED(RAINBOW)GENESIS 15:18

COVENANT WITHABRAM & SEED

RE: “THIS LAND”

EXODUS 24:7&8THE BOOK OF

THE COVENANTTHROUGH MOSES

JEREMIAH 23:5A RIGHTEOUS

BRANCH OF DAVID

THE NEWCOVENANT

THEEVERLASTING COVENANT

Judah, ever be a priest under the law andconstitution of the nation of Israel? The answeris that the law and constitution would have tochange. When the Messiah came then, the lawwould have to change to accommodate all thingsconcerning him, as the law of Moses was in allthings based on the priesthood of the family ofAaron. This is confirmed by the prophetJeremiah:

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, thatI will make a new covenant with the house ofIsrael, and with the house of Judah: Notaccording to the covenant that I made withtheir fathers in the day that I took them by thehand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;

nor a lawgiver from between his feet, untilShiloh come; and unto him shall the gatheringof the people be” (Genesis 49:10). Again, thistime in the Psalms. “Gilead is mine, andManasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strengthof mine head; Judah is my lawgiver” (Psalms60:7). Without a doubt the Messiah was to be ofJudah.

Under the law of Moses a priest had to be ofthe tribe of Levi and the Family of Aaron.

“And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons,and they shall wait on their priest’s office: andthe stranger that cometh nigh shall be put todeath” (Numbers 3:10).

How then would the Messiah, of the tribe of

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which my covenant they brake, although I wasan husband unto them, saith the LORD”(Jeremiah 31:31,32).

There is one change in the law andconstitution of Israel permitted—that is theremoval of the Old Covenant and theimplementation of the new. Until the prophet likeunto Moses arose in Israel there could be nochanges to the law. Today the law of Moses is notkept in Israel as it was originally delivered. Thereis no temple or tabernacle, no altars, no cities ofrefuge, no priesthood, no sabbatical years orJubilee years and so on. Judaism today is aninterpretation of the law. For instance, today thepassover is not kept as it was implemented byMoses. It is kept according to traditions and theinterpretation of the law called in Judaism theOral Law. There were however no changespermitted to the law until the coming of Messiahwhen he would deliver the new covenant. Therewere instances when all the law could not be keptas laid out, such as in the time of David when thetabernacle and ark were in different places.However, the law did not change and wasreturned to as soon as opportunity arose.

This prophecy of Jeremiah raises anotherimportant question to consider. If Yahweh is tomake a new covenant with Israel, the firstcovenant—the one delivered by Moses—musthave been inadequate in some way. Was the lawof Moses flawed then? This cannot be true for itwas divine. Where then was the cause for failureso that a new covenant must be introduced as

spoken of by Jeremiah? The law was inadequate(as has previously been shown), not of itself, butin human nature’s inability to live up to thestandard of the Almighty. Moses the lawgiverfailed to receive inheritance in the land of Israelunder the auspices of the law. King David failedunder the law of Moses and was condemned todeath by it. The nation of Israel was exiled fromthe land twice due to its inability to keep the law—as Joshua said: “Ye cannot serve the LORD...”The new covenant will be different, Jeremiahcontinues:

“But this shall be the covenant that I willmake with the house of Israel; After thosedays, saith the LORD, I will put my law in theirinward parts, and write it in their hearts; andwill be their God, and they shall be mypeople” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The national covenant delivered by Moses atSinai, causes us to humbly realize our positionbefore God, preparing us for the new covenant.The new covenant, which will be delivered toIsrael by the prophet like unto Moses, will havean exceptional ability to open the heart to receiveand love the words of God.

The LORD said unto my Lord “The LORD said unto my Lord” is the well

known opening to Psalm 110. Literally this textis, “Yahweh said unto my adon”—lord ormaster. The question is, who is the masterspoken of in Psalm 110:1? It has been suggestedthat the “adon” here is David himself and thatthe temple choir would sing this Psalm inreference to king David—singing “Yahweh saidto my master David.” Let us look at the Psalmand consider some additional information givenus regarding this Adon or master.• The master will sit at the right hand of Yahweh

for a period of time;• He will rule with strength out of Zion;• His people or nation will be willing in the day

of his power;• Not only will he rule in Zion, but he will also

be a priest—for ever; and,• He will be victorious over many nations in a

future day of wrath.Do these points fit king David? Has David

sat at the right hand of Yahweh? At the peak of

David’s success, when in 2 Samuel 7, “the LORD

had given him rest round about from all hisenemies,” king David goes in and sits before

Yahweh. “Then went king David in, and satbefore the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O LordGOD? and what is my house, that thou hastbrought me hitherto?” (2 Samuel 7:18). Daviddoes not sit at God’s right hand in any sense.Was David a priest? As has been shown, this wasimpossible under the constitution of the nationat the time of David. Later there was anotherking of Judah, named Uzziah, who tried to playthe role of a priest.

“But when he was strong, his heart was liftedup to his destruction: for he transgressedagainst the LORD his God, and went into thetemple of the LORD to burn incense upon thealtar of incense. And Azariah the priest wentin after him, and with him fourscore priests ofthe LORD, that were valiant men: And theywithstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him,It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burnincense unto the LORD, but to the priests thesons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burnincense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hasttrespassed; neither shall it be for thine honourfrom the LORD God. Then Uzziah was wroth,and had a censer in his hand to burn incense:and while he was wroth with the priests, theleprosy even rose up in his forehead beforethe priests in the house of the LORD, frombeside the incense altar. And Azariah the chiefpriest, and all the priests, looked upon him,and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead,and they thrust him out from thence; yea,himself hasted also to go out, because theLORD had smitten him” (2 Chronicles 26:16).

David cannot be the master or lord of thisPsalm, he has not sat at the right hand of Yahweh—only before him—and David, like Uzziah,being of the tribe of Judah could not play the roleof a priest. Psalm 110 speaks of this lord beinga priest after the likeness of Melchizedek, whowas a king and a priest in Jerusalem at the timeof Abraham. For this to take place, the law ofMoses would have to be changed. This had nottaken place by the time of Uzziah, who wassmitten for disobeying this law. The lord ofPsalm 110 cannot be speaking of David himself.“Yahweh said to my master” are the words ofDavid, spoken by David. Psalm 110 then isspeaking of a master or lord of David himself,that would rule in Zion after him. This Psalmcannot be regarding anyone other than theMessiah, David’s son, who would be a king-priest on his throne, who would rule inrighteousness in Zion. In fulfillment of thepromise to David this would be for ever.

This raises an interesting question: Whydoes David call the Messiah, who would be hisson, lord or master? If he is David’s son—whichhe would be—why does David call him Adoni,my master? David never said this to Solomonhis son nor—if he were alive—would he havesaid it to any of the kings who proceeded afterhim. If then, we take the stance that when Godsaid, “I will be his Father and he shall be myson” in 2 Samuel 7, as having simply the samemeaning as it could be applied spiritually toDavid; how is Messiah greater than David andwhy does David call him Adoni—my master?The answer is that he was to be the literal ‘son of

If Yahweh is to make a new covenantwith Israel, the firstcovenant—the one

delivered by Moses—must have beeninadequate in

some way.

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’THE BIBLE MAGAZINE Vol. 23 ISSUE No.3

God,’ in a similar way to Adam who was createdby the power of God. In this way he would beGod’s son, David’s son and a greater one thanDavid.

The priesthood spoken of in Psalm 110 isgreater than that of Aaron and his sons under thelaw of Moses. “The LORD hath sworn, and willnot repent, Thou art a priest for ever after theorder of Melchizedek.” This is an everlastingpriesthood, based upon an oath from Yahwehhimself. The priesthood of Aaron and his sonswas not based upon an oath like this, they wereconsecrated by Moses and their office wasterminated by death.Would Messiah son of David have to Suffer?

braham was promised an eternalinheritance in the land, from theriver of Egypt to the river Euphrates—an inheritance Abraham neverreceived. This requires hisresurrection from the dead and forhim to become an immortal being.

The same applies to the covenant God made withDavid. Now it obviously follows that the son ofDavid also will have to be an immortal being, inorder to sit upon the throne of the kingdom forever, as spelt out in 2 Samuel 7. This chapter alsospecifies that the Messiah would proceed fromDavid’s bowels—it does say that Yahweh wouldalso be his Father —but coming from David’sflesh means he would have the same flesh asDavid. The same flesh that was weak in itsability to keep God’s law. The nature that failedin David. The heart called by Jeremiah,“deceitful above all things, and desperatelywicked.” “Who can bring a clean thing out of anunclean? not one” (Job 14:4). Now, it is writtenin Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted I wentastray: but now have I kept thy word.” Afflictionkept the Psalmist in the right way. Again in Job23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take:when he hath tried me, I shall come forth asgold.” From these two passages it is clear thattrial and affliction are needful to keep a personfrom going astray and to bring them forth asgold; to develop their character to be acceptableto God. “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD

of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;and I will spare them, as a man spareth his ownson that serveth him” (Malachi 3:17). Thepurpose of the tribes of Israel wandering for 40years in the wilderness, was to humble them andfor them to learn that man does not live by breadonly, but by every word that comes from God(Deuteronomy 8:2,3). It therefore must followthat the Messiah, the preeminent jewel in thecrown, has been through a life of suffering andtrial so that he above all would not go astray,keeping God’s law and ultimately coming forthas gold. He would go on the same wildernessjourney. It is then required that the Messiahwould have a life of suffering before inheritingthe eternal throne of Israel. “The God of Israelsaid, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He thatruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear ofGod” (2 Samuel 23:3). Men of our race are notborn this way, even if they are the Messiah. Thescriptures teach that suffering and trial formcharacter.

Salvation by a Brazen Serpent was something outside of the Law

nto

mew

AA

Two Comings of the Messiah.The law of Moses had to change in order to

accommodate the Messiah or anointed king-priest of the future age. This is the new covenantspoken of by Jeremiah the prophet. A carefulexamination of the future temple in Ezekiel’sprophecy, will show some more ofthe amendments that will occur tothe law. This is an important point.As has been shown, Moses madetwo appearances to the nation ofIsrael, on the first occasion he wasrejected and on the second hedelivered the people andestablished them as a nation atSinai. The Messiah was to be aprophet like unto Moses. Secondly,being from David’s descent—whoas everyone else failed to keepGod’s law and live up to hisstandard, the one who would be theMessiah would have to go throughthe same process, living a life oftrial and affliction before ruling inmajesty. A life of preparation and acoming in majesty. Moses came,was rejected by his nation, lived alife of trial as a shepherd with alittle flock in the wilderness andsubsequently returned and led hisnation to their inheritance. After thefirst appearance of the Messiah, weshould then expect a change in thelaw and constitution as delivered byMoses. In Deuteronomy 18 we sawhow there would be some whowould reject the words of theprophet like unto Moses, yet itwould be required of them. InPsalm 110 we learned that thenation would be willing in the day

of his power. There are then two comings of theMessiah presented in the Hebrew scriptures. Thefirst a life of affliction when he would berejected, the second when the nation would bewilling and the Messiah would rule over manykings.


SummaryWe have considered how the most

preeminent leaders of the Jewish nation failed tolive up to God’s standard enshrined in the law ofMoses, including the law giver himself. Thenation itself failed to receive a lasting inheritancein the land by means of the law; a new covenantwill be needed to provide this, delivered by theprophet “like unto Moses.” This new covenanthas always been there as a matter of hope, whichmen under the law could reach for, as David didin his hour of crisis. These men of faith lookedfor the day when the branch would grow out ofhis place. Proceeding from David’s bowels, thisman would have to go through the samewilderness journey as Israel, Moses and David;but he would emerge victorious, having spokenall the words that were commanded him. Thebrazen human nature immobilized in him andGod’s righteous standard portrayed in the lawupheld. The Messiah must then make hiswilderness journey under the law. Today, withoutthe temple in Jerusalem, the law cannot be keptin its original fullness. For these things to beaccomplished Messiah had to come before thedestruction of the Hebrew nation in AD 70. Onhis first coming to the nation of Israel therewould be those who would reject his words andit would be required of them. Then he would sitat Yahweh’s right hand until his enemies wouldbe made his footstool. For this man whose nameis the Branch, to be a king priest, the law ofMoses would have to pass away. So from thetime of his first appearance, when he would berejected as a prince and a judge, we can expectthe law to change, ready for the new covenant tobe established with his nation.

There are many other prophecies of theMessiah in the Hebrew scriptures, we have onlyconsidered some of them here. Yet we can clearlysee that the distorted picture of Jesus Christpresented by the popular Christian churches oftoday, does not fulfill these basic requirementsof the Old Testament. We eagerly await the daywhen the real Jesus Christ will appear in Israeland the new covenant will be made with thenation. When Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Samueland David will enter the land, their belief countedfor righteousness and will receive an everlastinginheritance.

There are then twocomings of the Messiah

presented in the Hebrewscriptures. The first a life

of affliction when hewould be rejected, the

second when the nationwould be willing and theMessiah would rule over

many kings.

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Food For Thought

“He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; hebreaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he

burneth the chariot in the fire.” Psalm 46:9

“Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he islike the beasts that perish.” Psalm 49:12

“Most men will proclaimevery one his owngoodness: but a faithful manwho can find?”

Proverbs 20:6

“A noise shall come even to theends of the earth; for the LORD hatha controversy with the nations, hewill plead with all flesh; he will givethem that are wicked to the sword,saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORDof hosts, Behold, evil shall go forthfrom nation to nation, and a greatwhirlwind shall be raised up fromthe coasts of the earth.”

Jeremiah 25:31,32

“...and I saw the souls of them thatwere beheaded for the witness ofJesus, and for the word of God, andwhich had not worshipped the beast,neither his image, neither hadreceived his mark upon theirforeheads, or in their hands; andthey lived and reigned with Christ athousand years.”

Revelation 20:4

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, thebeast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make

war against them, and shall overcome them, and killthem.” Revelation 11:7

NORTH KOREAN GRAPHIC


MILESTONESUPDATE

By Don Pearce RUGBY, U.K.

Events quite suddenly fall into the pattern outlinedby Bible prophecy, and expected for many years!

ur last review was just under 2months ago, but what a lot hashappened in that short time!

The British elections havetaken place with an unusual outcome! Thefinancial crisis in Greece has had the eurozonerunning in ever decreasing circles to prop up bothGreece and the value of the euro. At the sametime Germany is leading an assault on existingfinancial regulations in an effort to prevent arepetition of this gluttonous appetite for euros byGreece spreading to Spain, Portugal and Italy.The euro project is in grave danger of implosion.With all eyes on Europe’s troubles, Russia hasbeen steadily pushing her old role as thechampion of the Middle East. Deals with Turkeyand Syria, together with her support of Iran lookset to alter the power-balance in the Middle East.These are steps that Bible students have longanticipated and which quicken the expectation ofthe near return of the Lord Jesus. We have seenhow quickly modern society could be brought toits knees with the airlines of Europe groundedbecause of ash from an Icelandic volcano!

Impeccable Timing! As always the angelic timing is impeccable.

For the first time in 65 years there was no clearwinner in the UK elections on May 6th. Whenthey had finished counting the votes on the 7th,Britain emerged with what is termed a “hungparliament;” although the Conservatives were thebiggest parliamentary party, they did not winenough seats to take overall control ofparliament. In the days until May 11th when theywere able to announce a coalition with theLiberal Democrats, the euro tsunami wasgathering speed. Just at the time when Britain hadno clear government the Euro-zone leaders werelocked not only in an immense rescue packagebut proposing far reaching actions that would, inthe words of the Daily Telegraph’s chiefeconomics editor, “put Britain and the eurozoneon such separate courses that it will amount toseparation in all but name.” So let’s see how wehave arrived at what might turn out to be a far-reaching turning point in Britain‘s relations withher European neighbours.

A New Start for Britain After leading in the polls, support for the

Conservatives fell back; many attributing this toa first for Britain—live televised debates pitting

the leaders of the 3 main parties against eachother. The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegggained the most, pushing his party from an “alsoran” to the position of “king maker.” Within afew days and Britain had a coalition government;something common in many countries, but notseen here for many years.

“The deal gives Britain its youngest primeminister in almost two centuries. It returns theConservatives to power for the first time in 13years. Britain has its first coalition governmentsince 1945, the year that Winston Churchill’swartime alliance against Hitler ended. The LibDems, Britain’s third and often forgotten party,have entered government for the first timesince the death of David Lloyd George, theirformidable leader, 65 years ago” (FinancialTimes 14-5-10).

After the scandal and the sleaze associatedwith the previous parliament, in quite aremarkable show of putting country ahead ofparty, David Cameron assembled a governmentwith Nick Clegg and five other Lib Dems in hiscabinet. How long the bonhomie between the twoleaders will last is the unknown factor, but at leastthey share a similar public school background. Is

it the start of a higher standard in public life?Both men are determined to reduce the cripplingdeficit which has brought Britain to the brink ofruin. One of the largest drains is the demands ofthe EU. Britain’s contribution to the EU coffers isrising steeply—this year’s contribution is £9.3bnand the EU is demanding increased contributionsto fund a 6% increase in the EU budget. Britain’snew chancellor, George Osborne has told the EUthat there should be no increase in the EU budget,they should face reality and trim costs as all itsmembers are having to do. This forthrightstatement was not exactly welcomed! DavidCameron on his first trip to Europe as PrimeMinister, speaking at a press conferencealongside Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin,insisted Britain would not be “drawn further”into supporting the euro-zone currency area.

A new “Special Relationship” with India So where does David Cameron’s heart lie—

with Europe or outside? Whilst he is determinedto play a role in Europe, he has made it clear thathis policy will be to expand ties outside Europe.One of the promises in the just-publishedmanifesto of the coalition government is toestablish a new special relationship with India.Europe is seen to be an area of stagnation in theshort-term and Asia where the growth is beinglooked for. It has been interesting to see thegrowth in ties between Israel and India—theEastern Tarshish—so it would be encouraging tosee Anglo-Indian ties also flourishing.

David Cameron: my belief in Israel is ‘verydeep and inside of me’ and ‘indestructible’

Where does Cameron stand on Israel? At theConservative Friends of Israel Annual Lunch inJune 2009, he addressed his audience about“what they needed to know about him.” This is abrief summary.

“First, I passionately believe in the right ofIsrael to exist, to defend itself and to live inpeace and security. Not just because of thetragedies of history. Not only because of therealities of today. Not simply because of myParty’s unstinting support for Israel throughthe decades. But also because it’s something Ifeel very deep inside of me. The belief I havein Israel is indestructible—and you need toknow that if I become Prime Minister, Israelhas a friend who will never turn his back onIsrael” (Conservative Friends of Israel 6-7-09).

It has been interesting to look at his Jewishancestry. David Cameron’s father’s mother wasEnid Levita, whose paternal grandfather EmiléLevita was a prominent Polish Jewish banker.Emilé’s wife was from an “illustrious DanishJewish family.” So perhaps this explains what hemeant by his interest in Israel coming from “verydeep inside me.” He is actually a direct

...But angels do not have “accidents”!

O


descendant of King William IV (died 1837) andis Queen Elizabeth II’s 5th cousin, twiceremoved! In April Cameron told members of theReform Judaism movement that a Conservativegovernment would do “much more to protect andempower the Jewish community.” “I am a greatadmirer of the Jewish people,” he said. “I’ve longseen your community as a shining light in oursociety.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office This government department looks after

Britain’s interests abroad. Its appointees indicatethe direction that the new government is seekingto go.

“The head of the FCO is the Secretary of Statefor Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,commonly abbreviated to “Foreign Secretary”(currently William Hague). This position isregarded as one of the three most prestigiousappointments in the Cabinet, alongside thoseof Chancellor of the Exchequer and HomeSecretary. Together with the Prime Minister,these comprise the Great Offices of State”(Wikipedia).

William Hague’s appointment was the firstthat David Cameron made. When interviewed inthe run up to the elections, Hague describeshimself as “a long-standing friend of Israel andsomeone who joined Conservative Friends ofIsrael at the age of 15.”

“I understand the country’s strategic fragility.Thanks to Conservative Friends of Israel I’vetravelled across the country. I’ve stood on theGolan Heights and swam in the Sea of Galilee.I’ve stood on the part of the West Bank whereyou can see the Mediterranean, where youreally understand Israel’s strategic fragility.But we are candid friends, which means wedon’t always agree” (TotallyJewish.com 25-3-10).

The appointed Parliamentary Undersecretaryof State at the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice responsible for the Middle East and NorthAfrica is Conservative MP Alistair Burt.According to Wikipedia he is “a leading officer ofthe Conservative Friends of Israel lobby groupand opponent of the boycott, disinvestment andsanctions campaign against Israel. In December2008, he led an all-Party group meeting with RedCross to campaign for visiting rights for Israelihostage Gilad Shalit.” These appointments bodebetter for a fairer voice for Israel than was thetraditional pro-Arab stance of the previousgovernment.

EU agrees Massive Support Mechanism The eurozone is looking far from healthy at

the moment. Hedge fund managers are lookingto make millions on the steep fall in the value ofthe euro. The EU and the eurozone members inparticular have been holding ever more desperatemeetings to try to prop up Greece from goingbankrupt. We have moved on from firms and thenbanks going to the wall, now it is a matter ofwhole countries in deep danger. The problem isthat any spare cash was used up bailing out thebanks, so where’s the money to be found for thehuge funds needed to bail out a country?

Angela Merkel was desperately hoping that

matters could be strung out until after theGerman regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia1 in early May; knowing thatunpopular measures needed to be taken2. Theeuro has continued to tumble. The eurozoneministers met again and announced on the 3rdMay a €110 bn rescue package to prop upGreece and hence the euro. This was rubberstamped at a special EU meeting on the 7th May.President Sarkozy warned that the euro zone wasexperiencing the worst crisis since itsestablishment. He is alleged to have banged hisfist on the table and threatened to leave the euro!So grave was the situation that Angela Merkelhad earlier warned the German parliament (myemphasis):

“Nothing less than the future of Europe is atstake... Europe today is looking to Germany.As the strongest economy in Europe,Germany has a special responsibility and ittakes this responsibility to heart.“Immediate help is needed to ensure thefinancial stability of the eurozone. This mustbe done to avoid a chain-reaction to theEuropean and international financial system,and contagion to other eurozone states. Thereis no alternative” (Yahoo News 5-5-10).

The following day she told a Polish audiencethat the crisis was the “greatest test Europe hasfaced since 1990, if not in the 53 years since thepassage of the Treaties of Rome.”

The plans were challenged in the Germancourts as unconstitutional, but with great speedthe case was thrown out. Stratfor (8-5-10)commented:

“What we can say is that the Europeans doseem to be moving toward a plan withconsiderable speed, and we are not referringjust to this emergency summit. Europeansummits that run into the early morning hoursare commonplace, but something elsehappened Saturday May 8 that isunprecedented.“Germany’s constitutional court rejected acase asserting that the Greek bailoutannounced just a few days ago wasunconstitutional. It is not so much that thecourt rejected the case, but that it rejected itso quickly. The case was only filed last week,and the court rejected a temporary injunctionthat would have blocked the bailout May 8 sothat Berlin would have the needed legal coverto move immediately on this new crisis fund.

Normally EU policy is hashed out over years.Now it is being done in hours, and Berlin istaking charge.“Something big is coming, and something bigneeds to come considering the scope ofproblems that the Greek crisis has imposed.”

Just how big was soon revealed. By the 10thMay, with the euro tumbling, even biggermeasures were being called for and the rescuepackage had risen to a staggering €750 bn todeal with Greece and the other countries in asimilar position. €500 would come from the EUand the rest from the IMF. The deal had to beapproved by the German government—last yearGermany passed into law that the Germanparliament was above EU law and had toapprove any legislation that affected Germany.Normally these matters take months, but this,like the earlier court challenge, was passed indays. So between the 7th and 10th May therescue package was hammered out—just at theexactly same time as Britain was seeking a newleader.

Taxpayers face £13 billion Bailout afterAlistair Darling caves in

Until a new government was appointed,Gordon Brown continued as Prime Minister. OnMay 10th, the day before Cameron becamePrime Minister it was announced that the LabourChancellor, Alistair Darling, had agreed tocontribute £13bn towards the stabilisation fundset up as a means of propping up the euro, eventhough Britain is not in the eurozone. In fairnessit was foisted upon Britain because the matterwas dealt with under majority voting, so Britainhad no veto—a foretaste of things to come underthe new rules of the Lisbon Treaty.

France attacks UK over Attitude to bail-outFund

“Furious at the UK’s refusal to participate inthe eurozone bail-out, France has brusquelywarned that Europe will not come to Britain’said when—not if—the markets round onsterling.“The French market regulator, Jean-PierreJouyet, on Tuesday (11 May) told Europe 1radio that it is inevitable that the pound willbe targeted and that when that happens,Britain will be on its own.“‘The English are very certainly going to betargeted given the political difficulties theyhave. If you don’t want to show solidarity withthe eurozone, wait and see what happensoutside it.”

Having put this multibillion rescue packagetogether to be drawn upon as needed, France andGermany demanded their rewards for their inputs—greater regulation of the EU to prevent such asituation arising again. In truth it was not the lackof regulations that caused the problem—it wasattempting to form a single currency withoutfirmly applying the rules that were in place andwithout having fiscal unity. The euro projectappeared doomed from the start, but it was ableto hold together through the good times butbegan to fall apart in the bad as each nationsought to defend itself from the effects of earlierfailure to adhere to the rules. As we saw last time,

Britain’s new leader meets with AngelaMerkel of Germany


Germany accepted the possibility of the eurofailing, because she was sure that she would bethe one to emerge with greater power—asituation we see unfolding before our eyes. Oneof the aims of France and Germany is put astranglehold on Britain’s role as leader offinancial services.

Europe warns Britain: Join our Club or youwill be Sidelined

“Merkel is fighting back. She wants a treatychange to legalise the new rules regulatingdeficits and other economic matters underwhich eurozone countries can have their EUsubsidies or voting rights suspended if theybreak the rules.“If she is successful the Lisbon treaty, whichtook more than a decade to adopt and wassupposed to remain unchanged for at leastanother decade, would end up being amendedjust months after it was introduced last year.“This is where the tensions arise withCameron. Not only would the government berequired to hold a referendum on any treatychange, but the prime minister would resistgreater EU surveillance over the economicpolicies of member governments.“Sarkozy’s proposal for what he has called aeurozone council — regular summit meetingsbetween leaders of the 16 euro members —threatens to push Britain to the sidelines of allEuropean decision making, not just thatrelating to finance. This would be a smaller butmore powerful version of the currentEuropean council, which gathers the leadersof all 27 EU members.“Jean-Pierre Jouyet, chairman of France’sfinancial services authority, highlighted theextent to which the French see Britain assidelined. “‘There is not a two-speed Europe, but a three-speed Europe. You have the Europe of theeuro, the Europe of the countries thatunderstand the euro ... and you have theEnglish,’ Jouyet said.(Sunday Times 23-5-10).“As reported by the think tank Open Europe,Mrs Merkel was calling last week for a“global” tax on financial transactions to raise321billion euros a year Europe-wide – 204billion euros of which would come fromBritain, still the world’s leading financialcentre, with 43 billion euros from Germanyand just 17 billion euros from France” (SundayTelegraph 23-5-10).Our Eurocrats have Carried out a Velvet coup

d’état during the Last Days. Open Europe (25-5-10) carried a translation

of a piece in a French newspaper which summedup the machinations of the EU leaders whilstBritain was preoccupied with other matters.

“Writing in Le Figaro, columnist Yves deKerdrel questions the EU’s entire approach tothe debt crisis, arguing that the turmoil ‘hasnot prevented our beloved Eurocrats fromcarrying out a velvet coup d’état during thelast days. They have decided on the sly that weneed ‘better governance’ of the euro...Have werealised that we are going to leave the keys ofour budgetary policy to some Brussels-basedEurocrats who are not accountable to anyone,

and who could just keep on making mistakes,as they have been doing with the regularity ofa metronome during the last decade?’“He concludes: ‘This European coup d’étathas been masterly finalised using as its onlyargument: ‘if we don’t strengthen the rulesnow, the euro will fall into pieces.’ Fear cansilence people.’”

One can see Britain’s growing resistance tothe EU’s direction will result in a parting of theways as this Daily Telegraph (14-5-10) article byAmbrose Evans-Pritchard indicates (Myemphasis).

Europe’s fiscal Fascism brings BritishWithdrawal ever Closer

“Just when you thought the EU could not goany further down the road towardsauthoritarian excess, it gets worse.“The European Commission is calling for EUpowers to vet budgets of the 27 member statesbefore the draft laws have been presented tothe House of Commons, the Tweede Kamer,

the Folketing, the Bundestag, the AssembleeNationale, or other national parliaments. Itapplies to Britain even though we are not inEMU.“Fonctionnaires and EU finance ministers willpass judgement on the British (or Dutch, orDanish, or French) budgets before the electedbodies of these ancient and sovereign nationshave seen the proposals. Did we not we notfight the English Civil War and kill a king oversuch a prerogative?“The truth is that no British government canever put Europe on the back-burner and hopeit goes away. It hits you in the face, again, andagain, and again. This is why so many Britishministers end up feeling a visceral hatred forthe project.“In my view, the EU elites overstepped theline by ignoring the rejection of the EuropeanConstitution by French and Dutch voters, thenpushing it through under the guise of theLisbon Treaty without a popular vote, exceptin Ireland, and when Ireland voted ‘No’, toignore that too. The enterprise has becomeillegitimate—it is starting to exhibit thereflexes of tyranny.

“The moment of definition is fast arrivingfrom Britain. The measures now beingdemanded to save monetary union cannot andwill not be accepted by this Government, NickClegg notwithstanding. The most euroscepticpeople I have ever met are those who haveactually worked for the EuropeanCommission, though it takes a while – andliberation from Brussels —for these views toferment. The outcome—un véritablegouvernement économique3— will put Britainand the eurozone on such separate coursesthat it will amount to separation in all butname. The sooner we get the nastiness ofdivorce behind us, the better.”

A New Direction for Britain? Led by this new government of Britain, one

can see the distinct possibility of Britain leavingor even being thrown out of the EU as we knowit. Events might well transpire to bring this aboutin quite a short period of time. In the ratherbluntly put Daily Telegraph phrase above, “Thesooner we get the nastiness of divorce behind us,the better.” The promised closer links with Indiaand the Commonwealth will provide the strongmarkets that Britain needs, rather than Europewhich looks set for many years of cuts andausterity. Israel too would make an ideal tradingpartner in these difficult days. And so the rolelong anticipated by Bible students from theirunderstanding of God’s Word of Britain playinga dominant role outside continental Europe andworking in the Middle East, India, and theCommonwealth could be a situation that we areseeing the beginnings of! The Merchants ofTarshish will be found working with her younglions in fulfilment of Ezekiel 38:13.

We repeat an item from our last Update,which now has much more relevance that even afew months ago! (My emphasis)

“William Hague addressed the RoyalCommonwealth Society and promised:“‘We should be excited and determined aboutwhat the nations of the Commonwealth can dotogether... It should draw upon this experienceand continue to evolve in the full assurancethat it has an important role to play in thetwenty-first century. It should also havecomplete confidence that it will have theunwavering support of a future Conservativegovernment for it will be an importantinstrument in our foreign policy tool box. Wewill adopt a more assertive, energetic andenthusiastic attitude towards theCommonwealth since there is vast potential tobe unlocked and Britain must, along with ourfriends and allies, be at the forefront of theseefforts” (Conservativehome.blog Feb 2009).

The sobering thought is that our Lord Jesuscan return at any moment to prepare hishousehold for their future work of establishingthe Kingdom of God. The final stages of theangelic work to bring the nations down against

A British Commonwealthsupportive of Israel is adevelopment to look for:The Tarshish Alliance!


Israel will take place after the Master’s return toraise his sleeping saints and to gather his elect.

The Euro’s uncertain Future There have been many articles speculating

on the euro uncertain future. France hasthreatened to pull out of it and so has Germany,as a way of escaping the downward fall in thestrength of the euro. What seems clear is that theeconomies of the euro-zone are set to face a verydifficult future as swingeing cuts forced upon thevarious governments are implemented. We havewitnessed rioting in Greece and it is not hard toforesee similar situations arising across Europe.Having mapped out a possible path for Britain, itwas interesting read of Stratfor’s assessment (25-5-10) of a possible pathway for Germany, who,like Britain, desperately needs export markets tothrive. It could have come out of many aChristadelphian writing! They foresee Germanystrengthening her ties with Russia! Here are afew extracts (My emphasis).

The German Question Revisited “We return to the question that has definedEurope since 1871, namely, the status ofGermany in Europe... If Germany is the keydecision maker in Europe, then Germanydefines whatever policies Europe as a wholeundertakes. If Europe fragments, thenGermany is the only country in Europe withthe ability to create alternative coalitions thatare both powerful and cohesive. That meansthat if the European Union weakens, Germanywill have the greatest say in what Europe willbecome. Right now, the Germans are workingassiduously to reformulate the EuropeanUnion and the eurozone in a manner more totheir liking. But as this requires many partnersto offer sovereignty to German control—sovereignty they have jealously guardedthroughout the European project—it is worthexploring alternatives to Germany in theEuropean Union.“Germany is indispensable for any decisionwithin the European Union at present, and itwill be the single center of power in Europe inthe future—but Germany can’t just go italone. Germany needs a coalition, meaningthe long-term question is this: If the EU wereto weaken or even fail, what alternativecoalition would Germany seek?.... Thehistoric alternative for Germany has beenRussia.

The Russian Option “A great deal of potential synergy existsbetween the German and Russian economies.Germany imports large amounts of energyand other resources from Russia. Asmentioned, Russia needs sources oftechnology and capital to move it beyond itscurrent position of mere resource exporter.Germany has a shrinking population andneeds a source of labor—preferably a sourcethat doesn’t actually want to move toGermany. Russia’s Soviet-era economycontinues to de-industrialize, and while thathas a plethora of negative impacts, there isone often-overlooked positive: Russia nowhas more labor than it can effectivelymetabolize in its economy given its capital

it is not surprising to read the following.Germany, Palestinians begin landmark

Political Partnership “German and Palestinian cabinet ministersmet for talks in Berlin on Tuesday,commencing the landmark ‘German-Palestinian Steering Committee.’ Thehigh-level political partnership is aimed atfacilitating peace in the Middle East.“‘We believe that the development andreconstruction of state structures in thePalestinian areas are indispensable for a justtwo-state solution in the Middle East,’ GermanForeign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in ajoint press conference with the prime ministerof the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad.“Westerwelle’s talks with Fayyad ran parallelto meetings between the German andPalestinian interior, economy, developmentand education ministers focused on thedevelopment of state institutions in thePalestinian territories.“The steering committee is due to meet once ayear, either in Berlin or Ramallah, andinvolves 10 ministers from each side.“Westerwelle announced that a total of 50million euros ($62 million) had been allocatedfor development and humanitarian aid for thePalestinian Authority for 2010, which since2007 has had control over the West Bankfollowing a split with the militant Hamasmovement.

‘Historic agreement’“Fayyad called it ‘historic’ that the Palestinianadministration had the opportunity to meetwith the German government for high-leveltalks.“He said that the Palestinian Authority had noother such agreement with other states and thathe hoped the steering committee would set anexample ‘at the EU level, in the framework ofefforts to create the structures for anindependent Palestinian state.’” (DW-world.de18-5-10).

The Day Approaching It has been thrilling to see the hand of the

angels busily working in the affairs of men. Thesame angelic hands can work in our lives if weembrace God’s great and precious promises (2Pet 1:4). Let us exhort each other with thesewords of the writer to the Hebrews.

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faithwithout wavering; (for he is faithful thatpromised;) And let us consider one another toprovoke unto love and to good works: Notforsaking the assembling of ourselvestogether, as the manner of some is; butexhorting one another: and so much the more,as ye see the day approaching” (Heb 10:23-25).

Footnotes1 Germany’s most populous state and is in the country’s

industrial heartland and regarded as a weathervane fornational politics.

2 Her CDU party lost seats and no longer has a majority inthe Bundesrat (the representative body of the regionalstates).

3 A genuine economic government.

structure. Germany doesn’t want moreimmigrants but needs access to labor. Russiawants factories in Russia to employ its surpluswork force, and it wants technology. The logicof the German-Russian economic relationshipis more obvious than the German-Greek orGerman-Spanish relationship.“Therefore, if we simply focus on economics,and we assume that the European Unioncannot survive as an integrated system (alogical but not yet proven outcome), and wefurther assume that Germany is both theleading power of Europe and incapable ofoperating outside of a coalition, then wewould argue that a German coalition withRussia is the most logical outcome of an EUdecline. The current economic problems may

lead to a fundamental weakening of theEuropean Union. Germany is economicallypowerful but needs economic coalitionpartners that contribute to German well-beingrather than merely draw on it. A Russian-German relationship could logically emergefrom this.”

Russia in the Middle East I have to confess that so fast moving have

been the events of the past few weeks that someof the matters I had drafted to deal with havebeen squeezed out. Whilst things have beenunravelling in Europe, Russia has been busyexerting her influence in Syria, Turkey and Iran.There have been some remarkable meetings butwe will have to defer looking at these for anotherissue, God Willing. There are so many aspects ofEzekiel 38 that are slotting into place that it istruly thrilling. So let’s close with an aspect whichhas not had much publicity and as it involvesGermany, fits very much into the theme of thisreview.

It is Ezekiel chapter 38 that points toGermany as the Magog of old, being part of theconfederacy that comes against Israel, so perhaps

New German-Palestinian partners:Westerwelle meets Fayyad in Berlin


“...that no man might buy obeast, or the number of his nacount the number of the beas

hundred threes

By Paul Billingt

ithin less than a week of taking officCameron, was facing a Europeaimpact the rest of the world, trigactivity and consequently—whain the financial markets.’

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel wdanger,” she told lawmakers, urging them to bailout plan. “If we do not avert this danger, incalculable, and then the consequences beyo

Cameron, who had kept the issue of thecampaign, was plunged into the issue just as hto his coalition partnership with the Liberal-Dcould spell trouble for the new team.

The German Chancellor wanted to introdumeasures for debt-laden countries, plus massiuse the Euro currency and get into trouble. Bdid not agree, and that Britain would veto adesigned to protect the Euro currency.

So we are forcibly reminded of that passagarticle. We understand that in its historical cmanifesting the same characteristics, and havmore rising in Middle Europe.

The Euro CAlthough it may not be emphasised too often, or giv

Union is largely governed on policies which are a reflectiChurch. These social doctrines are in harmony with socapitalist ways of countries like Britain, the United Statesteaching was given considerable exposure in Britain soCatholic Bishop’s Conference of England & Wales entitlethe British General Election of 1996 when Tony Blair (atanother term as Prime Minister. A front page headline inCHURCH ‘BACKS BLAIR.’” At that same time an editorialthe last hundred years the most electorally successful paCatholic social teaching at their heart” (Tuesday Oct. 22

We must understand that Britain, as a capitalist econ

THE BRITITO CATHTHE ECO

“...till thou know thatthe most High ruleth

in the kingdom ofmen, and giveth it towhomsoever he will.”

Daniel 4:25.

W


markets based in the city of London, has not been a comfortable partner in a Christian socialist Europe.Certainly, the British have enjoyed the comforts of their welfare state, and have readily adopted many ofthe socialist ideals which easily replaced the former Christian outlook of Methodists, Presbyterians andAnglicans—(the so-called ‘Socialist Gospel’) but to yield the control of money-management to a UnitedEurope was always pushing charity a little too far. The idea of taxing the financial markets, as proposedby Germany’s Angela Merkel, is pushing Britain to its limit.

To then suggest (as she has) that countries that cannot control their debt—because they live above theirmeans—should be subject to fast and effective “punishment,” gives us some idea of the tyrannicalcharacter that is to emerge in Europe. To withdraw voting rights is one measure of punishment suggestedfor offenders, and it strikes at the very root of democracy, and at the very principle that Mr. Nick Clegg(the new Deputy Prime Minister) has been pleading for (committed European though he may be).

But the German policy (doctrine?) is not original. It was proposed by the pope about a year ago (seepanel).

or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of theame. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understandingst: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Sixscore and six” (Revelation 13:17 & 18).

2009 PAPAL ENCYCLICAL CALLED FORAN ECONOMIC “AUTHORITY”

Extract from Reuters report, July 5,2009.Pope Benedict called on Tuesday for a “worldpolitical authority” to manage the globaleconomy and for more governmentregulation of national economies to pull theworld out of the current crisis and avoid arepeat.The pope made his call for a re-think of theway the world economy is run in a newencyclical which touched on a number ofsocial issues but whose main connectingthread was how the current crisis has affectedboth rich and poor nations.Parts of the encyclical, titled “Charity intruth,” seemed bound to upset freemarketeers because of its underlyingrejection of unbridled capitalism andunregulated market forces, which he said had

led to “thoroughly destructive” abuse ofthe system.Benedict said “there is an urgent need of atrue world political authority” whose taskwould be “to manage the global economy;to revive economies hit by the crisis; toavoid any deterioration of the presentcrisis and the greater imbalances thatwould result.”Several sections of the encyclical,Benedict made it clear he had greatreservations about a totally free market.

ton BRANTFORD

ce, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Davidan economic crisis which threatened toggering another dip in world economicat one commentator called—‘meltdown

warned in mid-May: “The Euro is inapprove Germany’s portion of a widerthen the consequences for Europe are

ond Europe are incalculable.”e European Union out of his electionhe was feeling his feet and getting usedDemocrats. Europe is now an issue that

uce a global bank tax, severe austerityive bail-outs for European nations whout Mr Cameron let it be known that he

any attempt to create a new EU treaty

e of Scripture quoted at the head of thiscontext of course, but the same systemving the same tyrranical control is once

risisven prominence in news coverage, the Europeanion of the social teachings of the Roman Catholicocialist principles, and are at variance with thes and other similar societies. This Catholic socialome years ago in a statement published by theed “The Common Good,” and timed to influencet that time a Catholic posing as an Anglican) wonn The Guardian (Oct. 19, 1996) read: “CATHOLIC

l in The Times newspaper pointed out that: “Forarties in continental Europe have, however, had2, 1996).nomy with its world trading centre and financial

SH RELATIONSHIP HOLIC EUROPE & ONOMIC CRISIS

‘HOW MUCH SHEHATH GLORIFIEDHERSELF, ANDLIVED DELICIOUSLY’


So although we do not know what theoutcome of all this may be at the presentmoment, the one result may well be acollision between Britain and Europe.

The Daily Telegraph (May 21)reported:

“Chancellor Merkel has insisted that allEuropean countries must give upsovereignty to give the EU neweconomic powers to prevent anotherGreek and euro zone crisis.”

In other words, they must “give theirpower and strength unto the beast”— justas Revelation 17:13 says they will.

400 Years of HistoryThis issue—relinquishing British

sovereignty to Europe—is one thatevokes deep concerns in the Britishconscience; this arises from a longhistory of the Island people fightingto defend their independence fromCatholic Europe and its pope. ThatBritain is being told by Germany thatit must give up (surrender?) and payto support Europe’s Catholic-socialistdream, is not going to be wellreceived.

The history of England washeavily influenced by the Bible,following Tyndale’s translations in1525 and 1535. It was this (and notthe matrimonial concerns of HenryVIII) that separated England fromRome. In view of what we now see, itwill be useful to quote from a letterwritten by Tyndale to King HenryVIII in 1536, the first part of whichreads as follows:

“I beseech the king’s most noblegrace, well to consider all the waysby which the cardinal, (Wolsley)and our holy bishops, have led himsince he was first king; and to seewhereunto all the pride, pomp, andvain boast of the cardinal is come,and how God hath resisted him andour prelates in all their wiles. We,having nothing to do at all, havemeddled yet with all matters, andhave spent for our prelates’ causesmore than all Christendom, evenunto the utter beggaring ofourselves; and have gotten nothingbut rebuke and hate among allnations, and a mock and a scorn ofthem whom we have most holpen.For the Frenchmen (as the saying is)of late days made a play, or adisguising, at Paris, in which theemperor danced with the pope andthe French king, and wearied them;the king of England sitting on a highbench, and looking on. And when itwas asked why he danced not, itwas answered, that he sat there butto pay the minstrels their wages: asone who should say, we paid for allmen’s dancing. We monied the

emperor openly, and gave the Frenchking double and treble secretly; and tothe pope also. Yea, and though Ferdinandhad money sent openly to blind theworld withal, yet the saying is, throughall Dutch-land, that we sent money to theking of Poland, &c....”As England spent money for the “prelatescauses” in the 16th century, so today theyhave been pursuaded to adopt manyexpensive Catholic principles, such aswere outlined in The Common Good(1996). This quickly frittered away thestrong financial position that had beenachieved by previous Governments. Aftersome thirteen years of socialism andfollowing the European (the Catholic)model of social doctrine, it now becomesnecessary to join the rest of Europe by

imposing austerity measures andfinding ways to increase revenuesthrough taxation.

Social Unrest?Imposing “austerity measures”

upon populations that have enjoyedaffluent times, thanks to their creditcards, will bring protests of course—such as has been seen in Greece. Itwas Margaret Thatcher who oncesaid something like: Socialismworks very well until you run out ofeveryone else’s money! Whenpeople are forced to tighten theirbelts, then things can start to get alittle rough.

So what are the prospects for thefuture? The reasonable expectationmust be that countries that aredeeply in debt (Portugal, Spain andItaly who are heading in thedirection of the Greek tragedy) willhave to impose serious austeritymeasures—and that is bound toresult in protests, as well as physicalattacks upon banks and otherfinancial institutions which areassumed to be responsible, and theidea that they are responsible is onethat has been promoted by Rome forsome time. Now if this is to be theoutcome—and we are saying “if” atthis point—then we should beprepared for a not very rosy future!Some of us will remember thescenes in Russia and Eastern Europewhen Communism collapsed—theCapitalist West may well be about towitness similar (or worse) events.

Social unrest of this kind and theresultant crack-down by authorities,an outbreak of violent crime, riotsand even terror, may be anticipatedfor another reason. It would be aform of judgement brought uponpopulations which have becometotally godless and immoral. It is theBible which leads us to expect suchsituations. In the words of

Britain’s Protestant history: The stoning of the pope is still ondisplay at Hampton Court in London. It is hard to erase

centuries of history: It leaves its mark as seen below!

Protesting against the papal visit to Britain

Riots in Spain: A Sign of things to come in Europe?The beginning of a time of trouble such as never was?


Revelation 16:11,“(they) blasphemed the God of heavenbecause of their pains and their sores, andrepented not of their deeds.”That is the principle.

As far as Europe is concerned (but this is byno means limited to Europe) there is the questionof idolatry—how a swooning flock can remaintransfixed by their papal idol who seems to beable as well as willing to overlook, excuse andturn a blind eye to those paedophile priests whohe has forbidden to marry — see 1 Timothy 4:1-3; Romans 1:24-28.

Britain & the PopeThe one country that bears a special

responsibility for such gross behaviour in thismatter of idolatry of the pope is (the once Great)Britain. Her history is one that has provided herwith a wealth of experience and knowledgeregarding the consequences of dealing with theRoman Catholic system—Yet once again she hasinvited “that man of sin” to visit the country. Thevery wording contained in “The Bill of Rightsand Act of Settlement” (1689) is warningenough:

“Whereas it hath been found by experiencethat it is inconsistent with the safety andwelfare of this Protestant Kingdom to begoverned by a Popish Prince or by any Kingor Queen marrying a papist...etc.”

It is well known that a Roman Catholiccannot occupy the throne of England. For that tohappen there would have to be a constitutionalshake-up as well as electoral reform. For theBritish government to spend an estimated £42million on a papal visit, at a time when they aretalking about spending cuts and increasedtaxation, can hardly be expected to win muchpopular support! Even if the Catholic claim thatten percent of Britons are now Catholic is true(which is doubtful), it leaves ninety percent ofthe people with good reason for being upset. Theposition is a difficult one to defend even if theBBC and the media support it (which they

probably will), According to figures publishedin the UK’s Catholic Herald (May 20) the resultsof the May 6 election saw only 19 catholicConservative MP’s elected, 5 Lib-Dems, 3 SDLPand one Scottish Nationalist. The oppositionLabour Party has 40 Catholic MP’s.

According to a report from the BBC theNational Secular Society has “delivered a28,000-name petition to Downing Streetobjecting to any state funding” of the visit. Thepresident of the society has stated that anybenefits of such a state visit do not justify its cost.

A Prime Minister’s WarningFrom time to time it has been found

necessary to introduce legislation designed tocurtail the growing power of the Catholic Churchin Britain. For example, the “Popery Act” of1698 (passed through Parliament in 1700) hadthe long title: “An Act for the further preventingthe Growth of Popery.” That Act was repealed in

1846.Following the Proclamation of Papal

Infallibility in 1870, one British Prime Ministerpublished his warnings to the nation in a paperentitled ‘Vaticanism,’ and also in another workwhich had the title “The Vatican Decrees in theirbearing on civil allegiance.” The Right Hon.W.E. Gladstone (four times Prime Minister ofBritain) wrote about Vaticanism as follows in1875:

“Of that system as a system, especially afterthe further review of it which it has been myduty to make, I must say that its influence isadverse to freedom in the State, the family,and the individual; that when weak it is toooften crafty, and when strong tyrannical.”

He wrote further in explanation of his objective:“My object has been to produce, if possible, atemper of greater watchfulness; to promotethe early and provident fear which, says Mr.Britain’s Prime Minister Gladstone

n what Scriptural basis do we claim that Britain’s exit from Europe is inevitable? It is simplythis: she cannot be on both sides in the coming conflict described in Ezekiel chapter 38—either she must be with the latter-day northern power, allied with Russia and Europe, or she

is to be identified with the southern group of “Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish withall the young lions thereof” (verse 13). She cannot be on both sides at the same time.

Which side will Britain be on? The accompanying article places before the reader evidenceshowing that Britain is positioning herself with those who protest and oppose the aggressivenorthern alliance that is to invade Israel. As we have shown in previous issues of this magazineBritain is to be identified with the “Tarshish” of the latter days. She cannot protest and opposeherself, she is therefore perforce, not part of the European system when this prophecy is finallyfulfilled. For this reason, writers over many years—some over a century ago—have seen Britainas being separated from Europe.

Although Britain is a member of the European Union today and has deep economiccommitments in Europe, many voices in the country have often revealed an underlying disquiet.Gradually, more influential people are coming to realise that in a crisis, Britain has far more incommon with Commonwealth countries and other English-speaking nations, than with Europe.This is bound to affect policy in the future. Admittedly such a trend could be temporarily arrested—especially in the event of a change of government—but present indications do not seem to favourthat possibility.

The timing we do not know, but this writer believes that Bible prophecy requires Britain’sultimate separation from Catholic Europe. On that basis, he has no hesitation in saying thatBritain’s eventual exit from Europe is a certainty. As to questions concerning how it will happen,and when, we do not know because it has not been revealed in Scripture. But when it does happenit will be yet another sign verifying the remarkable dependability of those prophecies revealed inthe Bible.

WHY BRITAIN’S EXIT FROM EUROPE IS INEVITABLE!

COPIES OF THISMAGAZINECONSIDERING THEBIBLICAL TARSHISHARE AVAILABLE

THIS DVD IS AUSEFUL &

INFORMATIVEPRESENTATION

SHOWINGBRITAIN’S ROLE AS

THE LATTER DAYTARSHISH

O


Burke, is the mother of necessity; to distrustthat lazy way of thought which acknowledgesno danger until it thunders at the doors; towarn my countrymen against the velvet paw,and smooth and soft exterior of a systemwhich is dangerous to the foundations of civilorder, and which any one of us may at anytime encounter in his daily path. If I amchallenged, I must not refuse to say it is notless dangerous, in its ultimate operation on thehuman mind, to the foundations of theChristian belief, which it loads with falseexcrescences, and strains even to thebursting.”“On one point I must strongly insist. In myExpostulation, I laid stress upon the charge ofan intention, on the part of Vaticanism, topromote the restoration of the temporalsovereignty of the Pope, on the firstfavourable opportunity, by foreign arms, andwithout reference to the wishes of those whowere once his people. From ArchbishopManning downward, not so much as one ofthose who have answered me from thestanding-ground of Vaticanism has disavowedthis project: Many of them have openlyprofessed that they adopt it, and glory in it.Thus my main practical accusation isadmitted; and the main motive whichprompted me is justified.”“At last came the crowning stroke of 1870(i.e. the Decree of Papal Infallibility—Ed.):The legal extinction of Right, and theenthronement of Will in its place, throughoutthe churches of one half of Christendom.While freedom and its guarantees are thusattacked on one side, a multitude of busy butundisciplined and incoherent assailants, on theother, are making war, some upon Revelation,some upon dogma, some upon Theism itself.”

It is here that Gladstone referred to a warupon Revelation—i.e. upon the Bible itselfthrough the avenues then being pursued such astextual criticism, the theory of evolution and thewhole question of authority. By weakeningconfidence in the Divine Revelation (Scripture),the authority of the Catholic Church (and papalinfallibility) became an obvious alternative forreligious people. It did not matter that manywere embracing humanism and even atheism—for even that was preferable to the authority ofthe Bible in Vatican eyes. Gladstone was a veryperceptive man!

For a Prime Minister to write these thing hemust have been exposed to—and witnessed—agreat deal of evidence supporting the statementswhich he made. But had not Daniel the prophetwarned of this very thing (Daniel 11:36,37), andwas he not endorsed by the apostle to theGentiles (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4)?

The Battle against BritainBefore we dismiss the warnings enshrined in

Britain’s constitutional Acts, or those of Mr.Gladstone quoted above, it is worth brieflyreviewing the pattern of history that reveals thedetermined efforts that have been made in orderto bring Roman Catholics to power in what wasonce a “Protestant Britain.”

Ever since the Bible was translated intoEnglish exposing the fraudulent church of Rome,and thus launching the Reformation in England,there has been a consistent and unremittingattempt to turn back the clock and to return thecountry to papal domination. Some of the mainland marks of history are listed below, andgathered from Steinberg’s Dictionary of BritishHistory (1970 edition).

Among the several plots, conspiracies andeven acts of war, we may list the following:

• The Throckmorton Plot (1583)• The Babington Plot (1586)

• The Spanish Armada (1588)• The Bye Plot (1603)• The Gunpowder Plot (1605)• The Popish Plot (1678)• A conspiracy to turn England back toCatholicism under James II resulted in theRevolution of 1688.• The Jacobite Rebellion (1745)• The ‘Aggression of the Pope’ (1850) inunilaterally setting up a Catholic hierarchy inBritain resulted in the Ecclesiastical Titles Act(1851).• Sinn Fein attempts to overthrow British rulein Ireland began in 1916.

As most of these avenues failed to producethe desired results, British Parliamentariansrelaxed their vigilance, and charitable menthought it unfair to their Catholic fellow-countrymen that they should continue to berestricted. So there were those who promoted aRoman Catholic Disabilities (Removal) Bill.Thus, the law forbidding Roman Catholics tovote was removed from the Statute-Book in1792. The law which prevented Catholics fromsitting in Parliament was removed in 1829. A lawforbidding papal bulls from entering thekingdom was taken away in 1846—and as eachof these objectives were achieved, it was claimedthat it would be a “final settlement” and thatthereafter the Roman Catholic Church would notseek to be involved in political matters. And eachtime the pledge was made it was soon broken.

In more recent years—and following theguidelines given in papal encyclicals—theCatholic push for power has taken a differentapproach. Since World War Two Catholics havecaptured many of Britain’s centres ofinfluence—not totally, but far in excess of theirpercentage of population.

The British media is littered with Catholics;the Director General of the BBC MarkThompson for example is Catholic, as have beenmany editors of prominent UK newspapers. Atelling paragraph in a book published some yearsago reveals some rather obvious methods usedby Catholics to influence opinion. For example,the writer (George Scott, “The R.Cs,” 1967)says:

“...Catholics have exerted and do exertpressure... they mount campaigns of protest. Irecall, incidentally, the story of the Jesuitpriest on the teaching staff at Stonyhurst whotold an ex-pupil, ‘I have only to lift thattelephone to get 500 people sending letters ofprotest to the B.B.C.’”

Such are the modern methods. Every yearthere are complaints about Britain’s traditional‘Bonfire Night’ held on November the 5th,recalling the Gunpowder Plot whereby Catholicsplanned to blow up King James I who hadarranged for a new translation of the Bible (the“Authorised” version of 1611). James was to beblown sky-high together with Parliament! Thisattempt to blot out the memory of that event islike asking citizens of the United States toabandon the celebrations (and fireworks) on thefourth of July!

“Remember, Remember, the Fifth ofNovember!” is still an annual featurein Britain on Bonfire Night, in spite of

efforts to stop the activity.

THE TIMES, AUG 4, 1998


(verse 15).There was a time when Britain and other

Protestant nations understood these things, whenenlightened statesmen did not shrink frompointing them out. Today that knowledge hasbeen smothered, it has been lost, concealed,stifled and suppressed. But it is a knowledge thatJesus Christ has communicated to his servantswhen through the instrumentality of his servantJohn, he made known those things which weregoing to come to pass.

For over twenty years we have taught that“Britain’s Exit from Europe is inevitable!” (seepanel opposite). This statement was made on thebasis of our understanding of prophecy. Othershad warned Britain from a different perspective.For example in 1990 a former cabinet ministerNicholas Ridley, who had occupied the positionof Trade and Industry Secretary, told The SundayExpress newspaper (August 5, 1990) that:

“He believes Britain is threatened byeconomic domination by the Germans andwarns that unless we act now we will end upas the poor man of Europe, driven into aThirties-style recession.”

The signs are that we could be approachingthat day; the day when these things become areality. It may take some time yet—we do notknow—but what we can see is that the things wehave learned, and been assured of, are faithfuland true. These things are coming to pass inour day!

In 1993 an article appeared in The DailyTelegraph by the well-known journalist CliffordLongley in which he lamented that “anti-Catholicprejudice still exists in royal circles.” He usedthis as a means of launching his own agenda to“remove royal marriages from the legalrestrictions” which forbad the heir to the thronemarrying a Catholic. This present writer decidedto telephone Clifford Longley in order toascertain his religious persuasion. It was nosurprise to learn that he was a Catholic, so thequestion was put to him—Why not declare yourown interest here? Oh, said he—“I did wonderabout that.”

But the gradual erosion of Protestantism inBritain has allowed Catholics to increase theirinfluence and power. That, together with theplanned secularization of the population, hasresulted in an amazing indifference to the wholematter. So much so that The Times newspaper ofAugust 4th, 1998 could carry an article headed:BRITAIN GIVES UP ON THE REFORMATION: “Thestrange death of a Protestant nation.” The fact is,however, that Britain still retains a protest-antspirit, even if not from religious convictions.

But then, it was a nation that had forgotten,and that had no desire to teach its children thelessons of its own history.

We might suppose that with that the battlewas over—but oh no. The whole thing had to betaken further and Britain made subject toCatholic Europe and its social teaching. What theSpanish Armada failed to accomplish, perhapsEuropean Treaties could!

The Christian-Socialist StateEver since the pope lost his temporal power

in 1870 (that is, his position as a king andmonarch, as well as being a religious leader—or“false prophet”), it has been the intention of theVatican to recover that power, as was noted byGladstone in 1875, quoted earlier. The ambitions

of the Vatican to restore the temporal power wasnot to be however—at least, not in the formwhich it took previously. Times had changed—and had in fact run out, for the 1260 years ofprophecy had expired.

A study of the prophecy of the Apocalypsetogether with history reveals to us a clear attemptto re-create what was known in history as TheHoly Roman Empire. The first attempt was seenin the First World War when an Austro-Germanalliance tried to unite Europe under itsdomination. The second attempt was made tobring into being a new Europe (Das Nue Europa)under the “Third Reich.” When that failed, a planto unite Europe under the “Treaty of Rome” wascommenced (1957) and has gradually evolved tobecome the European Union that we see today.That this ‘United States of Europe’ is governedby Catholic social doctrine is sufficient todemonstrate that it is, in fact, the hand of Romethat pulls the strings and produces the menu.What we see emerging is a (Catholic) Christian-socialist state which in symbolic terms is awoman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, fullof names of blasphemy, having seven heads andten horns (Revelation chapter 17).

What we need to understand is that the goalof the Vatican has always been—and still is—POWER. Power and control. If not as a king,monarch or Caesar—then as that “great whorethat sitteth upon many waters” which “arepeoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues”

A popular anti-Europe spirit is strong

Several political leaders in Britain have warned the public of German designson Europe’s economy. Nicholas Ridley did so in 1990 as shown above


rom the heavens the earth appears like a colourful jewel againstthe blackness of space; it hangs upon nothing, sparkling withawesome beauty and splendor. Unfortunately a closer lookreveals a planet ravaged by war and human mismanagement.

It has long been advocated that the earth is heading foran environmental disaster. As far back as 1988 the TIME

Magazine departed from its tradition of naming a “Man of the Year” andinstead designated planet earth as “Planet of the Year.” The cover storydescribed human incompetence in the harvesting of natural resources aswell as human carelessness in dealing with natural disasters such asearthquakes. In contemplating the possible life span of planet earth thearticle commented,

“How long it endures and the quality of life it can support do not dependalone on the immutable laws of physics. For man has reached a point in

his evolution where he has the power to affect, for better or worse, thepresent and future state of the planet.”

Human pride and arrogance appears to know no bounds; why shouldwe believe that with all the available modern technology man can changelife for the better? The Bible contradicts this quotation noting that mankindis incapable of solving his own problems. We read, “O LORD, I know thatthe way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct hissteps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Six thousand years of human history testify to thetruth of these words. History is built upon conflict and aggression; astechnology has been developed for good, invariably it has been directedtowards more destructive purposes. Greed and power have been at thecentre of so called human progress and until the heart of man is changednothing else will.

The Bible makes it quite clear that the earth will abide for ever(Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 148:1-6). Despite all the “end of the world”statements the Bible declares God’s intentions with the earth. We read that

By Ron Kidd LONDON, ON..

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God created the earth to be inhabited (Isaiah45:18) and eventually it will be “filled with theglory of the LORD” (Numbers 14:21); for theBible student everything that we see happeningaround us confirms the purpose of God is righton track.

A Natural AggressorThere are other forms of aggression which

challenge the human race and which renders allof our technology powerless to prevent. One isan aggression from the air in the form ofHurricanes, Tornados and Lightening Storms; theother stems from the earth itself in the form ofVolcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis. Thedevastation caused by natural disasters is welldocumented: the 2004 Tsunami in the Indian

Ocean killed 200,000 people; Hurricane Katrinakilled 1,836 people in 2005, displacing 80% ofNew Orleans’ population and the 2010 Haitianearthquake killed over 200,000 people, leavingHaiti in ruins. The recent volcanic eruption inIceland shut down much of European airspaceand according to the news reports disrupted airtravel for an estimated 10 million travelersworldwide.

Each form of natural disaster is a deadlypower to be reckoned with but the earthquake isperhaps the most terrifying that can be unleashed.According to a United States Geological surveyover 275,000 earthquakes have occurred sincethe beginning of the 21st Century; the majorityof these are under 5.9 in magnitude. Many of theearthquakes are not even felt, these are describedas micro earthquakes, less than 2.0 in magnitude,and they average approximately 8,000 per day.Notwithstanding nearly 1700 earthquakes haveregistered over 6.0 on the Richter scale in thesame time period and they are described asbetween Strong (6.0-6.9) and Great (9.0-9.9)earthquakes. While it is true that advancedtechnology allows experts to monitor and predictearthquakes more accurately, unfortunately thereis no scientific solution for preventing them fromhappening.

Earthquakes generally occur when rockunderground suddenly breaks along a fault. Yousee the earth’s outer shell is made up of a seriesof irregular rigid segments called plates and eachsegment has been given a name corresponding tothe oceans or continents embedded in them (seediagram right). Earthquakes usually occur whenthese plates grind and crush together, like anirresistible force encountering an immovableobject. As pressure builds up the rocks break upand an earthquake occurs. Depending on the sizeof the fault area an earthquake can last from afew seconds to several minutes, but in that shortspace of time it strikes terror into people’s hearts,

Running for cover as buildings collapse as the result of earthquake

arthquake damage in Haiti


producing panic and uncertainty and as we haveseen from media pictures a great deal of damagecan be caused in a few seconds.

Of God or Natural PhenomenaInevitably when disasters occur questions

arise about God; if there is a God, why does Heallow such things? Today people describe naturaldisasters as the work of Mother Nature, but inreality this is only an excuse to remove Godfrom the picture. The Bible clearly identifiesGod as the creator of all things and that He hasset in motion natural laws by which this worldis governed (Jeremiah 31:35). Because of thisthe natural elements are at God’s disposal.Consider what the Psalmist wrote, “For hecommandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,which lifteth up the waves thereof… He makeththe storm a calm, so that the waves thereof arestill” (Psalm 107:25-29); again, “The LORD hathhis way in the whirlwind and in the storm, andthe clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukeththe sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all therivers,” (Nahum 1:1-4). We also read, “Shallthere be evil in a city, and the LORD hath notdone it” (Amos 3:6).

There have been occasions throughouthistory when God has used the forces of natureto accomplish His purpose; the Bible speaks of“Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy windfulfilling his word” (Psalm 148:8); in referenceto the rain, snow and winds we read, “He causethit to come, whether for correction, or for hisland, or for mercy” (Job 37:13). There arenumerous examples where God has respondedto mankind’s continuous rebellion against Hisword by using the natural elements for divinepunishment. In the days of Noah it is recordedthat the earth was filled with violence and that“every imagination of the thoughts of (man’s)heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5-12). Because people refused the preaching ofNoah God brought a flood upon the earth thatdestroyed all flesh (Genesis 6-7).

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah wereguilty of sexual depravity; they were “wickedand sinners before the LORD exceedingly”(Genesis 13:13). Righteous men such as Lotwere “vexed with the filthy conversation of thewicked” (2 Peter 2:7), which resulted in God“raining down fire and brimstone out of heaven”and overthrowing those cities, (Genesis 19:24-25). Other incidents have occurred involving thenatural elements, for example during a rebellionagainst God’s appointees, Moses and his brotherAaron, the earth opened and swallowed upKorah, Dathan and Abiram because theychallenged God’s authority (Numbers 16). Theprophet Jonah refused to complete God’smission to Nineveh therefore God sent a greatwind into the sea which created a mightytempest to steer Jonah back on course (Jonah 1).

This does not mean that all disasters aredivinely orchestrated or that all natural disastersare God’s instrument of punishment. The LordJesus Christ was quick to dispel such aconclusion when speaking to his disciples. Atragic event had overtaken a number of Galileansin Jesus’ day. Jesus commented saying,

“Suppose ye that the Galileans were sinnersabove all Galileans, because they suffered suchthings?” (Luke 13:1-2) In other words was Godpunishing these men for some gross sin on theirpart? Jesus answered, “I tell you, Nay” (verse 3-5). Some nations appear to suffer more thanothers but this does not suggest that one nation ismore sinful than another. God is simply usingthese natural phenomena to warn humanity thatGod is in control and will punish those whooppose Him. The Lord Jesus Christ warned hisown generation, “As it was in the days Noah, soshall it be also in the days of the Son of man” andagain, “Likewise also as it was in the days ofLot…even thus shall it be in the day when theSon of man is revealed” (Luke 17:26-30).

Weather in HistoryBible prophecy provides clear evidence of

God’s omnipotence. The prophet Isaiah declared,“I am God, and there is none like me, declaringthe end from the beginning, and from ancienttimes the things that are not yet done, saying, Mycounsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure”(Isaiah 46:9-10). This means that the events ofhistory are not random, rather God is steering thecourse of history in order to fulfill His purpose infilling the earth with His glory. Whilst we maynot understand the mechanics of how Godaccomplishes this, we are told that God is incomplete control of the nations. The prophetDaniel declared that, “the most High ruleth in thekingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever hewill, and setteth up over it the basest of men”(Daniel 4:17). In other words the transition ofpower from one nation to another is divinelycontrolled.

One clear evidence that this has occurred isthe manner in which the natural elements have

contributed to moulding the world we live in tofulfill Bible prophecy. When the Lord JesusChrist discussed the destruction of Jerusalem inAD 70, one of the signs that would point to itsnearness was that there would be “famines, andpestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places”(Matthew 24:7). The Acts of the Apostles records“the great dearth” which took place “in the daysof Claudius Caesar” (Acts 11:28-30). When the

Volcanic ash: bringing the world to a stand-still!

The horror of a TsunamiTHE BIBLE MAGAZINE Vol. 23 ISSUE No.3

Apostle Paul was in Philippi there was anearthquake which brought about the release ofPaul and Silas (Acts 16:26). The historianJosephus, who lived during the Roman invasionin AD 70 documented the weather conditionsprior to the fall of Jerusalem. He wrote:

“There broke out a prodigious storm in thenight, with the utmost violence, and verystrong winds, with the largest showers of rain,and continual lightnings, terrible thunderingsand amazing concussions and bellowings ofthe earth, that was in an earthquake. Thesethings were a manifest indication that somedestruction was coming upon men, when thesystem of the world was put into this disorder;and anyone would guess that these wondersforeshowed some great calamities that werecoming” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book4, ch.4:6, Whiston’s translation)

Other Bible commentaries record that theperiod leading up to Jerusalem’s downfall wasunusually marked by earthquakes throughout theRoman world.

When Philip of Spain challenged QueenElizabeth 1 in the 16th Century the objective wasnot merely to expand his empire, rather it was tore-establish England as a Catholic country underRome. But as has been commented on in thepages of this magazine before, England’s role inBible prophecy is well established and itsposition as a Protestant nation clearly stated.Philip built a mighty armada determined tooverthrow the British navy. His initial successeswere overturned when the Spanish Armada wasforced to regroup and sail northward; the fleetencountered severe storms which disrupted theship’s course and many of the ships werewrecked on the north and western coasts ofIreland and rocky shores of Scotland. A medalwas produced to commemorate the victory overSpain bearing the inscription, “God blew andthey were scattered.”

Russia figures prominently in Bibleprophecy as an independent power that willinvade the Middle East in the near future.However in 1812 Napoleon had other ideas.Napoleon invaded Russia with about 600,000men and over 50,000 horses with the intention ofconcluding the war in twenty days, but it didn’twork out that way. A series of miscalculationsresulting in low food supplies and low moralebroke down his army. But it was the weather thatbrought an end to the invasion. Extremetemperature conditions contributed to reducingNapoleon’s army to 100,000 men forcing aretreat. Thousands died in their sleep overcomeby exhaustion and exposure to the subzerotemperatures. Napoleon experienced the realityof the Psalmist’s words, “He casteth forth his icelike morsels: who can stand before his cold”(Psalm 147:17).

Waiting for the Big OneWhen we talk about earthquakes in North

America we immediately think about Californiaand the San Andreas Fault. Following theearthquake which struck San Francisco Bay in1989 TIME Magazine published an article entitled“Still waiting for the Big One.” Whilst

considerable damage was caused by the 6.9magnitude quake it was still not as serious as the1906 quake which was 8.3 on the Richter scale.

But is California the place we should bewatching? The Bible says we should be watchingthe Middle East and specifically Israel. The landof Israel is an earthquake-prone region and has ahistory of a destructive earthquake occurringonce every 80 to 100 years. The last majorearthquake was in 1927 (83 years ago). Runningdown through the Jordan valley is what is calledthe Jordan Rift Valley, otherwise known as The

Dead Sea Rift. The rift travels as far south asMozambique in Africa. As we write this articlenews has just been published (Sunday May 23,2010) of a 5.3 magnitude earthquake sendingtremors throughout Israel, Lebanon and Syria.The earthquake shook open a large hole on theTemple Mount plaza, near the Dome of theRock. Are the Israelis prepared for a largeearthquake? According to the experts an

estimated 20 to 50 percent of Israeli buildings arenot built to withstand a large earthquake and yetthey are convinced that a large-magnitudeearthquake in Israel is likely to occur in the nextfew decades.

The Bible does not say an earthquake is likelyto occur in Israel, rather it says it is inevitable.

The prophet Zechariah details a majorearthquake occurring at some point of time in thefuture. Before we examine when the earthquakewill occur we will first consider the impact it willhave on that region and beyond. The prophetrecords:

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon themount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem onthe east, and the mount of Olives shall cleavein the midst thereof toward the east and towardthe west, and there shall be a very great valley;and half of the mountain shall remove towardthe north, and half of it toward the south. Andye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; forthe valley of the mountains shall reach untoAzal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled frombefore the earthquake in the days of Uzziahking of Judah: and the LORD my God shallcome, and all the saints with thee” (Zechariah14:4-5).“And it shall be in that day, that living watersshall go out from Jerusalem; half of themtoward the former sea, and half of them towardthe hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall itbe. And the LORD shall be king over all theearth: in that day shall there be one LORD, andhis name one.All the land shall be turned as aplain from Geba to Rimmon south ofJerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, andinhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gateunto the place of the first gate, unto the cornergate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto theking's winepresses” (Zechariah 14:8-10).

From these verses we can make the followingobservations:

Because of the weather: Napoleon’s retreat from Russia

A medal recalls the destruction of theSpanish Armada


The earthquake will occur east of the city ofJerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. Thismountain is only 15 miles west of the DeadSea Rift.

The impact of the earthquake indicates that it willbe of major proportions, splitting the mountaininto two halves, pushing north and south tocreate a great valley.

Tremendous topographical changes will takeplace. The extent of the valley will stretch fromGeba to Rimmom. Geba has been located as 6miles North of Jerusalem and Rimmon as 33miles south of Jerusalem. This indicates that a40 mile section of land—the whole of thesouthern section of the mountain range in theWest Bank—will be leveled to create a large

plain.Verse 10 identifies within this level plain a

portion of the land being lifted up or elevated.The parameters given in this verse refer to thespecific area around Jerusalem. Thus theportion of land upon which the city ofJerusalem will be rebuilt will be elevated sothat it can be seen throughout the land.

The Dead Sea, which presently lies 1385 feetbelow sea level will obviously be affected andZechariah informs us that it will be revitalizedby living waters. The prophet Ezekiel speaksof this saying, “And it shall come to pass, thatfishers shall stand upon it (the water) fromEngedi even to Eneglaim; they shall be a place

to spread forth nets…” (Ezekiel 47:10).Engedi is located on the western shore of theDead Sea.

The description provided by the prophetindicates an earthquake with enormous power,such as the world has never seen. Thesignificance of the event lies in the fact that itwill be precipitated by the return of the LordJesus Christ when he is manifested on the Mountof Olives (Zechariah 14:4). It was from thismountain that Jesus ascended up into heavenwith the promise that he would return (Acts1:11-12). The prophet Ezekiel records “in thatday there shall be a great shaking in the land ofIsrael” and the shaking is described as God’spresence (Ezekiel 38:19). Speaking ofJerusalem, Isaiah also records, Thou shalt bevisited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, andwith earthquake, and a great noise, with stormand tempest, and a flame of devouring fire”(Isaiah 29:6).

But when might we expect to witness thisevent? By comparing the context of the variousprophecies we can develop a reasonable timeframe for Zechariah’s earthquake. Ezekielidentifies the time period as “the latter years”(Ezekiel 38:8); he also records, along with Joeland Zechariah, that it occurs when the nation ofIsrael has been restored to its own land. It willtake place at a time when the nations are angryat Israel and will align themselves against them;the bone of contention will be the “mountains ofIsrael” (the present day West Bank) and the cityof Jerusalem. At that time Israel will exist in asecure atmosphere (Ezekiel 38:1-11; Joel 3:1,16;Zechariah 14:1-2). All these factors illustratethat the scene is being presently set for this greatevent.

The Judgments of GodIt is inevitable that accompanying such a

catastrophe there will be considerabledestruction and death and the question willinvariably be asked for what purpose? WhenGod brought a flood on the earth and laterdestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was becauseof the wickedness of man’s heart. The LordJesus Christ said that it would be no differentwhen he returns, “But as the days of Noah were,so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”(Matthew 24:37). God does not delight in thedeath of the wicked, but desires men and womento repent (Ezekiel 33:11). Previous to the gospelbeginning to spread in the first century God hadwinked at man’s ignorance, “but now hecommandeth all men everywhere to repent:because he hath appointed a day, in the which hewill judge the world in righteousness by thatman whom he hath ordained,” even the LordJesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31). The heart of manhas not changed during the past two thousandyears; it is the same evil heart that existed in thedays of Noah and God has decreed that He will“destroy them that destroy the earth”(Revelation 11:18).

It has been suggested that an earthquake ofsuch magnitude will have worldwideramifications, to the extent of toppling buildingsover 7-10 stories high; to this agree the prophets.


When God begins to take up His controversywith the nations we are told “and the slain of theLORD shall be at that day from one end of theearth even to the other end of the earth”(Jeremiah 25:31, 33). When God arises to shaketerribly the earth we are told that “the loftiness ofman shall be bowed down, and the haughtinessof man shall be made low: and the LORD aloneshall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17-19). Butsuch a shaking is not simply to destroy; it will bethe beginning of a cleansing process that willprepare the world for the greatest reformation ofall time. The purpose of God is clear, one day Hewill fill this earth with His glory, as the waterscover the sea (Numbers 14:21; Habakkuk 2:14),and this will be accomplished by sending HisSon back to the earth to establish the longpromised Kingdom of God. It is only “when(God’s) judgments are in the earth, (that) theinhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”(Isaiah 26:9). There is no other solution.

Fortunately the picture presented by theprophets does not conclude with God’sdestructive power. The final picture is one ofglory and restoration. Zechariah records, “Andthe LORD shall be king over all the earth: in thatday shall there be one LORD, and his name one”(Zechariah 14:9). We are told of the city ofJerusalem, “men shall dwell in it, and there shallbe no more destruction; but Jerusalem shall besafely inhabited” (Zechariah 14:11), it shall be“beautiful for situation, the joy of the wholeearth, on the sides of the north, the city of thegreat king” (Psalm 48:2; Jeremiah 3:17).

The prophet Isaiah provides a beautifulpicture of the kingdom of God once the cleansing

“QUOTABLES

The immortality of the soul isnot of the truth, and therefore a

lie; and no man can be saved by thebelief of a lying or false hope. We

are saved by hope—‘the one hope ofthe calling,’ which Plato knew

nothing at all about.

‘’

ROBERT ROBERTS, Robert Roberts: The Instructor

God asks men for their hearts;but they give him only their lips.

They profess to love Him, butgive their affections to the world.

JOHN THOMAS, His Life and Work

JOHN THOMAS, Elpis Israel

Multitudes are called ’Christian’who do not believe the truth

concerning Christ or obey hiscommandments. It has become, infact, the name of a system of fableand error that has risen up in the

world in the place of truth, infulfillment of the predictions of the

apostles. Therefore, to be known as a“Christian” is not to be known as a

believer of the truth.

ROBERT ROBERTS,Seasons of Comfort

‘

’

‘ ’

Wisdom lies deep. You have todig for it: sweet when found, but

hard to reach.‘ ’In the light of the prophetic word,we may expect there to be a dealbetween the Vatican and Russia,

the Vatican preparing the way for theRussian take-over of Western

Europe.GRAHAM PEARCE,

Russia, the Vatican & the Invasion ofIsrael

‘’

process has been concluded, we read:“And it shall come to pass in the last days, thatthe mountain of the LORD’S house shall beestablished in the top of the mountains, andshall be exalted above the hills; and all nationsshall flow unto it. And many people shall goand say, Come ye, and let us go up to themountain of the LORD, to the house of the Godof Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, andwe will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shallgo forth the law, and the word of the LORD

from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among thenations, and shall rebuke many people: andthey shall beat their swords into plowshares,and their spears into pruninghooks: nationshall not lift up sword against nation, neithershall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

Upon the top of Mount Zion God will build atemple that will form the nucleus for worldeducation. Guided by God’s immortalized saints,the nations will be brought to worship beforeGod and learn of His ways. There will commencea worldwide reform where men and women willchannel their energies into a God centred,peaceful and productive work.

Every indication suggests that the largestearthquake in history is imminent; all the signsclearly confirm that Jesus is at the door. Climaticconditions are creating unprecedented financialchallenges to world governments and thealignment of the nations is on course with Bibleprophecy. Our responsibility is clear; not onlyshould be watching these events enthusiastically,but we should be taking the necessary steps toprepare for the day of the LORD.

DISARMING THE STATE OF ISRAELFor some time news reports have been placingincreasing attention on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which 189“parties” are said to be supporters. There hasbeen much talk of twisting the arms of Iran tosign up, and Iran has responded by pointing thefinger at Israel’s supposed nuclear capability. Sothe United Nations has the great idea of makingthe Middle East a WMD (Weapons of MassDestruction) free area.

It all sounds fair enough on the surface, untilyou factor in the reality of Middle East politicsand the determination on the part of most Arabcountries to wipe Israel off the map. Iran, ofcourse, has threatened just that. So it is nosurprise to learn that Israel will not go alongwith the plan—meanwhile neither confirming ordenying that she has a nuclear arsenal.

But other nations refuse to sign the Treatybesides Israel—India and Pakistan for example,are not prepared to abandon the nucleardeterrant that they possess. If Israel does havethe bomb, it is understandable from a human andpragmatic view that they would be reluctant torelinquish it.

We can expect the pressure to be maintainedand probably increased on Israel in this area—

her enemies would rejoice to see herdefenceless.

And yet we cannot help pondering thewords of Ezekiel 38 which speak of her enemythinking “an evil thought” (verse 10), and thestate of security described—“without walls, andhaving neither bars nor gates” (verse 11).

It is hard to see any group of nationsinvading a country that is ready to use the“Samson Option.” We must wait and see—but itcertainly makes us think! It makes us think ofother Scriptures too, such as Zechariah 14:12,which does sound like the horrible effects ofnuclear war (though we are aware of other waysto look at that verse).

But of course, Israel does not really needany nuclear weapons, because her God is morepowerful than any of them. He has promised tosave Israel, and He will do so. The article byRon Kidd that finishes on this page reveals thetremendous power —the forces—that are partof the arsenal at the command of the Almighty.The craftiness of men might disarm Israel by aruse such as that now being proposed, but theycannot disarm Israel’s God. When earthquake,fire and brimstone is unleashed from heaventhey will come to realize this!


“BEHOLD, I COME AS A THIEF”“Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments,

lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Revelation 16:15.

t would seem reasonable to conclude that the“watching” referred to in the passage above,

is related to, and concerns, those things spokenof in the immediate context. This would includethe events of the sixth vial—the drying up of thegreat river Euphrates and the preparation of A

WAY for the kings of the east, or sun’s risings.This is the influence of “unclean spirits” likefrogs, as they go forth from civil and religiouscentres with philosophical madness (such as thestupidity of post-modernism), embroiling andgathering nations in hostile intent againstAlmighty God and His Hebrew nation. Thesesigns are to be watched—not merely observed;it is intended that we be alerted by them, whichis the meaning of the word watcheth in this place.

Political SignsIn his book Elpis Israel, the writer John

Thomas points out that saints, though notparticipating in politics, are nonethelessextremely interested in them. He explained:

“... Paul says every power is of God; and thepowers that be are ordained of Him. This is amatter of great consolation and rejoicing toHis saints; for, though the tyrants maypropose, it is God only that disposes events.The saints who understand the word will keepaloof from politics. None are more interestedin them than they; but they will mixthemselves up neither with one party noranother; for God regulates them all: thereforeto be found in any such strife would be tocontend in some way or other against Him.”

So it is that our interest in events and thepolitical activities of men is kindled by theknowledge that “the most high ruleth in thekingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever hewill” (Daniel 4:25). Prophecy was given for apurpose, and one reason why the “things whichmust shortly come to pass” were revealed andcommunicated is that his servants might bealerted to the approach of God’s judgements,both upon the world and in regard to himself andhis brethren. The awareness of God’s Hand atwork as He implements His purposes serve toencourage the believing saint, for like Moses ofold he is strengthened to endure “as seeing himwho is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). It providesvision. Faith in the word of God is vindicated.

Trying to explain these things to someonewho has no experience of it, is like trying todescribe the colours of a rainbow to a man bornblind. He cannot understand. It is only byreading and understanding the prophetic words,written down centuries ago, and comparing themto the events of history—and current affairs—that we come to appreciate the miracle of it. Onewriter, Thomas Newton, whose work was

published in 1754 wrote:“Men are sometimes apt to think, that if theycould but see a miracle wrought in favor ofreligion, they would readily resign all theirscruples, believe without doubt, and obeywithout reserve. The very thing that youdesire, you have. You have the greatest andmost striking of miracles in the series ofscripture-prophecies accomplished;accomplished, as we see, in the present stateof almost all nations... and this is not atransient miracle, ceasing almost as soon asperformed; but is permanent, and protractedthrough the course of many generations. It isnot a miracle delivered only upon the reportof others, but is subject to your owninspection and examination. It is not a miracleexhibited only before a certain number of

witnesses, but is open to the observation andcontemplation of all mankind; and, after somany ages, is still growing, still improving tofuture ages. What stronger miracle thereforecan you require for your conviction? or whatwill avail, if this be found ineffectual? Alas,if you reject the evidence of prophecy, neitherwould you be persuaded though one shouldrise from the dead. What can be plainer?”

But being alerted by such things, we are theninstructed to keep our garments.

The Need for GarmentsBefore a man or woman can “keep” their

garments they must obtain them. The idea takesus back to Genesis 3, verses 7, 10 and 21. Theman and his wife were naked, ashamed ofthemselves and afraid. They could not cover-uptheir shame despite their efforts to do so,therefore “Unto Adam also and unto his wife didthe Lord God make coats of skins, and clothedthem.”

This merciful act which was in no sensedeserved provided a symbolic token of God’spromise made in Genesis 3:15, which was to befulfilled in after ages. No doubt, Adam and Evebelieved that God would perform His word, andon the basis of that faith he clothed them throughthe shedding of the blood of an innocent animal.

Certainly, and as the record tells us, the coats

of skins were provided in order to clothe thephysical nature of the first human being. But ifthat were all there was to it, fig leaves or cottonmight have done the job—but it required theshedding of blood to be clothed in the skin of aninnocent living creature. The reason for this isthat more than physical nature was involved.Adam and Eve had sinned; that is to say, theyhad been disobedient to the command of theirCreator. This produced the feeling of guilt—what the apostle calls the “conscience of sins”(Hebrews 10:2).

We all know what this is through experience.We are aware of certain desires which, for onereason or another, have to be restrained anddenied. When these desires (or lusts) involvethings that our Creator has forbidden, it is latentdisobedience, or sin—and what the apostle calls“the law of sin in my members” (Romans 7:23).This is an involuntary force that we allexperience from an early age. It is, as the sayinggoes, “in our blood.” We all know this becausewe are constantly being tempted in one way oranother. It is the apostle James who describes theprocess that takes us from lust, to actual sin, andthen to the end result.

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I amtempted of God: for God cannot be temptedwith evil, neither tempteth he any man: Butevery man is tempted, when he is drawn awayof his own lust, and enticed. Then when lusthath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin,when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

The apostle Paul says that “all have sinned,and come short of the glory of God” (Romans3:23), and Solomon likewise says “there is noman that sinneth not” (1 Kings 8:46). As this isso, all men carry the “conscience of sins”—andare in need of conscience-clothing. They requirea garment. So how can anyone cover a guiltyconscience?

There is one simple answer—throughforgiveness. If a man offends someone so as tocause a breach in friendship (or fellowship), thatbreak in the relationship requires an admissionof wrong-doing on the part of the offender (thatis, confession), and then a willingness tooverlook the matter—forgiveness—on the partof the one offended. That is straight forward.

The problem is that sin against God is nevera one-off incident. Because of his nature, manoffends again and again in different ways. Hecannot permanently stop himself. His nature isincurable! So, what to do? Let him live on as animmortal sinner as it were? No; man must returnto the dust of the ground from whence he wastaken. He was (rightly) sentenced to death.

But God is merciful and kind, as well as just

EDITORIAL

Because of his nature,man offends again andagain in different ways.He cannot permanentlystop himself. His nature

is incurable!

‘’

I


and righteous—so He clothes those who trust inHim, that they may hope in His promise andcovenants. Since the beginning men have hopedthat a seed of the woman would bruise theenemy, nailing it once and for all! In order toaccomplish this however, that seed of the womanwould have to be bruised in his heel, inflicting awound that had promise of recovery through thedirect operation of God.

What did all this signify? Just this: that “Godsent forth his son, made of a woman, made underthe law, to redeem them that were under thelaw...” (Galatians 4:4-5). How did he do that?Well: being made of a woman, Jesus Christ camein the flesh and was therefore tempted in allpoints like as we are, yet without sin (1 John 4:2;Hebrews 4:15). He had our nature; he was fleshand blood and was “the seed of Abraham”(Hebrews 2:14-18).

Jesus Christ was a mortal man and subject toall the usual desires of his flesh-nature—for “hehimself hath suffered being tempted” (Hebrews2:18). But he was a unique man—and unique ina way that is not easy to grasp. It is a greattemptation to simply dismiss that which we donot fully comprehend—to sneer and mock atconcepts that we find to be outside of ourexperience; so we try to explain it on our ownterms, and in our own terminology. We cannotalways do that with Divine things, for as Godsays through the prophet Isaiah (55:9), “For asthe heavens are higher than the earth, so are myways higher than your ways, and my thoughtsthan your thoughts.” So it is with this uniqueman, Jesus Christ. As Luke records it. Mary wastold:

“And the angel answered and said unto her,The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and thepower of the Highest shall overshadow thee:therefore also that holy thing which shall beborn of thee shall be called the Son of God”(Luke 1:35).

This “Holy Spirit” is not a person—as somany Christian churches claim; it is not part ofsome Trinity—but rather as the words mean(Holy—set apart, special; consecrated; andSpirit—power, energy, force, mental orphysical), a separated or dedicated power. In thiscase of Luke 1:35 it clearly denotes creativepower.

The apostle John describes this creative actin different words. He tells us:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dweltamong us, (and we beheld his glory, the gloryas of the only begotten of the Father,) full ofgrace and truth” (John 1:14).

The “word” (Greek: logos, reason, expressedthought or purpose) was made—constituted—flesh. In other words, there was a divine impressof the mind of God—of His character—built intothe son of Mary. As it is expressed in 1 Timothy3:16, “God was manifest in the flesh.” This is amatter to be approached in humility—it istreading upon holy ground as it were—yet it hasever been a subject which has driven men tocontroversy and strife as they try to come toterms with it. That be as it may, we have here aunique man who could bring under his control

the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Andbeing found in fashion as a man, he fullyunderstood the nature of man, that it wasabsolutely incurable. He understood that Godwas righteous in condemning man to mortality,and so it was that he submitted to death upon thetree, crucifying that flesh-nature which is thesource of all temptation and rebellion. AsHebrews 9:26 teaches us:

“...now once in the end of the world hath heappeared to put away sin by the sacrifice ofhimself.”

Now those who come to recognize thesethings, who experience the weakness of theirown nature in trying to resist unlawful desires,see that what Jesus did was to condemn sin inthe flesh (Romans 8:3). So they find themselvesidentifying with his mind on the matter. Theycannot attain to his standard of obedience, butsee in him an example of what they should be.

God recognizes this. He sees that there isbelief in what His son did, and so sets him forthas a “propitiation”—that is, a covering. Theword is associated with the “mercy seat,” lid orcovering for the ark of the covenant (see Exodus25:17 LXX; also Hebrews 9:5 where the word“mercy seat” is from the same Greek word).Thus the apostle writes in Romans 3:24 and 25

about “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiationthrough faith in his blood, to declare hisrighteousness for the remission of sins that arepast, through the forbearance of God; Todeclare, I say, at this time his righteousness:that he might be just, and the justifier of himwhich believeth in Jesus.”

That this covering is associated with the arkof the covenant, indicates that the covering is theresult of a covenant. So Jesus teaches this to hisfollowers saying: “This cup is the new testament(the word is covenant) in my blood, which isshed for many for the remission of sins”(Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25).

There is not anything mechanical about thiscovering. The words of Romans 3:24 should benoted: “Being justified freely by his grace.” Itreally is a covering of mercy provided to thosewho believe and have faith in the person andwork of Jesus Christ. They believe that he is thetrue Jewish Messiah and redeemer of Israel, andthat this work is to turn his people fromtransgressions (Isaiah 59:20), by purging theirconscience from dead works—:

“ How much more shall the blood of Christ,who through the eternal Spirit offered himselfwithout spot to God, purge your conscience

from dead works to serve the living God?”(Hebrews 9:14).

The blood of Christ is not seen here as asubstitutionary sacrifice—it is not a sacrificemade to appease God’s wrath, but rather one thatmay be effective upon the consciences of menand women. What Christ did should move us toa repentant state of mind. This is the sense inwhich he died “for us”—to influence, arouse,inspire us to follow his example in resisting theimpulses of our nature that are at variance withthe ways of God:

“For the love of Christ constraineth us;because we thus judge, that if one died for all,then were all dead: And that he died for all,that they which live should not henceforth liveunto themselves, but unto him which died forthem, and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).

So it is that the believer enters into acovenant relationship with Christ, seeking todevelop the Lord’s character as he covers theirsins (See Hebrews 10:15-17). This covenant isentered through the act of baptism:

“ For ye are all the children of God by faith inChrist Jesus. For as many of you as have beenbaptized into Christ have put on Christ”(Galatians 3:26-27).

It is the New English Bible translation thatpicks up the correct sense of the Greek wordenduo here (strong # 1746) and renders thepassage:

“For through faith you are all sons of God inunion with Christ Jesus. Baptized into unionwith him, you have all put on Christ as agarment.”

The idea is that of putting on Christ’scharacter. The same word, enduo, is used inColossians 3:10-14:

“And have put on the new man, which isrenewed in knowledge after the image of himthat created him... Put on therefore, as theelect of God, holy and beloved, bowels ofmercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing oneanother, and forgiving one another, if any manhave a quarrel against any: even as Christforgave you, so also do ye. And above allthese things put on charity, which is the bondof perfectness.”

So by entering into covenant with himthrough baptism the believer puts on thesecharacteristics; Christ is his garment. So theapostle Peter says:

“...Yea, all of you be subject one to another,and be clothed with humility: for God resisteththe proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1Peter 5:5).

An on-going conscious effort is necessary inorder to stifle that ‘law of sin’ in our members,putting those impulses to death as it were, whilstbuilding those attributes of the divine Name intoour own lives (see Exodus 34:6-7) that we maybe like him.

Truly blessed are those who keep theirgarments then, that they might be suitablyclothed on the day of inspection, and walk inwhite at the great feast that the king ofIsrael will provide when he returns.

“This cup is the newtestament (the word iscovenant) in my blood,which is shed for many

for the remission of sins”—Matt. 26:28.


The Scriptures show us that the only “devil” that we have to fear is manhimself, not some fallen angel. In many cases it refers to rulers of this world.

By Arthur Bull VANCOUVER.Who were the “Sons of God”?

“And it came to pass, when men began tomultiply on the face of the earth, and daughterswere born unto them, That the sons of God sawthe daughters of men that they were fair; andthey took them wives of all which they chose.And the LORD said, My spirit shall not alwaysstrive with man, for that he also is flesh: yethis days shall be an hundred and twenty years.There were giants (Hebrew, Nephilim) in theearth in those days; and also after that, whenthe sons of God came in unto the daughters ofmen, and they bare children to them, the samebecame mighty men which were of old, menof renown” (Genesis 6:1-4).

To find the meaning of a term used in theBible, we must see how God uses it in other partsof the Bible:Job 38:4-7 “Where wast thou when I laid the

foundations of the earth?....When the morningstars sang together, and all the sons of Godshouted for joy?”

Luke 20:34-36 “The children of this world marry,and are given in marriage: But they which shallbe accounted worthy to obtain that world, andthe resurrection from the dead, neither marry,nor are given in marriage: Neither can they dieany more: for they are equal unto the angels;and are the children of God, being the childrenof the resurrection.”

1 John 3:1-2 “Behold, what manner of love theFather hath bestowed upon us, that we shouldbe called the sons of God: therefore the worldknoweth us not, because it knew him not.Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and itdoth not yet appear what we shall be: but weknow that, when he shall appear, we shall belike him; for we shall see him as he is.”

From these Scriptures we learn:• The angels are called “sons of God”• Faithful believers are now called “sons of God”• If believers remain faithful they will be raised

from deah.

• They will be made like the angels to die nomore.

• When Jesus returns the faithful will be madelike him.

• The angels of God do not marry.From these three Scriptures it can be seen

that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1 weremortal men—the true worshippers of God. AfterCain had murdered Abel, Eve gave birth to Seth.Afterwards, Seth had a son “and he called hisname Enos: then began men to call upon thename of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). In otherwords, the believers organized themselves toworship God together. The other people, who didnot worship God, were Cain and his descendants.

By the time of Noah, the whole worldrejected God’s way, except Noah and his family—eight people. Why were the worshippers ofGod so few at that time? It was because the sonsof God had started to intermarry with theungodly women (daughters of men)—seeGenesis 6:1. The apostle Paul warned believersnot to marry the ungodly:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together withunbelievers: for what fellowship hathrighteousness with unrighteousness? and whatcommunion hath light with darkness? Andwhat concord hath Christ with Belial? or whatpart hath he that believeth with an infidel?And what agreement hath the temple of Godwith idols? for ye are the temple of the livingGod; as God hath said, I will dwell in them,and walk in them; and I will be their God, andthey shall be my people. Wherefore come outfrom among them, and be ye separate, saiththe Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; andI will receive you, And will be a Father untoyou, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

The children of such mixed marriagegenerally follow the ways of the ungodly parent.This is what happened before the flood, untilonly Noah and his family were left of “the sonsof God.” Genesis 6:4 says that “there were giants

in the earth in those days.” These were big men(Hebrew, nephilim). The big men who theIsraelite spies saw in Canaan were also callednephilim—they were the “sons of Anak” or “theAnakim” (Numbers 13:22). David and his menkilled Goliath and other members of his familyof giants who lived in Gath (1 Chronicles 20:4-8).

All nephilim in Scripture are children ofmortal mothers and fathers.

The nephilim (A.V., “giants”) of Genesis 6:4became “heroes” or “mighty (gibbor) men” and“men of renown.” The same Hebrew wordgibbor is used of Nimrod (great-grandson of

Noah), who became famous as the mighty hunter—(1 Chronicles 1:10). Gibbor is also used of thevaliant fighting men whose names wereremembered because of their feats in battle (1Chronicles 11:11). “This is the number of themighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, anHachmonite, the chief of the captains: he liftedup his spear against three hundred slain by himat one time.”• The giants or nephilim were mortal men like

Goliath, whom David slew. • The mighty men or heroes were men of renown

Belshazzar the king of Babylon,painting by Rembrant


—famous as great killers.• The angels of God do not marry.• The “sons of God” who married the “daughters

of men” were mortal worshippers of God.What is a “Proverb”?

When Israel turned away to worship idols,God sent the prophet Isaiah to appeal to them:“Put away the evil of your doings from beforemine eyes; cease to do evil…But if ye refuse andrebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword”Isaiah1:16-20.

Israel did not repent, and Isaiah (39:6-7) toldking Hezekiah, “Behold, the days come, that allthat is in thine house, and that which thy fathershave laid up in store until this day, shall becarried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith theLORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; andthey shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king ofBabylon.”

Afterwards the king of Babylon came with amighty army and overthrew the Kingdom of Godin Jerusalem. Those Jews who were not killed,he took away to Babylon. But before thishappened, Isaiah prophesied that the Lord wouldsend Cyrus the Persian to overthrow Babylonand save Israel:

“For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, andwill yet choose Israel, and set them in their ownland…And it shall come to pass in the day thatthe LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow,and from thy fear, and from the hard bondagewherein thou wast made to serve, That thou shalttake up this proverb (Hebrew, mashal, parable)against the king of Babylon, and say, How haththe oppressor ceased! the golden cityceased!…How art thou fallen from heaven, OLucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cutdown to the ground, which didst weaken thenations!” (Isaiah 14:1-12). There is both literaland figurative speech used in Scripture. Aproverb is one sort of the figurative.

Jesus also spoke in proverbs, for example,when he said:

“... if I go not away, the Comforter will notcome unto you; but if I depart, I will send himunto you. And when he is come, he willreprove the world …because the prince of thisworld is judged... These things have I spokenunto you in proverbs: but the time cometh,when I shall no more speak unto you inproverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of theFather” (John 16:7-25).

• The “Comforter” is not a literal person, but thepower of God—the holy spirit.

• Also, the prince is not a literal person. Theruling force in human society is sinful humannature.

Isaiah 14:4-20 is also a proverb. It iscomposed both of literal speech and of figures(see panel opposite).

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of themorning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst

weaken the nations! —Isaiah 14:12.

Isaiah 14:4—20The king of Babylon is given the nick-name “Lucifer.” Modern Bible translations show that thename refers to the “day star” which is the planet Venus. Other empires have ruled for hundreds ofyears, but Babylon ruled for only 70 years after capturing Jerusalem. Most of the stars we can seeshine all night, but Venus can be seen only for a short time before sunrise, or after sunset.

V.4. That thou shalt take up this proverbagainst the king of Babylon.

V.5. The LORD hath broken the staff of thewicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.

V.6. He who smote the people in wrath with acontinual stroke, he that ruled the nations inanger.

V. 7&8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and thecedars of Lebanon

V.9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee tomeet thee at thy coming

V.10. Art thou (the king of Babylon) alsobecome weak as we?

V.11. the worm is spread under thee, and theworms cover thee.

This is the song that the Jews would sing, afterthe Persians had conquered Babylon.

The government of Babylon taken away.

The king of Babylon was always beating up hisneighbours.

Literal trees don’t talk—the people in thecountries around Babylon were happy.

The literal grave does not tell the dead kings towelcome a new comer!

Dead men can’t talk—the literal teaching ofScripture is “in the grave, where you are going,there is neither working nor planning norknowledge nor wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

This is what happens to people who are buriedin the grave.

This passage has nothing to do, as some claim, that an angel or the devil fell from the sky.It is talking, in figurative speech, about the king of Babylon. He fell from the political

heaven, or government over the nations which he conquered. See Jeremiah 51:53.

V.12. “which didst weaken the nations!”

V.13. “For thou hast said in thine heart, I willascend into heaven”

V.13. “I will sit also upon the mount of thecongregation, in the sides of the north”

V.14. “I will ascend above the heights of theclouds; I will be like the most High.”

V.15. “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,to the sides of the pit.” (N.I.V. “the grave”)

V.16. “Is this the man that made the earth totremble?”

V.17. “That made the world as a wilderness”

V.17. “opened not the house of his prisoners?”

V.18-20. “All the kings of the nations, even allof them, lie in glory, every one in his ownhouse.”

V.21-22. “For I will rise up against them, saiththe LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylonthe name, and remnant, and son, and nephew,saith the LORD.”

V.23-27. “I will sweep it with the besom ofdestruction.”

The king of Babylon did this by taking wholenations captive and removing them to anotherplace.

The figurative “heaven” in Isaiah refers to thegovernment of Israel. Compare Isaiah 1:1 with1:10.

This is Jerusalem – see Isaiah 2:2-3 and Psalm48:1-2.

This is a figure for the great ambition of the kingof Babylon. His plan was to conquer and ruleover all nations. See Habakkuk 2:6-7.

- as all mortal men are.

The nations around were afraid of Babylon’sarmy.

Judea was emptied of people by the king ofBabylon (Isaiah 24:4-6).

The Jews could not go back to their homelanduntil the Persians had conquered Babylon.

Kings build their own expensive mausoleums,but the king of Babylon had no memorial tomb.

No remnants of the Babylonians or Chaldeanscan be found now.

Babylon has been emptied of all people, andnow only a few wild animals live among itsruins.

In summary, Isaiah 14 has nothing to do with animaginary “fallen angel.” It is about a “man,” the“king of Babylon” who appeared in public with“pomp” and “the sound of stringed instruments”(verse 11).


ur last article dealt with the coming ofPompey and the Romans, and theirinfluence on the Jews in the land.Fighting among themselves, theHasmoneans, after an inspiring startas revolutionaries, were seen to be

following in the footsteps of those they hadreplaced.

The independent Hasmonean kingdom cameto an end with the civil war between Hyrcanus IIand Aristobulus, sons of Alexander Yannai andSalome Alexandra. Alexander Yannai (the first ofthe Hasmoneans to call himself king) died at theage of 49, leaving Alexandra his wife as the onlyqueen to ever rule the kingdom, which she didwith the help of the Pharisees. Each of her sonshad sought the support of the Roman generalPompey, but when he did intercede, and choseHyrcanus to rule as High Priest, Judea waseffectively drawn into the Roman Empire in 63BC How was it that, 23 years later, an Idumean—Herod—came to rule over the land?

The civil war which followed the death ofAlexandra in 67 BC, was a struggle for powerover the kingdom of Judea. Hyrcanus the elder,inherited the titles of king and high priest, whilehis younger brother Aristobulus, the more spiritedof the two, was left with nothing. Hyrcanus wassupported by Antipater II, and the Nabateans,under Aretas their king. Aristobulus was defeatedand besieged in Jerusalem, until Pompey relievedhim and forced the Nabateans to withdraw fromthe city. Aristobulus surrendered to him, but hissupporters were encamped on the Temple Mount.It took three months to dislodge them, andPompey then demolished the walls of the city.Hyrcanus ruled as high priest and ethnarch from63 to 40 BC, but was given no royal title. He was

dependent on the Roman governor of theprovince of Syria, with Antipater in fact rulingover what was left under Hyrcanus’ control forthe next 20 years. During the war, Herod as ayoung boy lived with his mother’s family inNabatea, which was ruled from Petra.

Herod the Idumean, son of Antipater II, ismentioned only ten times in the Gospel records,but the period of his reign (40-4 BC) tells us agreat deal about the political situation in the Landduring the life of the Lord.

Herod was the second son of Antipater, anIdumean, and his wife Cypros, a Nabateanprincess from Petra. When John Hyrcanus theMaccabean conquered Idumea-Edom between140 and 130 BC, the inhabitants were given achoice: either become obedient to the Law, orleave. Most Idumeans underwent circumcisionand were converted, including the family ofAntipater I, Herod’s grandfather, more than halfa century before the birth of Herod. Antipater II(Herod’s father) had attached himself toHyrcanus II, the ethnarch, during the civil war,and became a high-ranking official. He was ableto appoint his two sons to official positionswithin the kingdom—the elder Phasael asgovernor of Jerusalem, and Herod as governor ofGalilee. Herod was only 26 at the time, havingbeen born about 74 BC. Antipater earned thegratitude of Julius Caesar for his support duringthe wars in Egypt. Caesar was well-disposedtoward the Jews from this time, and regardedthem as allies. He granted them privileges, andsaw to it that the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt.The High Priesthood was made hereditary inHyrcanus’ line. Forgetting his former support forPompey, Caesar made Antipater a Roman citizen—a rare honour for an alien—and also exemptedhim from taxation. Caesar told Antipater that he

could rule Judea in any manner he wished.Leaving the decision with Caesar, he was namedprocurator of Judea. Much of the goodwill whichboth Octavian and Antony later had for Herodsprang from the loyal service of his father,Antipater.

In 43 BC, Antipater chose to offer financialsupport to Crassus, one of Caesar’s murderers,and as a result, died after being poisoned.Crassus pillaged the Temple to support hisambitions. Later he was defeated and died at the

hand of the Parthians, who defeated the Romanlegions under his command. Herod, with thebacking of the Roman army, later executed hisfather’s murderer.

A year later, after the battle of Philippi,Herod was able to convince both Mark Antonyand Octavian that his father Antipater had beenforced to help Cassius, and reaffirmed hisloyalty. Herod and the older Mark Antony hadmet fifteen years before, and become friends,while Mark Antony was earning his spurs in thebattles that went on with the supporters ofAristobulus throughout Judea. When Antony

HEROD THE GREAT:King of the Jews

HEROD THE GREAT:King of the Jews

Part One:

By Ken Loveridge PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. Herodian: Burial site of Herod the Great

When John Hyrcanusthe Maccabean

conquered Idumea-Edom between 140 and130 BC, the inhabitants

were given a choice:either become obedient

to the Law, or leave.

‘

’

O


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marched into Asia, Herod was named tetrarch ofGalilee by the Romans.

The Hasmoneans were a Pharisaical family,but over the generations, as the effect ofHellenism was felt in Judea, they lived an evermore decadent lifestyle and were scorned byobservant Jews. The family of Herod had evenfewer constraints on their behaviour, asconverted Edomites, and were hated for theirway of life.

Two years after his appointment as tetrarch,the Parthians invaded the land, and Hyrcanus theHigh Priest was deposed by Antigonus the sonof his younger brother, and rival, Aristobulus,with their help. Phasael, Herod’s brother, andHyrcanus tried to negotiate. Captured byAntigonus, Hyrcanus had his ears cropped todisqualify him as High Priest, and was sent off toBabylon in chains. Rather than live as a captive,Phasael chose to end his own life. Supported bythe Parthians, Antigonus was on the throne ofJudea.

Herod was forced to flee. His trip to Romereads like an adventure novel. First he sent histreasure on to Idumea, then, taking his familyand as many as 9000 supporters, along with 500women who had been promised to the Parthians,he fled south, and was overtaken by his enemies.Near Bethlehem, and the future site ofHerodium, he won the battle, and continued on toMasada, where he had prepared a sanctuary forhis family. But staying out of the way was notHerod’s style, and he knew he needed theRomans behind him. The Nabateans were fearfulof harbouring him, and he turned south forEgypt. There he met Cleopatra, as his friendMark Antony was abroad. Focussed on reachingRome, he sailed for Rhodes, in spite of the winterweather, and negotiated for a ship to use for his

expedition. Octavian and Antony, the rulers ofRome, received him warmly, and pledged theirsupport. Taking him before the Senate, Herod wasextolled for his goodwill and loyalty, and Antonyproposed that Herod should be the King of Judea tohelp in the war with Parthia. And so he began hisreign.

As a result of his lobbying, Herod receivedrenewed Roman backing, and returned to Judea witha Roman army, to face Antigonus and recover hiskingdom. In a move to secure his claim to the throne,and develop some loyalty from the Jewish people,Herod married Mariamme, the teenage niece of thesoon to be deposed Antigonus. Unfortunately, healready had a wife, Doris, and a young son, Antipaterwhom he banished.

It took three years for Herod and the Romanarmies to take the land, and capture Jerusalem. Thecity was gradually surrounded and cut off. After afive month seige, the city was taken, Antigonus wasexecuted and Herod had a kingdom to go with histitle. The Romans wanted to sack the city, but Herodwas able through bribery and force, to save it fromdevastation. Before he departed, Sosius, the Romangeneral, offered a crown of gold to the God of Israel.At last, he had become the sole ruler of Judea. TheHerodian dynasty was established, and Hasmoneanrule came to an end. Josephus says that this was 27years after Jerusalem fell to Pompey.

According to Josephus, he ruled for 37 years, 34years of them after capturing Jerusalem. Thirty-sixyears of age, and nearly bankrupt, Herod was nowhated by the majority of his subjects, who blamedhim for their many sufferings at the hands of theRomans. With his beloved Mariamme at his side,Herod began to rule his kingdom. Next, we will lookat both his accomplishments and the terror of hisreign.

Herodian: Tomb of Herod discovered


Spiders are not the only fellows that can spin ayarn so as to entrap their unsuspecting victims.The prophet Isaiah speaks of those who neverplead for the truth, “they trust in vanity, and

speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forthiniquity.” He says they “weave the spider’s web,”

but their webs will not cover up their works(Isaiah 59:4-6). So let us beware! The smooth andsilky talk of those who do not have the Truth at

heart and who do not plead for it, but weave theirown theories, must be judged by their works (seeMatthew 7:15-20). So it is with the evolutionist;

his godless theories have resulted in a godlesssociety that is estranged from God and trapped bya false philosophy. The miracle of creation and ofprophecy cannot be appreciated by such victims.

The spider (above) is preparing itselffor “balooning.” His silken threadcan catch the wind so that he may

travel just yards, or for many miles.Balooning (or kite flying) spiders areknown to have been found 200 milesout to sea! They can even reach theupper atmosphere and jet streams.They can travel to distant islands inthis way. What incredible creatures

God has designed and made!

The silk thread of a spider hasthe tensile strength superior tothat of high-grade steel. Don’t

get caught up in it!

vol.23 issue no.3 july 2010 - bible magazine - search … · looks at an earth in upheaval which is...

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