THE WOMAN IN REVELATION CHAPTER 12 HAS BEEN A GREAT MYSTERY TO SAINTS OF EVERY AGE, AND THIS LAST AGE SEEMS TO BE NO EXCEPTION. VERY FEW PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THAT WOMAN AS THE NATION OF ISRAEL, BUT IF YOU WILL READ THIS MESSAGE, I BELIEVE THE PICTURE WILL CLEAR UP SOMEWHAT FOR YOU. WE WILL SHOW YOU WHAT THE SUN REPRESENTS, THAT SHE IS CLOTHED WITH, ALSO THE MOON THAT IS UNDER HER FEET. WE WILL ALSO SHOW YOU WHY ISRAEL CANNOT COMPROMISE WITH THE REST OF THE LEADERS OF THE WORLD WHO ARE CALLING FOR HER TO PULL BACK FROM THE LAND THAT SHE DID NOT OCCUPY BEFORE 1967. WE WILL ALSO ENDEAVOR TO ANSWER SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE COME IN TO US ON THESE VARIOUS SUBJECTS THAT PERTAIN TO THIS AGE. FIND OUT WHYTHE WOMAN CANNOT BE THE CHURCH, AND THE REST OF THE CHAPTER WILL BE MUCH EASIER TO UNDERSTAND. FIND OUT WHAT, OR WHO THE DRAGON IS, AND YOU WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT TO LOOK FOR AS THIS AGE WINDS TO A CLOSE.

We have this message in print already, but there are a few thousand people on our mailing list now that did not receive our first mailing in 1969; therefore because of the many questions we still receive concerning the mystery woman in the 12 chapter of Revelation, and because of the many things that th are being taught in various circles, I feel led to reprint the article with the addition of certain scriptures that will prove beyond any shadow of doubt who the mystery woman is. We will deal with the entire chapter, but our first concern will be to prove the identity of the woman who is clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and a crown upon her head having twelve stars. There are people teaching things from this chapter that no right-thinking Holy Ghost child of God could possibly believe if they would just study the scriptures; yet confusion and projections are still running rampant on every hand. My desire is to furnish you with enough scriptural proof to put to rest once and for all, any questions that might still be in your mind. I ask you to give close attention now as we begin reading our text scriptures.

WONDER IN HEAVEN

Let us begin reading now with verse 1, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head.” You will see as we progress in the message, that this is the same beast that is described in Chapter 13. Chapter 12 gives the heavenly scene of it, while Chapter 13 is the earthly fulfillment. We will talk about that later, but right now we want to read about two more verses. 4, “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a MAN CHILD, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.” I do not see how many Gentile Christians could read that 5 verse and think it is a picture of the church, the bride of Christ, giving birth the to an element of overcomers who will rule the world with a rod of iron, but there are a lot of people believing that, these days. Even in this following (these who supposedly are following the teaching of Bro. William Branham) you will find certain preachers standing in the pulpit teaching that the bride of Christ will come out of the church, when actually, the bride of Christ IS the church. The apostle Paul never applied the term, CHURCH, to anyone other than the bride. When you begin to talk like that, you are walking right out of the scriptures. When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian church, the church that typed the first church age, he called the church the body of Christ. Even though you will not find the church referred to as the bride of Christ anywhere in the New Testament letters, Paul did say in his letter to the Ephesians, that Christ is the head of the church, showing the same relationship between the natural man and his wife. Then he goes on to say (Eph. 5:25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it: 26, That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, 27, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Then in the 19 chapter of Revelation, verse 7, we find that same group referred to as the th Lamb’s wife, the group that was to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, which was revealed to be the righteousness of saints. As we go on over to chapter 21, verse 9, we find the Lamb’s wife, and bride terminology used in connection with a certain group of overcomers. All of this ties together to present us with a beautiful picture of the relationship between Christ and His church, but there is no place in the whole New Testament where you will find the church referred to as being expectant with child, but rather, the reference is to the fact that she (the church) is a chaste virgin. When Paul wrote the second letter to the Corinthian church he said to them, (11:2) “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have ESPOUSED you to one HUSBAND, that I may present you as a CHASTE VIRGIN to CHRIST.” Brothers and Sisters; we need to stick with the scriptures. When you begin to play with words in order to please people; you have just walked away from whatever calling God may have placed on your life. God is not a compromiser. It is as Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, (5:11), “And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased.” He was persecuted for preaching Christ, and what took place on the cross at Calvary, because it was not compatible with Judaism, and that crowd of mediocre persons who just played along on the borders of Christianity. They had them in that day, and we have them in our day. We have a bunch of mediocre preachers (the reason I refer to them like that is because they just play along on the borders of the truth without ever taking a stand for anything that would bring them any persecution) running around these days who just play along with this message of truth. They will never take a stand in respects of restored truth, to declare where they stand on controversial issues. Any issue that tends to divide people is taboo to them; they back away from it, claiming never to have studied it. I think it is high time some of them begin to study the Bible once in a while, instead of statements made by God’s prophet messenger to this age. Many of them will say “I don’t think God wants us to see all these deep things anyhow.” That will get them in trouble with the very scriptures that set the pace for Christianity. Look what Paul said to the Ephesians, (3:17-19). “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to COMPREHEND with ALL SAINTS what is the BREADTH, and LENGTH, and DEPTH, and HEIGHT; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the FULLNESS of GOD.” That means we are all to comprehend what He is revealing and giving understanding of in our age. Certainly we are never to put knowledge ahead of love, but this feeble excuse we hear all the time about it being more important to love each other, than to understand and teach things that divide, is a far cry from the way Jesus talked in the 10 chapter of Matthew. I know I have read this scripture to you many times before, but it is still th in the Bible, and it still means the same thing; if you stand for truth, there will be some that will hate you. Let us read it again; Matthew 10:34-38. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not to send peace, but a sword. (SWORD OF THE SPIRIT) 35, For I am come to set a man at variance against his father(you will find trouble everywhere you go when you stand for revealed truth.) And the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: (Who was He? The Word made flesh, John 1:14) and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” If a man is to put the word of truth above peace with his own family, where do these compromisers get the scripture for their love talk anyway? Love is truth; Love is corrective, and God is love, but He will not avoid truth to spare feelings. It is time some people begin to realize that. Love is the avenue we walk in, but I assure you, you will walk right into the mysteries of the word of God, the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. You remember how Paul expressed it in 1 Cor. 2:9-10, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him. 10, But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Now, did you notice that verse? The Spirit searcheth all things, and they are revealed unto us by the Spirit. Right before that, Paul said, “I did not come to you with excellency of speech or of wisdom (speaking of the natural wisdom of man) declaring unto you the testimony of God.” I will paraphrase it like this. “Brethren, I came to you speaking only what was revealed to me by the Spirit of God, for it is not right for your faith to stand only on the wisdom of men, but rather, it should be grounded by the wisdom that is spoken to you through the spirit.” In verse 7, he says, “But we speak the wisdom of God ordained before the world unto our glory.” I will have to say, (and I want you to hear me well) the deep things of God are not for the denominational church world. Neither are they for those who just want to play around with something. The deep mysteries of God are for those who have received a revelation of His name, been baptized properly, and determined in their hearts to walk with Him in truth, no matter what comes as a result of it. God will allow them to look in every closet and feast upon those things that are hidden to the world. The mysteries of the word of God are for our glory. They are stepping stones that enable us to get a glimpse into the world to come. Let me read a few verses from 2 Thessalonians, 1:6-10, where Paul is writing to saints who have suffered persecution because of the truth they have stood for. Picking up in verse 6, he says, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to they that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when he shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” In other words he is saying to them, “Though it may be a little rough right now because of opposition, there is coming a day when you who have suffered for truth’s sake, will be able to rest with us while the Lord repays those who have troubled you.” That is why it is better to stand for truth now, for we know that God will vindicate truth, and repay those who have opposed it for one reason or another, with tribulation. Then to take it one step farther, I will say this, “If you do, truly, have the Spirit of God in you, how can you fight against truth, and those who stand for it? Think on that while we get on with the announced subject.

A MAN CHILD – FROM THE GENTILE CHURCH?

For the sake of truth now let me say once agin (as I have many times before) the woman in Revelation, chapter 12, is not now, and never has been the church. It never has been the church, and it never will be the church; it is a panoramic picture of the nation of Israel. John was allowed to have a little glimpse of God’s complete dealings with the nation of Israel, from the very beginning of her history, all the way to her millennial glory. You all know the story, how God called Abraham from the land of the Chaldeans, made a covenant with him, and promised him a son by his wife, Sari, who was past the age of child- bearing. That promised son, Isaac, begat a son whom he named Jacob, and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs who fathered the entire nation of Israel. God allowed circumstances to carry them into the land of Egypt where their families multiplied into the millions, and the hand of their oppressors was heavy upon them. Then God raised up Moses from their midst and anointed him to be their deliverer. From there the great scene of God’s dealing with her as a nation of people takes on a more personal relationship. God brings them back into their land and begins to deal with the nation as His wife. Therefore the woman, (Israel) the wife of Elohim, Jehovah, the eternal Spirit (God) is expectant with child. Nowhere in the scriptures will you find that there is to come forth from the Gentiles, one who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but we see this woman bearing such a child as we go down in the chapter. To me it is so clear, that there should be no question as to who the woman is, but it is obvious that not everyone sees it that clearly; therefore, there remains the great controversy: Is it the church? Is it this? Is it that, or something else? Let us examine verse one for just a little while. “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; (John was seeing this in a vision) a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” Now we all know that the moon which hangs out here in space and gives us light at night, is a reflection of the sun. It gives no light of its own. The moon in this reference is a type of the law age of Israel (the woman) went through, an age of types and shadows that pointed to something that was to come later. Now there are some who believe, rightly so, that this woman is the nation of Israel, but they err in the fact that they believe the sun that she is clothed with is the gospel of grace. It definitely is not the gospel that she is clothed with. That is a scriptural impossibility. Some of you will surely say, “Bro. Jackson, you are getting terribly independent and dogmatic about this.” Let me tell you, I have to. I learned a long time ago that you can never get anywhere with truth as long as you just play around with the scriptures. Those who do so, automatically fall into a category, and of necessity, must fellowship with those of like faith. It is just like a bunch of boys who hang together all the time. Before long, whatever one does, they all do. If you hang around with boys that smoke, drink, gamble, and such like, it will not be long until you will be just like them. By the same token, if I start compromising with preachers who just want to play around with this word of God, very soon; people will begin to say, “He is just another one of them.” Brothers and Sisters, it is too late for a thing like that; we must stand for truth, and seek to be a Holy Ghost revelated people as this age closes out. It isn’t that I do not love them; I do; but the principles of truth take the preeminence. The devil doesn’t like it, but I am not trying to please him, are you? Alright then, let us settle it; the sun that the woman is clothed with, pictures her (the nation of Israel) in her millennial glory. Did it ever occur to you as a Gentile, that the reason Israel failed to recognize Christ in His first advent was because they looked only for their Messiah and the kingdom age? Looking for a king who would be able to solve all their problems, they could not recognize nor accept the humble Nazarene who rode a donkey into Jerusalem, as anyone of any significance. TWO ADVENTS OF CHRIST Those of you who will hear this will not be able to see our visual illustration, but we are going to use these two chairs to represent the two advents of Christ which were foretold in the Old Testament. Then we are going to prove to you with every scripture reference, that this woman is Israel. Let me say this also, Israel is getting ready to experience some of the hardest birth pains that she has ever known throughout time. The political world is trying to inject a serum that will deaden the pain, and keep her quiet, but it will fail. The birth pains are coming very soon, and I love this word of God which declares it. I do not rejoice in their suffering; I rejoice in the accuracy, the preciseness, of the word of God. Now, John saw the woman clothed with the sun, a picture of the nation of Israel shining for 1000 years throughout the kingdom age, which all her prophets spoke of. God will be ruling on earth in human form. The Godman, Jesus, who took Peter, James and John upon a mountain with Him one day and gave them a preview of what the glory of God in the nation of Israel will be like in that day, will be ruling with a rod of iron and the nation of Israel will be shining throughout the whole time. But Bro. Jackson, I thought the Gentile bride was to have the number one spot with Him in the Millennium. Yes, that is right, but His glorified presence will be in the land of Israel as He takes the throne of David to rule and reign, and she, (Israel) will have the distinct honor of being the nation of people through which the Messiah came. All that she (as a nation) has ever looked forward to, will be realized in that day. You realize of course, that there were many Jews who believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and became the first of all those who would make up the bride of Christ. Some of them were apostles, some were prophets, some pastors, evangelists, and teachers, and I am sure that some of them taught things that the other did not teach, but you can be sure of this one thing, Phillip was not down there in Samaria, criticizing Peter for the deep things he was teaching in Jerusalem. Shame on people who do such things just to get recognition. They have their reward already. The only recognition I desire, is to be recognized by the author of this book, the one who is able to make us understand the deep things of Jesus Christ, and solve every problem we may have. I never want to gamble with the souls of mankind, as some are doing in these days. Now the woman had a crown of twelve stars, and that speaks of her national identity. She is a nation of twelve tribes, and when God fulfills all that the prophets have prophesied about her, she will be over in the Millennium with all 12 tribes restored. As we said already, God allowed John to see a panoramic vision, covering the full scope of Israel’s history. The moon under her feet represents the fact that she has risen above the law age which she was subject to for more than 1900 years. To the Jews, the law reflected the glory of the kingdom age. They never did see the age of grace in any of the prophecies given out by her prophets. That is where the mix-up comes in; Gentiles read the prophets and try to make everything fit the age of grace and the church, but they make a terrible blunder when they call this woman of Rev. 12, the church, for this woman is with child. That means one of two things. Either this woman is married, or she is guilty of fornication. We have already proved by the scriptures that the church (the bride of Christ) is a virgin, and could not possibly be expectant with child. Therefore we can be dogmatic in saying that the woman is Israel, the wife of Jehovah. Remember now, John saw this picture in heaven, and what he saw was a complete picture, but down here on earth the process that must be worked out to form that complete picture in reality, takes many centuries, and involves many details. Each generation has contributed their part in filling in the details of what John saw. We can best describe the vision as a heavenly blueprint of what God is working out down here on earth. You who are familiar with blueprints, know that the blueprint shows the complete building or project, in every detail, and the place where the blueprint is first seen, is not the place where the building will take place. Furthermore, we will add this; what is seen on the blueprint will involve a process of time and effort to materialize it. So is it with what John saw as a complete picture. Israel still has a very great trial ahead of her, before she can be seen literally, as John saw her in the vision. He saw her with a crown upon her head, symbolizing the fact that she (Israel) is the queen of nations. An ordinary housewife does not wear a crown upon her head, but a queen does, and Zechariah 14 confirms for us that Israel will be the queen of nations in the Millennium. Verse 16, reads like this, “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” Certainly, Israel will be shining in the kingdom age, when her national identity has been completely restored so that she is represented by all of her twelve tribes. You realize of course, that this 12 chapter of Revelation does th not incorporate all of the millions of Jews that are upon the face of this earth; it pertains only to the spiritual element of the twelve tribes, those who are loyal to Jehovah.

 BIRTH PAINS – TRAVAIL – DRAGON

As we look into verse 2, we find that the woman being with child, is travailing in birth, paining to be delivered. Who is the woman? ISRAEL. What is she impregnated with? The word of God, spoken by the prophets, concerning a Son that would be born, who would rule all nations. God’s prophetic word was the seed, and the minds of the people, we will say, was the womb, and Israel (as a nation) pained to be delivered. They looked for a Son who would ultimately be their deliverer. Now, just as it involves a process of time, to work out all the details of what John saw concerning the woman; it also involves a process of time for Satan to fulfill the complete picture of what John saw him to be. Verse 3, In the heavenly vision, John saw a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. Brothers and Sisters, we all know that this is a description of the Roman Empire, motivated by the devil, which is the very spirit of that ungodly beast, but do you know that at the first advent of Christ, even though Rome was the beast, it did not yet have seven heads and ten horns. Daniel saw this beast come up out of the sea when it only had one head. It evolved into a beast of seven heads and ten horns through a progression of time, and the heavenly scene which John viewed, was a panoramic scene of the whole Roman Empire; not in the days of the first advent of Christ, but in the days leading up to His second advent; we are living in those days right now. When John was taken up into heaven (Rev. 4:1) he was shown things that would take place in the distant future, and the picture he saw of the Roman Empire is just now coming into focus literally. It is true that the Roman Empire ruled the holy land in the days of Christ, but the climax of what John saw is in the future yet. Israel has been travailing, in one sense, all the way through her history of recorded time, but her greatest hour of travail is just ahead, and the great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head represents that Roman beast that is motivated by the spirit of Satan, that destroying and conquering spirit that devours its adversaries.

BIRTH BEFORE TRAVAIL

God began to foreshadow the dark hour in Israel’s future, way back in the 6 and 7 centuries B.C., th th when he inspired Isaiah to write about it, but what we really want to see and understand from these scriptures is that, Israel’s great time of travail and birth pains, is not for the purpose of bringing forth the man child to rule all nations, but for the rebirth of the nation. We will see that as we read two verses from Isaiah, Chapter 66, (speaking of Israel). 7, “Before she travailed, (did you catch that? BEFORE SHE TRAVAILED) she brought forth; BEFORE HER PAIN CAME, she was delivered of a MAN CHILD.” This was written at a time when the ten northern tribes had already been carried away into captivity: Leaving only the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, which were called by the name of Judah the predominate tribe in the south. It was out of the tribe of Judah that the messiah was to be born. That is why Jesus was referred to as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Therefore, Isaiah speaking in the spirit, referring to something that is to take place, not among the ten northern tribes which were still to be in captivity, but among the southern tribes which would be back in the land, says, “Before she travailed, and before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.” Let me break that down for you. We all know it is contrary to physical nature for a child to be born, and then, birth pains come later. Is that not right? In the natural process of birth, as the pains intensify, travailing sets in. I have read, and heard, of a few cases where a woman would give birth to her child with very little, or no pain, and then, later, would have a time of muscle convulsions. We would have to call that after-pain. That is the picture we have here of Israel, as we read verse 7, but let us read the next verse and notice how the picture clears up. Remember now, this was written more than 700 years before the book of Revelation was written, and it is speaking of a time when Israel will be delivered of a man child before her travailing hour arrives. When is her travailing hour then? It is when God is fulfilling all the other prophecies concerning her regathering, her re-birth. What will be after pains as far as the man child is concerned, will be birth pains for her re-birth and restoration, naturally, getting her ready for the second advent of Christ, her Messiah. Now let us read verse 8, “Who hath heard such a ting? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or SHALL A NATION BE BORN AT ONCE? (That is exactly what happened) For as soon as ZION TRAVAILED, she brought forth her CHILDREN.” Did you catch that? Remember, this is prophecy. Notice now, when she travails it is not to bring forth the man child, but rather, her children. Her children consist of the remnant of the house of Israel that will be brought back into the land for her last day role in Bible prophecy. Now, can you see that her travailing is to bring forth children, not a man child, but children? You must understand that her travailing is to bring her children back from out of dispersion, into the home land in the age of the end. That will fulfill the scripture regarding the birth of a nation.

ABOUT CHRONOLOGY

I must re-emphasize the fact that these scriptures are not recorded in chronological order of fulfillment. That is why we published the Chronology of Revelation in two of our volumes last year; to help you understand that what John saw in a heavenly vision, covered a span of many years, and he just recorded what he saw, without giving details about the order of fulfillment on earth. Furthermore, those who lived in ages past, would not have benefitted very much by the revelation that God has given to his church in these last days. What God is revealing now, is to get the living element of the bride of Christ, dressed up, and ready for His return.

WHEN DID ISRAEL’S TRAVAIL BEGIN?

Since we are living in the generation that shall see the fulfillment of all these scriptures, I want to take a little time right her, to bring us up to date on some of the details that God worked out in order to get the woman (the nation of Israel) back in a place where her travailing pains could begin. Please keep in mind that travailing is not just one pain. Some precious women have laid for hours and hours in agony, with pain after pain, almost unbearable. That is the picture I want you to get, of Israel: how that she has been in travail for months and years already. Hear me now. I do not want you to get the idea that I am referring to a period of two or three hundred years. That is not the picture at all. Her travailing will cover a period of time comparable to one human generation, fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 24, and bringing all scriptures into complete continuity. Try to catch the revelational side of this now as we proceed. In World War 2, six million Jews were slaughtered, mercilessly, and innocently. Why did God allow such a thing? It was for the same reason that God allowed the Egyptians to treat their ancestors as they did 3500 years earlier. There had to be some situation drastic enough to put a desire in their hearts to go home, back to the land that God gave Abraham and his descendants for an everlasting inheritance. When the war was over, those Jews who were left alive were displaced and scattered. There began to be a cry among them (birth pain No. 1) that caused the United Nations, in one night’s time, to come to a vote giving them a portion of their ancestors’ home land. As far as they knew then, that was all the land they would ever get, but God had other plans which we will go into later, but right now I want to go back a few years and look at some events of what is now history to us, just to bring our thinking up to date.

LEAGUE OF NATIONS – UNITED NATIONS

There is no doubt in my mind that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, as God looked down upon this world, the Gentiles having had the gospel for almost 1900 years, He set in motion certain things for the purpose of fulfilling His word. The Jews having been scattered to the four corners of the earth in the years since 70 A.D. when the Romans over-ran them, had very little thought about going back to the land of their forefathers, but let us watch a chain of events that will change all of that. By the year of 1914, Europe was being shuffled and shook, and prepared for war. This was to set the stage and prepare certain things for a future condition. Space will not allow me to go into detail, but notice what took place during World War No. 1; it disturbed and disrupted the Middle East, and Europe. When that was over they formed a unity of nations which they called, The League of Nations, its principal objectives being the preservation of peace, and improvement of human welfare. I do not know much about it, but I do remember reading about it as a little boy in school. It was formed in 1920, and during the years of its existence the United States, and Saudi Arabia were the only two, of the considerable nations, that never did become members at any time. Financially it did not hold up very long, but the history of its decline and fall was marked by its failure to resolve major crises between powers, and by the time World War No. 2 began to be fought the League was virtually powerless. Even though it made some impact on humanitarian issues, its ability to preserve peace in the world was never realized. Why? Time for the Gentiles was running out, and the world in general was asleep, even the church world; therefore it was time for the world to be stirred agin, and that is exactly what World War 2 did. It was a war that reached completely around the globe. American troops were scattered from the jungles of Africa through Europe, and into the islands of the Pacific, and the world was shaken. By the time that war was over Jewish people all over Europe were crying, “We want to go home; let us go back to our homeland.” By this time the leaders of the nations had gotten their heads together once again, and we had another peacekeeping body called the United Nations which first began to be planned as early as 1941 by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, and by 1943 was a functioning body with a determination that World War 2 should be the last war. I will never forget, sitting on an old clay bank in Okinawa, after the war was over, and along comes a Lieutenant with a hand full of papers that had been sent down from Washington. It was obvious that he did not know much more about what was in them than we did, but he looked them over real good and began to say, The United States government wished to thank each one of you for your loyalty, energy, time and devotion, contributed to the well being of your country. You are going home now, and we are supposed to inform you that the nations of the world are forming a charter of nations called, the United Nations, which will work together to help foster peace in the world. We want you each to know that we believe this war was a war to end all wars. As a young fellow sitting there on that old clay bank, I thought to myself, that is not what the Bible says. Nevertheless, this was the second time the world had adopted a unity of nations plan, for the preserving of peace in the world. We all know about Korea, and Vietnam, and all the other conflicts in this old world since the organizing of the United Nations, but what is really important is that the nation of Israel has been born, politically, in a night’s time, marking a generation of people that shall live to see the end of all that the prophets of old have foretold. Since that time God has sent a prophet to this Gentile church world, with a message to call the bride of Christ out of Babylon (spiritual Babylon-confusion) and back to the revelated word of God. Just as God (by His Spirit) is calling the Jews back to a geographical spot of land, (which is their inheritance) He is calling His church to come back to the word of God. It does not matter whether we are in America, Africa, Asia, Europe, or some other place, if we are filled with the Spirit of God, we are all looking to God, through Christ, not as Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, nor any of the other titles we have been called by, but as Christians. We will not have 101 different ideas about the same scriptures, but rather, by revelation, we will all see the same thing. Just as every Jew was to pray towards the same spot, no matter where he was, so is every one who is truly baptized with the Holy Ghost, supposed to see Bible truth the same way. They did not pray towards the hill of their choice. They prayed towards the hill of God’s choice. That ought to tell people who are always harping about going to the church of your choice, and believing whatever you want to, something, if they have any revelatory capacity about them. God is moving (by His Spirit) to place the Jewish people back in all the land that is rightfully theirs, and He is moving (by His Spirit) to place the Gentile bride in all the revelation of the scriptures, that is rightfully hers.

RESULT OF A DELAYED TELEGRAM

As I said before, up until 1967 the Jewish people did not know but what the little bit of land given to them by the U. N. was all they would ever have, but at least they were glad to have that. I marvel at the way God allows the devil to work situations, whereby the result will fulfill His word. The devil working through those Arab people, (I am not belittling the Arab people. We have stayed in their hotels and found them to be nice people, as individuals, but we are dealing with a plan of God; therefore sympathy must fade into the background as God unfolds His plan) the people who were telling the Jews, We are not going to let you stay there on that land, brought about a situation in 1967 that enabled Israel to take the Old City. Nasser said, “We are going to push you into the sea,” and Israel only fought for survival. Little did Nasser know that in a few short days these Gentile flags would come down in the Old City, and the Star of David would take their place. Actually, the Old City was taken as a result of a delayed telegram sent by Israel to King Huessein of Jordan, not to enter the war against them. Israel had no intention of fighting those Jordanians, but because the telegram was delayed and Jordan did not get the message in time, they opened fire on Israel. That was an open invitation for God to say to Israel, “Go on in and take the Old City.” I was told by a military man in Israel, that the reason they suffered so many casualties in taking the Old City was because of the antiquity of the city: with all its many religious sacred places, they would not use anything except small arms against the Jordanians. Nevertheless, they took the city, raised the Star of David, and declared, we are back at last, never to give up our city again. This absolutely fulfilled Luke 21:24, which speaks of Jerusalem being trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. That ended the times of the Gentiles. There is still one little spot of ground there, that Israel must have. That is the temple ground where the Moslem Mosque stands. They still have the temple ground, but they do not hold the city. I will say this, in the light of the scriptures, if Jerusalem was ever surrendered up again, it would put her back under the times of the Gentiles. Believing that 1967 ended the times of the Gentiles, we know that it can never come back under siege of the Gentiles again. Of course some will say, “What about the time when the Antichrist sits in the temple as God? Is that not a time of the Gentiles?” No, you cannot associate what the Antichrist will do as being again the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles was that long period of time that ran all the way from the time of Babylonian captivity, down to 1967 when Jerusalem was back under the sovereign control of Israel for the first time. The war of 1967 ended that long period of Gentile lordship over Jerusalem. What happens in Revelation chapter eleven, and the other events associated with the time of the Antichrist are only for a short period of 3 ½ years, then it will be all over. Now if we will let the scriptures talk to us, we will know that the very fact that the Gentiles are not in control of the city now, proves beyond any shadow of doubt that Luke 21:24 is fulfilled, so I say to you, What are all these politicians negotiating? They are endeavoring to make world conditions go contrary to Bible prophecy. That is like playing with fire. God will not allow them to run His clock backwards. Truly, the world is crying for peace, but there will be no lasting peace until the Prince of Peace comes to rule and reign on earth.

THIS GENERATION SHALL SEE

Let me clear up a question that some of you may have on your minds right now. No, we are not talking about the fullness of the Gentiles, spoken of in Romans 11:25. This verse in Romans is dealing with the time when the Spirit of God will not longer be convicting Gentiles for the purpose of leading them to a salvation experience, while the verse in Luke (21:24) is referring strictly to Gentile dominion over the city of Jerusalem. I grant you, we are drawing close to the time when the fullness of the Gentiles will be a very present reality, but the two terms definitely apply to two different situations. I have said, many times lately, that we are close to the end, and I don’t mind saying it again, for we are the generation that has lived to see many of the things Jesus spoke of in the Gospels, come to pass, and He said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” I realize that certain people have predicted the end in every generation, but they did it without the fulfillment of the necessary scriptures. We have those scriptures fulfilled, and we see ungodliness prevailing on every hand. Our schools and colleges have become incubators for every kind of filth and corruption. Alcohol and dope are the two dominant spirits that are paving the way for every other spirit that Satan has turned loose on this society, and our law enforcement agencies are powerless to do anything about it. Do you ever ask yourself the question, Why? I will tell you why; it is because God is slowly withdrawing His convicting and restraining presence from the Gentiles, getting ready to move upon the Jews once again. As the Spirit of God withdraws, the devil moves in, and we are seeing a society of drop-outs, become wandering drifters, with no constructive purpose in life, many of them so doped up they don’t even know what day it is. As we look at all these things, we certainly should be able to recognize that the fullness of the Gentiles is drawing nigh. When God had touched that last soul with His gospel of grace, and showed that person the way of eternal life, this Gentile church world in general, will be just like an old dried up corn stalk in the fall of the year. You could go out there and pour a bushel of fertilizer around that thing and water it every day, but I want you to know, you will never make it green again, because the law of death has already struck it. It will have to die. That is what we must realize about this Gentile church world; no matter how much charismatic fertilizer you pour on it, nor how much charismatic water you may pour on it, it cannot be revived, the law of death has struck. I do not know when the last one will be brought in, but God does, and He knows exactly where that person is right now, whether in the jungles in Africa, or in the desert of some far continent, it matters not, when he answers the gospel call, the Gentile clock stops, salvationwise. This I do know though, we are approaching the climax. It is almost time for this old world to be shook again. When it happens, you will see another great peace keeping unity of nations formed, but this time it will be different, different because the Antichrist will be the head man in it all. Now do you see how it all lines up to give us a picture of God working out His plan for the ages? World War One gave the world the League of Nations. World War Two gave the world the United Nations which swallowed up the League of Nations. In the year of 1946, the League of Nations turned its remaining physical assets over to the United Nations, and since that time we have heard much about the United Nations, but it is obvious by now that the next great world conflict is at hand, and the U.N. is powerless to do anything to stay it off. Why? There has to be something to cause the world to fulfill Daniel 9:27, in signing a great peace covenant, which we know will last for a very short time, and THEN comes the war that will end all wars ARMAGEDDON. When that one is finished the Prince of Peace will be on earth, and the world will be at peace for the first time since Adam disobeyed the word of God in the Garden of Eden.

GOD’S TRUE PROPHETS – WHAT THEY SAW

Let us come back to what we were saying about Israel travailing in birth. When those Jews began to cry and travail, and the U.N. gave them a certain amount of ground, this was the beginning of her birth process. This was not complete birth, but it was the beginning of the birth process. Remember, the nation will have to be reborn, naturally, before it can be reborn spiritually. She will get her spiritual rebirth when chapter 11 of Revelation is being fulfilled under the ministry of those two witnesses that are to prophesy for three years and six months before being killed by the beast. I want to go to the book of Micah now for a couple of verses, Micah 5:2-3. Micah was a prophet that stood between the carrying away of the ten Northern Tribes to Assyria in the 7 century B.C. and the two Southern Tribes which th were still in the land at the time of this prophesy; therefore, his prophesy is to the two Southern tribes. We will pick up verse 1 for it shows what God is going to do with these two Southern tribes in about 100 years. This verse is referring to the coming invasion of the Babylonian army against them. Verse 1, “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops; he hath laid siege against us: (God used the Babylonians to fulfill this prophesy) they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.” Now here comes the verse that was referred to in Matthew 2:6, when Herod the king asked of the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be born. Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” That was Jesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem, marking the first advent of His coming. That was Israel, giving birth to the man child before her travailing hour. Remember, her travailing is to bring back all twelve tribes to her homeland in preparation for the 2 advent of Christ. I heard a story about a woman who went to bed, nd expectant with child. While she slept her baby was born, completely without any pain. That is exactly what happened with Israel when Jesus was born. I hope you get this; it will help you. Those 10 Northern tribes were out of the land, never to return until the last days, but the two Southern tribes which were in the land at that time were enough to constitute the birth of the man child, but there was no travail, and therefore; they did not recognize what had happened. Now in the natural, when the woman wakes up she immediately knows what has happened, but the fact that Israel did not recognize Him goes to prove that she was asleep. Isaiah 66:7 was fulfilled when Jesus was born. Not only was He born of the tribe of Judah, but he was born in the little town of Bethlehem, which was in the jurisdictional territory of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, His lineage, fleshwise, went back to Judah, and the little city where he was born, called the city of David (Bethlehem) fulfilled verse 2, but look at verse 3. It brings us right up to our generation in its scope. 3, “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.” Do you see how perfectly this fits into the picture? She (Israel) brought forth a man child without travail, fulfilling Isaiah 66:7, and this verse 2 here in Micah, and because she did not recognize Him, God gave them up to captivity, and they were sold on the slave markets and scattered all over the world. That is exactly where the apostle Paul placed his revelation about the fulness of the Gentiles in Romans 11:25. He says, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that BLINDNESS IN PART is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” That blindness can only be laid actually, to the two Southern tribes, for the ten Northern tribes were not in the land at that time. God had prophesied to them by His prophet Hosea that He would scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth, and that they would remain there, or out of the land, until the last days, so they were not responsible for failing to recognize their Messiah when He came. They, however, were responsible for the gospel they heard preached by Paul as he went to many of the places where they were, but that was on an individual basis, like it is with the Gentiles.

1900 YEARS BETWEEN VERSE 5 & 6

Alright now, we have taken you through these different prophecies to show you that nothing which has happened with Israel was a surprise to God, for he had already spoken of each event through his prophets. Therefore, as we come back to Revelation, chapter 12, we can see that, timewise, we are living between verse 5, where the man child (Jesus) was caught up unto the Throne of God, (His resurrection and ascension) and verse 6, which shows the woman (Israel) which gave birth to the man child, fleeing into the wilderness. Naturally, that reference is to be applied to the time of the end when Israel will have to flee from the beast into a place that God will have prepared for her, and she will be cared for throughout the whole three and one-half years of the great tribulation. You must place nineteen hundred years, which is the Gentile grace age, between verses 5 and 6 to get the picture straight in your minds. God had spoken through His prophet, Hosea, (you can read it in chapter one) that in the place (time) where it was said unto them (the two Southern tribes) “Ye are not my people, (because they rejected their Messiah) there it shall be said unto them, (the Gentiles) Ye are the sons of the living God.” There is your 1900 years of grace to us Gentiles in that verse 10, and then when you read verse 11, you will see that it applies to a time, after the grace age, when all twelve tribes will be gathered together, back in the land of their fathers, being ruled by one head, with no more Northern and Southern division; that is just ahead. The woman is in travail, and it is for the birth of her children. She will travail until all twelve tribes are back in the land. That will constitute the birth and fulfill Micah 5:3. We are living in a time when it seems like the main problem, for practically the whole world, is Israel. She is in travail and must soon be delivered. World leaders have great stacks of papers on how and what should be done with Israel, but it seems that none of them will look into the one book (the Bible) that would show them exactly what must be done with Israel. That does not mean that all 16 million of the world’s Jewish population will return to Israel, but there will be enough of them from each of the twelve tribes go back to fulfill the scriptures. We are made to realize, also, that not all of those who go back will be saved, for there will be a great number of them that will fall right in line with the Antichrist, and come under the wrath of God when He comes to take vengeance on them that know not God, spoken of by the apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians. Paul’s revelation was that a remnant of Israel would be saved. We do not know nd how many that remnant will include, but we are confident of this one thing, God knows every last one of them right now.

ABOUT THE 144,000

Some have asked me at various times if the 144,000 which are sealed with the Spirit of God are all that will be saved, and others have asked me if the 144,000 are raptured like the bride, since the scriptures refer to them as being redeemed from among men as first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Then others will ask if they are killed by the beast in the week of Daniel. I will try to answer all three of these questions in mind. I will begin by saying, No, they will not be the only Jews that will be saved; they are the servants of God who will preach the everlasting gospel around this old world during the last half of that 70 week of Daniel. As we pick up verse 6, of our text chapter, we see the woman fleeing into the th wilderness. This is a spiritual remnant that has been awakened by the ministry of the two witnesses, whose primary function was to seal the 144,000 servants of God in their foreheads. Naturally, their preaching, or prophesying, will not be heard only by the 144,000 and as a result, you have another large element of Jews who will be sealed with the Holy Ghost along with the 144,000. These will hide while the 144,000 servants will preach the everlasting gospel, Rev. 14:6. Actually, by that time, you will have four distinct, elements of Jewish people. First, we will say, is the 144,000 men, then secondly, the spiritual remnant (the woman in 12:6) made up of men, women, and children of all ages. These are they who will be carried into the Millennium for the purpose of repopulating the Jewish race of people. Thirdly, there will be the political element among them, who, having no feelings toward God will co-exist with the Antichrist and be damned. They will be interested only in politics and finances, and therefore, the mark of the beast will be a very small thing to them. Revelation, chapter 16, tells of their fate, along with all the rest who have ignored God’s warnings to repent. Then, as we said earlier, all the Jews in the world will not go to Israel, so there remains, at that time, millions of Jews in dispersion. From this group comes the tribulation saints who, along with the Gentile foolish virgins, will give their lives in Martyrdom, rather than to take the mark of the beast and be damned. Naturally, from that fourth element there will only be a certain percentage that will recognize God; the rest will perish with all the other ungodly men. We have actually answered two parts of the three part question about the 144,000 men who are sealed in their foreheads, but let me say this, the fact that the Bible says they were redeemed from among men does not mean that they were taken up, as the bride of Christ will be. It only means that they are set apart from other men, redeemed in the same sense that we are redeemed. We readily confess that we have been redeemed, but we are still here. These men are set apart for service to God, and protected from the wrath of the beast. It is necessary for us to catch the revelation of these things, for it is just like the apostle Paul said in Colossians speaking of the Gentile Christians, or perhaps I should say bride saints; nevertheless, he said, we have been delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of His dear son. That is what our redemption has accomplished for us, but we are still right here on earth, doing many of the same things we were doing before we were redeemed from among men, or called out for service to God. As to whether these servants of God are killed in the tribulation hour, let me remind you once again; they will be going back to the nations from whence they came, preaching to their brethren which never returned to the homeland. Their message will be Fear God, give glory to Him, and worship Him, who has made heaven and earth and all that is there-in. At the same time, they will be pronouncing judgment upon spiritual Babylon, and warning all men not to have anything to do with the beast or his image. They will be protected from all harm by the power of God, and they will move right on into the Millennium with Christ when the judgment of God upon degenerate mankind is finished. Some will say, “Bro. Jackson, where do you get the scripture for that?” First let me say this, in the 9 th chapter of Revelation , when the bottomless pit was opened, and hell turned loose upon earth for the purpose of tormenting unregenerate men, it was commanded them (the demons) that they should not hurt anyone who had the seal of God in their foreheads. All who had believed the testimony of God’s two prophets; and been filled with the Spirit of God were protected from harm when those demons were turned loose upon the earth. That comes under the sounding of the fifth trumpet angel, and is referred to as the first woe. We cannot take the time to go into the three woes, but we mentioned this only for the purpose of showing that these evil forces cannot touch or harm those who have the seal of God upon them. Then, as we deal with the part about the 144,000 servants of God preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, we will go to the 14 chapter, verses 1-10. I will th not read them; you can do that later. In this chapter we find this 144,000 men, with the Lamb’s Father’s name written in their foreheads, following the Lamb withersoever He goeth. This means that they have a revelation of who Jesus Christ is, they have accepted Him as their Messiah, and the fact that they follow Him wherever He goes, lets us know that they are led by the Spirit of God. It is not a literal picture of a great host of men following along behind a lamb. That was only for the purpose of recording the vision so that, by revelation, we could understand its message later. In verse 6 we read, “And I saw another angel fly through the air, or in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” Now you say, “But Bro. Jackson, that says an angel was flying in the midst of heaven with everlasting gospel, why do you say the 144,000 servants will preach it?” The answer to that is very simple. God has never, at any time, had angels preaching the gospel. That has always been done by men. If God was ever going to use angels to preach he gospel, He would have always used them for it. No, this is spiritual terminology, and it can only be understood by revelation. The natural mind cannot understand such things. When is this taking place? In the last half of Daniels 70 week. Who is being tormented by the th demons that are loosed from the bottomless pit? Unregenerate mankind, those who have accepted the mark of the beast, and worshiped the Antichrist as God. Where is the woman (Israel) that brought forth the man child, without birth pains, at the time of these events? She is hiding from the wrath of the beast in the place that God had prepared for her (Rev. 12:6) until after the battle of Armageddon is fought, and the Lord Jesus, himself, is on earth in bodily form once again to prepare for the Millennium. Naturally, the temple will have to be cleansed, and consecrated before Jesus will take His place in it, after its defilement by the Antichrist, but that will be only a short transition period, and then Christ will take His throne to rule and reign for one thousand years.

SHEKINAH GLORY COMES BACK

What has happened to the people of Israel in the years between verses 5 and 6 would require many volumes to record, but for the sake of our understanding this chapter, it is necessary that we see verse 5 as pertaining to the ascension of Christ after His resurrection, and verse 6 as pertaining to the woman (Israel) who produced the man child, at a time when she was travailing in birth until the nation has been completely reborn, both naturally and spiritually, with the Grace age in between, or the rest of the chapter cannot be understood. Confusion comes in trying to place the events of the book of Revelation in the order that John recorded them. Brothers and Sisters, her spiritual rebirth will take place as a result of the ministry of the two witnesses, but they cannot come on the scene until she has every square inch of her land back under her control. Her last great birth pains will come in the last half of the 70 week th of Daniel, a time referred to as Jacob’s trouble, when the Antichrist with all his armies will be making one last attempt on the behalf of the devil to completely rid the world of all the seed of Jacob. She must travail a while yet, but I want you to know that she will look up one day to see the heavens darkened and the moon turned to blood. Then she will see Jesus, her long awaited Messiah, her King, coming in power and glory, to rule and reign. That is when she can jump for joy, for His feet will not touch this earth in New York, Chicago, nor London, England; He will stand upon the Mount of Olives, right where Ezekiel saw Him in a vision of the Spirit way back in the 6 century B.C.. He saw the evil that had come among th the Jewish religious society and the corruption among the priesthood. He saw the morals of the people of Israel as they declined continually, and the Lord allowed him to witness the glory of the Lord departing from the temple to return no more until the Millennial temple is ready to receive him. The Jews who came back under the leadership of Haggai and Zechariah to build the temple that stood at the first advent of Christ, never did see the light of God’s Shekinah glory in that temple. There was a reason why; the first day that Jesus came to the temple in the spring of the year following His baptism in the fall, He took a whip and drove out the money changers and overturned the pigeon coops, and drove out the sheep and oxen from the temple, saying to those that sold those things, “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” Do you know what that was? That was the Shekinah glory of God coming back, but the sad part of it was that it came in form of a man, and they did not recognize it. He preached for three long years after that, coming to Jerusalem, (for the first six months of his ministry was in Galilee) then when He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey that day and went into the temple casting out those who bought and sold in the temple for the third time, that ended His ministry. He came to them just as Zechariah had prophesied 9:9 riding on a colt, the foal of an ass, meek, coming right back over the Mount of Olives to the temple, but they were asleep, and did not recognize Him. He still came from Bethany to Jerusalem for the next two or three days and preached, waiting to be arrested and crucified, but His main ministry was climaxed when He came to them exactly according to the word of their prophets and they did not recognize Him.

GREEN TREE – DRY TREE

I want to call your attention to a beautiful type that was set, on one of those mornings as He left the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, coming to Jerusalem. As He came over the Mount of Olives He noticed a beautiful fig tree standing there before Him. He was hungry and would have eaten, but when He came to the tree, it had nothing on it but leaves; therefore (now catch this, the fig tree was a symbol of Israel) He looked at the tree and said, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever, and presently the fig tree withered away.” That lets us know that after three years of preaching to them, there was still no fruit. Just a few days after that, He was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, halfway between where that fig tree was, and the Eastern Gate. He said to them, “Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.” I have to put these things in the message to show you why those two Southern tribes were asleep, completely, during the birth and ministry of the man child. Walking toward Calvary to die, He heard all those people who were screaming because of what was taking place, and turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Catch the symbolic language now? He is not referring to Himself as a green fig tree; He is a green tree of life, and the dry, or barren tree, is the Antichrist which has no life. In other words, if they have come to this in three and one-half years when they had a green tree of life in their midst, what will they do when they have the dry, or barren tree for three and one-half years? They could have eaten from the tree of life, but they did not, and when the barren tree comes, he will bring about the climax of Rev. 13, Luke 21, and Matt. 24. Jerusalem shall be compassed, not necessarily as it was in 70 A.D., but it will be filled with soldiers during the last half of Daniels seventieth week when the Antichrist is sitting in the temple in Jerusalem. You talk about spiritual drought; they will have one when that man is in control. Jeremiah saw every man bent over in anguish, as a woman in travail. Let us read a few verses from Jeremiah, chapter 30, beginning with verse 4, “These are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. (That covers all twelve tribes). For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether

A MAN DOTH TRAVAIL WITH CHILD?

Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” He was looking at the nation of Israel having her final birth pains in that great tribulation hour of time.

HEAVENLY WARFARE

We want to get into the 7 verse of our text chapter now; actually 7-10, where we learn of a war which th is taking place in heaven. That great warfare between Michael (the archangel) and the devil is taking place right now in the spiritual world. It is a battle for supremacy, and the people down here on earth can only act out that great heavenly play that is taking place among the spiritual forces. As Mr. Begin and Mr. Sadat have their meetings with Mr. Carter, they are just acting out, down here on earth, a scene that is taking place in the spirit world between Michael and his angels, and Satan and his angels. No sooner did the United Nations give Israel that little portion of land in May of 1948, then the devil began to get into those Arabs, and cause them to determine to drive Israel out of the land. Therefore, we see that the effects of verse 7 have been shaking this old world for quite a few years now. You know what happened in 1948, but did you know how God went about stripping France and England of their old colonial hold in the Middle East? I believe it was in the month of October of 1956, when Israel sent a mechanized force on a destroying mission into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal. They had taken most of the Peninsula, captured 6000 Egyptians, and seized a great amount of equipment in just a few days. Great Britain and France called upon Israel and Egypt to each retreat 10 miles from the canal and to let them occupy the intervening zone. Israel accepted, but Egypt refused, and British-French military occupation of the zone began as a result. The United Nations Security Council, the United States, and the Soviet Union put pressure on Britain and France to withdraw from the Zone, which they did, and from that time on, they have been losing out, all over the world. That marked the end of the old colonial hold in the Middle East. Israel drew back also, but from that time on, she has had constant harassment from the Arabs. All she wanted was to be left alone, but they would not leave her alone. That lets me know that Michael and the devil have still been clashing swords up there in the heavenly realm, all this time. Verse 8 tells that the devil will lose the battle and be cast out of heaven, but we know that battle up there must continue until time for that 70 week of Daniel to begin. However close we are to the start of that th week, is how close we are to the fulfillment of verse 8. Once time one earth corresponds with what is taking place there, and the devil is cast out, you can rest assured that men on earth, in the political structure, will have been so affected by the pressures of that heavenly battle that they will have revived the old Roman Empire. Rome will again be the chief city from which world leadership will come. It will take that to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy. Europe will be tied right back to Rome as it was in the days of old. I do not know whether it is true or not, but while I was in Norway a man told me that it is believed that Europe already has a Common Market currency printed up, just awaiting the hour to use it. If that is true, then I will say, the poor old American dollar has just about reached the end of its road. In the past, the American dollar has been used as one of the most stabilizing monetary structures in the world, in our present day monetary setup. If we have been watching the trend, we know that a different monetary system is at hand, for in the past few years, as we have seen the break up of these great colonial powers in Europe. As they release these various territories, and come back home, their own currency begins to be shook and affected. That is what is causing Europe, especially the heads of the economic structure to begin to work out plans for the future. Very soon now, America will not be able to underwrite it anymore. Much of our destiny (as a nation) hinges on what our leaders do in connection with the complete rebirth and restoration of Israel to her full identity. The devil does not want Israel restored, and we know why, he knows when that takes place, his days are short.

FALSE PEACE

When we come to verse 9, we see that this angelic battle process has reached its climax. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” As that battle process ends in heaven, it will be time on earth for that beast system to come into full bloom. Notice why I say that; the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and all his angels with him. When all of that takes place, you can rest assured, there will be an embodiment of those spiritual forces here on earth. On earth will be the only place where Satan can reenact what has taken place in heaven. The affects of verse 10, will not reach its climax until the middle of the week arrives, but what I want to show you is that, once that spirit is cast out of heaven, he only has one week of time (7 years) to do what he is going to do. He begins his diabolical plot by ushering in a great peace covenant. Remember now, we are talking about this devil which DECEIVETH the whole world. How is he going to deceive the whole world? Through a false peace pact that the whole world is crying for in this very hour. Remember, Judas was one of the disciples of Jesus, chosen by Him, to be one of the twelve apostles, and he naturally, had the respect and confidence of the people who followed the ministry of Jesus. Who would have suspected that Satan would be able to enter into that man who, up until that time, had stood for the word of God, along side Jesus and the other eleven apostles? Who, (except the revelated people of God) will ever suspect that the pope of Rome could be incarnated by that same spirit that entered into Judas, causing him to betray the very God-man Himself. We are watching with great expectancy as the Roman cardinals gather once again to elect a successor to John Paul, who held the office for such a short time. Naturally, the question uppermost in our minds is, can this be the one who will fulfill Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist who will cause Israel and the world to go through its darkest hour ever? If he is the one, the bride will know it very soon, for she has been taught from the word of God, and she knows what signs to look for. Therefore, we will say, when the peace covenant is confirmed, it will not be the peace that the word of God promised to those who believe His word. It will be a short term peace, planned by Satan, that great deceiver, to throw the whole world off guard, and allow that wicked beast system an opportunity to move into complete control of all politics and economics. In the middle of the week, 3 ½ years from its initial beginning, the Roman Pope, who has been elected by world leaders as the mediator, or final voice in their peace arrangements, will become so provoked by the Orthodox Jews who will not give him the respect his position demands, Satan will completely take control of him. That is when he will break the covenant with Israel, drive the Jews out of their temple, and set himself up in it to be worshiped by the great host of deceived mankind. Right here is where verse 10 of our text chapter has its fulfillment. 10, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, (what brethren? Jewish brethren) which accused them day and night before our God.” In other words, when the tribulation hour arrives, in the middle of the week, it will bring into focus the real saints of God, those who can stand and face the trials and tests of what is taking place. When the devil is cast down, and allowed by God, to start that persecution process, God will not have to listen to him anymore up there. I hope you can see, Brothers and Sisters, that as long as that poor Jewish nation is scattered among the Gentile nations, the devil can run to the throne of God and accuse them day and night. He has been doing that for hundreds of years now. He is not confined to just accusing Jews before God, but this prophecy is basically to the Jewish nation. Even though the prophecy is pointed toward the Jews, we know that there are definitely some foolish Gentile virgins tied to the picture. We begin to pick that up in verse 11, let us read it. “And they overcame him (SATAN) by the blood of the Lamb, (That is Gentiles, who have the blood of the Lamb) and by the word of their testimony; (that is Jews who believe in Jehovah, and have a testimony that they do, but have not believed the gospel of Jesus Christ) and they loved not their lives unto the death.” It is not the Gentile foolish virgins that make this chapter stand out. It is the Jewish people suffering their last travailing pains, that makes this chapter stand out. They will travail in that last pain until it brings or manifests the coming of Jesus Christ, their long-awaited King. Once that final hour of persecution starts, it will not let up before there have been thousands of Jews and Gentile foolish virgins martyred. When it says, They overcame him: THEY means people, not just Jews. They did not overcome him in a battle and keep on living; no, they overcame him by refusing to renounce their God, even though it meant their sure death. That is what the last part of the verse pertains to: “They loved not their lives unto the death: They chose to die rather than to renounce their God.” To further clarify it let us say this, they refused to accept the mark of the beast, in order to gain the offered privileges. We will say also, the reason many of them were not taken off guard by such gross deception, was because the 144,000 servants of God had already warned them not to have anything to do with that horrible beast system. The message of the three angels in Revelation 14:6-10, is in actuality, what the 144,000 preachers take to the inhabitors of the earth, Jews and Gentiles alike. Verse 12, in the 14th chapter, lets us see who was spared from the wrath of God, recorded in verse 11. We call your attention to these verses, mainly to show that they pertain to both, Jews and Gentile foolish virgins. 12, “Here is the patience of the saints. (Tribulation saints) Here are they that keep the commandments of God, (that is the Jews) and the faith of Jesus.” There is the foolish virgins. When we take this thought right on over to the 15 chapter where we see the spirits of those martyred saints standing on th a sea of glass mingled with fire, we find the same distinct reference made to both elements. 15:2, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” The description of what they had gotten the victory over, marks the hour of their martyrdom, for there has never been another hour in the history of mankind when men were faced with taking a mark, or with an image to the beast, except in the last week of Daniel, which is just ahead. Now in verse 3 we find them singing a song that identifies, or I should say separates the Jews from the Gentiles. 3, “And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God (Jews) and the song of the Lamb, (foolish virgins).

JEWS – FOOLISH VIRGINS – WHITE ROBES

Coming back to verse 11, in the 12 chapter now, I want to answer a question. The question is this, th Bro. Jackson, how do you know verse 11 applies to the tribulation saints, and how do you know it applies to both Jew and Gentile? Most of the question has already been answered, but I want to call your attention back to the 6 chapter, and the words pertaining to the 5 seal. Verse 9, “And when he had th th opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter, (or at the foot of the alter) the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Please notice that, before anything else was said, white robes were given to every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a LITTLE SEASON, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Notice why they had been killed. They had been martyred for the word of God, not the word of their testimony, but for the testimony that they held. Their testimony was the word of God from the Old Testament. In other words, their testimony was not that they believed in Jesus Christ, that He was their Messiah, and the Savior of the whole human race. No, their testimony which they held was that they believed the word of God according to the law of Moses. Therefore, if they had a testimony, then the word of their testimony is what identifies them as being Jews. Gentiles who have a testimony must testify of their experience through the blood of the Lamb, and therefore, have their white robes already. This group was given white robes after they were slain. Therefore, as we come back to 12:12 and pick up the word which John heard, Listen! “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them, Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Some people are prone to believe that conditions just exist for a period of time, and then all of a sudden, something is done to change conditions. Prophecy does not work like that. There is always an introduction period. That is why I say Satan is cast out of heaven at the beginning of the week. There must be time for him to embody himself in that beast system before the middle of the week arrives. Furthermore, if he only came down it the middle of the week, you would have a lot of unexplained events in the first half of the week, a period of time when I believe he is setting the stage for one last great thrust at God through persecution of the saints of God, and the very nation that produced the man child, which he knows to be the rightful ruler of this world. We will see this in the next verse. 13 “And when the dragon saw that he was cast out unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.” Naturally, that reference takes us back to verse 5, which we have already proved by the scriptures, to be the first advent of Christ, (the man child) and the woman that bare Him to be the nation of Israel. We will see also, as we read verse 14, that it is a repeat of verse 6, with a little more elaboration on the details of her flight. 14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, (one year) and times (two more years) and half a time (six months, making a total of 3 ½ years, as stated in verse 6 by a number of days) from the face of the serpent.” Now, why is he persecuting the woman? It is because she brought forth the man child, and it is this persecution that brings her last travailing pain. Her last pain will bring Christ back again, and this time He will not be caught up from the earth as before. He will be back to take the throne of David for a reign of true righteousness. We find in this verse that the woman is given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into HER place. Verse 6 tells us that God has prepared a place in the wilderness where she will be fed for 1260 days. Do not ask me where that place is; I do not know. It will not be a wilderness, as we think of a wilderness. That simply means, in spiritual language, a place where she can hide from the devil which is incarnated in that beast system, headed by the Antichrist, which will be the Roman Pope in that hour. For the benefit of you who may not know, John saw that beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns. When we go to Revelation 17; we learn that instead of using the word sea in connection with the great whore, the word waters is used. Then in verse 15 of that chapter, waters is explained as being people, multitudes and nations, and tongues. Therefore, the beast of Rev. 13:1, which came up out of the sea, is something that rises up from the midst of people. I don’t intend to go into that fully now, for we have other messages in print which go into full details on the subject, and you may have them just for the asking, but I do want to say that the beast with seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns upon his heads, is nothing but the old Roman Empire. We have watched it come back into prominence for a number of years now, in the forming of the Common Market nations of Western Europe. These Common Market nations make up the horns of the beast, and the fact that it is seen having seven heads, is nothing else but the seven forms of Roman government that the nation passed through from the days of the old Caesars, until the day that the government wound up with the Bishop of Rome sitting in the seat of the Caesars. That same system is being revived and will furnish Satan with all the embodiment he needs to carry out his diabolical deeds of persecution and murder. Therefore, the woman (Israel) will be hiding from that Roman beast, the same beast that crucified Christ at His first advent. In chapter 12 the beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns, and SEVEN crowns upon his head, but in chapter 13, he is described as having seven heads, and ten horns, and TEN crowns upon his heads. The seven crowns pertain to the seven forms of Roman dictatorial rule, and the ten crowns point to the ten nations which are the horns of the beast, and each of them having a king, or ruler. We see that old beast coming into focus for its last day role in the fulfillment of prophecy, and we have watched the horns spring up to take their place, in the past few years, therefore things are almost ready for that little horn to make its move. The little horn which Daniel spoke of in chapter 7 of his prophecy, came up from among the other horns, and plucked up three of the first horns by the roots. This little horn had eyes like a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel says that he watched that beast until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit. In other words, Daniel was allowed to see a vision of the whole scope of time that this beast would rule; he saw it materialize as the fourth great dictatorial kingdom upon the earth, and he says that he watched it until the Ancient of days did sit. He was still watching when the great white throne judgement took place, and the books were opened. He saw the beast when it was cast into the lake of fire. That little horn that rose up, did not put eleven horns upon the beast, for it was that ecclesiastical head (the Bishop) that just moved right into the seat of the old Caesars, so that he came to be looked upon as SOVEREIGN, IMPERIAL, UNIVERSAL RULER, which is blasphemy, for God Himself is the only sovereign one. In verse 21, of Daniel, chapter 7, Daniel says, “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them,” and in verse 25, it says, “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until (now watch, here is the same language that the apostle John used in Rev. 12:14, more than six hundred years later) a time, (one year) and times (two more years) and the dividing of time” (six more months) making a total of 3 ½ years, which is the time of great persecution, called the great tribulation. You will notice that he (the little horn, the Antichrist, which is to be the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church) made war with the saints of the Most High, and wore them out. Remember now, in this vision Daniel saw the millions of Christians that were slaughtered at the direction of the Popes all down through the ages; but this last reference in verse 25, pertains to the great tribulation hour. There is much that could be said about this horrible beast, and about the great whore, which is the Roman Catholic church, that is seen sitting upon this beast, by the apostle John, and recorded in Revelation 17, but let us get back to verse 14 of our text chapter. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness.” Most of you have heard me say before, that the two wings of a great eagle given to the woman, was the message of the two prophets, (or witnesses) of Revelation 11, that preached Jesus Christ to her, and instructed her as to where to go when the fury of the beast would be turned loose later. Prophets are commonly referred to as eagles because of their far vision, their ability to fly high, and see afar off, we will say. For a confirmation of this terminology we will go to Exodus 19:4, God speaking to the children of Israel by Moses, says, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on EAGLES WINGS, and brought you unto myself.” Now some of you may say, “But HE only brought them out of Egypt by one, Moses. Where do you get the plural, WINGS?” Read the whole verse again and you will see that it encompasses the whole journey from Egypt all the way to the promised land, for He said, “brought you unto myself.” We know God was with them all the time, in the cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night, but the reference, brought you unto myself takes in the whole trip, and we know that they were led into the promised land by Joshua, after Moses had passed off of the scene. The same angel (Michael) that was with Moses, stood right there across the Jordan river, and Joshua looked him right in the face. That same angel said to Joshua, “Be of good courage,” did he not? They did not inherit the land until Joshua led them over, so do not say it was just one, it was two, and it will be two the next time. It was Moses and Joshua that led them from Egypt to the promised land, but it will be Moses and Elijah that will lead them in the seventieth week of Daniel. I do not mean to infer that it will be the literal Moses and Elijah of old; it will be two modern day Jews with the same anointing that was on Moses and Elijah. That seems a more sensible way to look at it, for the simple reason that, if Moses and Elijah came back in this modern age, they would be very out of place. They would not know an airplane from a railroad boxcar. No, this will be two modern day Jews who have the revelation of Jesus Christ burning in their bosoms, and a great desire to share it with their Jewish brethren, therefore when God has everything else in order, He will bring them on the scene in Israel for a short term ministry that will last only 3 ½ years, but in that span of time the spiritual element of Israel will be reborn. The 144,000 servants of God will be selected, and sealed with the Holy Ghost, and in the process of that, there will be a great host of others who will hear the message, believe, and receive the seal of God, which is the Holy Ghost. As we said already, this other element of the nation of Israel constitutes, or makes up the woman that is given two wings of a great eagle, to flee the wrath of the beast. There are some who disagree with our teaching on who the two prophets will be, saying that because the Bible says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgement,” it is necessary for those prophets of old, to come back and be killed, since they were translated without seeing death. That is very foolish. A close look at what they will be doing during the days of their ministry (disturbing the elements, turning the waters to blood, scorching the earth with fire, burning up trees and green grass, and making the waters bitter Rev. 8:2-13 and 11:3-6) lets us know that these men have the same anointing on them that was on Moses and Elijah, for they are using the same signs. That being the case, if it had to be the Moses and Elijah of old, Enoch would still be left out of the picture for you cannot possibly identify him with any of these signs that the prophets of Revelation are using, and yet he was translated. When will he be killed, if you want to teach it like that? I would ask you also, what about the living element of the bride of Christ that will be translated; when will they be killed to fulfill your private interpretation? No, we must keep our revelation in line with the scriptures as a whole. We cannot build a revelation off of one verse of scripture that stands alone. It is very necessary that we begin to get these messages straightened out, so that we know what they are, and also what they are not. I want to tell you for sure, if you do not know who this woman of Revelation, chapter 12 is, then you are hung up on chapter 14. If you are hung up on chapter 14, you will also be hung up on the 70 week of Daniel, th and if you do not get that straightened out, you absolutely will not know where chapter 11 fits in timewise. You can be sure of this though, Jesus will not come while those two prophets are lying dead, in the streets of Jerusalem. That would break the whole continuity of the scriptures. In connection with those two prophets, let me say this, their forerunners, Moses and Elijah, had the greatest anointing, and expressions of God, that were ever expressed in the earth, except for Jesus Christ Himself, and that is the anointing that will rest on those two prophets of Rev. 11, for a period of 3 ½ years.

THREE AND ONE HALF OR SEVEN?

There are some in this following who still hold to the thought that these two prophets will prophesy in the last three and one-half years of the week of Daniel. This is the same group that claims Jesus was cut off in the middle of that week. You talk about messing up the continuity of the scriptures, when you teach it like that. We will start with chapter 11, verse 3, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” What is their prophesying to accomplish? Number one, we will say it is to awaken the nation of Israel to the fact that their Messiah has already come, and was rejected because their ancestors did not recognize Him, and seal the 144,000 servants of God in their foreheads. Secondly, they will warn their brethren of the great tribulation hour that is just ahead, of the deception of the antichrist, the great peace leader, and instruct them on how to protect themselves from the fury of the beast when he turns loose on them. Verse 7, shows that it is the beast that kills the two witnesses after they have prophesied for 3 ½ years, and verse 8, shows us where they are killed, for Jerusalem is the city that SPIRITUALLY, is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. When we go to chapter 12:6, 14; we see that the spiritually awakened woman element of the nation is fleeing into the wilderness from the wrath of the beast, and verse 14, makes it clear that it was the message of the two prophets that prepared her for her flight. Do you begin to see what kind of situation you will come up with if you try to harmonize all this with your 3 ½ year revelation? In other words, you would have Israel (the woman) fleeing for her life in the same 3 ½ years the two prophets are prophesying to her. They would have to chase her through the wilderness in order to preach to her, and to seal the 144,000 servants of God. You would also have the battle of Armageddon raging during the last few months of their ministry, for by the end of that week of Daniel, Armageddon will have run its course, and the Lord Jesus, Himself, with His heavenly army will come to climax that battle. When you come right down to scriptural facts, a person would have to be spiritually blind to believe that all these happenings could be crowded into the last 3 ½ years of the 70th week of Daniel. There just simply is no such thing as a special revelation that would enable you to explain all of this into a twelve hundred and sixty day period.

FLOOD OF WATER

Let us turn back to chapter 12 now, and look at the 15 verse, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth th water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” We have to convert these words into a spiritual revelation. Many people read that verse, and try to picture a serpent belching out a stream of water against the woman. When we look back to verse 9, we see that the serpent is also called, Satan, the Devil, as well as the dragon, and when we look back to verse 3, we see that the dragon has seven heads and ten horns, so that lets us know that the serpent in verse 15, is the dragon of verses 3 and 9. We have already explained that the dragon was that old beast, Rome, (the 4 great world kingdom of the earth) filled with the spirit of the devil, and set to devour Christ, th the man child, as soon as He was born. There is a 1900 year interval between verse 4, where that old Roman beast was standing ready to devour the man child, and verse 15, where that same old beast is trying to get rid of the woman that produced Him. But the question is, What is the flood that is cast out of the mouth of the serpent, (beast)? Remember, the waters are people, (17:15) and the beast system is made up of people, and the beast man, singular, is the Antichrist. If you can keep this picture in your mind, you will see that the waters that are cast out against the woman, is excessive hatred from the people who make up the beast. The flood, is that great flood of persecution that is cast against her. Satan hates the woman because she brought forth the man child, and because she recognizes and worships God. The Antichrist, who, up until this hour, as the Pope, the head of the Catholic church, has been looked upon as the Vicar of Christ, and reverenced by people all over the world, is no more of a politician than a spiritual leader with Christian principles. We are talking about the hour of this great persecution, and excessive hatred of the woman. Most of you know that these Western European nations have in the past, been mostly Roman Catholic, as far as their affiliation with religion goes, and we are talking about those which make up the ten horns (horn signifies power) of the beast, but in the past few years we have watched communism creep in little by little until it is becoming very obvious that, by the hour of the great tribulation, all of Western Europe that is a part of this beast will have a form of communism all their own. By that time the communistic spirit of that beast will have swallowed up the ecclesiastical element to the point where it will fulfill chapter 17:16, which says, “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, (the whore is the Roman Catholic Church that has rode those poor people for centuries. A church is always referred to in the feminine gender, and this is not the true church of the living God, but rather, is referred to as a whore) and shall make her desolate (void of any spirituality) and naked, (her shame shall be exposed) and shall eat her flesh, (in other words, communism just swallows up the religious element that is left) and burn her with fire.” That will be the fire of persecution and hatred. It is a known fact that communism and religion will not mix. Communism is against religion in every form. That is why the prophet of the age said that communism is a tool in the hands of God, for the destruction of Catholicism. Now you can see that this beast, in that hour, will be motivated by a communistic spirit which will hate everything and everyone that is in any way associated with religion. That is why all those poor Gentile foolish virgins will be martyred; they will hold to their faith in Christ, and refuse to be aligned with the world system.

EARTH OPENS HER MOUTH

Alright, so the serpent will cast out a flood of persecution and excessive hatred against the woman, but verse 6 lets us know that the woman will be helped by the earth. We will read it. “And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Did you notice that verse 15 calls the pursuing one, the serpent, while verse 16 refers to him as the dragon. This very thing was prefigured during World War II, when Hitler put out a decree, that all the Jews in Denmark must wear the Star of David. Hitler was determined to wipe the Jews from the face of the earth. He hated them with a passion, and this decree was just another way to mark them for assassination, but the earth helped them then, just as verse 16 says it will in that day. How were they helped? Well, the story was told that every Danish man wore the Star of David, as if to say, Hitler, if you take them, you will have to get us all. They had taken hundreds of these Jews into their homes where they hid them, and fed them, for the remainder of the war. I believe that is exactly what will take place when the devil tries to annihilate the Jews in the time of the great tribulation. There will be people on this earth who will have a sympathetic feeling toward the Jews, who will do exactly as those Danish people did. I believe that set a little type for us. Many people have said, I do not see how people could hide and survive for a period of 3 ½ years. That period of the war lasted just about the same length of time, and those people survived. There is no way we could go into details, telling you exactly how it will all work out, for time itself will work out the details as the situation demands. This we can say though, there will be enough of those people spared and kept alive, to repopulate the Jewish race in the Millennium. Of course when I mention that there will be babies born in the Millennium, that opens up another subject for my critics. There are ever so many preachers running around these days who refuse to accept that as a fact. Their excuse is that the prophet did not say anything about it. For me, the prophet did not have to say anything about it, for it was already written in the Bible. When you look at Isaiah, chapter 11, speaking of the Millennium, verse 6 says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the SUCKLING CHILD shall play on the hole of the asp, and the WEANED CHILD shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.” This should be enough to convince anyone who is open to truth, but you can still turn to Isaiah 65, and read more along these lines. Brothers and Sisters, I want you to know that the hour is coming, and very soon, when every one of these messages will set off an avalanche. These people will either wake up and begin to search the depths of God’s word, or they will perish in their rebellion. Please tell me what difference it makes, whether the prophet to this age spoke on a certain subject or not, if the Bible furnishes us with sufficient scripture to establish it? This old world is right on the brink of something that is going to leave no individual untouched by the impact of it; therefore it behooves us to seek all the truth that is available to us while we still have the freedom to do so. I just read an article the other day which stated that the reason President Carter took the initiative in getting Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat together in an effort to bring about a peace treaty between their people, was because he had learned through intelligence sources, or maybe I should say, he believed, from what he had learned through intelligence sources, that Mr. Begin had ordered a buildup of his military forces, looking for Mr. Sadat to start another war. I want you to know, if this thing breaks down, there will not be one thing that President Carter can do to stop it. God is going to fulfill his word whether Mr. Carter cooperates willingly or not. I will say though, because of the line up of Russian satellite nations, those that will side with Russia against Israel, recorded in Ezekiel 38, I am prone to believe that Egypt will find a neutral position before that battle is fought.

THE WOMAN HAS TWO SEEDS

We have one more verse in this chapter 12 which we have not read, verse 17. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, (I want you to notice something here now as we read the rest of this verse, the dragon is making war with the remnant of the woman’s seed) which KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, (JEWS) and HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST, (GENTILE FOOLISH VIRGINS.) This lets us see why the foolish virgins are martyred right along with those Jews, and why you have that great mixed multitude which no man could number, from all the nations, kindred and peoples of the whole earth in chapter 7, verse 9, which are revealed in verse 14 to be those who were martyred during the great tribulation hour. You say, but how did the Gentile foolish virgins get to be the seed of the woman, which we know is Israel? Alright, I will tell you. When God led Abraham up that day and told him to look North, South, East and West, He made a covenant with Abraham, who was the pregenerator of the Jewish race of people, and gave him a promise, God said, I will give you all the land that you can see. It will be to you and to your seed forever. God also told him that his seed would be as the dust of the earth, and as the stars of heaven for number, and that in him and his seed would all the families of the earth be blessed. You can read that in Genesis 13:14-17, 15:1-5, and 28:14. When God made that promise to Abraham, he did not even have a seed, and his wife, Sari, later called Sarah, was well past the normal age of child bearing, but Abraham believed God, and the scriptures declare that God imputed righteousness to him because he believed. Here is how the promise to Abraham is fulfilled in the woman, When God told Abraham that his seed would be as the stars of heaven for number, He gave him a dual promise. Notice, “And in thee and thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” There is where the spiritual seed line (those who believe the word of God from every nation) was included. Therefore, when the dragon goes to make war with the remnant of the woman’s seed, he will be killing everyone that in any way identifies with God. That will take in all the Gentile foolish virgins as well as every Jew who trusts in Jehovah. The devil is trying his best to completely annihilate the Jewish race of people, hoping to put to silence forever, all this talk about the Jews having a Messiah, or king, that will rule the world with a rod of iron for a thousand years. The foolish virgins will be in sympathy with the Jews, knowing the promise of God to them, and will therefore partake of that universal blood bath as the decree goes forth to imprison or kill all who will not cooperate with the world system, which would mean that they would be required to renounce faith in God. The devil will have a free hand to do as he desires, for God’s restraining power will no longer be holding back the forces of evil, as He has through this grace age. The devil will be free to do as he sees fit during that hour, with one exception, he cannot lay a finger on anyone who has the seal of God in their foreheads. This will be those who believed the message of the two prophets, and were sealed with the Holy Ghost. God will be watching over them. Contrary to what many people believe, God is still running His own affairs. He has not, and will not, raise a white flag and surrender to the forces of evil. The scriptures declare that God is able to put it in the hearts of men to fulfill His will. For six thousand years God has allowed Satan to pervert, tangle and twist men’s minds, and cause them to rebel against their creator and His righteous ways, but if you will look closely, you will discover that God has still been in control all along, for every prophesy recorded in the scriptures has been fulfilled right on time up to our present day. Therefore, we believe that God (who is the one that actually keeps time on these events of prophecy) will be right on time with what is still left to be fulfilled. He has everything portrayed so beautifully, if we will just allow ourselves to see it. I would like to show you something if you will just turn back to Ezekiel with me for just a moment. Starting with the 24 verse, th we will read it. I would like for us to read it along with verses 1-4 of Revelation, chapter 11, which tells of measuring the temple of God, and the alter, and them that worship therein. It tells of the two witnesses that prophesy for 1260 days, prophesying to those who have been brought back from among the heathen (the Gentile nations) into their own land. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth, and it is through their ministry that God accomplishes what is recorded in Ezekiel 36:24-36. Now let us read it. “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” That is what God has been doing for the past 30 years. It is a slow process, but I say it will all be over with, in one generation. Brothers and Sisters, I hope that everyone of you will realize that we are living in those days right now. Just think, these words were recorded more than 2500 years ago, and think of all the generations that have read them, and we are the people that God has ordained to see them fulfilled. Oh what a privilege we have bestowed upon us by our God. Even now we know that Israel is soon to have another great travailing pain when Ezekiel 38 and 39 are fulfilled. Then very shortly after that, the two prophets will move on the scene, and the remainder of chapter 36 will begin to have its fulfillment. Remember, God’s promised blessing upon the Jews is only effective when they are in their own land. I will remind you of one other thing, and then we will read some more. Israel does not yet have all the land that God gave to Abraham, back in her control, but she soon will regardless of what the rest of the world may think about it. Now verse 25, This will be accomplished through the ministry of the two witnesses of Rev. 11. “Then (in the first half of the last week of Daniel) will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” The clean water is the prophetic gospel delivered by the two witnesses. Remember, it was because of their entanglements with idols, that God drove them out of the land in the first place. They built idols when they should have been worshiping Jehovah at the temple. 26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” Stony heart seems like odd language unless you have had occasion to walk into a Jewish store on Monday morning, as dad and I used to do years ago, when we raised sheep, and took the wool to their store to sell it. We would walk in there and two or three of them would be cursing each other for all they were worth, letting each other know where to go. You would think they were mad enough to kill at any moment, and you would wonder if such people had any heart in them, but that is just their way. I do not say that to cast any reflection on them; they are like that because of the way they have been dealt with through all the years of their dispersion among Gentile nations. Furthermore, when God gets through with them, they will not act like that any more. 17 “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them. 28 “And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” Just think how perfectly God fulfills His word, and then we have all these politicians yelling that Israel ought to give up certain portions of the land that she has already taken back. She cannot give it up; she must take more. You say, “But maybe it isn’t time yet.” If it isn’t time, there will be a stalemate, but if it is time, then some body had better look out. 29 “I will also save you from all your uncleanliness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you:” The consummation of that is in the Millennium, but it is actually going on right now. Those of you who went with us to Israel last November, can surely testify to the fact that God’s blessing is already on their farm lands. It seems that almost everything they grow is of huge size and plentiful, like the verse indicates. 30 “And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.” Now we know that the two prophets will smite the land for a short period of time to establish their ministry, as that of God, and there will be a drought for a period of time, but that is to bring them to the condition of the next verse as we will read. 31 “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” That word is not just to the two Southern tribes, it is for the whole house of Israel, all twelve tribes. 33 “Thus saith the Lord God, In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.” No wonder the government of Israel has just announced that they will build five more villages in the occupied territory. As soon as the Western world leaders heard it they began screaming, “You can’t do that.” She can do it. God said so. “You shall build the waste places.” Yes, “And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; (HALLELUJAH!) And the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become FENCED, and are inhabited.” In 1968 when we were over there, I remember the Jordan valley was a desolate looking area, but we showed you the little movie film we made over there last year, how that the land is now so fertile. Anywhere they can level it off enough to till it, they are growing big cabbage, cauliflower, and all kinds of vegetables that are beautiful to look at. No wonder it is said that the land is become like the garden of Eden; this is just the beginning. Another thing we noticed was the everyone of those little villages had a fence around it. That is verse 35, “the ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.” Now look at verse 36, and you will know why it cannot be stopped by all the big powers of the world. 36 “Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I THE LORD BUILD THE RUINED PLACES, AND PLANT THAT, THAT WAS DESOLATE: I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN IT, AND I WILL DO IT.” Praise God! Ezekiel 36 is being fulfilled right before our very eyes, and the world in general knows not that it is God doing it, therefore He will have to fall upon them, and crush them because of their stubbornness. You noticed in verse 35 that they are fenced cities. I will just say this, the fences are only put there to keep out the guerrillas. Otherwise they could slip in at night. These fences are electrified for that reason.

GENTILES WILL HELP ISRAEL

We read the scripture in Isaiah 66:7-8, about the man child being born without pain, and the travailing that brings the rebirth of the nation, but I want to read one more that establishes the fact that Gentiles will help Israel with finances, weapons and so forth. God will draw what He needs from the Gentiles to benefit Israel. The verse is Isaiah 60:16, “Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” Brothers and Sisters, I hope this little message will answer some of the questions that you have had on your mind, and I invite those of you who will read it in the paper to feel free to write me if there is still a question that has not been answered to your satisfaction, and may the God of this Bible that we cherish so dearly, reveal Himself to each of you in a very personal way. Amen