THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12:1, HAS BEEN ONE OF THE GREAT MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE; AS FAR AS THE GENTILE CHURCH WORLD IS CONCERNED. THEY HAVE CALLED HER EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT, OR WHO SHE REALLY IS. NATURALLY HER TRUE IDENTITY IS SEEN THROUGH EYES THAT HAVE BEEN ENLIGHTENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT; BUT ONCE YOU SEE IT, EVERYTHING FITS PERFECTLY IN PLACE, AS YOU READ THE FOLLOWING VERSES. THAT OF COURSE, IS ANOTHER THING THAT IS ONLY FOR THE END TIME SAINTS TO UNDERSTAND; BUT WE ARE LIVING IN THAT TIME; SO LET US TAKE SOME TIME AND DEAL WITH THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS CHAPTER.

We have been seeing a great political upheaval taking place in the world; and the majority of those who speak of it, look at it as a freedom that will cure all the problems of those who have lived under dictatorial rulerships for so long; but I am looking for a freedom where sin will no longer rule nor reign, and where races will no longer know how to hate. I am looking for that freedom where corruption and graft no longer exist, and where rich and poor are all treated alike. That is the freedom I am looking for. This world has such an era in its future; but before it comes to that, it must go through a period of time that no person living on it then, will be glad to see. In the last few months, as Communism has been falling apart, I could not help but think, as our Secretary of State, James Baker, traveled from place to place taking care of what was expected of him as a representative of this nation, This is that LAMB BEAST of Revelation 13, fulfilling its part in getting things ready for that week of Daniel, when a great peace covenant will be in effect between many nations. At least the week will start out like that. First he was in Moscow, then on to Bulgaria, and from there, on to the Middle East. This generation has not seen it like this before; but it all fits right into Bible prophecy that must be fulfilled before the bride of Christ gets out of here. West Germany sent their man to Moscow to talk over the re-uniting of East and West Germany with Mr. Gorbachev. All of which is definitely bringing Europe into position for its great prophetic role foretold in the scriptures. The United States has been the world’s influential tool, to help bring all of this about; and natural minded people of the world today, look upon this as the greatest phenomena the world has ever seen. It is truly a phenomena; but it is all right here in the Bible; and has been all the time. The world at large, wonders how such a thing could transpire in such a short interval of time; but does not the scripture say that God will put it in the heart’s of men to fulfill His will? We need not think that truth pertains only to what Revelation 17:17 is dealing with; for God has been in control of things all along. He has always put it in the heart’s of mankind to fulfill His will and purpose. The events foretold in the scriptures are a beautiful combination of predestination, foreknowledge, and man’s free choice all fitted together to produce an element of people from every age for the kingdom of God. It is like the little song says: God does not make us go against our will; He just makes us willing to go. He already knows every person that will ever believe the gospel and be saved; so He just works circumstances around us, to help us make up our mind to follow the leading of His spirit. As Communism in Russia and eastern Europe crumbles, and apartheid crumbles in Africa, do you think this is opening the door for another two or three hundred years of economic prosperity? Do you think it has opened the way for more reveling, so more people can just have a good time? That is what people do when they suddenly obtain this kind of freedom. Just wait though until this shaking takes place in the Middle East. Then people are really going to have something to talk about. Most people really have no idea whatsoever, what is really taking place over there in Israel. The Arabs are all up in the air over this mass immigration of Jews; especially from the Soviet Union. The government of Jordan has asked the Soviet Union to halt Jewish immigration to Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved. They say this immigration to the Israeli occupied territories is crushing all future peace chances. Israeli officials expect three hundred thousand Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel in the next few years; and they are busy preparing to take care of them. They have no plans for giving up any of what the world refers to as occupied territory; just to pacify those who demand that they do so. Israeli Prime Minister Shamir has aroused anger in the Arab countries by just plainly saying that Israel should hold on to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to handle the influx of immigrants they are expecting. That is prophecy in fulfillment. That is why I said, Wait until this shaking starts in the Middle East. We are going to see how the western world is going to react. You can take my word for it; they will not jump for joy; and rush to support Israel. (This may all be history by the time you read this paper.-editor)

A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN

Let us open our Bible’s to Revelation 12:1, where we find these words, “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.” We preached and printed a message dealing with this woman John saw clothed with the sun; but there are other things we want to place within it this time; as we deal with it in this series of messages. When this prophecy was written by John in 96 A.D., the Jewish nation no longer existed. John was given this vision twenty some years beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews, the two southern tribes, had been carried off into captivity, to an uncertain destiny in dispersion. They did not know how long it would last. John, the last of the old patriarchs of the covenant faith, no doubt wondered what would be the future of his people; and of the very land itself; for he knew the land had been promised to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting inheritance. (Gen.17:8) “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” No doubt he knew the prophecies of the scriptures, where God had spoken through His prophets that He would restore; but even still, that would not keep one from wondering just how it would be brought about. We do not know how John approached God in prayer concerning this matter; but we do know God saw fit to give him an experience more unique than all others before him. He saw a door opened in heaven: and heard a voice say to him, “Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.” God carried John away in the Spirit, to various periods of future time; and allowed him to see those things which would be, in these various future ages of time. Then He was returned to 96 A.D., to fulfill his part, write it and send it to the seven Churches of Asia. The Gentile Church has carried this letter ever since; but over a period of almost 2000 years, very little of what he wrote had ever been understood. Christendom has see-sawed back and forth with an interpretation of much of it, especially this 12th chapter. Some have looked upon it because they could no longer see Israel existing as a nation, as pertaining to the Gentile Church. Since they could not see it as actually pertaining to Israel, many have said, This woman clothed with the sun, has got to be the Gentile Bride. Therefore that has been one of the beliefs that has been fostered concerning this woman. Well God just let it lay here in the Bible without being understood, until the end of time was in sight. Then He revealed it to the Gentile Bride of Christ, allowing her to be able to relate to the understanding of these things, that she might know how to begin to prepare herself for her exodus out of here. We will read the entire picture of what John wrote concerning this woman; before we go back to touch on the various details of it. (1) “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; (like a phenomena) a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (2) And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; (or phenomena) and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (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. (5) 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.” What we have read in these 5 verses, is what we have symbolized in the drawings of these two charts we are pointing to. In 96 A.D., John could no longer envision an Israelite nation in the land. Rome was ruling the world. Rome was prophesied in Daniel 7, to be the 4th beast of the four Daniel saw come to power one after the other. Daniel saw this Roman beast ruling from its beginning, straight on through to the end of time. He also saw that Roman beast evolve through certain distinct changes; but there would always remain a Roman connection. The reason I state it like that, is because we have a lot of church people today, that when they begin to try to understand prophecy in the light of the antichrist, they waver all over creation with their projections of who or what the antichrist is. For a long time it was believed, that it could be the Catholic Church, or the pope; but after the Church came out of the Dark Ages and things changed so drastically, they then ditched that whole thing. They began to grope and run around in circles; and probe at every other possibility. Today, you will not find very many nominal churchgoers that are willing to believe the antichrist could come out of Rome. Various one’s have written their books, setting forth all kinds of suppositional ideas. Most of them are written with a vocabulary that most others do not even understand; so when they get through reading the book, they find themselves right back where they started; still not knowing any more about the antichrist than they did before reading the book. Why? Because they are not willing to say in plain words that it is either this or that. The Bride of Christ cannot live on that kind of teaching, this late in the age. We have to see Rome for what she is, where the antichrist will come from, and how this woman fits into that picture.

ANALYZING THE MYSTERY WOMAN

This wonder in heaven, let us consider it. If this is Israel, in what way do we describe this woman as being Israel? First we make note of the fact that she is a pregnant woman. Then we note that she is clothed with the sun. Naturally the sun has to symbolize something; and we will get to that in a minute. The moon is under her feet; and we know what the moon is, as a planetary body. It gives no light of itself; It is only a planet that reflects light from another source. That is what sets a beautiful type there. Then the crown with twelve stars is easily misinterpreted to represent the gospel of the twelve apostles, if that is all you are looking at; but you have to relate that to the rest of the description of this woman; and it just simply does not come out right like that. As we consider the description of the whole woman from top to bottom, we can see what God meant for His Church to see. The woman is the nation of Israel, shown in a heavenly profile, past, present, and future, all wrapped up in one picture. The red dragon symbolizes the embodiment of Satan. Not up there in the heavens, though that is where it is portrayed. The picture is reflected up there; but that is not where he has always persecuted Israel. It is a profile of the embodiment of Satan in the Roman Empire; representing past, present, and future. Whatever each of these symbols represent in Israel’s past, they remain to be the same in the present time, an also in her future. For instance, if this dragon symbolizes Satan in the Roman Empire in the days of the old Caesars, you cannot change that embodiment of Satan from Rome to something else for the present, and for her future. Naturally we understand that the Roman Empire, under the rulership of the old Caesars, did not have seven heads and ten horns. Neither were there ten crowns. You would see a dragon with just one head back then; but we are looking at it in its completeness, here in this setting. This woman, clothed with the sun and so forth, and the moon under her feet, gives a panoramic view of the nation of Israel from her beginning right on through to her Millennial glory. How do we know this is Israel? All you have to do is go back and study the prophet Hosea. When Hosea, in the eighth century, was told to go marry a wife of whoredoms, in the natural, according to the Law, that would be absolutely ridiculous for a prophet to let his attention be attracted to such a woman. However at the time, Israel, the nation to whom Hosea had been sent by the eternal God to be a prophet, was in just that kind of spiritual and moral state. Jehovah, the Elohim of the Old Testament, had espoused her to Himself. She was His national wife. It was through this nation, (His wife) that God had purposed, through time, to perfect His plan of redemption. He impregnated her with His seed, which was the word of prophecy he gave her through various prophets. That is why all of those prophets prophesied, when Israel still lived in the dispensation of the Law; which covered approximately 1450 years. During that time, she not only received the Law by Moses, she received the writings of all the other prophets God sent to her. These prophecies became the seed, planted in the spiritual womb of Israel. That is why the woman is shown over here, as with child, in pain, waiting to be delivered. The Law age was not the age of her glory; it only reflected it in various types and shadows; like the moon gives a reflection of the sun. In this setting where she is shown in her Millennial glory, the Law age has already accomplished its purpose. That is why the moon is shown under her feet. She was delivered of that child almost two thousand years ago; and that old dragon did truly try to devour Him. Notice the wording in these two verses. (4) “And his tail (the dragon’s) drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: (That is the works of Satan.) and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, (Ready to be delivered of Him who was foreordained to be called The Christ, who became our Lord and Savior; and who first offered Himself to the nation Israel, because in reality He was the Messiah they had waited for through centuries of time.) for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (5) And she brought forth a man child, (and named Him JESUS) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: (in the Millennium) and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.” As 1400 years came and went, this woman (Israel) went through a lot of turmoil. We have to realize, this woman that is symbolized here, does not represent every Jew, or every Israelite. There were many Israelis born of a reprobate attitude. They were the people that many times caused the influence of idolatry and evil to be brought into the nation of Israel. Therefore we need to understand, that this woman we are looking at represents that true spiritual seed of Israel that has lived in every generation of her past. We could say, Those of every generation, that loved and respected God, and that wanted to do His will. Much of the time, that spiritual element among them were the ones that were pushed back into the background and excluded from the decision making. Yet this is the element of that nation that sighs and cries for the fulfillment of all these blessings she finds prophesied for them. It is because of the reprobates that has always been among them, that God has had to bring on these empires of chastisement against them; for He has always dealt with them as a nation. Therefore the innocent, the spiritual ones have had to suffer the consequences that go along with the sin of the others. This woman we see portrayed here, pregnant, heavy with child, and in pain, waiting to be delivered; pictures her two thousand years ago; just before Jesus was born to Mary. She is crying for her Messiah to come and deliver her from her oppressors. You just have to make the spiritual application to this picture according to the various phases that are represented in the whole scope.

WHAT ONE REJECTS ANOTHER RECEIVES

Let me take time to explain a little point here. When Israel came out of Egyptian bondage and received the Law, she lived 1400 years through that. That is what the moon under her feet symbolizes in this vision shown to John. Though some interpreters say this woman has to be the Bride of Christ, clothed with the revelation of the gospel, I say, That just goes to show how some people use their Bible. I will show you why being clothed with the sun has nothing at all to do with the revelation of the gospel. Whatever this is, (Bro. Jackson is pointing to the moon under the feet of the woman.-Editor) that is what is reflected here. She (the woman) lived 1450 years coming through that. It is completely clear to me; that this is a picture of Israel restored in the land, the tribulation is past, Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning, and she is in the land with all twelve tribes. That is to symbolize how Israel will shine, reflecting the glory of God, in the days her Messiah rules and reigns from the throne of David in Mt. Zion. Why do you say that Bro. Jackson? Simply because of this, As Israel passed from the Law age, the age which was a shadow of, or a reflection of what was coming, God gave to Israel, by the ministry of John the Baptist, the ministry of Jesus, as well as the ministry of the early apostolic church, the opportunity to understand and accept the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in His plan of salvation. He did it all within one generation of time. He gave that remnant of Israel which was in the land at that time, the opportunity to clothe herself with the revelation which was preached in that first age; but did she accept it as a nation? No. She rejected it. Therefore as she rejected it, God gave the gospel to the Gentiles; and in so doing, the heavenly Father has worked through that, getting a Bride ready for His Son, which is the man child of verse 5. He drove this nation out of the land so that she would not live in that land through the dispensation of the gospel. If this was to represent the Church, clothed with the revelation of the gospel, she would have had to live in the land, and live there long enough that there is centuries related to that, just as she was, while centuries related to the Law, passed. I hope you understand my statement. You cannot live 1400 years in a type; and only 60 years in the real thing. That should be clear. When that woman goes into this, (Her Millennial glory) it will be a dispensation of a thousand years. Israel will truly shine during that time. She will be the nation that all other nations look up to. What does it say in Haggai 2:6-7? Notice, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” God said He will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will be to do what? To come here. Come where? Chicago? No. To Jerusalem, to Mt. Zion. Why go there? Because the Messiah will be there. The earth’s king will be there. He is the one who is going to give you and I our freedom from all this nonsense that is going on in the world today. Therefore keep in mind, It is true, that God did offer the gospel to the Jewish nation first; before Gentiles received it; but she, as a nation, did not receive it, to be clothed in it; so she could live a dispensation of time in it, reflecting it to the world. What she rejected, God gave to the Gentiles; and cast the woman out of there; to stay out until these last days. That lines right up with what we are going to look at next. As we can see all the areas, this is the Law. (Bro. Jackson is pointing to the charts.) This represents her Millennium age. She always called it her kingdom age, the age of time when she knew her Messiah would rule and reign, and all nations would come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts. That is the way Israel, through the Old Testament, sees the Millennium. She did not know it would be just a thousand year span of time. It is you and I that know it as a thousand years; because it is written in the book of Revelation, a book in our Bible, that the Jews do not acknowledge as the word of God, that it will last for a thousand years. She (Israel) will definitely have all twelve tribes back in the land for the Millennium. That is why it is necessary at this time, for God to be in the process of bringing a sufficient representation of these Jews back from Russia; and from all the other areas of the world where they have been scattered to. When I said, Wait until this shaking starts in the Middle East, I was just thinking, What a turmoil! The Arabs are saying to them, You cannot settle in east Jerusalem. That is exactly what the prophet Micah said. The prophet Micah said that Jerusalem would be desolate because of its inhabitants. It stated how they would be removed. The word desolate, does not mean there will be no buildings. It speaks of the people that have a right to be there. Naturally we realize that the world is moving rapidly towards the events of the coming of Jesus Christ. God in His own words said, A quick work will He do and cut it short in righteousness. God is not playing around now. He will do in six months, what has been going on now for years. It also says this in one of those prophecies, that Jerusalem will say, (This is a prophecy concerning the old city, that the old city itself will say this.) Whence came these, where have they been? That is not the Arabs talking. That is that old city, when she wakes up one morning, and the Arabs have all been hauled off. Right now, three fourths of old Jerusalem is populated by Arabs. They are pointing the finger at the western world, saying, You had better not let any more of those Russian immigrants come in here. We will not tolerate them settling in Jerusalem. We will not tolerate them settling in the Gaza Straight, and all such like. Nevertheless the prophecies of the Old Testament say that Gaza shall be inhabited by Judah. Not Arabs. That is why I say, Either the Bible is right, or it is wrong. In Zechariah it says something to the effect that, in that day Jerusalem, (and it is not talking about western Jerusalem, the new part, it is talking about old Jerusalem, which is east Jerusalem.) is going to be renovated and inhabited by Jews coming in there from all over the world. The prophecy closes by saying, The children of the later shall be more than of the former. What does that mean? It simply means this, In 69 and 70 A.D., when the Roman army came in and tore Jerusalem down, and took those Jews away from there, leaving Jerusalem a ruined, desolate city, it was eventually rebuilt in certain ways by oncoming scavengers of all sorts, through many years of time; but they are not the children of this prophecy. Palestinian Arabs are living there now. I am not talking about the individual Palestinian Arab. Some of them are just as good a person as I am. However we have to realize, our racial identity does not change the Bible. Therefore as we look to the future, there cannot be this, (Jerusalem filled with the people of these prophecies) until there has been something take place to put them there. That is why we are now living in a transition period; when the Jewish nation must be enlarged. Somewhere from the four corners of the earth, a remnant from all the tribes must come home; and God will bring them home, enough to fulfill what He sees is His quota, to make up that nation He wants to visit by the ministry of the two prophets of chapter 11. They will prophesy to the nation as a whole; but as always, there will be a vast number of Jews that will not receive one word they have to say. These will rejoice and be very glad, when the Antichrist has those two prophets slain, after they have ministered 3 1/2 years, which will be exactly in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel.

THE WOMAN THE MAN CHILD AND THE DRAGON

Let us again read verse 2, and I will fill in a few more details on how to identify the woman. (12:2) “And she being with child cried, travailing (really agonizing) in birth, and pained to be delivered.” To understand what we have read in this verse, I will direct your attention back to the prophet Hosea once again. The prophet Hosea was told (by the Lord) to go take a wife of whoredoms, as a type of the nation God Himself was married to. The ten northern tribes which we are seeing on the News coming home to Israel from Russia, the Baltic countries, central Asia, and really from all over the world, are the remnant of those tribes carried away captive in approximately 728 B.C. by the Syrian Empire. God spoke concerning them by the prophet Hosea; that they never would be allowed to return to their homeland as tribes of people until the last days. Hallelujah! We are in the last days. Now how do we look at this? With the ten tribes gone, it left only the two southern tribes in the land; basically the tribe of Judah, and the little tribe of Benjamin that always aligned itself to it, because it joined itself right next to it. This was the remnant of what Israel was identified as, when she was brought back into the land in the days of Haggai and Zechariah, to rebuild the temple, and get the things of prophecy set for what we now know was the first advent of the coming of Christ. Yes it was the remnant of the two southern tribes that was in the land of Israel, in the days when the Roman Empire came into being. As the Roman Empire rose to power and took over the faltering Grecian Empire in its weakened condition, the Roman Empire wound up controlling the vast areas of what once had been the Grecian Empire, as well as Europe. Yet it did not have seven heads on it at that time. It was an empire with one head. That is the way you have to look at Rome in its initial power structure. With Rome ruling, and the two southern tribes in the land, that brought time into what we call the advent of Christ. These two tribes were back in the land; and no doubt in their minds, they would look back to the time their ancestors came back with Nehemiah, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah and those different prophets and patriarchs of that period, and know in their heart’s that is was definitely ordained to lead to the fulfillment of something in the prophets. Yet when it came, it was in such a simple manner they, as a nation, missed it. In the days when Caesar Augustus was Emperor in Rome and Herod was governor in Judaea, we find this woman, (Israel) in terrible agony. She wanted to be delivered. She was wanting to be delivered from the Roman Empire. That is how we have to picture this dragon that stood before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born. The Roman Empire knew nothing of what was about to take place; that is just how it turned out, as they did what oppressors do. We all know the events that led up to the birth of Him who became the Christ; but you can read it in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, in the New Testament; if you wish. As we read of the birth of Christ, (the man child) we know this, Jesus potentially, was born to rule all nations. Yet in a dispensational manner, we know He was not even intending to take over the governments of the world at that junction of time. He first had to come as a Savior, in order to come later as their King. However Israel did not know what would have to precede their Kingdom Age; they just looked for their deliverer to come. That is because certain prophecies were hidden from their understanding. If they had not rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah; and dealt with Him as they did, we Gentiles would still be pagans; and without hope in God. Just think of it, only a few individuals knew what was really transpiring when that little baby was born into the world. Simeon, Anna, Mary and Joseph, and the sheep herders, were the main one’s the scriptures mention; but the society as a whole just berated Mary, and looked upon Jesus as a bastard child. Those certain individuals like that, knew how the Spirit of God had dealt with them, and they understood something of what had taken place; but outside of those few, the advent of the birth of Christ came and went without shaking the foundations of the nation of Israel as she existed at that time. However when He comes again, it will shake the foundations of the nation of Israel. That is the way we have to look at it. “And she (Israel) being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” She was crying for her deliverer; to deliver her from Roman oppression. Now notice verse 3, “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; (That is how John saw it; because he was lifted up in the Spirit; but it was an earthly scene of the past, as well as the future, that he was seeing.) and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (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.” Caesar Augustus was Emperor of Rome, and Herod was the Roman appointed king of the Jews; and you can read the Gospel of St. Matthew, to see how Joseph had to take Mary and her little baby, and flee into Egypt, to save His life. Satan knew who that little child was destined to grow up to be; and he was fully represented in the ruling powers when Jesus was born. He (Jesus) would have been devoured by that old dragon at birth; if God had not warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and the young child and flee. Herod was not a God appointed king over Israel; he was a puppet controlled by Rome.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEN CROWNS

Saints, I want to direct your attention to something I had never noticed the significance of, until I was studying for this message the other day. Many times we just read scriptures, and skim right over certain words, without ever seeing what is right there in plain view. We see the words, but we do not see the picture portrayed in the words. Remember, we are reading about the Roman Empire. I will read this little portion again. (part of Rev. 12:3) “Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” Can you see the little crowns on those heads? Those have to signify something. I had the crowns left off of the horns; because it would be so small you could not see them anyway. Just imagine though, on each horn sticking up there, John saw a little crown. I want you to realize, If that is the Roman Empire portrayed in this heavenly profile, we need to look a little deeper into the description. Therefore I want to take you to Revelation 13:1, and notice where the emphasis is placed. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” Saints, we are going to take this out of the heavenly realm; and put it down here in a political, geographical fulfillment, according to what the Holy Ghost has revealed to us in this age. Let me just say this to you. As you watch the evening News broadcasts, and as you read the daily Newspapers, you are living witnesses of this very beast rising to power in Europe. It is already out of the waters. We are just waiting now, for that last head to start breathing and showing itself for what it is destined to fulfill. Remember, on one of its heads it had the wound by a sword, that seemed like a deadly wound; but the Bible foretells that the deadly wound was healed. Therefore we are now watching for that wound to be completely healed. We have seen it being healed, in certain gradual phases. That is why Christian people, if they know the Bible in its true meaning, do not have to set back and wonder, What could this be?. It is a religious world that is kept in the dark, because they reject truth; not the true children of God, that love truth. As we see Rome coming up for the last days, here in chapter 13, we see a beast “having seven heads (the same number as the heavenly scene) and ten horns, (the same number as above) and upon his horns ten crowns.” This verse puts the crowns on the horns in the forefront. It says nothing at all about crowns upon the heads. There has to be a reason why emphasis is placed upon the crowns on the horns. Had you ever noticed that? Why would that be written like that? Here is what we are looking at. Keep in mind, John lived in 96 A.D. In his natural human way of looking at it, he knew good and well how Rome, in its imperial type of government, stomped and ruled the vast domains of the world from Europe, to Asia, to the Middle East, to north Africa; and all the areas the other empires at one time had ruled. Rome ruled all of that, as well as western Europe. Well John saw 7 heads on that beast; and he saw 10 horns; and we know the horns symbolize powers; so what can you say, other than that this beast represented everything that had ever been incorporated within the power structure of that old Roman Imperial form of government. We have studied these heads; and we know what they represent; and we know for sure that this beast did not just suddenly grow 7 heads. Neither did the ten horns just suddenly appear. They are the result of a process of evolution; as that old imperial system went through a breakup. The crowns on those 7 heads definitely speak of the type of government that must always be related to the imperial rulership of the Cearars. The Roman beast only had one head in the days of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and all of them of which Nero was the last. After the death of Nero, the seven heads began to form; as various one’s ascended to the throne to rule as emperor. There were dozens of emperors that ruled Rome down through the years; but only 7 of them ever managed to establish a form of rulership that would put a head on that beastly dictatorship. I do not know if you are looking at what I am looking at or not; but if that crown that was on Augustus, Julius, and all those other Caesar’s, down through the hour of Nero, made Rome that beast that stood before the woman, ready to devour her man child, Rome will remain to be the city from whence this last phase of the Roman Empire will rule, even to the coming of Christ. You just have to keep those seven horns tied to Rome. Do not try to place them over in Cairo, Egypt, Moscow, Damascus, Syria, nor anywhere else other than Rome. Those seven crowns have got to be imperial types of rulership. That lets us know, when that old imperial crown of the Caesars was finally passed on, it is not that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is wearing the same crown; but the fact that his crown has become exalted above the Caesars’ crown. If you can see that, you can see what this beast vision really covers. All you have to do is go back to some of the old secular history books, and read how the old popes used to talk, claiming that they alone were the sovereign, supreme rulers of the universe. In the eyes of God, that is blasphemy. Notice that it plainly states, that down here on these heads is the name blasphemy. Blasphemy is not tied to the ten horns. They are not exercising any type of authority that God would look upon like that. However if that word blasphemy was written on every head, then you have to also keep those crowns associated within the selfsame kind of authority that comes out of Rome. That is why we printed the article years ago, titled, From Rome to the Vatican. That is a riddle I know; but it does catch your attention. When you go from Rome to the Vatican, where have you actually gone to? You have gone nowhere. Actually, all you have done, is gone from one throne to another. Just from one part of the city to another part of the same city. You have gone from the place in that city from where its government was once controlled, to another throne in the same city where it is now controlled from. Remember though, blasphemy is on the heads, not on the horns. Therefore these horns have to symbolize some kind of sovereign authority by how this entire dragon manipulates itself to carry out its diabolical purpose. These heads have to be forms of government that have been exemplified in time, all coming from Rome. Whatever form of government that was, when that beast was wounded in one of its heads, you can rest assured, that when that beast comes up out of the water again, to show itself in the last days, (the days in which we are now living) and that head is healed, it is going to be just exactly what it was when it was wounded. That is why, however Europe looked in history, and however the pope acted in history, in the days when the Reformation struck that wounding blow, that is exactly how Europe and the Pope will be, when he (the Pope) puts on his last performance.

THE DRAGON SPIRIT IN A VERY HIGHLY ESTEEMED MAN

Let us read verse 4, again. “And his (the dragon’s) tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” There is quite a bit covered in that one verse. Satan, which we commonly refer to as the devil, in reality, is that fallen Archangel Lucifer, that tried to exalt himself above his Creator and had to be cast down from his former estate. Not only was he cast down to earth to become the devil, but a large host of the other angels that sided with him against their Creator were also cast down with him; and they are his evil helpers in trying to thwart the plan of God. One goal that Satan has had, ever since Israel became a nation of people, is to try to completely wipe all traces of her from the face of the earth. He knows what the scriptures promise concerning that little nation. He knows the promise God made to Abraham; before there ever was a nation of people called Israelis. Well God has used him to chasten that nation, by allowing him to work through various other kingdoms of people to oppress her; but there is no possible way for him to completely destroy her, no matter how hard he tries. He tried to kill Jesus at birth; but God directed Joseph in ways to avoid the possibility of it. He (Jesus) had a mission to accomplish, before God could allow that devil motivated mob to take His life. When he was allowed to take His (Jesus’) life, he thought he had finally got the upper hand over his Creator; but what he did not know anything about, was that resurrection power of God that would bring Him (Jesus) up out of that old tomb of stone and clothe Him with an immortal body. He is alive forever More! Hallelujah! What the power of God did for Him, it will do the same for every one of us, if we will submit ourselves to the Spirit of the Father like He did. No, we will not avoid being harassed by the devil; and neither will Israel; but we have this assurance, (Rom.8:28) “And we know that all things work together for good to (Who?) them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.“ Does that apply to Israel also? God has His separate plan for Israel; and He is in the process of fulfilling it even this very hour. Sure there will be another blood bath during that great tribulation hour; but God will preserve an element of that little nation to fulfill this picture we see here in chapter 12. You can count on that. Rome, filled with all the fury Satan can fill that old beast with, under the leadership of the Antichrist, will try once again to destroy every trace of that little nation from the face of the earth; but we all know already, how that last effort is going to turn out. Hallelujah! We can place all of our confidence in what God has inspired His holy apostles and prophets to write. The revelation of the 5th seal allows us to know, that dragon spirit in Hitler slaughtered a lot of Jews whose souls have been crying out to the Lord for their blood to be avenged; and they have been told to rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. That will take place in the last half of Daniel’s week, in the great tribulation. That dragon will not be in Hitler this time; it will be in the Roman Catholic Pope, and that European super power that is being formed. Just think of it saints, the Assemblies of God, and a lot of other so called Christian churches today, have completely removed the Pope from their considerations of who the Antichrist will be. They do not think anyone knows who he is, or where he will come from. I may not know the name of the man who will be in that office in that hour; but I sure do know what office that beast man will come from. The truth is, it is coming right down the road, breathing right down their neck’s, and they are too blind to see it. “And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” Jesus who became the Christ was born over 1900 years ago. The woman was delivered of her man child who was born potentially, to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Even those who crucified Him acknowledged that; for they set up over His head this inscription, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” They may have been making fun of Him; but what they wrote was destined to be exactly that. That is what you see in Revelation 19, especially in verses 15 and 16, where Jesus is coming to earth with all the armies of heaven, already crowned, ready to execute judgment upon all of wicked mankind that is still alive then.

THE WOMAN’S MAN CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP UNTO GOD

We need to examine verse 5, and be sure we get it placed right. “And she (Israel) brought forth a man child, (Jesus) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: (In the Millennium) and her child (The resurrected Jesus the Christ) was caught up unto God, and to His (The Father’s) throne;” and that is where He still is this very hour. Why was He caught up? It was because the political element, that religious element that thought they knew everything that was to be known in that hour, CRUCIFIED HIM; not even knowing He was the ONE all their scrolls had been pointing them to. Just think of it, those Pharisees and Saducees had been going to their various synagogues, reading the scrolls of the prophets, and going through their little rituals every Sabbath day. What were they reading? The promises of their Messiah that was to come. There He came, and they did not know one thing about Him. I just have to say this, Denominational Gentile churches are doing the same thing, looking for, and talking about a Bridegroom they know nothing at all about. I received a letter from a brother in Wisconsin, with a little tract enclosed. The tract was put out by an outfit in Scottsdale Arizona. The writer of this tract titled it, Pretribulation Rapture. He leaves it as though what we believe is a false revelation. I just thought as I read that thing, Mr.: You are another one of those who cannot see yourself anywhere in the Bible except Revelation 7:9-17, which is a picture of tribulation saints. If John had never written Revelation 7, I wonder if you would be able to relate to 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18. Let us just refresh our memory, concerning the apostle Paul’s revelation of what the true Church should be looking for. (13) “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” We are supposed to comfort one another with these words; not the words of Revelation 7. Those words are for the foolish virgins, that great multitude that would rather speak in tongues than to sit and listen to truth. I have nothing against speaking in tongues; but if you have no revelation of the word of God, and all you can think of is having a good time with the gifts of the Spirit, Revelation 7 has a place reserved for you, lest you be a make believer. The truth is, If Revelation 7, is all the vision you have, you may not even make it in that group; for the apostle Paul spoke of another group that a lot of people are going to fall right in with. You will find in 2nd Thessalonians 2, where Paul said God Himself would send strong delusion upon those who have no love for the truth. Remember, the devil does not try to keep anyone from going to church; his only interest is in perverting the word of God, so those who do go, will be satisfied with something less than a revelation of the truth of that word. I never get too excited about people just merely being faithful to go to some church building regularly. I get excited when I find someone who is truly hungry for the truth; instead of just being satisfied with traditional hand-me-down religion. An awful lot of people seem to think that just because the book of Revelation was written some 30 years after most of the Epistles, it annuls all those things the other apostles had already established in the Church; but I will be quick to tell you, The book of Revelation annuls nothing that was already written in the word of God. To me, it clarifies an awful lot of what was already written. As for the man child being caught up unto God, that is exactly what happened; but not before He was crucified, buried, resurrected and allowed to walk upon earth for 40 days after His Resurrection. Of course we can see, that this embodiment of dragon power was in the old Caesars that ruled the Roman Empire at that time. Capital punishment was not allowed to be administered by the Jewish court of law. They could try Him. They could condemn Him; but they could not administer capital punishment. The capital punishment had to come by ones that were in ruling power. When they finally brought Him to Pilot, he wanted to let Him go. He was the secular ruler, the one appointed by the Romans. He would have let Him go; but that zealous bunch of Judaistic Pharisees, the religious leaders of that day said, Crucify Him! Let His blood be upon us. I hope I can say this in a right way. The Jews that have suffered so much throughout the various nations they have been driven to for the past two thousand years, do not realize why they have had to go through some of those ordeals of punishment, suffering, and bloodshed. Their forefathers prophesied it upon them. At least, they asked for some of it; when they stood there in the streets that day and said to Pilot, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We’ll take the blame. Let His blood be upon us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25) Pilot wanted to let Him go. Pilot took that pan of water and washed his hands and said, I deliver myself of responsibility for Him. That bunch of religious Pharisee leaders said Crucify Him. Let His blood be upon us, and on our children! I am only pointing to what is written; so if any Jewish person should ever hear this, I want them to know, I am not saying these things to belittle them for being a Jewish. I know you are living in a generation when God is going to open your eyes, if you are one that cares about pleasing God; because the prophets have written in your scrolls very plainly, that He would do this in the last days. You who could not understand Hitler’s ordeal, and who will not be able to understand what the antichrist will do during that last 3 1/2 years of Daniel’s week, will no doubt be among those, when Jesus does come to reveal Himself to you, that will ask Him, (Zechariah 13:6) “What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” They read that in their synagogues every day; but they do not know what it is talking about. None of us have anything to be puffed up about; we Gentiles have been blinded to. Why else would so many Gentile Professing Christians believe that God is THREE PERSON’S, if it were not that they are spiritually blind? These Trinitarians read verses like Acts 7:56, where Stephen while being stoned to death, looked up to heaven And said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God;” and it just reinforces their belief that God is three persons. Saints: Listen to me, That is blindness. Are you going to tell me, that Jesus Christ (the only person in the Godhead) is coming after a bride that knows no more than that about the God they profess to believe in? Not on your life. He is coming back for a bride that embraces the same revelation that first age element of Christianity held. He truly was caught up unto God, and to His throne; when He led His disciples out to the Mt. of Olives that day, and a cloud received Him out of their sight; but that does not make the Father a person. When He ascended up to the throne of God, where He has been ever since that day, that fulfilled the portion of that phenomena we see portrayed here in Revelation 12:1-5; but the phenomena still hangs there; because as there was past, which was the Law, present, giving birth, there is yet the future. I hope you can see that; for that is what we are coming into. When the child was caught up unto God and to His throne, there in verse 5, God slipped the whole dispensation of grace in between verse 5 and verse 6. The gospel of the revelation of Jesus Christ was given to us Gentiles; and we have had it for over 1900 years; and verse 6, has not been fulfilled yet. In 69 and 70 A.D., the remnant that was left of that Israelite nation was scattered throughout the world; and the nation no longer existed. That was the state of it, at the time John had this revelation given to him. Therefore the Grace Age Church has been living time wise, between verses 5 and 6. Where does verse 6 pick up again? Verse 6 picks up somewhere just up ahead of where we are right now; when the woman element of the nation of Israel has to flee for her life, getting away from the evil forces of the old Antichrist. If she is running for her life, where did she start running from? She did not start running for her life from Russia; nor from Africa, nor Austria. No. Somewhere before verse 6 is a reality, God must bring that nation of people back from dispersion in sufficient numbers to fulfill all of His word. Then, after she has heard the preaching and prophesying of the two prophets for 3 1/2 years, and the old Antichrist initiates the bloodbath that will last for another 3 1/2 years, she knows it is time to get out of there, to the place the two prophets has told her about. Let us read verses 6 and 14; and then I will show you something. (6) “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (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, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Verse 14, is what lets us know it will be the message she receives from the two prophets that will direct her to her place of safety God has prepared for her. Why do I say that? Let us go to the book of Exodus 19:4, where we find these words, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.” That is what God said to the children of Israel after He had brought them safely out of Egypt by the direction of Moses and Aaron; but tell me, Where did the eagles’ wings come in? That is how God referred to His two prophets that had been His instructors to the people; and it refers to the same thing in Revelation 12:14. I might note also, that it is only when the Jews are in their land, that God deals with them according to the prophetic utterances in the scriptures. That is why at the close of WW2, certain things were set in motion for the rebirth of this nation. No, it was not natural minded mankind trying to fulfill the prophecies of the Bible; that set those wheels to turning. God put it in the mind’s of those who were instrumental in the allotment of a certain portion of the land of Palestine for Jews to go home to. That was the start of getting a sufficient number of them back in the land of their forefather’s; to finish what had been prophesied to her as a nation. God said He would save Judah first; so at the end of WW2 He brought Judah back. That was basically those Jews dispersed throughout the European areas. He spoke in the prophets, how Judah was to be looked upon as the corner, the nail, the battle bow, and everything that He (God) would use, and need, to start the beginning of the rebirth process of the reconstruction and restoration of the nation of Israel. He foretold that He would use Judah to establish that. Once Judah is established, then He speaks of how He would save Joseph or Ephraim, which is two titles the ten tribes are called by. That is where we are standing today; right at the crossroads of time. The remnant of those Jews in Russia are the remnants of the ten tribes; that have been right there for centuries of time, waiting for the hour that God would call upon them to come home.

ISRAEL IN HER LAND-THEN WHAT?

God would not be opening up the way for multiplied thousands of Jews to return home; if it were not time for prophecy to be fulfilled concerning that nation in the last days. God gave her the opportunity to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ before it was ever made accessible to Gentiles; but as a nation, she rejected it; and the Gentiles have carried it ever since. That does not mean there were no Jews saved in that first age of the gospel of Christ. There were a lot of individual Jews that believed; in Israel as well as in other nations; but the past 1900 and some years are referred to as the Gentile Bride Dispensation. Like I said, We are living between verses 5 and 6, of the 12th chapter of Revelation. Prophecy, many times, is written in strange ways. It reaches a certain point of the event, then jumps a huge gap. That is what throws a lot of interpreters off course; they just simply do not know how to relate certain things to other developments that are injected into the stream of prophecy. When you pick up verse 6, you automatically see the woman fleeing; and a lot of people just simply cannot relate that to the first five verses as it should be. We just have to realize that God deals with prophecy you might say, just by stopping a stop watch so to speak. He brought Israel up to a certain point in the seventy weeks of years Daniel’s prophecy covers; then He just stopped the prophetic clock for about 2000 years, while He used that time to call out a Gentile bride for His only begotten Son. That did not stop all prophecy; it just put a hold on that part of prophecy that pertains to God’s dealing with Israel as a nation of people. Israel, Jehovah’s wife nation, has been dispersed, scattered throughout the nations of the world for centuries; but if there is to be a woman fleeing, as verse 6 shows, then somewhere in this broken interval of time between verses 5 and 6, it is absolutely necessary that there be a regathering of an element of that nation sufficient in number, to fulfill all these other prophecies for the last days. We need to realize also, that not every Jew that goes home to Israel will be saved. It takes both the spiritual element as well as the political element, to fulfill all of what is written. The woman will be fleeing from the same area of the earth she was driven from in 69 A.D. by the Roman army. Some may say, Where will she flee to? Well we could speculate; but for now let us just take note of the fact that it will be a place God already has prepared for her, where she will be fed and protected for a period of 1260 days. That is exactly 3 1/2 years of prophetic time; which has only 360 days to a year. (Rev.12:6) “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Saints: The things we see taking place in the Middle East today, involve a lot more than just what the News Media reports. God is positioning those nations for this end time wrap up. There are sufficient prophecies lying right here in the scriptures, to let us know for sure that God, in the end time, will restore the nation of Israel to its geographical identity of old. I know a lot of people today, will say that is not fair; but you have to remember, God gave them that land for an inheritance, and they were driven from it; so He is just simply going to see that they get it back. We have this little map drawn up, to illustrate what we are talking about. You will notice this little body of water at the top, with Dan right above it, that represents the Sea of Galilee. The line running from there, down to the next body of water, represents the Jordan River; coming right down through there to the Salt Sea; (Dead Sea) and presently, Israel does not hold any territory beyond the Jordan River; so what does that tell us? Simply this, There has to be some kind of situation develop in that area of the world, that when it is all over, Israel will once again hold all of her ancient territory. You will notice here, that part of the tribe of Dan, part of the tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Reuben, are on the east side of the Jordan river. That is land they must have before the last week of Daniel can go into effect. Presently her land goes only to the Jordan River, and for years now the Palestinian Arabs have been trying to throw her out of what you always hear referred to as the West Bank. Geographically, from the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, as you would climb the slopes of the Judaean mountains, some 1800 feet above sea level, this is where they are talking about. It is the west slopes of the mountains, and it would be just as accurate to say that, as saying, the west bank; because we are definitely not talking about the bank that runs along the river. on the west side. Well I have news for the Palestinian Arabs, and for anyone else who thinks like they do. It is too close to the end of this age, for Israel to be giving up any land. It is time for her to take some more. I understand, how the world looks upon that touchy situation; because those Arabs were born there. It is home to them. I want to say also, that I am not personally against the Palestinian Arabs; but I have confidence in the word of God; So I know what is coming. Israel will have all of her land back; and she will not be taking it back during the Millennium. She will get it back somehow, before the great peace covenant is signed with the Antichrist. Most of you have maps in the back of your Bible’s; and no doubt one of those maps will show the land of Canaan, as it was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel in the days when they possessed all of the land which God had given to them.

A LOOK AT BIBLE PROPHECY IN FULFILLMENT

We are going to deal with some of the prophecies we have been referring to; and I hope each and every one of you will pay attention to how various things have come about during the past forty years. From the close of WW2 in Europe, which was the month of April, that the fighting stopped, and they began to work out the armistice arrangements, things started happening that led right into what we are looking at. In the month of May, 1948, an element of Jews from Europe were given a certain amount of land in Palestine, that they might have a place to go when they left Europe. Many of those Jews had come from the areas of Poland and Austria, which were mainly of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, that had been carried into Europe after the Roman siege in 69 A.D. We are not going to pin it down so technical, that we would say there were none from any of the ten tribes among them. That would be foolish, and very unnecessary to the point we will endeavor to make. However prophetically, we must keep each tribe identified in its separate identity; because the prophecies themselves prove that God was to deal with Judah first, before He would start dealing with the ten tribes in any major manner. First we will go to Zecharich 10:3-4, which says, “Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited His flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as His goodly horse in the battle. Out of him (Judah) came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.” As we read this prophecy, it portrays to you and me the gradual progression, of how God would start the restoration of this woman we are talking about, which is the nation Israel itself, back in the land given to their forefathers. Watch my point. The United Nations was faced with a problem. Thousands of Jews were left in detention camps; and Europe did not know what to do with them. It was like God was saying to the United Nations, You have a hot potato on your hands, what will you do with my people, Israel. In haste, in just one night’s time, as the U.N. General Assembly convened, May 8, 1948, and even Russia giving her agreement and voting with it, unanimously voted to give Israel a petition, something like this, (pointing to the chart) just short of the Jordan River. Right in here it has a big pocket; because this is in the area where Jerusalem is. There is a pocket that goes around, and then comes out and goes toward the sea. This is just a rough description; of what was called the United Nations partition, meaning they divided the land of Palestine. On what basis? On this basis, that since 1800 and something, there had been a slow migration of Jews under the Zionist movement, back into the land. They had begun to come back home. As they came back home, little by little they began to locate in the most desolate, remote areas, buying up whatever acreage they could, from the Arabs, who were almost like the barons of England and France in the Middle Ages. They owned vast holdings of land. However the land was just a grown up waste land. The Arabs owned this land along with a few goats and sheep. They did not care how it looked. They were content with it as it was. Remember though, the prophets of old had said, that while Israel would be out of the land, the land would lay desolate, virtually untilled in any major way. The ancient villages that Israelites once lived in, also would remain in ruins, uninhabited. That is the way it had remained for centuries. However coming into the twentieth century, these Zionist Jews had bought up a considerable amount of this type of land; and immigrant Jews were slowly going back, buying up more land, clearing it of the rubbish, and forming little Kibbutz settlements. That is where they combined their abilities, their western technological learning of how to make the land produce agriculture, and so forth. In a short interval of time they had succeeded in clearing away rubbish; and in these kibbutz settlements, they were building, farming, and making the land do things it had not done in a long, long while. The Arabs were startled, because they had not even suspected that the land would do such a thing. Take the valley of Jezreel for instance. It is also called, in secular history, the plains of Megiddo. It is where the battle of Armageddon is to be fought. That valley runs toward the sea, coming out at Haifa. At the turn of this century, that valley was nothing but a swamp; but in ancient times, when the ten tribes did live in their own land, that valley was Israel’s bread basket. That was where her grain was produced, just like in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska in the United States. That is what that area was to Israel in the early B.C. times. When those tribes were taken out of there, that valley became a waste land, a desolate, grown up wilderness. Then they became swamps. They even had crocodiles. However as these Jews began to come back, what did the prophets of old say about it? They said God would bring them back in the last days, and they would build the ruined places, the desolate places would be inhabited and so forth. Do you know what they first began to do? They set eucalyptus trees in those swamps. In a short interval of time, the swamps were dried up. Then they brought in bulldozers to finish clearing the land and get it ready to grow crops on. That whole Megiddo valley today, has an agriculture potential, equivalent to anything in existence in the Middle East. They are raising cotton, oats, barley, and wheat. In fact they are competitors with Egypt today, in the production of cotton. A hundred years ago, that valley was nothing but a swamp, infested with crocodiles; and today they are shipping their produce everywhere. That is how prophecies are being fulfilled right before the eyes of our modern twentieth century people; and they are too blind and ignorant to realize what God is doing. As we speak about the regathering of Israel, and of the reestablishing of her as a nation, we have read two verses in Zechariah. God specifies in this prophecy that has been lying here all these centuries of time, just what He intends to do. He has a unique, and very precise manner, in which He sets about the reconstruction and the restoration of this nation. Of course as you might read the first two verses, some of it is irrelevant to what we are reading the prophecy for. Many times that is the way prophecy goes; because the prophet who spoke it was looking at a present tense condition; and his words are specifically for that. Then the spirit takes it, and goes beyond that setting to speak of something else. This is God’s way of concealing the understanding of it until the time for it to begin to be fulfilled. Verse 3, is where we really began to see the significance of what God has done in the last forty years. In 1948 the U.N. was forced to partition that piece of land that we mentioned. Israel drew up a charter, and that is why we speak of the birth of a nation, in a night’s time. At that time, the Israelite nation was not in any position to fulfill what we will later speak of, as we continue on in the message. I want to show you just how these prophecies we are going to use are being fulfilled right before our eyes, as we sit and watch our television sets.