WE ARE LIVING CLOSE TO THE END OF THIS GENTILE AGE OF GRACE: AND AMONG CHURCH-GOING PEOPLE YOU CAN HEAR ALL KINDS OF PREDICTIONS AND PROJECTIONS ABOUT THINGS THAT MUST TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE LORD JESUS COMES FOR HIS BRIDE CHURCH; BUT THE PITIFUL PART OF IT IS THAT VERY FEW OF THOSE PREDICTION ARE BASED UPON THE SCRIPTURES. THAT IS WHY I WANT TO TAKE A LITTLE TIME AND DEAL WITH SOME THINGS REVELATED PEOPLE ARE TO BE AWARE OF IN THE MIDST OF ALL OF THIS TALK ABOUT THE END TIME. I WILL TITLE THE MESSAGE, “LOOKING FOR CLUES,” BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT WILL BE ABOUT. GOD HAS GIVEN HIS TRUE CHILDREN MANY CLUES: THAT WHEN STUDIED PROPERLY WILL LET THEM KNOW WHERE THE CHURCH IS, SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING, AS HER DEPARTURE TIME DRAWS NIGH. I HAD ALREADY STARTED THIS MESSAGE BEFORE WE WENT TO NORWAY; BUT AFTER GOING THERE AND HEARING SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING CIRCULATED AROUND, I FEEL AN EVEN STRONGER URGENCY TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO SOME SCRIPTURAL FACTS. THERE ARE THINGS WRITTEN EVER SO CLEARLY IN OUR BIBLE’S THAT ABSOLUTELY TAKE ALL OF THE GUESS WORK OUT OF OUR CONVERSATION CONCERNING THE COMING OF THE LORD AND WHAT MUST TAKE PLACE FIRST.

Some of the Norwegian church people expressed much interest in respects to what is going on in Jerusalem: about the ark of the covenant and also about the fact that among a certain element of the Jews there is a searching for the ancestral background of certain families within the Jewish Levite tribe. They are definitely beginning to become concerned that they could be getting close to the time there will be a temple built. If so, there has to be certain Jewish Levites that are capable by their background, by their genealogical heritage, as well as morally, to function within that priestly role. Then upon arriving home, I had two tapes here sent to be by a brother in Bloomington. The information, the literature itself comes directly from Jerusalem. There is definitely a movement among a certain element of Jews in Jerusalem now, and has been for a long time; but it seems that somehow or other those people have been suppressed by the news media and are not looked upon as being very important: But the movement is called “The temple mount and the rebuilding of the temple movement.” It tells how this particular man that is pressing hard for the re-establishment in the minds of Jewish people the importance of the temple being rebuilt, is a descendent from a rabbi that goes back many years ago: that immigrated into Israel. His interest at that time was to begin to spread throughout the land of Israel, among those Jews that really were found living there then, that the time was getting close when the Jewish people must take the responsibility of doing something about regathering the tribes from the ends of the earth. He had the ten tribes at heart at that time. Somehow or other that old rabbi was killed by Arabs: because they wanted to shut him up. They did not want this state of Israel to come into existence. To them, it would be a hindrance to the overall vision they felt the Islamic Arab world had. You have to realize, in and around the little land of Israel, when you look at all the Arab states, as well as many of the non Arab states, that are all under this Islamic religion, there is now a combining of political and religious philosophy. They cannot tolerate this statehood of Israel to be there in the midst of what they claim is their land. That is exactly why, from the political standpoint of Israel, they are reaching out to western leaders, especially the United States leadership, hoping to bring about negotiations for a peace settlement. It is being suggested that there be a certain portion of land within the confines of what is now Israel partitioned likewise to form another Arab state within the confines of the land of Israel. These particular Jews realize this is completely contrary to Bible prophecy. Let me just say this, We all know that for the last 50 years, since the close of WW2, the United States has pressed hard under every administration, for Jews from every nation to be allowed to immigrate back to the land of Palestine and settle there. Now just take for instance this thought, I saw a census not long ago of the Jewish population in the world. It runs into many millions. Now our leadership is saying to nations, you must for human rights sake, be willing to let the Jews go home. Then on the other hand, they press the leadership of Israel within the territory, you must be willing to give up land at the same time, in order for the Palestinians that are already living there to have a homeland. That is absolutely like putting one million beans in a quart jar. It is impossible. It is unreasonable to think you can crowd millions of one race of people in a small territory which does not cover the size of southern California, and at the same time slice out another part of it just to give the Palestinian Arabs that are there a statehood of their own. They may very well try it; but we know that scripturally it can never work like that. It looks like craziness on the part of our leadership to even devise such a plan. The Bible gives us a complete picture of what God has ordained for these last days if we will just lay aside our own carnal feelings of what we consider to be fair and just and let the Holy Spirit direct our thinking. Therefore I am just praying, Lord help me put this message together in a meaningful way. We need to realize, If we are living close to the time when Israel is going to be given an opportunity to build a temple, then it means that we, as a Gentile people, a Church, right here somewhere before that event occurs, are living now in a little short interval of time when we can expect God, by His Spirit, to finish among us, everything that is written scripturally pertaining to a Gentile Bride Church being prepared and made ready to be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a lot of things to say; and I do not know when I will get it all said. Nevertheless I am going to take my time and try to cover this message, “Looking For Clues:” from every angle. What are we looking for? We are looking for clues that will help us better understand how close we are getting to the coming of Jesus Christ. That is what it is all about. We realize Jesus said very plainly, no man knows the day nor hour of the coming of the Son of man: Not even the angels of heaven know the day or hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. He was talking about the coming of the Lord for His Church. It is a mystery. We know from the scriptures that when He does come visibly with the saints, with the armies of heaven, as is described in Revelation 19, that is not a mystery; but His coming for the catching away of the bride Church is a mystery. When He comes back with His armies from heaven, heaven will be opened and every eye will behold that great event. Every knee will bend, every head will bow. The wicked will flee to the mountains and cry for the rocks to fall upon them; but their efforts will all be in vain: because He is coming to judge them. That coming is not a mystery: it will be fulfilled at the end of the seventieth week of Daniel. He will not be coming then as a thief. He is only coming as a thief in the night, to take His little bride Church out of this world. When you talk about a rapture, this degenerate, perverted society we are living in wants to treat you as some kind of odd-ball character that must surely be in some kind of cult. Well the most highly recognized of all the denominational churches in the world is also the largest cult in the world. Their true followers are under bondage; and there is nothing about it that honors the Creator. You talk about something dangerous: that is it; but no, they want to pick on people who do truly have a revelation of the scriptures and are trying to live accordingly, and investigate them. I said a few weeks back, No doubt there will be more Waco Texas type groups rising upon the scene before the end; because scripturally that is one of the signs of the end time. At the same time though, there is going to be another element of people that are the real people of God; and they are going to have an understanding, a vision, and a picture in their mind’s of how to yield their lives to God and get ready to leave this world.

HAGGAI AND ZERUBBABEL-AND THE NAME OF JESUS

Let us go into the 2nd chapter of Haggai: for that is where our message begins: in a prophecy given over 500 years before the advent of Christ. We get the setting from this. We could even go back into the writings of Ezra and read the same thing we find here. In fact it gives a more overall picture of the dedication of the little temple we are going to read about. Around 520 or 519 two prophets arose on the scene. We do not even know from history where they came from, as to their background and former activitye. All we know is, Cyrus made a decree that all the Jews who out of a willing heart wanted to go back from Babylonian captivity, back to Jerusalem to help build the house to their God were free to do so. He even exhorted the political leaders and such that sums from the treasury should be given them for this cause. When you go to Ezra you can read how there was taken all those golden instruments, vessels and such, that King Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the temple when he invaded their land and took them captive. All of those things were brought out and restored to the hands of the Jewish people: to be taken back to their home land and placed in the rebuilt temple. They were exhorted to start building their temple. That was their commission. Not a word was said about rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Anyhow all of this fits into the 70 weeks of Daniel. We will be sticking to this from the prophetic picture, the types and things established here, and from it we will bring over certain prophetic fulfillment that is pointing to the hour you and I now live in. It is important that we see the picture from the standpoint of how it is applicable to our day and time, as we see the types portrayed. (Haggai 2:1-3) “In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” This name, Zerubbabel, was an important name. We do not know much about the man, but he was a political and social leader that somehow or other had been appointed over this people to govern them in their social, domestic, and political affairs. There was also another man by the name of Joshua. He was of the Levite tribe. He was in the company; and was to be the priest that would function in this temple once it was built. Joshua, was the same name our Savior was called by, setting a perfect type. It would have been strange, if that temple had been rebuilt and they had chosen a Jewish Levite who had a name like Simeon, or Nathaniel, or something other than Joshua; but it was all a master plan of the great Creator, so his name was Joshua: the same name Jesus is derived from. Of course the very fact that I have said this makes it necessary for me to say certain other things along this line and put it in the message; because I have in my possession various literature that has been sent to me through the years from various groups of Gentile people who somehow or other keep wanting to insist that we all refer to God as Joshua or Yahweh, that being the Hebrew name of Jesus. They want to pronounce the name of Jesus that way: giving you the impression that when we say Jesus, (which is truly supposed to be the name) it is a pagan name; and that the letters in it have no value. They are trying to imply that we, as Gentiles, must come back to using Yahweh, or Yahshua, like the early Christian apostles did. Well saints, I am going to say certain things that will no doubt be offensive to people like that; but I feel that it is necessary: so bear with me. We are approaching the end. I know some of these people take me for a nut, simply because I am not an educated person according to their standards. I admit that I am not; but I do not rely on my education for what I teach: I rely on the ONE that knows all about everything. It is just the grace of God that has helped me through the years: to look at some things, at certain types and shadows and see what they pertain to. I will accept your information, how that in the first century, and no doubt for a period of time onward, those early Christians did use either Yahweh or Yahshua, rather than the term Jesus. I have no reason to disagree with that. However I am looking at the picture here in 1993: after many centuries of Christianity since the days they refer to have come and gone; and I find that from many of these groups that teach these things they also say that we have to come back to the Jewish Sabbath and observe it. They say that worshiping on the first day of the week, on Sunday like we do, is a pagan practice. Well I just preached a message on that very thing some months back. They cannot prove by early Christian history of the first and second century, that early Gentile Christians worshiped on the Jewish Sabbath. They accuse the Catholic Church of instituting the practice of worshiping on the first day of the week; but I ask you, Where did they get the idea to do that? They got it from the Bible; because the first century Christians did assemble on the first day of the week. Upon returning home from Norway I found other literature waiting for me showing these very same things. Listen! Saints: Every prophecy that is typed in the first chapters of Leviticus, coming up to chapter 23, every ceremony, every feast, every day festivity, every type it portrayed was literally fulfilled in and during the first advent of Christ. Therefore we are now looking to the next order of types: because when we go into the day of atonement, and the feast of trumpets, where all the Israelites gather and for seven days feast and fellowship, eating under booths made from limbs and leaves and things, keep in mind, all those types that are yet to be fulfilled and there is no doubt we Gentiles are typed in those things. Just remember, those types are not activated until the Jews have a spot on which their temple and altar is set in motion. Once that altar is set in motion and sacrifice is made active, then watch the types. Prophecies of the Bible are just like a stop watch. When it gets to a certain part of a second you push the trigger and the watch stops counting time. It matters not how much time goes on, it just sits right where it is stopped; but when there is a certain time factor that certain details are to go into motion, the stop watch is pressed again and it starts clicking again. That is exactly how we have to look at some of the things people are looking at in these types. I will now bring that right back to the usage of the name Yahweh, or Yahshua. I am just a dumb Gentile. If a Jewish person anywhere should ever get hold of this message, PLEASE, I want you to understand, I respect the language and the word, how it is portrayed in the Hebrew as to how you name your God, and also how Jesus, or Joshua, or Yahshua, is pronounced. I respect all of that. However I, as a Gentile believer in the same God, feel no responsibility to use your language in referring to HIM. When those apostles, who were Jews, came to the Gentiles almost 2000 years ago, I read in the book of Acts and see how they presented the gospel every place they went. I find that every one of those assemblies were started with Jewish converts. Therefore since they were preaching to Jewish people they naturally used a language understood by them; but I challenge anyone who tries to teach that God cannot be worshiped using our own Language. You make a mockery out of the whole concept of worship: when you confine it to your narrow minded interpretation of what God will accept. I have no doubt whatsoever that in the first century of Christianity those apostles of Christ did most of their preaching in languages that were native to those they were preaching to: for their first converts in every place they went were Jews; but do not try to push that language concept almost 2000 years beyond that time when the people you are dealing with have their own language; and the scriptures translated into those languages. It would be ridiculous for anyone to think we all have to learn Hebrew in order to worship God. I hope all of you understand what I am pointing out. I believe many of those Jewish families that were converted in the first century of Christianity, left children that continued on in the faith. Even those would leave children behind them that would continue on in the faith for a century or so; but after so long, when preeminence, which was primarily in the Middle East and the Asiatic areas began to change position, and time begins to move into the western world of Italy and Europe, by this time the Jewish presence is fading out of the presence of the Gentile church. It is true the Gentile church was also declining, revelatory wise, from many of the original things the apostles taught; but my point is, They would surely hold to a language structure that was easy for them to use in all their communication: regardless of where they were. Naturally I say this with godly respect to anyone that wants to hold to Yahweh, if the word fits into the language you normally speak; but do not try to convince me that I have to speak Hebrew in order to pray and speak of the God I serve. When you say everything else is heathen, then those that want to hold to Sabbath keeping, and say we are worshiping on a pagan day are justified by you. Where does this nonsense stop? It goes from that to circumcision and meat eating; and those who are deceived by such teachings are right back under bondage; and the gospel of Jesus Christ is of no benefit to them. My point is, I respect the Jewish language for those who speak it; and I have no quarrel with the pronunciation of those various words; but I maintain that those words belong to those who speak the language the words belong to. I do not speak Hebrew and see no need to. They will argue that this letter has no value, and that letter has no value; but as you have heard me say many times, In English my name is Raymond. In Spanish it is Ramon; but please do not say Ramon when you want me to answer you. I will not respond either. Now I ask you, Have I used a foolish explanation? I do not believe so. I think many times people want to use things that actually puts a price on a revelation. What they have is far more important than what you have. Well I am looking at something down here at the end of time: when there is a Gentile people God is dealing with. It is true they have been in paganism, (Gentile denominationalism) and have been guilty of yielding their lives to all kinds of traditional ideas; but that is all in the past: for those who have come to this marvelous light revealed to us in this age of Laodicea. There will be people going to church houses all over the land today: who will submit to some kind of ritual; but when they leave those places, they will be just as void of revelation of the plan of God as they were when they went in. They will hear a little sermon; but will that sermon cause them to know more about God and His plan and purpose for mankind? I seriously doubt it. Leaving those things as they are though, I say with respect to these things, As we get closer to the end, (and I can begin to see already) that somewhere there is an element of Jewish people that will begin to reach out toward a Gentile society, realizing that certain Gentiles have something they want, and then you can rest assured, there will be many opportunities for the proper pronunciation and usage of those words. It will all fall right in line, and there will be no confusion because of it. By that time the Gentile church will know that all this arguing about the Jewish Sabbath is hocus pocus, that the first day of the week was typed in the Levitical functions in prophecies; and that the name of our Savior is whatever proper translation into our language makes it. As for what day Gentiles are to worship, That is why Jesus rose on the first day of the week, and the Holy Ghost descended on the first day of the week. That established the point right there, that Jesus Christ is the beginning of a new creation. He is the beginning of the redeeming of the family of God. Therefore it points to a new day. The eighth day was characterized in it.

COMPLETING THE SECOND TEMPLE

Let me return to Haggai. In verse 3, the question was asked, “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” If you would take that and read over in Ezra where the house was actually dedicated, you would see there more details of the audience and type of people. We can say, This temple, as it was reaching a completed state and the hour of dedication had arrived, many of those older Jews which were children carried away 70 years ago, stood there in their older years looking at the size of this one and it was definitely not an expensive looking building. They were standing there, appreciative, yes, but there was a feeling of, It just don’t look like it did before. There is no doubt in their minds there was the thought, somehow or other we believe that when our Messiah comes to rule and reign, He is to rule in a magnificent temple, not in something that looks like this. You have to keep in mind, There was a lot of questions in their mind’s. That is why the spirit of the Lord, through the prophet, spoke like that to them. “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?” That means Solomon’s temple. It was known in the days of Solomon, when that temple was erected and it finally reached completeness, (you could go back in the Old Testament and read about it) when they finally brought in the ark of the covenant, (which had been housed in a tabernacle, a tent of badger and goat skins) and placed it in the temple, in the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah glory came down and hovered over it, and the priests and people as they sang and worshipped God, the anointing was so great it reached a point when the priests could not even minister because of that anointing. They were all caught up in that anointing presence of God. That was Solomon’s temple. The ark was present then; but as we read here, and as you compare that with the corresponding chapters in Ezra’s writing, you see no ark of the covenant present. What is wrong? As I said in another message, It has to be understood that because time is getting closer to fulfillment of what the ark represented, it (the ark) had already fulfilled its purpose. It was an instrument projecting a type: not something that was to be eternally present. Right here, 500 years before the advent of Christ, we see a little house being dedicated; but the older people had many questions in their mind about it. God took that occasion to speak to them. Two prophets, while they are ministering to the needs, and the edification of those people who are caught up in the building of this little temple, these two men themselves set a precise type, pointing ahead to the hour you and I live in. Neither of them knew they were to set a type of something that would be manifested 2500 years later. That was not in their knowledge. But as God spoke through them, we see from the message they declare, that they did truly set a type. It is important. Why is it important? Because as you and I, a part of the Gentile church which will not be here to witness what takes place when that Jewish nation does go into the 70th week of Daniel, (because we will be taken up in the rapture before then) we have certain things to look at that will enable us to know when that hour of time is getting close at hand. Just remember, there are many things this side of the beginning of that week that we believe must begin to show themselves, things that must begin to materialize and begin to come on the scene. Through these things we begin to see God working, setting the stage, restoring, setting everything in order for that eventual hour of time when that week will be set in motion and that Millennial temple will be in the process of being built. Therefore is how we begin to see the Spirit of God using scriptures, along with world conditions, to begin to line up those scriptures to inform us of how close we are getting to the hour of time when we definitely will be caught up together with the Lord and taken out of this world, while the Jewish nation goes into the fullness of that week. Yes the question was asked, “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” That was how God acknowledged to the people, I know all about the smallness of it, I know it is not as expensive looking, and as elaborately decorated. By that, He put their mind at ease. (verse 4) “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: (5) According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.” God used that occasion to launch a picture of something that was far off in the distance. These two verses I am reading, were definitely speaking to that generation of people. God dealt with their hearts. He comforted them and edified them. So now I want to bring that thought over to us Gentiles. For the past 30 years we can say there has been a message in the earth, a message God brought to first bring us out of our Babylonian confusion those denominational systems had us in. God is not going to unite us in Babylon. He will only unite us outside of Babylon. We have to come back to one strategic point and basis of unity. That is the word of God. Just as the nation of Israel must come back and be united, not in Italy, not in Russia, but only in the land of Israel, the land of Palestine, which is the land of their heritage, so does the bride Church have to come back to a certain place before God will unite them. There is a little spot of ground for the Jews; and there is a place in the word of God for you and me. When we look at ourselves, looking back through the years of confusion, and all the things the devil has thrown among us to try to disrupt the process, it sometimes causes discouragement, and even heart ache as we consider all the well meaning friends and loved ones that are still out there. Many times we have the feeling that it is impossible. We think, It just simply cannot work; but it will work. God is in control and He says it is going to work. Our perfection is sure: if we truly are one of His. His word cannot fail. If what God planned here for those natural people worked, it is going to work for you and me; but we all have to have the same picture put together in our mind’s. It takes more than just coming to church because our parents come: we each must have our own personal experience with the Savior. I do not come here just to fellowship flesh. If I had six blood brothers sitting here, I would not be coming just for fellowship with them: I am here to fellowship with God. Why? Because of truth. Because He has led me into truth. My brothers can do as they please, my sisters can do as they please, and mother and dad can do as they please. I am here because of Jesus Christ and truth God has revealed to me. We all have to be more interested in fellowship with Him than with each other, if we expect to receive anything further from Him. Notice how, in the 5th verse God spoke comfort to those Jews. “According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not.” Those words were all applicable right then to the Jewish people that stood there, as they looked, and was gathered around that little temple. No matter how small, God wanted them to know, I am with you. Today, as we look back through the centuries of time, observing how God has dealt with His people, and then look forward to a time when He will surely deal with us in the same way, it ought to cause us to be a little anxious for that time to arrive. As God was with the early church, and we read about it in the Bible and see how His power worked in their midst, it makes me very confident that He is going to be with a little nucleus of people here at the end time the same way. He is going to encourage and instruct them. He is going to be with them, even while the world despises them, talks about them and desires to be rid of them. Look at Israel today. Even in the nation of America there are people sitting in Gentile churches today that wish this Jewish state was done away with. They say it is a hindrance to progress. That goes to show that they do not know a thing about Bible prophecy. They are not even interested in prophecy. They are just interested in that club they belong to, which they call a church: because it is something they can hide behind. Christianity is not something you can hide behind. You can only hide behind the Lord Jesus Christ. If you truly hide behind Him, then He puts you in the Church. If you are not hid in the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing that His shed blood is what gives us hope, you are not in His Church.

LOOKING TO THE END TIME

Now I want you to notice how the Spirit of God took that natural setting back then and began to look to the future. First, as we look to the future, we need to put our mind’s in the same frame of thinking, and realize how those Jews felt at that time. (verses 6-7) “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.” This prophecy was not pointing to the then present time that the little house was built. It was pointing to a future time. It began to have its first application in the first advent of Christ; but verse 7 goes beyond that to how God shakes things bringing us to the end time. “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.” We see how political leaders today are traveling all over the earth, running here and there, straining, doing everything to pull out something, some magical philosophy to help stabilize touchy situations and bring about world peace. Everything they do is futile: so very fruitless. As I said last Sunday, When we hear our leaders stressing certain things, trying to put importance on working with the United Nations, if you just look back through the months this horrible situation in Yugoslavia has been on the News, can you honestly say the United Nations has done anything worth two cents? What have they done about that? Or if you please, What can they do? They have not done one thing that has given a thread of hope to those people. They have literally spent millions of dollars taking aid to one element of people, while at the same time the other people that are the opposite, are blowing up, and tearing those towns all to pieces. When that Communistic breakup came, those towns and cities were beautiful places. Look at them now. Burned out, ripped and torn to pieces. Who is going to build them back? Probably millions of dollars of aid will come right out of your national treasury, if and whenever the time comes the world decides to do something right. My point in saying that is, Whatever the world, political wise, has in mind, such as a United Nations or a New World Order, it will all play out as we get closer to the end of this Gentile era; because we can read the Bible and see a thing coming up in Revelation 13, that is not a New World Order. It is an old world order. It is an old system coming up in another century of time, just to have a short say so again. That is why it is referred to in the 17th chapter of Revelation, and the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. It will come out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. That ought to tell people not to look for a New World Order. It was a beast before, ruling the lives of people without any concern for their well being. Therefore when it comes back into power again, it will not be gentle like a lamb. I want to read you something from the 17th chapter of Revelation: that will let you see what so many politicians are referring to as a new world order. God was showing the apostle John this very thing so many have their high hopes anchored in, so notice what it says. (Revelation 17:8) “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” There, is your new world order. It is the same old beast that ruled Europe in the Dark Ages: the beast that received a deadly wound by the hands of the Reformers, but was healed; and is now ready to continue on a little short space of time. That is what all of this political maneuvering will eventually produce; and the pope of Rome will sit at the head of it all: just like he did throughout the Dark Ages. Therefore here in the endtime, that is why the shaking of all things must first be identified. When we look back to about 1989 when this began to take place, who would have thought, back in the middle of the 80’s, that the Communistic empire could crumble so fast, knowing that in the years since WW2 Russia had built every kind of weapon she could possible build? She did her very best trying to beat us to the moon. She stole our secrets, bought from spies and all such, getting what she needed to produce bombs and other instruments of warfare. She was determined she would bury the western world. Then what happened, as we got closer to time for God to start the shaking of all things? and for the removing of things that are shaken? All of the man made systems must be shaken and allowed to tumble, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain, and go on to complete fulfillment. Knowing what we know we can say, When it was time for that Russian, Communistic regime to fall, it did not take a war to do it. No. God somehow or other came down on the scene and put in the heart of a few politicians a certain outlook and way to go about it. Those men did not know they were fulfilling the word of God. What does it say in Revelation 17 concerning the ten horns? They have received no kingdom as yet. That is talking about the ten nations of western Europe, meaning of course that none of them have received a world empire: even though they fought for many years trying to gain one. However the Bible says they received power as kings one hour with the beast, meaning of course that allotted period of time. For God will put in their hearts to fulfill His word. No matter how they want to fuss about one currency and all this and that which is destined to take place, as we get closer to the time for that whole system to work and function just the way God’s word says it will: He just moves on the hearts of leaders, and puts in them certain ideas. When that happens everything will click and go together. Why? Because on the other hand He uses a shaking process. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken; and through that shaking process God will work His purpose. In other words, When the great plans of mortal mankind are shaken to pieces and they grab hold of whatever they can, trying to hold on, they have to use whatever is left; and that moves their thinking right into the way God has ordained it to be. Just look at the horrible picture over in Bosnia right now: I have to say, That has given us a good look as to what little good the United Nations is in this hour. It ought to present a picture to a lot of Christians that will let them know, Do not look for a New World Order. Keep your eyes on Rome and Western Europe. Right there, is the power that is going to start speaking one day soon. It will not be a new world order: it will be an old world order restored. The key to what is going on in world affairs is found in verse that we just read: “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come.” When God gets through shaking all nations in the fulfillment of this scripture man’s desires and plans will be changed. When the shaking has accomplished its purpose, the Jews will not only be back in all the land they are scripturally entitled to: they will also be in full possession of their temple mount area. That will bring time into the proper setting for the 70th week of Daniel to start; and for the temple to be built; and when construction begins on it, Isaiah 60, will fall right into place. Naturally we know it will take some kind of shaking among the Arab world very soon in order for Isaiah 60 to be fulfilled: because right now, there is no way any world leader involved in world affairs would dare say to any Moslem nation, How many of you are willing to contribute money to the Jewish nation for the rebuilding of their sacred temple? How many of those Arab states at this present time would be willing to contribute one thin dime? Not one! Not one right now. Why? They want to get rid of Israel instead of helping her build her temple. They want to get her out of that land. There are some Jewish political leaders in office right now that are willing to strike a compromise with the Arabs for the sake of peace; but we all know what the eventual outcome of any compromise will be: For God’s holy Bible lets us know the Jews will soon have to take more land: not give up land they already have. Somehow they are going to come into possession of their former boundaries that include their land on the Jordan side of the Jordan River. Look at your old Bible maps: you can see for yourselves what land they are soon going to come into possession of. You can say this, Not even leaders of our own nation (which is known as a Christian nation) realize the hour they are living in. Listen saints: There are many voices telling the Jews to give up their idea of reaching out farther and come to some kind of compromise for the sake of peace but I say, God has this whole thing planned precisely. When the time comes, just watch the necessary shaking take place. I cannot help but believe one of these days there is going to be a political, domestic, and military upheaval in the Middle East, and when you see it, things are going to start falling to pieces; and at the same time other things will start coming together: just the way prophecy has pictured it. It will not take God 15 or 20 years over a long period of time for Him to bring it about. In fact it is all going to come about in such a dramatic, miraculous way, people are going to be startled, really shaken by it. You may say, I cannot understand. It all looks impossible. Well, God is the worker of impossible things. When He brought Israel out of Egypt, He showed what He was capable of doing; and He has promised that in the last days He will do it again. God is just tolerating a lot of nonsense out of these Gentile political leaders while He is working, slowly, putting other things in place. He still has His eye on us. I have to say, He is wanting us to get the attention of His hand of guidance, and get ourselves lined out right. Then, as the people of the Gentile church begin to go forward in the right direction, and they are walking in unity, with a vision and understanding of why they are doing what they are doing, then watch what God begins to do in the Middle East. When you then see the hand of God working in the Middle East, you will know your day of redemption, and your departure from this life is getting close at hand. That will put a spark of enthusiasm and excitement in the heart of people. There will be a joy in your soul because you know beyond the shadow of a doubt, My Savior is coming very soon. There is not a devil in hell that can throw enough wrenches in the works to prevent it. The end result of the temple being rebuilt is that when the Millennium is set in motion, all nations will come to Zion once each year, to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts. When I said awhile ago that something has to break in the Middle East and develop a certain way in order to set Isaiah 60 in motion, these last two verses will help you understand why. As God looked down on that little nucleus of people 500 years before the first advent of Christ, He knew many of them standing there were thinking, I wish this house were larger. I wish it looked as beautiful as the one I saw when I was a little boy, or girl, growing up. God wanted those old timers to know, that even though they knew why the house was so small, He wanted them to know everything was all right. He reassured them. He said this, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” That is God’s way of saying, if I had wanted this house to have been larger, it would have been, you would have had the money to pay for the more expensive rebuilding. In other words He said, I accept its purpose. God knew that Jesus the Christ, their Messiah who was literally the ark of the covenant in human flesh, would never sit in that house. He was ordained to sit in the one that was prophesied about in these two verses. (8) “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. (9) The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.”

WHAT GOD WILL DO ON BEHALF OF THE GENTILE CHURCH

Let me now speak to us who are sitting here this morning. As I look at this assembly, a Gentile Church Assembly, and think of that last dream I had, I do not know to the fullest extent what all it involves yet; but I do know that from whatever time we are living in right now until the time it is fulfilled in its fullness, God, by His Spirit is going to move through this Gentile church world to bring a people into unity and put them together in the light of this truth we hold to be so precious. They are not going to be Methodists, they are not going to be Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Episcopalians, Unitarians or anything else manmade when He gets through with them: they will just be Christians. However, they could have been in any of those organizations at one time. It is just that, as God puts His true Church together, they are going to become Christians like they see in the Bible, in the book of Acts. As I say that, we have to realize this Gentile church is going to come back together by the workings of the Spirit of God. It looks like God has tolerated nonsense, confusion, and people have been allowed to run rampant doing anything they desire to do and get by with it; but God is not going to tolerate this nonsense very much longer. We are entering an interval of time now, when God is going to start correcting, eliminating and purifying until He has the kind of Church we read about in the book of Acts. We are going to get a brighter picture of ourselves, of each other, and of how we are supposed to walk and live for Him. As we do, it has to be understood that it is through an anointing of God. It will not be through some intellectual feat we can accomplish ourselves. If in former times God told that people, It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord, we certainly have no reason to believe a thing like we are talking about will be accomplished any other way in this hour, except by an anointing of the Spirit of God. How much Hebrew and Greek we know will have nothing at all to do with this last day work of God in our lives. Only God Himself can give us a detailed picture of the things that are absolutely essential in order for us to become one in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in every spiritual fiber of our total makeup. We will begin to see clearly, how we are to function and live in that respect. As we do, I am certain it will be as I saw it in the second phase of my dream: as people came together, coming with that little bottle of anointing oil, and finally, when the great assembly was all gathered and I saw Bro. William Branham standing before them, he began to speak on things in relationship to the coming of the Bridegroom. As he did, I could hear these words being spoken throughout that great gathering, Isn’t this wonderful? Oh this is glorious! The one thing I heard them saying above all else was, This is so simple. Whatever the thunders are going to bring out here in front of us, there is no reason for us to think it will be so far-fetched it will be like reaching for the moon. I have every reason to believe, that when the thunders are sounded to the people who are to make up the Bride of Christ, what they speak will be things that will have such a sweetness, and give such a natural capability of understanding that it will make everything look so simple for us. It will not be like it has been in prior times, like when we were in school trying to understand mathematics, or scientific formulas and all such as that. What those thunders speak to the bride of Christ are going to be things that will drop down in the heart’s of the people and will let them see something so beautiful, that no matter what our educative capabilities are, each one is going to say, This is glorious! This is wonderful! I never dreamed it would be so simple. Saints: I certainly do not want to miss it. Do you? I said to the people in Norway, “If you were to say to the Denominational church world today, I had a dream last night of William Branham. He came to me and said certain things: I know what their natural reaction would be: They would say, I don’t believe in that kind of stuff. That is spiritualism, they would say.” Well I admit there are many people involved in spiritualism in this hour of time; but the true people of God know the difference between that and what we are talking about. God has often used the image of a deceased person in a vision He would give someone; but that is not in the same category as the cases where people actually feel that they are communicating with the dead. I will remind you of something you have read in the 17th chapter of Matthew: Let us ask those skeptics this question, How come, that Jesus one day stood before a multitude of Jews after a great miracle had been done: when four thousand men plus women and children had been fed with seven little loaves of bread and a few little fish and said to them, “The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom?” Was His statement correct? Did some of those standing there that day see such a thing? I assure you they did: even though that was more than 1900 years ago and the literal fulfillment of that event is yet to be. Let me read you a few verses from that 17th chapter of Matthew. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him.(9) And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” It was a vision they saw; but God used it to fulfill the statement Jesus made; and also to speak to Jesus concerning His death which would be accomplished at Jerusalem. Did Peter, James and John actually see the Moses and Elijah of old standing there talking to Jesus? God gave them a vision in which they saw exactly that; and Luke even told what they were talking about: His death at Jerusalem. Would any true believer dare say that even though God used the image’s of those two old prophets to represent something in that instance, He would never do such a thing again? Do not try to limit God like that: He will not cooperate with your projections. He will use any means to convey to His true people what He wants them to receive: just as long as it does not contradict what He has spoken previously in His written word. Those three disciples saw two prophets, Moses and Elijah. Moses had been dead a long time. Elijah had been raptured; but they saw both these figures standing there talking to Jesus. The point is this, and I want all of you to listen carefully: That was not those prophets in literal bodily form. You say, Well Bro. Jackson, I always thought it was. Read your Bible. Go back to the 17th chapter of Matthew and read the whole thing. It plainly tells you in verse 9, that it was a vision. “See that you tell the VISION to no man.” Does that not tell you something? Sure it does. The point is this, The Spirit of God is everywhere. He can manifest any image He chooses to at any time that suits His purpose. Since God is a Spirit that does not have a physical form of His own to dwell in, but is capable of manifesting whatever form He may choose to contact mortal mankind through, we need to be very careful about careless remarks concerning things we are not familiar with. He certainly does not want us to grab hold of everything that is presented to us out here in the world; because the devil uses all sorts of things to deceive those who can be deceived. However when God presents something to us through a vindicated source, what we need to do is consider the content and just wait upon the Lord for His purpose to come to light. He never expects His true people to do anything radical; and certainly nothing that would go contrary to His word; but we do need to be sensitive to the leading of His Spirit and leave room for Him to do for us things that may be different than what He has done on our behalf in the past. For the past almost 2000 years, God has been living in the person of His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the glorified immortal one, positioned in heaven on the throne of His Father. Since Jesus was taken up 2000 years ago, He has never been back on earth in person since then. Yet that omnipresent Spirit of God can move upon a thousand people at the same time, all over this planet; and each one see Jesus standing right in front of them, even talking to them. That is because it is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that does this sort of thing. When He does, it is because He wants you to see that image of Jesus for a specific reason. It is not a necessary element of our salvation experience. We only need to see Him in the pages of God’s written word in order to lay hold on the benefits of Calvary. Therefore when you hear someone say, Jesus stood by my bedside and said to me so and so, just keep in mind the fact that the actual embodied, glorified, immortal Jesus the Christ, who is now High Priest, is not actually there. It is only the image being conveyed by the power of the Holy Ghost. That is why we have to realize God uses angelic beings to characterize this sort of thing. When the three disciples with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus, they did not see the literal Moses and Elijah of old. They saw the image of who they were. The image of who they were is to stand out vividly, for God is going to use that same anointing He used to speak to the Old Testament Jewish people, to speak to the Jewish people again in the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel. All of those Jews alive in the days of Jesus’ ministry on earth knew how God had worked with His people of old, and it was God’s way, through the Lord Jesus Christ, of telling those Jewish disciples, that before Jesus Himself will come in literal bodily form, (as we see Him in Revelation 19 sitting on a white horse, when that is literally Him) it will be preceded by the coming of these two prophets. Not the literal Moses and Elijah of old, but two other Jews with that same anointing those men in the Old Testament were moved by. That anointing brought about the specific results God sent it forth for in the past; and it will do so each time it is sent forth. Bro. William Branham‘s ministry was under the anointing the Elijah of old carried. It has always been a God identifying anointing; and you will certainly have to agree that much of Bro. William Branham‘s ministry was that of identifying the ONE true and living which is Spirit, and in repudiating the idea that God is three persons. This three person God is a pagan concoction that has no place in the lives of end time Christians. Those two anointings of Moses and Elijah will absolutely forerun the coming of Christ for His Millennial reign. We can say this then, That there will definitely be two prophets, Moses and Elijah, in their type fulfillment which was characterized in Haggai and Zechariah when the second temple was being built, on the scene in Israel when the Millennial Temple is being built. That is the order of God; so I will now return to the thought I was dealing with. It is absolutely evident, that in the plan of God this Gentile world is definitely being cut off. I have to believe the door of revelation as to how a man and woman gets into the church of the living God is ready to be closed any moment. In the mind of God Gentiles have had their chance. As I am made aware of how God deals with people down here, it lets me know He does not start ten years before the closing of the door, to do the things He is doing. He will start that and by the time that door is closed you can rest assured there is nobody else going to be interested in getting into what you and I believe and understand. Therefore if God could show three disciples the images of two prophets that was to forerun the coming of Christ, and could show them by the Spirit in that fashion, then I have to say He could use the image of William Branham in this day and hour when his name has become such a sour taste in the mouth of a lot of religious people. No wonder religious leaders want to pounce on it: Look what a following he has. They do not see people like you and me: they see all this other crazy stuff running to and fro claiming to be in the message of William Branham. If there is something in you and me that God wants this religious world to see: that we are a people that can say Yes Sir, I know who this man was, I sat under his teaching, I have read his sermons, I have a picture in my heart because of it, then He is going to open up the way for such a thing to come about. We have to say, That man was definitely sent to get us out of all this religious mess of confusion that God Had already spewed out of His mouth. God is going to wash us, scrub us down, and pull us through the washing machine of His word until He gets all of that denominational, antichrist junk out of us. Therefore do not think for one minute that we are going to sit here fussing and stewing and chewing gum like a bunch of Methodists, Baptists or any of the others, when He gets through with us. We are going to be thankful to God for what we believe; and do whatever it takes to uphold it. We are going to come to church because we are thankful for truth; and thankful for the privilege of being able to come. If God can speak to certain men by letting them see the image’s of two prophets of old, to show and forecast something in the future for the Jewish people, then what is wrong with Him using the image of a Gentile prophet who was definitely sent to this Gentile age and was rejected by most, because they claimed he was head of a cult: to help get our thinking pointed in the right direction? There are still some in the midst of the people God is working with: that need to receive a revelation that this man truly was sent from God to this generation as the messenger to this age. No one is going out of here in the rapture while still having questions in their mind about the office and calling of Bro. William Branham. You cannot reject the one God sends and still retain favor with God. Every individual of the bride of Christ will have in their knowledge a revelation of who he was, why he was sent, and the truth he brought to this age. The devil will not be able to push off a lot of nonsense on them because they will know the truth. Even though there are those who would like to eradicate his name from the face of the earth, there is going to be an element of people in the end time that will walk right out of here with a knowledge and revelation in their heart’s, that if it had not been for that man, we would not be where we are today. That makes Revelation 10:7 line right up: “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God (meaning the Church, the body of Christ that is brought out of Babylon) should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” It all started with the fact that his message is the thing that set it in motion. God is going to finish it right here. That is why I believe, when I saw Bro. William Branham standing before the audience in my dream, it is not that we are to think he is coming back from the dead: but that somehow the anointing of God, using the man’s image to convey something to, when it is made known, the little Bride of Christ is going to know something that is going to help her get out of this world. Hallelujah!

THE BUILDING OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE

I have something about the building of the temple. I was sent two tapes which came direct from Jerusalem. I have not listened to them yet; but I want to read a paragraph from what I am holding. The man’s name is Gershon Solomon. He fought in the war of 58 and was run over by a Syrian tank. They were about to shoot him when all of a sudden the Syrian troops began to run everywhere. The same Syrian troops told him later that when they were about to shoot him, all of a sudden there were angels all about him and they could not shoot him. I am looking at that paragraph right here. He is the descendant of this old rabbi who back in 1811 set about the beginning process of the rebirth of Israel. Now, at this time, here is what this man is doing. He is definitely trying to educate an element of the Jewish society, and has created a movement; so here is what he says. “To publicly proclaim the message of the temple mount and land of Israel movement in newspapers, wires, posters, newsletters, radio and television, to demonstrate publicly, to raise awareness of Israel to the issue of the third temple, the temple mount, and the land of Israel. To buy a house in the old city, Biblical Jerusalem, (that is the old walled part) near the temple mount, to establish a spiritual and educational center to be used by everyone. The four ton cornerstone will be stored and exhibited on this site. This first stone of the third temple will soon be laid. To organize consciousness for the study of the issues dealing with the temple mount and the third temple.” Reading that, it sounds like they are ready to lay the corner stone; but that is not what he is saying. They are just going to display the stone in this building they were wanting to purchase. That is only to put it on display, because he feels the time is close at hand when they will have the temple mount back in their possession and the cornerstone which will be on display for people to look at in the meantime, is the first stone that will be laid when the time does come. That should be enough to cause Gentile Christians to realize where we are in time. In other words, when you begin to get things like this out into society, you begin to see that if in the heart of Jewish people there is this fervent feeling that they know they are living just before the coming of the Messiah, then we as Gentile people ought to begin to realize God has given us enough in His word to awaken us and make us aware that we must be getting close to the coming of Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom: The ONE who is coming for us as a thief in the night, to take us to glory.

REVIEW OF SOME POINTS ALREADY MADE

I want to go back to Haggai and reread two verses as we continue to look for clues concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to take us out of here. What kind of clue are we looking for? Things in the scriptures that will help us better understand how close we are getting to the coming of Jesus Christ. We will either do that or we will just build a fantasy in our mind that has no substantial basis of truth by which we can build our hopes upon. I prefer to have my anticipations built upon something vindicated by the holy scriptures. Whatever we believe that is going to be of any benefit to our spiritual stature has to have some scriptural basis. Somewhere there are clues in the Bible pointing to everything God has determined to do. Many times the Bible is read and looked upon from the standpoint, Yes it is the sacred word of God; and it is the divine truth and infallible; but there is no interest in learning the formula for understanding its contents. Without that we are just really reading words that have very little reality. That is what is wrong with the religious world today. When I say that, we want to look for a clue, something that will point and help you and me to look at our present hour of time. Are we really getting close to the coming of Jesus? Is there Bible facts that establish that? Can we really base it on something in the Bible, or are we just groping for something hanging on a thread? We have been looking at the scriptures in Haggai 2, dealing with the word of the Lord spoken through Haggai concerning the people that had returned from captivity with a commission to rebuild the house of God at Jerusalem, and concerning the way God Himself looked upon them and their efforts. We are using this chart with various scriptures and dates that will help you grasp the actual setting better than just listening to me read and speak of them. To that element of people, clearing that pile of rubbish from the temple mound and preparing the spot so they could start building, was a task that seemed so great when they stood looking at that mountain of stone and rubbish. They needed a word from the Lord to encourage them; and God spoke that through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. Looking at that mountain of stone and rubbish, their task looked almost impossible to them. All of that rubbish had been lying there for 70 long years, and probably had a lot of brush growing up through all of it, so where would they begin their work of clearing away all of that and actually start putting together something they felt would constitute the beginning of a new spiritual relationship between them and their God? We see that more clearly as we read Ezra or Nehemiah; but here in Haggai and Zechariah, we find two men we do not know much about: even though they prophesied not only to that element of people, but also pointed to the hour you and I live in. They both said specific things that is important for you and I to grasp and actually see where they fit into the overall picture. We find clues in all of these prophesies: but for now I want to move on to our present hour of time before we look at these others. We have a line on our little chart representing the time when we had a Gentile prophet messenger in our midst: the Malachi 4:5-6 prophet with the Elijah anointing. Beyond that we have something Zechariah prophesied about in the 4th chapter of his prophecy: which is the two olive trees of Revelation 11:3 that shall come on the scene in Israel in the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week to reveal the Messial to spiritual Israel and demonstrate the power of God as did Moses and Elijah of old. They will fulfill Zechariah 4:3, and also 4:14 which says, “Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Therefore if we are looking at ourselves as a Gentile Bride people, then we have to begin to understand that we are really getting close to the coming of Christ in the rapture. You either believe that, or you are looking at the whole thing as some far flung event to take place that we know nothing at all about. Do we know when He is coming? Not the day and hour, but we do know we are in the season. We absolutely have Biblical facts to show He is not coming to His bride as a thief in the night. As far as the make-believing church world is concerned He is coming as a thief in the night; but to the true believers it will not be as a thief in the night.

LOOKING TO THE END TIME TRUE TO LIFE REALITY

We are children of the day, we are not the children of the night, meaning spiritually asleep. I have said this many times, It is a good thing you and I do not know the day and hour for the coming of the Lord: We would wind up in a mess. As long as we remain in this mortal flesh, our flesh has a tendency to become very excited when we know certain things are about to happen. Even some of you sitting here right now, if you planned to start on a trip to California tomorrow morning, you probably will have already spent half of the week getting things packs and you would go home tonight and stay awake all night planning in your mind every little detail. The old adrenalin really starts to flow at a time like that. You get so excited you can hardly wait for daylight to come: so you can get the old car going, heading for California. Just think about it saints: if a trip like that will create such a reaction in your fleshly makeup what do you think it would do to a Christian if he was to know the day or hour the Lord is coming for him? If I knew the Lord was coming Tuesday morning at exactly 10 o’clock, do you think I would go to work Monday and Tuesday? I have my doubts that I would even go to bed tomorrow night: because I would be so excited I would stay up the rest of the night talking about it. That is the natural human reaction. According to the words of Jesus, when He does come for those people that are His, somewhere in the earth it is going to be dark: while in other parts of the world it will be daytime. Two will be lying in bed, sound asleep. One is ready, the other is not. Two are grinding at the mill, (That speaks of the industry of our day. Today, one would be standing there doing all the things the industrial systems have people doing, whether it is tightening bolts, putting electrical wires in a car, or whatever, you do not know what day or hour He is coming, but you are standing there putting everything together as you would any other day and all of a sudden you are gone.) The one next to you didn’t go. Two will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. Then two shall be in the field working. There is the agriculture picture. That goes to show, if you really knew the day and hour He is coming, me being a farmer, do you think I would plow corn? Do you think I would cut hay? I would say, Let the next guy do that. With that thought in mind, we have to realize that somewhere as Jesus said certain things, we can know within a season something that is so close it makes you live each day constantly aware He can come any moment for you and me, and you do not have to know the day nor hour, but you can know there is a season you are entering into, and you begin to get ready for the event and allow the Lord to have His way in your life. Now if we are truly looking for a rapture to take place, I want to show you something. Let us just say I am going to put this line right here. (on the chart) That represents 1963 when God used Bro. William Branham, and a revelation of some seals was brought forth. Actually if we will look at his teachings of other things through the years leading up to 1963, by the time 1963 had come and the revelation of those seals had dropped down and been put in the structure of his teachings, there lay together collectively, a voice, through which God has said something to this age of Laodicea: to a people who have understanding of those things, and through them have been drawn out of the systems of religion. We can say for sure, that since 1963 there has been a voice of the seventh angel messenger here in the earth, echoing back and forth from one end of this earth to the other, and there is now all over this earth, a people whose lives have been affected by that voice. At the same time we realize we are getting closer to something else that must take place. That puts us right at this point, (pointing to chart right in front of the seventieth week of Daniel designation) and this represents that 70th week of Daniel that is to be set in motion here by the signing of a covenant of peace which will have the antichrist man watching over it. We are looking basically at the nation of Israel first, because that is the pendulum around which time evolves. Naturally we do not know when God’s clock will start ticking off that week of years; but we can say for sure, It is getting close. It has to come in this generation. God cannot allow time to pass out of the generation that saw the nation of Israel restored. That would mess up the scriptures. Jesus said this generation would not pass away until all things this side of the Millennium are fulfilled. That is what He meant by what He said. That is why I want us to go back to the Bible and begin to see if there are scriptural things now in place that do definitely let us know we could be getting very close to that hour of time. I want to go back and read verses 6 and 7 of the 2nd chapter of Haggai again: to base another thought on that will bring us right to this present hour of time. “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, (That is the presence of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ) saith the Lord of hosts.” Paul used that in Hebrews 12:26-27: where he referred to the ministry of Jesus, how it had its first advent application. After saying, I will fill this house with glory, the Spirit of God went right to something that was troubling those people living in that hour. I want us to take another look at it, because right there, is a clue. You say, Bro. Jackson, how is that a clue? Just listen how God responded to their thoughts. (2:8) “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” Those people in that hour did not have much silver and gold to build the little temple they were so concerned about and it troubled them. God knew the temple they were building was not going to be the one the Messiah would sit in during the Millennium: yet it was going to serve the purpose for the immediate time at hand, the time leading to the first advent of Christ. But then this prophecy is launched and it is pointing right to the hour we are living in. If it is pointing to our time, and we being Gentiles we have to ask, How am I to look at it? For too long now many people have taken this nonchalant attitude that the temple does not have to be built in order for Jesus to come. As far as I am concerned you just as well leave here and try to sow a lettuce bed on the moon as to think He would come back to earth before His house is built. Gentiles have always been guilty of that kind of attitude. The entire Bible proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that when this week is starting, somehow or other the Jews will have already obtained not only possession of the temple mount, but they will be in the process of rebuilding the temple. There is nothing in the Bible giving you the picture that Jesus will be standing over on the Mt. of Olives with His arms crossed: waiting while the construction crews on Mt. Zion build a temple for Him to rule from. That is foolish. That is playing with ideas, rather than with scriptural clues. I am not going to project what; but prior to the time for the last week of Daniel to go into fulfillment, something will take place causing Israel to take possession of the temple mount; and when they do it will be under such circumstances that the Mosque of Omar will no longer be standing there as a sacred thing for the Islamic world to be looking to. I am going to say some things; and I realize we are Gentiles; but we have a responsibility laid upon us: to look at the Bible. Keep this in mind, Every prophecy in the Old Testament written concerning how and what was to take place in the first advent of Christ, was written in such a way no rabbi, no doctor of divinity could take any of them, lift them out of there, write them on paper, drop them in a basket, shake it up, then reach in and pull out one and say, That can be fulfilled right now. Even though they are all there in the same book, in the mind of God, He has a precise order for their fulfillment, a time in which each prophecy drops into the present day affairs of mankind in perfect order. Only in its ordained time does God set in motion events and circumstances leading up to the fulfillment of these individual prophecies. There is an order and sequence to the fulfillment of prophecies of the scriptures. Everything comes out exactly right. That is why from the very first prophecy concerning the Messiah, you will find no place where it says at what time He will appear. It plainly tells you where He would be born, out of what tribe He was to come, and what would happen to Him, but not when He would come upon the scene. When the time came, He was born. He fulfilled what He was ordained to fulfill and ascended into glory where He has been ever since; and when we come to the book of Acts, what do we find Peter preaching? In his second sermon he plainly states that all those scriptures (I will use the word relative, to the things that have already been fulfilled) concerning Christ, how He must be crucified and buried and rise again, God hath fulfilled. That meant they were all in the past. God fulfilled them in precise order. There is not one laying there that was not touched, whether they are minor or major, they all fit in. Therefore with that much established, let us try to look at our present hour. We have Gentile doctors divinity specializing in prophecy: out here in the charismatic circles today. They will just throw out a hypothetical picture before the people who listen to them. We have two schools of thought from their realm. We have one bunch out there that are saying the rapture is not going to be prior to the tribulation. They see the church going through the great tribulation: simply because they do not have a revelation of Revelation 7:9-17 (which you can read later). On the other hand you have those who picture the great, glorious rapture of the Gentile Bride; but they do not have the rest of it as it has to be. They somehow or other have the thought that Jesus can come for His Bride at just any moment of time: not even taking into consideration those prophecies that still have to be fulfilled first. As I have said many times, He can come for me tonight. He may come for you tonight; but there is a divine order and sequence involved concerning the time when He comes for His church. He will not come one minute early or one minute late. He is going to be right on time according to the foreordained order the Father purposed before the foundation of the world. What did the apostle Paul say as he wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians? He said to the brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord and our gathering together unto Him, that that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. The end of that was that the man of sin must be revealed to the world first. That means somewhere in the very near future this world’s antichrist must begin to be introduced into the political affairs of human government. Many people today have very high hopes concerning this new world order that is being talked about; but people who know their Bible cannot get excited about it except for the fact that it brings Gentile time very close to the hour for the bride’s departure. We know what the beast was in the Dark Ages. We know what it did in the Dark Ages. We also know the system of it was wounded with what looked like a deadly wound; and it was the Reformation that inflicted the wound; but the head was healed and the beast stands ready to continue on for a short period of time. Whether they know it or not, that is what so many people are building their hopes for the future on; but I want you to know, My hopes for the future are built upon nothing but the word of God; and I am longing for 1st Thessalonians 4:15-17 to be fulfilled. Let us read it. “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. 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: 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.” If you want to get excited about something, do as the apostle Paul admonished those saints at Thessalonica: (18) “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” That would be the words we just read. No matter how bad, or how good things may look, this is what the true people of God are looking forward to: the time when we can get out of here. Therefore as Gentile Christians living here in the endtime and knowing that we are among the generation that will literally be the living element of people that will see the rest of these prophecies of the scriptures fulfilled, we need to be able to recognize where we are in time and what is about to take place as we so rapidly approach the ending of Gentile time. Paul plainly teaches in the Thessalonian letter, that the world’s great hopes for peace are anchored in a man whose coming is after the working of Satan. When the pope stood in Denver Colorado and said all the things he did as he made all of those speeches, just think of the thousands of people that stood listening to him and of all the tears of joy that were shed. I want you to realize something, That was one of many appearances, if you look at it right, that fit the term: “whose coming, (whose public introduction) is after the workings of Satan, with all power, (Satanic power, through politics, through religion, through economics) and signs, and lying wonders.” Within the Catholic realm, what are we hearing now? The virgin Mary is popping up on every street corner. Even the pope has seen her. You have Protestant, Gentiles today believing every bit of that. You have political leaders looking at it and it causes them to look at the pope and say that he is the one to look to. I cannot remember the particular title they give him; but the great mass out there look at him like he is the only real spiritual man on the face of the earth. But remember saints, “Whose coming is after the workings of Satan.” There is not another world leader on this planet that has that much influence in the present day affairs of human government. Let that pope stand where the world sees him, and they absolutely sit there with awe. But remember, “Whose coming is after the workings of Satan, with all power, (It is Satanic power.) and signs and lying wonders.” Lying wonders is none other than big flowery speeches, with big promises of love and peace that paint such a beautiful picture in the eyes and minds of gullible people; but in reality it is none other than lies of the devil. That is the way we have to look at what is going on out there. God has given us the privilege to know the truth about what is going on: so we would not be deceived by all of that. Through that man, through his office and the way he talks, the devil is pulling the wool over people’s eyes around the world today. As we look at that and realize what is taking place we still do not know how close we are to the seventieth week of Daniel being ushered in: we just have to keep our eyes open and be ready. We need to keep looking toward Israel; and at how things develop in the Middle East. At any rate the shaking now is on. In that shaking God is rearranging, shuffling certain world leaders, certain political programs and things of that sort; and eventually it will even start disturbing the economics of the world. That is what will cause Europe to eventually stop their arguing about one world currency and just come right out with it: because God will pressure them to do so. He is able to put it in the heart’s of politicians to do what it takes to fulfill His purpose. That is why Isaiah 60 stands out like it does: we know the great Creator is able to bring it all to pass. When the Lord told those Jews in the days of Haggai and Zerubbabel, The silver is mind, and the gold is mine, What do you think His purpose was for saying that? Sure, those people building the second temple heard those words; but those words were not applicable to those people: for them to believe that particular house they just got through dedicating was going to be rededicated or refurbished and re-beautified. These verses are for the hour you and I live in. Therefore let us not look at them with our eyes closed and think we are going to be ready to be raptured out of here one of these days. Very soon now all of these things will begin to click, click, click, and set in motion the very things we have been talking about. I am convinced, that if we get all these scriptures lined up properly, we are going to see that the Gentile Bride, in whatever time she has left to be here before the week of Daniel starts, is going to be dealt with by her heavenly Father and lifted up to such a spiritual plateau she will know exactly how to walk with Him while she waits for the appearing of the Bridegroom to take her away from here. At the same time we are going to see things really begin to develop with Israel getting the stage set for this week to be introduced. When you read Revelation, chapter 11: how John was given a reed, a measuring instrument, what was he told to do? Go measure the altar and the temple and them that worship therein, but the court without, leave out, for it and the holy city are given to the Gentiles to be trodden under foot for forty and two months. That lets us know that the two prophets which were typed in Zechariah’s prophecy are yet to appear; and the ministry of both these men will literally be fulfilled over in Revelation 11. Those two prophets of that hour will be prophesy will be prophesying to the nation of Israel while the temple is being built. The Jews will have the altar already in service and sacrifice will be offered upon it according to the Law. Everything in the law will be set in motion concerning how God will bring about the fulfillment of all those prophecies in Leviticus that are related to the second advent of Christ. Therefore let us ask ourselves, Since God said, (Haggai 2:8) “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts,” Where is it? We all know it is generally reported, that the Gentile world is bankrupt. We are living in an inflationary era of time. Never have the economies of the nations been so inflated as they are right now. There seems to be no way there can be a regrouping, or restructuring of anything. Therefore right now, as you look at the world, if God was to say to the Jewish nation today, Start building your temple: I ask you a simple question, Where would they go, to get the necessary means to do so? Oh Bro. Jackson, there are Jews on Wall Street with more than enough. I know all about the Jews on Wall Street; but no prophecy of the scriptures mentions anything about the Jews on Wall Street. Prophecy shows it coming from other sources. Well if it is coming from other sources, how is that going to be possible, when we can see there are conditions in the world that would not even permit it to be so as they exist right now? That is why there is a shaking going on: God is in the process of changing that outlook. As we get closer to the time for that temple to be built and the Gentile Church really begins to be dealt with by God to lift her up, we are going to see conditions in the world about us suddenly begin to develop some conditions that will result in a completely different picture than what we see right now; and in some instances it will take place in one day of time.

ISAIAH’S PROPHECY OF THE END TIME

Let us look at Isaiah 60 for a few verses. Just think how long this prophecy has been lying there: right on through the centuries; and many times, or most of the time people have read it with such a nonchalant attitude thinking, Well the church will be gone when that takes place: so we do not have to worry about that. Well saints, I believe that if we will look at it in the true light of the revelation God has given us in this age, we will see it altogether different than that. This prophecy in Isaiah 60 is a prophecy that portrays what God is going to do and how He is going to work exclusively with the Jewish people in their nation in the building of their temple, and in the way the rest of the world will look at the city of Jerusalem and at what is going on there: especially in the old walled part of it. Keep in mind, the old walled city part right now is still inhabited by 3/4 Arabs. Much of that old walled city part is in a very desolate and run down condition. That renders the old city almost unprepared for the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy that is related to making it ready for the Jewish Messiah. When you see Ezekiel’s description of Jerusalem for that hour, you see a magnificently beautiful city spread out across the horizon of Mt. Zion; so let us look at this prophecy and see what happens. I am 69 years old. I do not know when the Lord is coming for me. As I said in Norway, that is the least of my worries. There are people sitting in assemblies around the world today: that are going to be alive when the rapture takes place. There are people here in this very congregation that will see this prophecy fulfilled before their very eyes, whether I am one of them or not. The unbelieving Gentile world around you will become startled when things start falling into place; but before it is all over they will recognize the hand of God is working on behalf of the nation of Israel. Not to bless the unbelieving, rebellious element: but to fulfill all of what was promised to Abraham and his seed. Yet today all that we have talked about looks virtually impossible in the light of present developments. With God nothing is impossible. Everything is going to fall exactly in place. When it does, the little Gentile Church is going to move forward with God so eagerly and so enthusiastically: because she will know her time of departure is rapidly approaching. As God begins to lift the Jewish nation up, and all those things are fulfilled there, the Gentile Bride is being dealt with in her last moments of time: getting her ready to meet the Lord. There are yet some things to be revealed to her through the thunders of Revelation 10. Let us now take a look at Isaiah’s prophecy and look at it in a simple way. It is not supposed to be complicated. It starts out, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” That is talking about Zion, Israel, for the last days after it has been reconstructed as a state and the people are there. “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, (That does not mean the sun will stop shining, it just means God’s spiritual grace is going to stop shining on this Gentile world. You will have to agree with me: that it looks like it has already happened. As you explore our cities and society, especially in America, it absolutely looks like there is a dark cloud hanging between this nation and the divine glory of God that prohibits the light of reality to even shine and reflect on our miserable society. No wonder the perverts act like they do. Darkness covers the earth.) and gross darkness the people: (You can sure see that darkness covering America today.) but the Lord shall arise upon thee, (He is talking about Israel.) and His glory shall be seen upon thee.” You are not in the Millennium yet. You are in an interval of time that sets the city and the temple and everything in proper perspective for the week of Daniel. (3) “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” As God begins to lift up Jerusalem and Mt. Zion for that particular hour of time, for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of it, getting it ready for the Messiah that is to rule from there in the Millennium that verse will stand out. (4) “Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (5) Then thou shalt see, and flow together, (He is talking about the society of Jews.) and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” He is not talking about spiritual conversion here in this verse. He is talking about material substances that God is going to begin to lay His hand on, we will say of certain wealth, money and material things; because He is going to use it for the restructuring and rebuilding of Jerusalem and the hastening of the rebirth of Mt. Zion. As I talk and say this, if you have never been in the old city, if you have never seen the old Jerusalem city, then you have to realize that according to the Bible, that old city is not going to be populated by 3/4 Arabs when that time comes. All you have to do is go to the 49th chapter and you will see that. It is true Israel has much land today, but make no mistake about it: there is more land she has to take. She will eventually take the land beyond the Jordan River that she formerly possessed when the land was divided among the twelve tribes. In other words, she is literally going to take all the land that is now called Jordan proper. There never was in ancient times a nation called Jordan. It was called the land of the Edomites, the land of the Moabites and the land of the Amonites. All the rest beyond Jordan belonged to certain tribes of Israel that had taken possession of it. That is why we can say they are going to get that land back. They will get that land back, and that is going to coincide with their opportunity to start building the temple. Having said that, let us continue on here in Isaiah. (6) “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, (where are they coming from?) the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; (Look on the old Biblical maps, that will point you right down into the region of Saudi Arabia. Let any one ask the question today, Who, in Saudi Arabia today, is ready to contribute such a thing to the Jewish nation? Nobody. Why? Because it is all under that spell of Islam. Actuality this whole Mideast problem is the fact you have millions of Arabs or Islamic people all under that religion and they are uniting and combining their power, and their belief that somehow or other they have to expel, even destroy every evidence of this Jewish state. They fear, that if they do not do something to change their prophetic outlook those Jews will always give them trouble. Well we do know prophecy is going to be fulfilled the way the Jews see it: Not the way the Arabs see it. Now notice how it talks about the camels, the dromedaries) all they from Sheba shall come: (That is also from Saudi Arabia) they shall bring gold and incense; (We all know Saudi Arabia is one of the wealthiest oil producing nations in the Middle East. You will have to agree with that.) and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.” Ask Saudi Arabia today, to come to Mt. Zion and glorify God as the Jews do. They will laugh in your face. Am I telling the truth? You know I am. “(7) All the flocks of Kedar (This was one of the sons of Abraham by Keturah, the woman he married after Sarah’s death. Where is he? He is off over in the region which we call Jordan today.) shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth (That is another of his sons from that same region.) shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, (Do not tell me He is talking about the Millennium, He is not. He is talking about a time right here at the very beginning of that week.) and I will glorify the house of my glory.” Saints: when you read these verses you should begin to realize that if this temple is to be built, (as we read in various other scriptures) please do not think you just take this prophecy and place it over here somewhere in the Millennium. That is not the vision the Jews have today. The Jews’ vision today, is when and if they do start building this house, they are building it for their Messiah. It is going to go together just exactly the way they expect their Messiah to see it when He does come and His feet touch the Mt. of Olives. As you read those verses, please remember that the Arabs, under that Islamic spell, believe that through Ishmael, Abraham’s promise is going to be fulfilled: not through Isaac. That is where the conflict lies. The Arab’s are locked up under the revelation of Islam; but the Jews are going back there with a belief in their heart, that they are going there to get ready for the fulfillment of those scriptures pertaining to the coming of their Messiah. Therefore we have to realize, No matter what politicians in the world believe, and no matter what the Arabs believe, there will be a temple built on the temple mound where the Mosque of Omar stands today. That means that wherever we are in time, between now and the time for that last week to start, the shaking of all things is going to suddenly and literally create conditions in the Middle East that will without a doubt bring about a war between Israel and some of those Arab states. As it says in Numbers 24, when Balaam had to prophesy, and said how Israel would do valiantly in that day, when she will possess the land of Moab and so forth, just remember this, The same God is still in control of all of this. In front of you and me, before that week of Daniel starts, we are going to see something take place in the Middle East that is going to cause people to say, “My, what a miracle! What a phenomena! I never would have thought such a thing was possible: That had to be a work of God.” Even though much of this looks impossible in the light of present day developments, just think back how we looked at Russia five years ago. After 70 long years of them putting that empire together, in less than three years that thing is a total shambles. God can do more in three weeks, three months, and three years, than man and an empire can do in a hundred years. When we begin to realize that this prophecy in Haggai concerning the shaking of all things is in the earth today, then we ought not be surprised when other prophecies begin to be fulfilled. This shaking of all things is no surprise to me. What makes you say that Bro. Jackson? Get my tract and read it: I had the dream of it. Oh, you had the dream about the shaking of all things? I sure did. It is back there on the rack with the Contenders: you can have it if you want it. When Jim Bakker was having his problems, and when Oral Roberts was money hunting, that is when I had this dream. Not too long after that Jimmy Swaggart had his problems brought out into the light. Then bingo, down comes the Russian Empire, falling to pieces. The shaking of all things is absolutely God’s way of reaching down into the affairs of men and shuffling, shaking, removing, taking things out of the way that are standing in the way of the fulfillment of His plan and purpose. Therefore be assured that in the realm of religion there will be more shakings in many places. In the political, military, economic affairs of the world there will be much more shaking in many more places. At the same time God is removing things that stand in the way of what He intends to accomplish, He is moving other things into place. I say we have a clue here in the things we have been looking at: because we recognize the shaking that is taking place; and this shaking will continue on until finally there is a temple built in Israel. Then time will put Israel in the week of Daniel and the church in glory. Between now and then though, we are going to see Israel do some outstanding and marvelous things militarily, in the Middle East: that will no doubt make the Gulf War look very small in respects to the type of miracles God will perform for them in their achievements; and the hour will be when you will see that Islamic religion that has those Arab states all locked up fail to do what it has been doing: oppress Israel. You are going to live to see the hour when those Arab states are going to say, Now we support Israel. You may say, I don’t believe that! Well I say, Stick around. Oh but it looks impossible. I know it looks impossible; but there is another prophecy that feeds into that. When you go to Zephaniah 2, where it tells how Israel in the last days, will possess the land of the Philistines, what do you think was achieved in the six day war when they took the Gaza Strip? The Gaza Strip is none other than the area of the old Philistines. The ancient cities of the Philistines, the ruins, are still there today. That accounts for much of the squabble over there right now. Each is saying to Israel, give up the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Arabs in the land of Israel say, Give up the Gaza Strip. But keep in mind that Zephaniah 2 says they will possess them of the sea coast. Then the prophecy goes on, in return they also possess the land of the Moabites and the Edomites and the Amonites, all in that same scope of prophecy. God says in the continuation of that prophecy, I will destroy, or I will vanquish all the gods of the earth in that day. Some of these things seem so small and insignificant when you read them, they do not appear to be anything very important. A lot of people will read that and say, Oh Bro. Jackson, God will do this over here, and God will do this over here. They will all be dead by the time that time comes. When his wrath is poured out, He is pouring it out to get rid of sinful and wicked men. There is no god going to stand in His way. Right now there is a religion in the Middle East that is standing in His way. If God is going to get camels, if God is going to get goats, and if He is going to get sheep and gold and incense out of that Arabian, Islamic country, you can rest assured He is going to do something first to change their attitude. Do not worry though: He knows how to do it. In 1968 when we went to Israel, on the plane between New York and Israel, we had the privilege of talking to a Jewish general. He was the commander of one of the armored divisions of the Israeli army that went through the Sinai and ran the Egyptians back across the Red Sea. He said, After the war was over we realized there were many miracles that occurred on the field of battle. At the same time he was also the president of a bank in the city of Safad. He said some time after the war was over, one morning a Syrian business man from Damascus walked into the bank. These were his words, “Gentlemen, I am a Syrian, but I know that your God is working on your side. The war has proved to me that He is with your people. Because of that I want to deposit so much money, (and it was an enormous amount of money). I want to deposit it in your bank because I want to put it where I feel God can use it for His glory.” Now that is just one incident. If God can speak to a wealthy man all because of the outcome of one war, (in which his own nation was licked) that would make him put his wealth in a Jewish bank, what do you think it will be like when God causes Israel to really do valiantly on the field of battle? When the week of Daniel starts, Israel’s wars are over. You will read no place where Israel is fighting wars in the week of Daniel. It is the opposite. Her wars, whatever she is to fight, is to be between now and the time that week starts. That is why I say these prophecies are clues, indicators that can help you and me look at time, and how we are to relate ourself to time. If we are getting close to the time this is to be, then this lets me know we are getting close and God is going to do something for you and me, the Gentile church. After almost thirty years since Bro. William Branham‘s death, only the Lord knows how confused the picture has become and the shame that has followed. Really the spiritual death that has followed. Few people can really see a positive picture of how to see themselves in relationship to time and the coming of the Lord. I told one group of people which were trying to say, but Bro. William Branham said this, the prophet said this: He said nothing about a six day war. He said nothing about a 1973 war. He said nothing about a 1982 war. If the western leaders had kept their nose out of that war in 1982, Israel would not be having the problems on the Lebanese border today: she would have put that whole Palestinian problem to rest. But no, it goes to show every time our leaders stick their nose into international affairs, especially in the Middle East, it always fails to produce anything that is positive. It only leads to further chaos and anarchy, with more human suffering. Therefore I have to say, Stick around, we are going to see something unfold before our eyes and we are going to see those things written in this book start clicking just like a stop watch: both for the Gentile church and things in respects to Israel.

ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECY OF A CANDLESTICK

Let us go to Zechariah, chapter 4. Zechariah was a contemporary prophet along with Haggai, in the same period of time. Actually Haggai prophesied over a longer period and his prophecy reached out and pulled in greater pictures of things to take place in the last days; but here in this 4th chapter we can see a picture of something. Zechariah is looking and is asked a question by this angel, so notice, (Zec 4:1-2)”And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, And behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof.” Think about that for a minute. Zechariah is telling the angel, I see a candlestick. Actually he was looking at the Jewish Menorah, the seven golden candlesticks that stood before the temple. That is what he was looking at. However there was a phenomena, something mysterious about it. In the 3rd verse he wrote this, “And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” The bowl is in the center. This is where the oil is poured. Little pipes running from this center bowl out through the arm of each candelabra that holds the candle which gives the light. There are seven pipes through these arms that allow the oil to flow, one to each one of these candelabra; but it all comes from this central bowl. What Zechariah saw was two olive trees: one placed on each side of this bowl. (4) “So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?” I am not going to read every verse; but you can notice there when Zechariah asked the angel that question, What are these? the angel really just communicated a completely opposite thought back to him. Here is where he prophesied to Zerubabel, who was the governor at that time, a type of the Holy Spirit in our day, how it was not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. He was prophesying concerning all the things that had to be removed and cleaned away. If you and I could have seen that great mountain of stone rubbish laying there, which was the ruins of the old temple, and those stones were huge. They did not have the instruments to remove them like we do today. Those people, I can hear them say, Well I am not going to do it all by myself, what is John going to do? Well I don’t see George. Where is he? You know how human beings are: Always looking for excuses to keep from doing their part. As long as the people were looking at the obstacle, they were discouraged. Actually they felt it was an impossibility. In other words they felt, We are back here to do something, but only God knows when and how. Well saints, I can bring it right to our day. For thirty long years since Bro. William Branham‘s death, all over this world it has been said, God sent a messenger to turn us back to the faith of our fathers, and get us out of Babylon. That is the truth; but for a long time it looked almost impossible for there to ever be an element of people on this earth that has enough sense to know what it is to come together and work in harmony and really see the same picture. Nevertheless God has a plan; and He has a way. When the Spirit of God is directing it, we cannot help but give ourselves to it. That is exactly what happened here. When the Spirit of God came down and really anointed the people, then it was no longer Pete looking at George, or George looking at Jim: It was everyone looking at the task with a feeling of urgency: Let’s go to work and get the job done. When people began to look at their situation like that, they stop looking at all the confusion and began to look to God. When you have an objective and look to God for enablement, there comes an anointing that begins to remove the obstacles and everything can begin to go together the way God wants it to be. Coming back to Zechariah’s prophecy and the way the angel answered him when he asked, What are these my lord? None of what the angel said concerning Zerubabbel kept Zechariah from being determined to find out about the two olive trees: one on each side of the golden candlestick. (Zec. 4:11) “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?” He was really persistent. Notice verse 12. “And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?” The angel finally answered his question; but the answer was one that the Jewish nation even yet today still does not know the meaning of. (13) “And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. (14) Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” It is like the apostle Paul said, They have been spiritually blinded: that the Gentiles might have access to this gospel; but the Gentile opportunity has just about run its course and the Spirit of God will again deal with the Jews. As I have already said, We gentiles look to God through a different covenant relationship than what the Jews have ever known. We have not had to depend upon the keeping of the Law of Moses and the offering up of those burnt offerings: but rather look to that which was accomplished on behalf of all who would believe: when our blessed Savior offered Himself as the one sacrifice sufficient for the sins of all of us. Thanks be unto God: we know what these two olive trees are. Do we, Bro. Jackson? Yes. Because when you go to Revelation 11, and verse 3, right there in our prophetic letter which was given to the Gentile Church we are told in advance that these are the two anointed ones that stand by the God of the whole earth. In other words, it is the two great anointings that will rest on those two witnesses of Rev. 11; and we know they will be men which are no longer just symbols: but that which the symbols in the Old Testament pointed to. They will prophesy the first half of that week. Why would God be concerned to give to the Gentile Church in 96 A.D. almost 20 years after the destruction of Jerusalem that which He commissioned the apostle John to write? Here in chapter 11, he has been given a reed, a stick, and told, Go measure the temple: when there was no temple there at that time. That proves it was for a future time. Then he sees these two olive trees, and is told these are the two anointed ones that stand by the God of the whole earth: And He (God) will give power unto His two witnesses. That leaves the mystical types and goes directly to two men who are to be prophets; and their prophetic ministries are going to be like that of Moses and Elijah of old. The Gentile church sees that and can understand it; but no orthodox Jew ever has. Why do I read it like that? Simply because when we come to Revelation 10, and see the seven thunders expressed there, the Gentile world in general, especially the denominational world, knows nothing at all about in and cares even less. To them that is just another verse of scripture laying there that they could not care less about what it means. Well it means a lot to a few people on this earth: the true Gentile bride Church. It is called thunders; and we know thunders speak of the voice of God: so we have much to look forward to. I looked back at the movement and realized all the pros and cons that have been shuffled back and forth; but if you will look at the structure of what is said in that 3rd verse of chapter 10, and as soon as that angel cried like a lion, seven thunders uttered their voices. Their is a plural pronoun word, that is never used in the Bible in a symbolic language. Every time the word their is used in the Bible to convey a thought, it is speaking in conjunction with either men or angels. Study the Bible and you will discover for yourself what I mean. That is why I have said all along, those thunders are going to be men in the Gentile Church: scattered over the face of this earth, men who God will deal with in that precise hour when He is lifting His Church up, getting her ready for her departure to glory. Why do I say that? If God will talk about two olive trees in Zechariah 4, which basically is for the Jews to understand in their hour: when God again begins to deal with them, certainly He will talk about seven thunders that are ordained to minister to the Gentile Bride Church in the final stage of her preparation to leave here. Seven thunders will utter their voices; and they will be heard to ends of the earth (so to speak). You can rest assured, a thunder in that respect is just as important to the Church as the two olive trees will be to the Jews. John was forbidden to write what those thunders said; but likewise, when you read Revelation 11, do you find what those two prophets are going to prophesy in the hour of their ministry? Those thunders are going to be used of God to lift the bride up into a prophetic relationship with the Lord Himself; and from that same plateau He will move right over to the Jews through the ministry of those two olive trees (prophets). It will be thunders on the Gentile side and olive trees on the Jewish side; but the prophetic words will all come from the same source: the Spirit of God. Just remember, “THEIR VOICES” cannot apply to just one man; and neither can it apply to symbolism. Check it out.

A DREAM GIVEN TO PASTOR JACKSON

I had a dream shortly before we left for Norway back in the Summer; so I may as well relate it to you and get it off of my chest.

“In the dream I saw myself come into possession of certain words. Today I do not even know what they were. In the dream I did, because I saw myself writing them down. I immediately said to myself, This is going to lead to something. Suddenly I was in possession of certain numbers. I saw them, I even wrote them down. I do not know whether they were dates, numbers referring to some other subject, or what. I immediately wrote this all down and began to say to my wife, Honey, this is going to lead to something. The scene changed and I could see myself speaking to my people in Faith Assembly: saying, Set these words down and do not forget them. This is all going to come together and form a great picture of understanding, something about the coming of our Lord. Then the scene changed again and I saw a large gathering of people taking place. They were coming from all over the world. I saw all those people assembling and talking about the great feeling they had inside their hearts about the coming of Jesus. At this time I noticed that there was one thing about everyone who was coming to this great assembly. Each person had in their hand, not in their pocket, a small bottle of holy anointing oil. See Exodus 30:22-31. This bottle was no larger than a person’s own thumb. One thing was very noticeable though, each person had received their bottle of oil directly from God: not from man. No one was allowed into this great assembly unless they had their bottle of holy anointing oil. However, there was no one standing at the door of entrance into this great assembly to make sure everyone had the oil. Again I saw myself saying to people, Remember these words, do not forget them. We are about to learn something. Then the scene changed again. At this time Bro. William Branham came into the scene. He stood in front of the assembly and began to speak. I heard him say things that was lifting the hearts of the people into a great feeling of expectancy. My own heart was thrilled with what was being said. I heard myself saying in a low voice to those standing close by, What did I tell you? Did I not tell you we are going to learn something? Do you remember those words I told you I had received? The atmosphere at this time was thrilling and the aroma coming from all those little bottles of holy anointing oil was so sweet. Then the scene changed and I saw myself speak out to the people and say, I want to tell you of a dream I had concerning this great event. I began to speak to them the same words I am now telling you: of what I saw in this dream, and what I had heard. It was while telling them of the dream within a dream, that I woke up at exactly 5:01 AM, Wednesday, July 14, 1993. When I awakened I could no longer remember the words that I had received, nor the numbers, nor what Bro. William Branham had said; and the reason I could not remember was because I know it is yet in the future.” That is the dream,and I know some people will say, Does that mean Bro. William Branham is coming back from the dead? No. How could it have such a meaning? God is getting ready to play a trick on some people whose love is not for the truth; and it is going to be so simple, it will almost be unbelievable. Let me now take you to Matthew 17: right back to that dramatic scene in which Jesus took three disciples up on a mountain to give them a preview of what was to transpire here at the end of time. On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus was caught up in the glory of God; and a vision broke forth upon those disciples He took with Him. They saw two men talking to Jesus and they knew they were Moses and Elijah. Remember this, To those three disciples, that scene looked as real as anything they had ever seen; but actually, as Jesus pointed out in His words to them, it was only a vision. A vision in which He showed them a preview of the two olive trees mentioned in Zechariah 4: that will appear on the scene over here in the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel: the two anointings that will precede His glorious appearing, which we read about in Revelation 19. What words did those disciples hear those prophets speaking to Jesus? They heard them speaking to Him concerning the things He was about to suffer. Let me ask you a simple question. There is no doubt those disciples heard the two prophets, in the vision, speak words to Him that are not even written in the Old Testament. How could they speak words to Him concerning how to prepare Himself for that hour of physical suffering He was soon to face, except by prophetic utterance? That is exactly what it was. Why did God use the image of two Old Testament prophets for that? Remember, when Jesus was in the wilderness of temptation tempted by the devil, and how after He rebuked the devil for the last time the devil left Him for a season and angels came and ministered unto Him? That lets you know the presence of angels under the divine anointing of God ministered to the psychological makeup of the man Jesus. Therefore knowing angels were present my point is this, Why did God use the image’s of those two prophets to convey words to Jesus of what He was going to suffer? Why did He not use an angel for that? If you are following my line of thought, this proves beyond the shadow of a doubt, that if somewhere in time a man has stood out in the plan of God as being something greatly anointed, and God has used that man, He wants to establish that man’s influence. He will use his image to bear on the conscience and mind of people in a way to respect the man’s person; but certainly not to give anyone any reason to make a god out of the man. Having said that, let me say also, I have felt for a long time, that because denominational religion despised the name William Branham so much: mainly because they are looking at a following that has literally defamed him, and brought reproach upon all who follow the truth He was used to restore to the Church, that God would do something before time runs out: to respect the man for what he truly was: a prophet messenger to this age. It almost looks like there is hardly anyone left on this earth that has a sensible heart to really understand what God’s true purpose was. That is why I say, If God can send two prophets to set a type, to speak to His only begotten Son of things He was soon to suffer, then do not tell me that God cannot by the same token, use the image of William Branham to convey something to the Gentile Church? Not that He is going to bring him back from the dead for anything, but that He can use his image to appear to certain men, and say certain things of a prophetic nature that will be so real and so positive, it will help put a picture together in the minds of a lot of people. They will know things not even written in the book. I realize a lot of people might say Jackson has gone crazy; but I still say, Stick around. One of these days there will be an element of people in this earth that has a true picture in their heart’s and God is going to be talking to them. The thunders on this side will be voices speaking to a Gentile Bride; but on this other side there is going to be two olive trees (prophets) speaking to an element of Jewish people who will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. Right now, it is symbols on both sides; but it will be a beautiful sight to see how God connects the two together as He closes everything out. Hallelujah!