IN OUR APRIL ISSUE, WE STARTED A MESSAGE TITLED “WHEN ISRAEL DOES THIS,” USING MICAH 7:11-17 AS OUR TEXT SCRIPTURE, WHICH DEALS WITH WHAT ISRAEL WILL DO TO FULFILL THESE VARIOUS PROPHECIES SET FORTH IN THE MESSAGE “LOOKING THROUGH WINDOWS OF PROPHECY;” AND WE HAD JUST READ FOUR VERSES FROM THE 12TH CHAPTER OF ZECHARIAH; SO THAT IS WHERE WE WILL CONTINUE ON FROM.

In Zechariah 12:2, God says, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Naturally those that are round about are the Arabs. They are the one’s doing all the fussing and scrapping with the Jews. No sooner did they sign this peace thing with Israel about the Gaza Strip and the Jericho territory, Arafat said, the Jew don’t know it yet; but they will leave Jerusalem also. I just thought to myself, That is what you say. The Bible tells us who will be leaving; and it will not be the Jews. I cannot project any certain time that God has determined for the Jews to start rebuilding the old city of Jerusalem; but the time between now and then is all the time they have, to continue with their negotiating. One thing you cannot help but notice though, is that everything just seems to get worse. For every individual that is in favor of negotiating a peace settlement between the Jews and the PLO, there are ever so many against it; so where does that leave the whole process? No doubt it will just get worse, and worse until finally either some Arab or Arabs make the wrong move, and that will be (as they say) the straw that breaks the camel’s back. As that hour approaches, the governors of Judah are no longer going to be Peres and Rabin. We have a prophecy that goes right in here to show that. If I am looking at this right, and if God has it timed, there is a certain way He is going to trigger this whole thing. That is when the city of Jerusalem becomes an international issue for the whole world to get involved in. The Arabs will foster it of course; and that is why it will become a cup of trembling. Not only will God make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to those Arabs, the next verse says He will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: and all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. That word is describing a negotiating process. That is exactly, we can say, is when U.N. no doubt will want to try to enter into it, just like they have argued back and forth for the last two and half years over Bosnia. Those of the U.N., think it is going to be the final closing thing to the world’s problems. They are not. I have to say, God is destined to tear that thing all to pieces sometime in the future. When you read that verse, a burdensome stone, and when you really think of a burdensome stone, you not only think of a stone that is heavy, but it is the way it is made. It is unhandy to get hold of. It is not an easy thing to get your arms around. It is not an easy thing to lift out of its place. God has made it that way. That is why when it begins to enter an international negotiating process, God says though all the nations of the earth be gathered together against Jerusalem, (not in a military way, but in a negotiating way) they will be cut in pieces. That is the U.N. body. God said, I will cut them to pieces. That is not firing shots. No. I cannot help but believe we are going to see hours of confusion hit the international scene where we will see diplomats from various nations stick their head in, sound off, only to walk out angry, saying, I will never return. We have so many prophecies here to look at, to thrill our hearts, it is hard to know which one to look at next.

A PREVIEW OF THE MILLENNIUM

Let us go ahead and turn to Isaiah 11. In Isaiah 11, we find a prophecy describing how God has allowed that prophet to see the Millennium. That is why when you start reading down through there, it tells how He will judge. It tells how the cow and bear shall feed together. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: (That is looking at the Millennium first.) and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” There is one thing sure, Regardless of how many lions you put in the zoo now and try to educate him, they are not going to eat straw, because the lion’s stomach has not yet been changed. You might try it, but it would probably starve him to death. “And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. (We are still looking at the Millennium.) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” That gives a little fore view of what will follow all the various encounters the Jews are to go through as this age of grace comes to an end. God has not overlooked one single detail: It is all in here somewhere if we can just get it all put together properly.

REVERTING BACK TO THE PRESENT HOUR

Verse 10, of Isaiah 11 brings you back to the fore view of what transpires before the world goes into that Millennial hour. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, (This is talking about the Messiah.) which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, (See? He puts the Millennium first. Now he starts going back over the process approaching it.) which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Showing that in the process of restoring the nation, both elements are going to be back in the land, reunited. Verse 14 tells exactly what they did in the Six Day War.) But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; (They have already done that. Can you see it? But we are not in the Millennium yet; so just watch what He does.) they shall spoil them of the east together: (They did not do it then: this is still ahead of them. The east is across the Jordan River.) they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” They still have not come to that yet. Where are those Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites? They are in the country of Jordan. They are in that other part of Zephaniah verses 8-11. They stopped over here short of that in 1967; so this is still ahead of them. They shall destroy the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites. We have four prophecies that tell what Israel will do to those people across the river; so let us go right back to Numbers for a further view. Here is where it speaks (Numbers 24.) of what Balaam has said to Balak, Come here, I will show you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. (Verse 17) Balaam says, “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Sier also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.” This is linking all these prophecies together; because the focal point is the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. That part of the land beyond Jordan today, (which was never a country called Jordan in ancient times) certain tribes of the Israeli people must have; because the areas of the land across the Jordan River were not occupied by the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites, the children of Israel lived over there. That is why it speaks back here in this prophecy we read, about how they will move into Gilead, because Israel has got to have it. Israel has got to have the other side of the Jordan River in order to fulfill these prophecies against these people and to make room for the last wave of immigrants to enter and take up their possession to set the stage for the last days. That is why if we can see the picture that unfolds here, all of these are tied to the last days. I remember when Bro. Govender preached that message titled “The Latter Days of the Last Days:” That is what these prophecies are pertaining to: the latter days of the last days. They are prophecies that deal strictly with the supernatural. Here in Numbers 24, Israel will do valiantly. That is when the miraculous power of God will be witnessed. That is why Micah 7 comes right in here: It speaks of the miraculous power of God that will be displayed when He begins to wrap up these end time events; so notice verses 15-17, as we read together. (Micah 7:15-17) “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. (things like the Red sea having a dry path for them to escape through, and the many other miracles of that 40 years journey) (16) The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, (That is a gesture of awe.) their ears shall be deaf. (17) They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.” When God begins to show His miraculous power on behalf of the Israeli people the way so many of these prophecies speak of, it will put fear in the heart’s of those who have been their oppressors for so long: That is what all of this adds up to. As we begin to see what these various prophecies pertain to, then we can tie them together for these last days, Numbers 24, Zephaniah 8 through 11, Jeremiah 48, and 47, all about the same thing. Then we can see how all this has to come about by one miraculous sweep of the Israeli military forces, when Jerusalem is the focal point. In other words, until God is ready to show His hand, these leaders will just go ahead and fuss with each other, each one expressing his or her own thoughts about what it will take to bring about a condition of peace in the Middle East. Man will say, how soon? But when God is ready to move, He will be ready to let Israel escort those PLO people across the land, back to the land their ancestors came from, so the Jews can have the land God gave to their forefathers. We also have a prophecy I had never even thought about as being part of this picture until recently, when I was reading it again. It is in Obadiah. It just closes this thing. It lets you see exactly why God has His eye on Moab, on the Edomites and the Ammonites. It is because of how He saw them conduct themselves back in the 6th century, when the Babylonians first came to take the Jews captive and there were a few Jews that managed to escape. They would flee across the valley hoping to find refuge among their half brothers, (you might say) only to be captured and turned back over to the Babylonians, or to be held captive for some high ransom. It tells about it all in Obadiah. In that prophecy, God speaks of all three of them, I have watched you when you stood in the crossway and would not let my people escape, nor would you offer sanctuary to them. In other words, You would not extend a hand of mercy or even allow them to unmolested by you. Therefore God says, I have remembered all of this. Just think, saints, For 2600 years God has remembered what the Moabites did, what the Edomites, and the Ammonites; and He is going to bring them to account for it. There is no doubt in my mind, that this time factor is getting very close. Every day they grind away on this process in the Middle East, trying to bring it to some kind of resolution; and I just keep saying, Lord, how much longer before they start picking on Jerusalem? Once they start picking on Jerusalem, then I have to feel like God’s finger is beginning to point to the climax of these prophecies. When He does turn Israel loose, they will make a sweep that will cause people around the world to stand in awe. If I had a map up here and you could see the layout of Israel, and of the Jordan area she will cross over and take, it would give you a better understanding of all of this; but we are limited in some of what we would like to do. However Israel will not be crossing over there to kill all of those people. No. When it says He (meaning Israel) will destroy the Moabites, that in reality means Israel will take hold of them in such a way that they will never again be allowed again to multiply and become a powerful, hostile force against Israel. There is no doubt though, that when Israel does this, still off to the east of all of that you will still have old mad man Hussein, (as I call him) and he will certainly feel that he must take up the cause against Israel; and Israel will know that. Therefore if this thing is as close as it looks like it is, I cannot help but believe Israel will not stop with just the Jordan area. She will not stop until she has reached the Euphrates River. You might ask me why; and here is my answer: It is because if Israel was to make a move today to attack Jordan, there is no doubt that the old mad man is just waiting for the opportunity, hoping for a chance, militarily, to come against Israel with his forces. That is why I have to believe that when God does turn Israel loose to do this, and God shows His miraculous power on their behalf, He will not let Israel stop until she has gone all the way to the Euphrates River and put everything across the Jordan River to rest. It is the only way she can do what it says in Zephaniah, He will destroy all the gods of the earth in that day. They have to destroy that Islamic belief. That turns them around to fulfill what is said in Isaiah 63. Brothers and sisters: God has all of this laid out so beautifully: if we will just purge our mind’s of all former ideas we have held by tradition and allow the Spirit of God to show us how it really is. Praise His name!

WHEN ISRAEL SPOILS THEM OF THE EAST

Let us go back to Isaiah 11, to continue on with our look at these prophecies. There is no doubt in my mind, that when these prophecies we are looking at for the end of the age do begin to be fulfilled, it will all wrap up in very short order. It will not string out over a twenty year period of time. While we understand that there are many prophecies dealing with the same period of time, yet everything from the starting of that certain point will come about miraculously. As we said earlier, From back here in 1939 when God started dealing with the Jews in Europe, it has been a long period of time. It has been a struggle. A lot of Jews lost their lives from 1939 on through the war years. Then the birth of the nation came about in 1948, and think of how they struggled through the war of 1967, and what they have been subjected to since then. Almost 27 years have come and gone since that war of 1967; and now it looks like there is a stalemate in the progression of events leading up to the next prophesied events; but no doubt this stalemate is the period that can launch Israel right into the era of the miraculous; and I believe it is going to be very soon now. As we have pointed out before, All of this has to be kept within the generation that saw the hand of God begin to move to restore Israel; so whether you figure it from 1939, or 1948, that generation cannot be stretched very far beyond the year 2000 A.D. The generation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24, that cannot pass away until all these things be fulfilled, is the very generation that watched Israel returned to statehood after all those other Jews had been slaughtered in WW2. Well we read the verses of Isaiah 11, that actually put the Millennium in the forefront; and therefore from verse 14, where we are going to begin reading now, it reverts backward to the conditions that will transpire prior to the Millennium coming into focus. Let us notice how precise these little prophecies are. “But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west.” According to Zechariah 10 we find that was accomplished in the war of 1967. Zephaniah 2:3-7, that was fulfilled, where they fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines to the west. They took the Gaza Strip. Keep in mind these prophecies we are reading are not prophecies related to different intervals of time: They are all dealing with the same thing. Each prophecy shows how God let that prophet in the hour the prophecy was written, see the picture. The picture then becomes a specific thing as to how God brings it about. Therefore the first thing this prophecy brings in, is how Israel will take the Gaza Strip. Then notice the rest of the verse. “They shall spoil them of the east together.” That means when you go to Zephaniah 2:8-11, you find the prophecy concerning how God will deal with Moab and Ammon, which is exactly what we were just speaking of. When Israel crosses the Jordan to actually spoil them of the east, and take possession of the land now known as Jordan, that is when that verse goes into complete fulfillment and application. “They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” I believe we should all understand that by now. That is what Numbers 24 pertains to, where Balaam prophesied coming through the wilderness, when he said to Balak, Come here and I will show you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. Right there is where God caused Balaam to prophesy that the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites would in the last days fall subject to Israel. It is very important that we see how these prophecies paint the picture if we expect to keep abreast of where time has progressed to; because we are living in that time factor right now, when we can expect to see these prophecies fulfilled without it being a surprise to us. The unbelieving people of the world will be surprised, or I should say shocked, when Israel begins to excel; but we who have followed these prophecies will only rejoice. Not because of any misfortune that comes to others, but because of the accuracy of every prophecy God has spoken concerning these things. Furthermore we do know for sure, that these prophecies are not pertaining to something that will take place way over here in the Millennium. The reason I put this sketched map up here, is to try and show you the relationship of these other areas to the present land of Israel. Right in here (pointing to map) is the land of Israel. Right across here is the land of Jordan; but looking on eastward, you see Saudi Arabia. If we had a Bible map, it would make it much clearer to you why Israel must fulfill these prophecies; because those old Bible maps show where the twelve tribes of Israel originally dwelt when they finished the wilderness journey and settled in the promised land. She must have all of the land given to Abraham and his heirs; and the only way she is going to get it, is for some condition to arise that will justify her taking it by force; and the only way she can take it all by force, is for the hand of God to cause her to perform miraculous feats. That is why it says in Numbers, “And they shall do valiantly.” That means it is a military thing. Let us finish reading the rest. “And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams.” If you look at a map of the Nile River, where it comes into the delta, facing the Mediterranean, you can get this picture; but we need to understand something: There have been natural forces, (we will say, for the last twelve years) going on in the eastern areas of north Africa, from the Sudan, Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, down into Somalia, running down the eastern coast of Africa all the way into South Africa, that have made a difference. The Nile River flows northward; and for a long period of time, at least twelve years or more we have heard of the various droughts that keep hitting in those eastern countries of north Africa and along the eastern coastal areas. What is it doing? It is affecting the watershed; because the Nile drains out of the northern plateau regions that extend back into Ethiopia and Sudan. That is the watershed area of the Nile. It is true, since Egypt built that big dam that Russia helped her to build, called the Aswan Dam, she can control the flow of this water. But keep in mind, you can only control the flow of water in a massive river like that as long as you have water that falls in the watershed area at various times. But once that stops completely, sooner or later all that water you have been controlling is no longer there. When the day comes they have to shut off every dam for the sake of fresh water to the people, so this means that eventually there is no water that reaches the delta to go into the Mediterranean. Can you understand that? We have two prophecies where God speaks of that day, so let us continue to reading here, in Isaiah 11:15. “And with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, (that is the delta area) and make men go over dryshod.” The 16th verse is applicable somewhere yet in front of us. It is not behind us. God has done some extraordinary things in bringing the Jew back home to fulfill these various prophecies and get them in place; but from now onward (we will say) is where the pressure comes. It is how God begins to show His hand. Notice this verse, “And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that He came up out of the land of Egypt.” Common sense will tell you when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, there was no highway out there in the wilderness; so what kind of highway is it talking about? It means the route of the miraculous, the way of the miraculous. To me, this is why God has narrowed this time factor down to a few short years before we reach the week of Daniel. This is where when He begins to show His hand; and when He starts it, He will never let up until it is all over. That is why when the era of the miraculous starts, it will take this that somewhere out here in the world, and in some of those scattered mid east territories there is a few hundred Jews here and there still somehow or other kept there; but as the era of the miraculous starts, then those territories like Yemen, and Syria, which has kept several thousands of Jews shut up, and would not let them go home, God is going to miraculously make a way for them to be released and come quickly back to fulfill this picture. This is why as I look at the overall following of Bro. William Branham, and please believe me, I am not talking about him personally: I am talking about the followers who have set for almost thirty years and read book after book after book until they have almost memorized every word of them; I realize that those people cannot possibly know how and where to fit in these prophecies. Not one of those books will refer you to one of these prophecies and show you how it will be set in motion and fulfill the picture for the last days. Too many of them have been left with this idea, God is going to come and the rapture take place, phooey with the rest, what do I care about what else takes place? That is absolutely a detrimental attitude for any human being to take toward the word of God. God does not even have to show mercy to a person who wants to take His word and treat it like that. What Bro. William Branham brought to this age was a message to wake us up and get us looking forward to the hour and time we could recognize the hand of God bringing us back to scriptural, spiritual truth, in order that we might be put in the right relationship with God, our heavenly Father. As you look at all of this you realize, that does not change the picture written in the scriptures as to how Israel will come toward this point. If we can see ourselves as being the Church the word of God speaks of, and see Israel as she is moving forward to that hour we have been speaking of, we have to understand that when we coordinate the two together, the Church and Israel, they are running parallel toward a strategic time factor. As time moves quickly for Israel to face that week then when we look at the Gentile Church and how she should be moving into her final revelation of how to acquaint herself with Him for the rapture, which is just before the great tribulation in the week of Daniel. Just do not try to make the rapture take place 5 or 10 years before the week starts. That is not in harmony with the whole plan of God. Otherwise Paul would not have said concerning the coming of the Lord, in Thessalonians, and our gathering together unto Him, he wanted them to know that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed. That certainly does not even suggest that the Church will go through any part of the great tribulation; but it does let us know the Church will still be here when it becomes known who the antichrist, or man of sin really is. The world leaders will be compelled by circumstances to initiate the era of this evil prince by allowing him to take the oversight of world affairs; and that should be the very thing that points the Church to the reality of what is taking place. She will know something is about to happen; and she will know what it is. That very incident is what activates the seventieth week of Daniel: Three and a half years of false peace, and then three and a half years of great tribulation. I cannot tell you exactly how much the Church will see take place before she takes her flight; but I can assure you she will be gone before the middle of that week comes. It is only the foolish virgins from among what is looked upon as the Gentile Church that will have to go into the darkest of that dark hour and give their lives in martyrdom to seal their testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. That is a result of playing around with every kind of idea and failing to be clothed in the revealed word of God until the hour when the door of revelation is closed to them. According to the parable, they come knocking; but that door is already closed to them. As for the fulfillment of these prophecies we have been looking at, they cannot be fulfilled until God has created a situation in the government of Israel that gets rid of this silly idea Rabin and Peres has been participating in, thinking they can compromise with the PLO, give up territory, and live in peace with the Arabs. In the plan of God there is no such thing as negotiation. God is not going to negotiate with anyone. God said, I shall do this, and He will. He is not going to compromise with the devil. I will say this though, God will give carnal man an opportunity to do certain things: just to prove to carnal man that he (the natural minded man) will always choose to do the wrong thing; and never the right thing. Then when man has proved himself always to do the wrong thing, God comes on the scene and does it right. As He does it, He is magnified before people whose attention He gets. At the same time, those who do not yield their attention toward God will only become angrier than they were already. However if you think God cares how many millions of people get angry at what He does you have another thought coming: He is not going to shed one tear over any of that. People left alive on this earth until that time will either submit to the will of God or they will be treated just like trash that is good for nothing but burning. What this Bible portrays for us is the plan and purpose of God; and it was all settled in His great mind before He ever created anything.

THE KIND OF MEN GOD USES

We are looking at how God is going to deal strategically with the Middle East on behalf of the Jews in these last days. He has already caused them to take the land of the Philistines, but in order for them to subdue those of the east, there has got to come about a change in the Israeli government. Peres and Rabin are in no frame of mind to take more territory in any direction. All they want to do is compromise, and give into world pressure. That is why it looks like everything is questionable right now. But if we believe all these things are true, then we know God has a time factor somewhere in front of us, whether it is in the next half year, or a year, or a year and half. God is going to let some Arab or any element of Israeli people make a fatal mistake which is going to throw everything into a disruptive state. This is going to force the nation of Israel either to have an election or to choose some kind of new leadership. Once that new leadership is chosen, I believe the God of heaven is going to say, Alright, I have let various leaders through the years of time as Israel has slowly reached this point do as they saw fit to do; but now it is time to move forward and get on with what has to be done. You have had an up and down, see-saw situation in your government: Some wanting to give up, some wanting to hold on to what you have, and others wanting to move on; and now it is time for all of you to move forward together. Saints: if I am looking at the scriptures right, it is time for all of that see-sawing to stop. Let us go back to Zechariah 12. We have shown you already how in verses 2 and 3 God said He would make Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone and so forth; and we want to see how all of this ties in with Micah 7:11-17. These things help us determine how close we are to the renovating and rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, and the temple, which is all described in the two chapters of Isaiah. Here in Zechariah 12, to me, is the focal point and condition that God sets forth for all of this to come about. Through the first three verses, especially verses 2 and 3 of Zechariah 12, He makes Jerusalem a cup of trembling to some people. You see that. That is how the Arabs will look at Jerusalem. They want it to be their city. But verse 3 makes it a burdensome stone to all them that get involved with it: That is the international, diplomatic scene. Now we come to verse 4, to see how God looks at Jerusalem when the hour has come for their walls to be built. “In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: (He is actually saying, no matter what Israel’s hostile enemy forces will be, which will be the Arabs for that period of time, He will smite every one with madness.) and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, (Judah we realize is the first major tribe that was to come back, to start this gradual process of the restoration of the nation. That is why in chapter 10 it speaks of the order of it.) and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” In other words that tells us no matter how many Arabs are armed with modern equipment, their hostility is not going to succeed against Judah when the hour has arrived for God to send them forth victorious. Then verse 5 tells us what kind of leadership Israel will have to have in that hour in order for this to be brought about. “And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.” Naturally that has to be explained: At first glance it does not seem to make sense. First off as we look at Isaiah 49, which is in front of us somewhere just in a short time factor, Isaiah 49 tells us out there somewhere is an element of a certain type Jew. They are of the tribe of Judah, but they are basically of the lineage of David. Those were the early inhabitants and occupants of this ancient city of Jerusalem. King David took it; and it was mainly his relatives that occupied it. We have to keep in mind, he had several wives which brought forth several children. King Solomon followed him and he had many wives, did he not? Therefore you have to realize that eventually the occupants of the city of Jerusalem became mainly the descendants of many generations of King David’s descendants. That is why in ancient times it was also referred to as the city of David. He took it. Therefore his descendants occupied it, lived in it. In the last days, for that to be done, it means the city of Jerusalem has to come into a time frame where God deals strategically with that city. In the 1967 war, the Israeli army took the old city; and that did fulfill the prophecy of Jesus how that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled; but even though the prophecy was fulfilled in 1967, three fourths of the old city is still inhabited by Arabs. That means there is no way that city right now can be projected into the Millennium under that social structure. It has got to be a city that is occupied by the descendants of King David, who are also out of the tribe of Judah. Therefore for twenty some years this thing has been hanging there like that: In other words, with Arabs living there. At the same time the Arabs in the Gaza Strip, and in the areas of Jericho, are now demanding of the Israeli governors, that all these immigrants Jews in those newly settled areas be moved out. Then these Arabs in the old city that have seen immigrants come in, we will say in the suburban areas and build new quarters, they are saying the same thing: The Jews have got to get out of Jerusalem. To me that sets the focal point. That is the ultimatum. That is what makes Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Because it means prophecy has come to the time when God’s finger is pointing toward Jerusalem. He is going to set the agenda, the conditions, and here is where we can say His miraculous hand will go to work first. He sets the agenda Himself: He does not leave that in the hands of mortal men: You can see that as we read down through these verses. “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire.” It has never been like that yet. You know it. They did have a good man in leadership in the 1967 war; but we have to realize he did not stay in office forever. Therefore as we look at this prophecy, we see how God is looking at the time factor. When it is time for the miraculous to go into force and these prophecies drop one after another, right into place, there has to be men in places of governmental leadership that are willing to move with God instead of with other world leaders. This sets the agenda for what we see here. “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, (That is talking about Arabs, Palestinian Arabs.) on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” By who? Jews of course. That fulfills Isaiah 49. Now watch how verse 7 gives you a backward view. “The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first.” To understand what that verse means we have to realize what Judah did do in 1967. She took the Gaza strip just as it was prophesied in Zephaniah 2:3-7. Then she took the area of Jericho. All of that territory from the Jordan River over the Judaean mountains to the Mediterranean is the ancient territory of Judah. When God says, that He will establish the tents of Judah first, that should be easily understood to mean that the tribe of Judah, which is going to be the war tribe, the beginning tribe, will be the beginning process of the restoration and gradual rebuilding of this nation. He will start this process with Judah first. Therefore He is going to give her her territorial place of habitation. He has done it and now the Arabs are saying, But you have got to give up some of it. As we read this, do you think our western world leaders are reading this Bible? Not at all. It means nothing to them. However if their whole process of peace negotiation goes wrong, then you and I who are Christians, ought to say, Thank You Lord: You have given us a word of promise. Let us follow this on through. “The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, (Why? What is the importance of them being first?) that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.” So to sum that all up, it means this, God knew He will give that tribe their place of habitation first, because they are going to be the war people: They are going to be the people who have to do the fighting and put up with twenty some years of fussing. Do you catch the point? If He would have given this particular kingly element of Judaean Jews the right to come back and live in Jerusalem first, can you not see how carnal man likes to brag? I live in Jerusalem! You live out in that little back woods place. I know where you come from! Keep in mind, you have to understand the natural reaction of carnal earthly people such as we are. You get New York people. Oh, you’re from Tennessee. What part? Oh, way down there where they say You all, back in the sticks. That is how natural minded creatures magnify themselves. I’m from New York! The big apple city! That is what God was talking about in that one verse. He does not want the city people, because of their lineage connection, to be able to brag and boast over the Judaean people that are going to be the ones that have to move out here and put up with twenty some years of Arab hostility, living behind chain link fences, as it says in Ezekiel 36. That is what they have been doing since the Six Day War. By now we ought to begin to see the picture. Knowing what the next issue is, that they want Judah to get out of this territory, I just have to say, Judah is not going to budge one inch. It may look like it. There may be certain things done that makes it look like prophecy is moving backward; but you rest assured, God knows exactly what He is doing. The hour God wants it to go the right way, something is going to happen that will blow things sky high in the Middle East. I believe with all my heart, it is going to cause Israel to have some kind of election that will change their leadership. Then all those Jews that have been put under pressure, and fear they are going to have to give up and get out of these territories where they have risked their lives to live in, will have a chance again. They risk the lives of their children to move out there in those territorial places and build those villages and put up those chain link fences and suffer the consequence of the hostility, being invaded at night, and having mortar shells dropped in their midst. Do you think those Jews are going to feel at ease when their own government leaders breathe down their neck and say, Come on, you have to get out of here. That is why we have hundreds of Jews living in Israel today in these rebuilt villages which have been fulfilling prophecy of how they would come back in the last days, they would rebuild the desolate place and the ruined place. The desolate place would also be tilled. She has been doing that for twenty some years, only to be faced with a bunch of leaders right now that want to sell out to the Arab cause. As I look at this I have to say, Brothers and sisters, get ready to watch the show. Something is going to blow; and when it does you are going to see the miraculous hand of God intervene on behalf of the Jewish people. As these prophecies begin to unfold, one right after another, the world is going to have to watch the miraculous hand of God. Israel is going to do valiantly; but it will be because they have a great and powerful God fighting for them. Once she enters that era of time, the Israeli governors will never again turn their heads to say, Yes, we will do this or that for the Arabs. The leaders of Israel will truly be dedicated to the Israeli cause; and that of course, will be to do the things these prophecies say she will do. Of course I realize, that once Israel has gained the land she is supposed to have and passed through that era, and she is in the process of rebuilding and doing the things the Bible says she will do, here comes the antichrist. Remember this though, the fact that the Jewish leaders will sign a covenant with the antichrist to be in effect from that hour on, does not change these prophecies one bit. All of this is written in the scriptures; and we already know what is going to happen. Therefore as we finish this up, and we see how the governors of Judah will be like a torch of fire in that day, we can take these thoughts and turn to Isaiah 19, where it picks up the picture again and tells us how God will look upon that hour of time. As Israel enters that hour of time that she takes this east country, she is doing it to bring the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites under her control. It will bring the country of Jordan to an end. In ancient times there never was a country of Jordan. Those tribal people were over there, but those people functioned independently within their own identity. At the same time, across the Jordan, there were territories that still belonged to part of the ten tribes of Israel. Your old Bible maps will show you that.

WHAT PLACE EGYPT IS DESTINED TO HAVE IN THE FUTURE

As we move into these last days for Israel to be completely restored, getting ready for the week of Daniel, Israel has got to have all of her territory; so let us see how God is going to deal in a strategic way and use Judah in that hour. “The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.” To make this short, let us go to verse 5. We read in Isaiah 11 how the tongue of the Egyptian sea would dry up, so notice this verse. “And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.” Another prophecy that is speaking about the mouth of the Nile. “And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.” It comes right on down through there and tells you about the lakes, the fishermen and such like. Let us just move on down to verse 15 now. “Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: (Now this is looking beyond 1967. In 1967 they had a Nasser, right? He was the one that led the Arab forces, saying, We will destroy this Jewish state. There will be no such thing. But they took a licking. Then again the Egyptians took a licking in 1973. This is looking beyond all of that.) and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, (That cannot be until Zechariah 12, the governors in leadership. It goes together. The land of Judah cannot be something that people are afraid of until there are governors sitting at the top of it ready to say, You will do so and so, or else.) every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which He hath determined against it.” Now as we read the rest of this prophecy, keep in mind, on one hand God is dealing a blow of judgment against that Egyptian nation. But at the same time He is doing it to get rid of a spirit of hostility that is fostered by certain Egyptian people who have harbored this Islamic religious spirit; and we have to understand this Islamic religion that started approximately 627 A.D. is to Judaism an anti religion, just as Catholicism is an anti religion to true Christianity. Islam is hostile to Judaism, just as Catholicism is hostile to what you and I stand for. When we realize in Zephaniah 2, verses 11, when Israel in that hour is to make her crossing into Jordan and conquer the Moabites, the Edomites and the Ammonites, right there in that area and right on down into Arabia is where that Islamic spirit rose up to start with. So this is why God has to deal with these people in this fashion. Because He is going to put that old Islamic religion to sleep. Therefore He has to judge it drastically to some of the people. That is why it is like this to Egypt. But when you read on here, you see something else. “In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan.” Which will be Hebrew. That does not mean five cities in the land of Egypt want to speak the dialect of the old Canaanites who God used Israel to drive out of there. You have got to realize, as God uses Judah to do this thing in an hour of the miraculous, yes it is going to bring a drastic judgment effect on some Egyptian politicians and military men. But it is also going to cause the simple and honest in heart Egyptian to recognize that the hand of God is with the Judaean people. “In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, (Can you find that now? No. As long as Egypt is under that Islamic spell they are not about to build an altar to the same God the Jews look to.) and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.” That should show us what is causing that to be like that. It is because Israel is moving into the era that it takes the miraculous hand of God to bring these things to pass. To some He is bringing judgment. At the same time He is bringing judgment to some people, others will have their eyes opened. I just have to say, Praise God! He knows what He is doing. You can come right on down through there and it will tell you exactly why: just notice, “And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, (Politicians, old Islamic fundamentalists who want to create a holy war, and Egypt has had some of these episodes in the past few months.) and He shall send them a Saviour, (which means the knowledge of the Messiah to be) and a great one, and He shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, (This takes it right on into the Millennium) and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it.” First He smites it with judgment, puts her in her place, strips them of the old Islamic religion and gives her the knowledge of the true God of Israel. God is doing two things at once. We have too many other scriptures here, so you will just have to read the rest of it. It tells about a highway. Keep in mind, the highway here is a literal highway. That is why I read from the Jerusalem Post, it has been approximately two and one half months now, Israel has sent to Egypt, maps of the Sinai. While they owned all the Sinai all the way to the Red Sea, before they gave up some of it. They explored, scientists and archaeologists, they discovered where certain deposits of mineral rights are. We will say potash and all that kind of things. She sent that to Egypt. Why? Because between the two countries, there is already plans for Egypt to bring a gas line into Israel, hooking up the gas lines, as well as electric lines. Then the future is, that there be a giant highway, like a super highway, like an interstate, all the way from Egypt to Israel. In the Jerusalem Post, it states that there is also plans for Syria. Even though Syria is a hostile nation against the Jewish state, yet on the other hand, monetary wise, and political wise, they are negotiating the process of building a super highway from Damascus into northern Israel. Think of it saints: even before there is a Millennium. Yet it tells you in the Bible that there will be a highway out of Egypt into Israel, and a highway into Syria that links these three nations together. You can read in the rest of this how God looks upon it.

JEWS IN BABYLON SINGING SONGS

Let us go to Babylon for a look at what the Jews have endured. We will take a look at the 137th Psalm. This picture becomes a beautiful thing. What is this 137th Psalm? It is a psalm of the Jews that have been taken from Judah by the last forces of King Nebuchadnezzar. They have been taken to Babylon. Most of them have been put in the fields to work as slaves. But the inspiration fell upon someone; and here is the results. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” This psalm was not written 1000 B.C. This was not David’s psalm. This was written by someone sitting along the rivers of Babylon, someone that remembered when they were carried away. He picked up as the anointing struck him, there by the rivers of Babylon, the Euphrates. “We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. (Listen to this.) For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” Stick around. I believe Israel is going to sing one of those songs one of these days, and jump up and down and rejoice, because they will not be seeing Pharaoh at the Red Sea: They will be seeing the hand of their God performing the miraculous. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forger her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Now listen to this next verse.) Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it! Rase it! even to the foundation thereof.” Whoever these Jews were, especially the one inspired under the anointing to come forth with this prophetic song, I believe in his mind he could remember how that bunch of Edomites would stand on the opposite hills watching the siege, jumping up and down, laughing, just waiting until it was all over so they could move in: Sort of like you see sometimes in these nature films, a lion will go out and kill a wild beast, and the hyenas are looking around. They want to get a bite of that carcass, but the lions are at the table. When the lions have finished, their tummies are full, they lick their chops and begin one by one to move away, they leave a carcass. Now the hyenas can come in. Other beasts will come in. That is exactly what the Edomites were doing. They stood on the opposite hills watching the siege, jumping up and down with great joy: It won’t be long until this land will be ours. They have been living there for two thousand years: getting more all the time. However while they have been living there, God would not let them till the land to very much advantage. When they till it, it does not grow much. On the other hand, when the Jews tills it, it grows bumper crops: because God said of old, when He would scatter the Jews, Then my land will rest. When it rested, it looked desolate. Just picture these Jews sitting there, slaves, servants in Babylon, being taunted: Sing us a song, entertain us. Well we are living in the 20th century. Let the world say that in 1998, or 1999: They are liable to get a song they do not want to listen to. It might be a song a lot greater than when Miriam led the daughters of Israel along the banks of the Red Sea, jumping up and down for joy, beating the tambourines and singing of how their God had destroyed the mighty in the waters, took away his wheels, took away his chariots and destroyed his horsemen. It is all in the Psalms. We do not know what psalms the Jews are likely to come out with when this miraculous hour begins to fall upon the world. Notice that verse says, Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem. That means when Jerusalem is to be restored and brought back from the many centuries of its desolate, run down, stinking state. God said, now is the time for her walls to be built. That is why Micah says in the days that thy walls are to be built, then will I do thus and so. To do that, we can say this, This is scriptural proof that of all these Arabs originally came out of Saudi Arabia, in the area of Midan, the area where Mohammad the prophet rose up in 627 A.D., and came on with his revelation, and by the time we come to the 10th and 11th century, Mohammad’s teaching had been spread through all this part of the world, even over into Africa, across the Mediterranean, into Greece, as we enter the era called the Crusades. That is why the European Crusaders went to the Middle East, to try to take the Bible land away from the Moslems. But in this we see, they sang of the prophecy, Remember the children of Edom. You are going to be spectators and watch the show. As I said, we stood here when that six day war was in progress; and Bro. Mayfield brought a radio and set it right over there so we could all hear what was being broadcast. When that six day war was going on, every few minutes a program was interrupted, bringing you the latest news from the Middle East. Word has just come through, Israel has taken another strategic point, on and on and on. On that sixth day the word came through, it is all over. The Jewish soldiers are standing at the Red Sea jumping up and down. Hallelujah! Looking at the Egyptians as they were going back to Cairo. Soldiers were at the western wall, jumping up and down, never again will this be like this. Down came the Jordanian flag and up went the Star of David, the first time it had been able to fly full mast without having to stand there with another one of different nations above it. That fulfilled the words of Jesus you read about in Luke, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. In June 1967 it was fulfilled. Yet there is certain aspects of it that have not been fulfilled yet. That is this, it is not yet been rebuilt. The Jews for some reason or other knew that if they tried to do anything while the Mosque of Omar is still standing there they would have the whole world coming down on them: You can’t do that: That is a holy place. Well the hour is fast approaching when that thing will be torn down; and when it is, however it comes about, just know for sure that the Arabs will never get a chance to rebuild it. The Jewish temple will soon stand where that first temple stood. However quick that is, I have to say, Whether it is because the Israeli leaders have a complete revolutionary bust up in their society, their government goes all to pieces, which necessitates another election, this situation going on there right now could actually bring the Israeli government to chaos. Something will have to happen, to get the Jewish leaders moving in the right direction because these prophecies cannot fail. If eventually there are more Jews that are anti peace, the way the leaders have went at it, In other words going anti prophecy, God could have allowed that to stir up the fervor of the zealous Jews who are ready to die, to see that not one inch of ground is sacrificed. It may take that; but if that is what it does take, rest assured it is God’s hand guiding the diplomatic process or procedure. The outcome is, God will see to it that the right kind of leaders go into office; and it will pick up, and in that day then, and it has never been yet, the governors of Judah shall be a terror to them round about. It means this whole entire Middle East world is suddenly going to become frightened. They cannot help but become frightened. Bro. Jackson, I don’t believe that. Stick around then: You will not have to wait very long to find out for sure. Do not forget, when you read in Numbers that Joshua sent the three spies over to spy out that city of Jericho, they slipped in during the daylight hours and somehow or other they ended up at Rahab the harlot’s house. They started asking her questions. Would you tell us, could you describe to us how did you people feel here in Jericho when you heard about our fathers and our people when we crossed the Red Sea several years ago? I can hear Rahab say to those men, Oh, there was nothing like it. When that news reached us, there was a bunch of camel traders from Ethiopia came passing through here. They stopped here and stayed for a week. They told us there was a bunch of people on the way. They do not plant gardens, they said. They left Egypt. They have quail to eat at night, and they have manna to eat at morning. The God of that bunch of people destroyed the whole Egyptian army. Saints, I am just trying to dramatize the setting of that event. They got this information somehow. You know they did not have ABC, CBS and NBC back then. All they had was caravans of camel traders who carried the news. Who else was interested in this episode? Who was even concerned about it? Anyhow she said, Our heart’s did melt within us. Listen to me brothers and sisters, When the fear of God comes upon a people and their hearts melt, they begin to shake and sweat. The world is going to get another opportunity to go through that same kind of feeling before very much longer. That is why it says in Micah, (5:15) “And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.” However the word heathen, is not pointing to that bush man of Africa coming out of an adobe mud hut. No saints, Look at this bunch of educated big shots that can put spacecraft on the moon, if you want to see modern day heathen the way God sees them. Watch him come out of his subway tunnels. He is trying to find as deep a hole as he can to get away from the hand of God. He is scared. I have to say, God is going to laugh at this modern bunch of Americans, who have been given an opportunity by God to exemplify Him in centuries past, (and there were those that did respect and honor Him) but have now turned to science for their answers, instead of looking in the Bible. At one time we were a nation that did honor God. It did not matter whether we had muzzle loading rifles, obsolete swords, or what, as long as our people were praying people they were God fearing people, and were people that respected God’s moral laws, they may not have known as much as people know now; but at least they put the Creator first in everything and He blessed their endeavors. It affected societies to the extent that for centuries our nation was preserved. God lifted us from muzzle loading rifles, to become a nation that invented some of the most sophisticated kill power the world has ever heard of. When I think of those helicopters that were used in the Gulf War, I have to stand in awe at what God has allowed mankind to achieve in this generation. They could locate those enemy forces no matter how they tried to hide themselves. I remember this one helicopter crew had spotted a bunker that four hundred and some odd men were in; and they dropped some pamphlets down to them, saying, Come out and surrender and we will not hurt you; but if you do not come out we will blow you to pieces, something like that. It was just a hunk of iron hanging out there in the air; but it had a rocket hanging under it that was capable of doing exactly that; and a guiding system that was capable of sending that thing right through their front door. I tell you, If God watched over our efforts then, to see that our mechanisms worked like they were expected to, then what do you expect Him to do when Israel has some of those same things, and they have modified them to make them even more suitable for desert warfare? God will magnify all of their efforts ten times over. No wonder Numbers said He shall do valiantly. Where? In the desert, in warfare. But when that time comes they will have politicians in the Knesset that will not hesitate to give the military men the go ahead, saying, It is your war: fight it; and may God bless you. Bro. Jackson, you make it sound ferocious. It is! Just stick around awhile and you will see first hand. This Bible is going to talk to you. There are things coming out of this book that is going to make religious leaders swallow their Adam’s apple, so to speak; because they have reduced God to a level where in their mind’s they can only see Him as a loving God that will not hurt anyone. Well I have news for such people: He is still a God of wrath: when it comes to protecting His chosen people from their oppressors. That is why I have said, Just the fact that you may know Hebrew and Greek, does not necessarily teach you anything: unless that happens to be your dialect. No matter what dialect you speak, if you do not allow the Spirit of God to speak to you out of His book your worldly knowledge is vain. In the end, it is only the purpose of God that will be important. Every other thing will be burned up.

THREE TRIBES FACE THE SAME FATE

Let us go to Jeremiah 48, for our next reading. In Ezekiel 35, that prophet spoke of the judgment of Mt. Seir, which we know is the Edomites; but here in this prophecy by Jeremiah, which was given at the time of the siege, Jeremiah could see what all these Arab tribes across the river had done; and how they looked upon the situation. Jeremiah could see how the Edomites, the Moabites and the Ammonites were conducting themselves. Therefore he put all three of these Arab tribes in the same lineup. Start in the 46th verse of the 48th chapter. “Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.” That goes right along with Numbers 24 and all these others we have read. In the 49th chapter we cross over to the Ammonites, so notice what it says. “Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, (Hallelujah! That is a territory right over here where the tribe of Gad existed. It is on this side of the river.) and his people dwell in his cities? Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.” I could go on and read it all; but you can read the rest of it later, and you should; but now we want to go to what is written about Edom, starting in verse 7. “Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.” What does that all add up to? God has a dislike for this bunch of Arabs, no matter what the world at large may say about it. That is why it is their descendants from this side that live over here today that is creating all the trouble, causing all the fussing and squabbling. The rest of the world is saying to the Jews, But you have to live peaceably with the Arabs: they were here first: It is really their land. You have to be willing to share it with them. It is not their land! They were not there first! God (that owns everything) gave all of that land to Abraham and his descendants that would come through Isaac, the promised seed; and those Arabs are trespassers in the sight of God. When the time comes for Israel to once again have it all, God will have no mercy on anyone who resists them. They are not going to share it with the Arabs after that. God is just being merciful to the world right now: He has let the world have their say so. That is why when we go to Zechariah 12, and read of what it will be like when the miraculous is in effect, God says, In that day I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Meaning the time has come, Jerusalem is going to become a focal point. Oh yes. We are going to decide who lives in it, who inhabits it, who is going to control it and whose city it is. As we have pointed out, right now three fourths of its inhabitants are Arabs. They are wanting all the Jews to get out and leave it to them: They have already said so. No sooner did they sign that thing last fall and Arafat’s lieutenant said, The Jews may not know it; but they are going to get out of Jerusalem. When I read that, I said, So you say: But God has said something different about that, and I will take His word for it. In that day I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling. A cup of trembling to who? To them round about: Those who have terrorized the Jews for the last forty some years. In other words, You bunch of Arabs, come on: Come on and get crazy, get blood thirsty. Get yourself worked up just like they did in Mt. Carmel, when Elijah said, Go ahead and call upon your god first. I give you the first opportunity. In other words, you draw first. Go on, draw. They cut their hands, they slashed themselves, they drank and screamed and cried until almost sunset. In my opinion, they were already hoarse. Not one thing had happened. Finally Elijah said, Fill four barrels with water and pour it upon the sacrifice. Then he had them do it twice more, until everything on and around the altar was soaking wet: Then he called upon the great God that had led him this far; and fire came down and consumed everything on the altar, even the stones. Elijah did not have to slash his wrists nor jump up and down on the altar: He just simply uttered a few words of prayer to the God that was able to hear such a prayer and the rest was soon to be history. I have to tell you, God will always give the opposition an opportunity to do whatever is in their heart’s to do: Then He does whatever it takes to move His plan and purpose forward. Let us again notice the 12th chapter of Zechariah, concerning another category of people. Verse 2, which we just spoke of, declares that God will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about; but let us read a couple more verses with that verse and get the whole picture. (2) “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. (3) And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (4) In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” That covers all those who become involved with the affairs of Israel through a process on the diplomatic table. That is the U.N. When the U.N. starts sticking their nose in, to try to help out this bunch of Arabs over here, to get their problems solved, then there is going to be trouble. I sometimes like to say, There is going to be trouble in the chicken house. I can actually say it in a humorous way, because it is so much like Elijah, up there on Mt. Carmel saying, Go on, scream a little louder: Maybe your god has gone to sleep, or maybe he is on a journey somewhere. When the hour has come, God begins to talk to western leaders, Come on, come on, what do you say we ought to do with Jerusalem? Come on, make a suggestion. God said, though the whole world, though all the nations of the earth be gathered together against it, that is not all the world’s armies looking at her: It is all the world’s diplomatic secretaries and heads of state sending their peace envoys over there, trying to solve the Middle East problem. God says, Come on, what do you say Britain, come on France, the Netherlands, Germany, come on, cast your lot, cast your vote. Then God said, Though all the nations of the earth be gathered together against Jerusalem, I will break them to pieces. If any of you can remember how it was back there in the 1967 war Israel fought with the Arabs, it will give you a little insight on how it will be again very soon. That was twenty some years ago; and I realize some of you young folks were not even born then; but you can still go dig out some of the old Newspapers, or other records of history and read about it. Anyhow your hour is coming. You will see first hand, how God causes Israel to excel and do valiantly in battle. I pray that we will all have our eyes open and our ears unstopped. When God brings Israel into that interval of time, I believe from the time that verse sets in motion wherein the miraculous begins to be displayed, until that week of Daniel goes into effect, time is not going to be very long. I believe the little bride of Jesus Christ is also going to be dealt with by the Spirit of God from the standpoint of the miraculous. It is the way the Spirit of God is taking the people, putting them together, dressing them up and getting them ready to leave this world, that makes it even more evident that the time is short. It will not take very long time wise, for the fulfillment of these prophecies we have been looking at; and when they are fulfilled, that will not leave much to be fulfilled before Jesus comes for His bride Church. We cannot shorten the time for the total fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39; but even still, seven years is not very long. I would say we are looking at a scope of time of not more than about ten years. People jump to all kinds of conclusions when you speak of a time factor for something like this; but saints, there is no reason for alarm: just as long as we do not try to pin it down to a day and hour and go contrary to the written word of God. We are simply looking at what God Himself has given us to look at. What we are looking at, to me, is absolutely a Biblical yardstick of measurement of time, that God, through His grace, has gave to us as human individuals to look at, and be guided by. If we cannot understand what the Bible says concerning the closing out of the time we are living in, and how to look at a generation, and a season of time in relationship to certain prophecies that are dropping in place, then it would not do us one bit of good to expect God to speak to us in a prophetical manner by the thunders. If we cannot understand that which is written, how would we understand something that is not yet written? May God be praised! He is the time keeper.

WE CAN ONLY SEE WHAT GOD SHOWS US

In the light of what has happened in the Middle East, especially the signing of this peace agreement with the PLO, a lot of people are made to believe this will affect prophecy of the scriptures: In other words hinder God. No saints. Nothing is going to hinder God: He has a time frame for everything that has been written in prophecy large and small. I personally, have not felt that any of this delays anything God has purposed to do. He just allows mankind to have an opportunity to try to work out some things their way, so that when their efforts fail, they have no justifiable reason to blame Him. Prophecy is not jeopardized: You can count on that. From one standpoint it sort of looked like it would be; but from another standpoint we have to realize God has it all in His hand and He knows what He is doing. Let us go back and once again read our main text for this message. Micah 7:11-17, is what we started with. To me, the hour we are living in stands out so vividly, because it lets us know there is a point in time when God becomes concerned about a specific thing; and that is the old city of Jerusalem and the temple. It starts in the 11th verse like this, “In the day that thy walls are to be built, (meaning Jerusalem and the temple) in that day shall the decree be far removed. (Meaning what God has spoken in ancient times concerning the Jews, how He would scatter them to the ends of the world, but in the last days He would gather them back, but now as He is bringing them back, there has to be a point in time where their chastisement and His dealing with them in severity definitely comes to an end. He then starts dealing with them in a blessing fashion.) (12) In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. (Meaning every Jew that God has His eye on, no matter where they are, nor how remote and isolated the places may be, God has their name, and their number; and He knows exactly when and how to bring them home.) (13) Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. (This verse lets us know that God is speaking in behalf of the Arab people: how they have treated the land.) (14) Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. (15) According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt (God is giving us a background, showing us that He intends to do something in a specific manner.) will I shew unto him marvelous things. (16) The nations (That is us.) shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. (17) They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.” Saints, that is a promise, it is a prophecy, and it cannot fail. As we look at that promise, then we can ask ourselves this question, In the light of what we are going to read, are we really close to this hour? As we preached this same message, giving it another title, Looking Through Windows of Prophecy, to the end, we realize from the year 1939 when WW2 was set in motion, that began the dealings of God with a people in Europe to the eventual purpose of bringing them back into the land. Many years have come and gone since then; but when we reach here, we have to realize, from here on is the era of the miraculous; and it will remain so right on into the week of Daniel. Once the miraculous starts, everything will move right along until the whole picture is complete. There will be no more long intervals in between events like it has been in the past. God has reserved this until the end because right here, is where He begins to reveal His power, to the intent that there are certain things in the world of human society that God wants to accomplish in peoples personal attitude’s as to how they look at God. When we live in an hour of atheism, with professors of all kinds of high tech ideas, and high minded scientists, whose minds are locked up in scientific findings and all that kind of things, you would have to think the world has completely forgotten about God: lost all contact with Him altogether. Yet God has a way of getting attention. I read in the Jerusalem Post, that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has vehemently denounced a call by Jewish rabbis, (Three national rabbis, have announced to all IDF soldiers, meaning Israeli Defense Forces, that they should not take any active part in seeking to oust any Jew from the settlements in any of these negotiated areas. He is the guy that promoted this peace plan; So he has denounced a call by these rabbis for IDF soldiers to disobey any orders given them to evacuate Jewish settlers from Hebron, or elsewhere, terming it political incitement. These three leading rabbis from the national religious camp reiterated a ruling issued last year instructing soldiers on how to act if they received orders to evacuate Jewish settlers. You must refuse it like you would refuse an order to eat pork. There is a lot more to it. This whole thing will definitely all hinge around Jerusalem. That is the spot all of this points to. I also have a Jewish paper evidently printed in the Louisville area. This is about the Jerusalem problem. The U.N. has endorsed another resolution, and in this article, the Jewish organizations from the world over are condemning the United States for even standing in the U.N. and allowing this thing to go through. The mayor of Jerusalem, members of congress and nearly every major American Jewish organization have weighed in with immediate criticism of U.N. Security Council resolution 280. Jerusalem’s mayor sent a letter to President Clinton expressing shock and disappointment that the U.S. government did not veto the U.N. resolution. The letter which was released on Sunday stated, This resolution which is intended to entice the PLO back to the negotiating table, will in fact create serious obstacles in the peace process by raising false and unrealistic expectations on the part of the Palestinians regarding the future of Jerusalem. The people of Israel will refuse to support any move that raises doubts as to the status of Jerusalem, as the united capital of the state of Israel. It goes on and, there is a lengthy article concerning the whole thing. There are many more different leaders speaking out against this. In here it says, When you try to move the Jewish settlements, then the Jews will be coming off the walls at you, from every angle. Reading that, makes you feel like we could be getting close to something. Keep in mind, it is not just keeping the Gaza Strip, it is not just keeping the Jericho area. That is not the final point. That is just a beginning thing the PLO’s are trying to use, because they feel like if they get Israel to consent to that, then they have a right to demand that the Jews also get out of Jerusalem. Why? Because Jerusalem is the focal point. These other areas are just stepping stones to what the PLO’s are really after. In other words they know, If Israel would not give up Jericho and Gaza, they would certainly not give up Jerusalem; but if they can put the pressure on and create enough disturbance to get the leaders of Israel to negotiate, and agree to this first proposal, that will give them an opportunity to put the pressure on for other compromises also. That is why I have to believe, that when this thing has all come to its final determination the Jews will be keeping these areas also. In the light of what we are using for our text, we have to come to the conclusion that all of this is just setting the stage for greater things yet to come. Remember, God has said, According to the days of thy coming out of Egypt, Thus and so. Meaning what? Well for one thing, It points to former days of the miraculous power of God working on behalf of fulfilling His promise to Abraham. It was days of disappointments, trials, severe pressure and tests and all such like; but through each one of these episodes there was the miraculous. The miraculous was the means by how Israel was brought another step forward in their journey toward the land of promise. In this likewise, since we are living in the last days, and the whole world is watching this scene, God has it all programmed to attract maximum attention from the world at large. God has watched how the world has gone in the past number of years while He has been slowly restoring a little element of people back to one of the smallest spots on earth, a place no larger than the state of Vermont. In the eyes of the world that is just a small speck; but when we look into the scriptures and see how God has promised that the twelve tribes of Israel would all be brought back and inhabit the land according to their former estates, it becomes very large in the eyes of those who believe God will fulfill all that He has promised. It excites me: because I know what will soon follow all of that; and that is what I am waiting for: the chance to be with Jesus. Therefore let us look at this, realizing that we are moving toward the consummation of this present age. We know the world, as the end approaches, will initiate a time we refer to as the seventieth week of Daniel. In that week, the last half of it which is 3 1/2 years, there will be a time of trouble such as the world has never known before, called “the great tribulation. It is going to be a time of trouble such as the world has never had before and never will have again after it. We also believe that as we are approaching that period of time spoken of in Hosea 6:2, that says, After two days He will revive us, and we have to believe that these two days, which are two thousand years, are also running parallel to calendar time and will come together somewhere around 2000 A.D., which is just ahead of us. According to our best calculations, Hosea 6:2 runs out just about four and one half years beyond the year 2000. That is why I said, We are looking at a span of time of about ten years, or maybe twelve years if we want to stretch it: to a drastic change from what we have known in the past. Why do you say that Bro. Jackson? Because even though I am persuaded that God means for the bride Church to know the season for this change, I am never going to be guilty of trying to pin it down to an exact time: Not even any certain month. I know we have people in this world that will say, Well if you can get within a month Bro. Jackson, surely we ought to be able to get within a week. Listen to what I am saying, Why should we even try? I am just thankful to be allowed to see that we are living in a season that according to the scriptures, lets me know Jesus is soon coming. We are living in a generation that Jesus said would see the end of all these prophecies we have been looking at. There is no guess work about, if we believe this Bible is truly the inspired word of God. Through the past number of years there has been so many people set dates and times for certain events, and none of them have been vindicated; and the people who set those dates are still here and do not even make any attempt to apologize for misleading other souls. I have observed that there are very few people alive today, that can keep their head’s balanced when they are looking at anything in the way of prophecy of the scriptures. If we cannot be content just to be allowed to see that we are living in a generation, (and in the season Jesus spoke of) which would not pass away until all those things they were looking at would be fulfilled, what is it going to take to comfort us? What else would God have to do? I am thankful to God, just to be allowed to see what we do see. I know that as we get closer to the end, you are going to hear some of the most crazy calculations put together that human mind’s are capable of; and I do not want to be part of any such foolishness. I do want to be part of a generation and people that realize they are living in the season of the coming of the Lord. If we are approaching that, and I truly believe we are because all signs are pointing to the fact that God is looking toward Jerusalem, we need to get serious about our preparation to meet the Lord. He knows what is going on in the Gaza Strip. He knows exactly what is going on in the Jericho area: But I believe the focal point is Jerusalem. I cannot ignore the fact that the Bible says those Arabs are to be far removed from there. But if they are to be far removed, then there has to be a reason for them to be removed. The Jewish people are not to feel condemnation and guilt on their part, when they drive those troublemakers from their presence; so to me, that says those Arabs are going to do something that necessitates such an action. At least God has, in mercy and grace, allowed world leaders to throw in their carnal application; but all of that will wind up as nothing before it is all concluded. At least God is not guilty of failing to give them a chance. God can say, I gave you an opportunity and what did you do with it? You ruined it every time: because of your selfish, carnal ways. Not everyone will see this situation the way we are presenting it; but I believe the Bible vindicates every bit of it. The God we serve is a righteous God; and He has been long suffering all these many centuries in allowing unrighteous mankind an opportunity to enter into His plan of redemption and restoration; but there eventually has to be an end to what He allows His enemies to do in resisting His ultimate goal; and I truly believe we are fast approaching that time. He already knows the name of every individual that will ever believe and surrender up to His perfect plan of righteousness; so He is not going to cut it off prematurely; but neither will he be one day late: He has it worked out to perfection.

SOME JUDAEAN JEWS YET TO COME HOME

Let us go back to the 49th chapter of Isaiah. I know there are some who are more interested in some particular ball team than they are in what is happening in the Middle East; but I am more interested in what is going on in the Middle East; because that is what the Bible gives us to measure time by. I could not care less about these basketball players and how many games they win. When God spoke here concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem, it goes with the 60th chapter. That is why we have to look at them together: They go hand in hand. Once the era of the miraculous is set in motion, then the ultimate aim is, Jerusalem is to be rebuilt and become inhabited by Judaean Jews. There is no doubt that there is still another element of Judaean Jews scattered out here in the world that are yet to be brought in. It is going to take the miraculous to cause the heart of those Jews to become spiritually drawn to the fact that they belong back there in the land of their forefathers. They are definitely Jews that are of the kindred line of King David. Why that, Bro. Jackson? All because back in ancient times when King David took the city of the Jebusites, it was not a large city. In the eyes of the world today, we would call it a village. However it became known for a long time as King David’s city. He built a palace there. It was the area God showed him, and the area where the first temple was built by his son, Solomon. It was mainly people of his own lineage, of his family heritage, that settled in and around there. So as we read this prophecy, let us keep in mind the fact that we are living in 1994. We could be a year away, two years away, or even three years away from the starting of this process of the miraculous; but I have to say, Once all these prophecies that we have been dwelling on, looking at the miraculous, start falling into place, it will not take a long time to wrap up the whole thing. I have them all set down here together so you can look at them again later. There are eight prophecies in this group, speaking of what Israel must do to the land of Jordan and so forth. Here they are. Numbers 24, Zephaniah 2:8-11, Isaiah 11:12-14, Jeremiah 48 & 49, Obadiah 1:10, Amos 9:11-12, Isaiah 19, and Zechariah 12. All these prophecies are speaking of what God is going to let Israel do to the Edomites, the Moabites and the Ammonites in the last days. That is in this area right here. (pointing to chart) That land definitely belongs to Israel. In ancient times there never was a country called Jordan. There were certain tribes, Reuben, Gad, Benjamin, and those that lived over there. There was the Edomites in the south, the Moabites right next to them, then the Ammonites up along here. The rest of it was the children of Israel. It has to return to that same structural division. That is why in Isaiah it says, “And the Ammonites will serve Israel.” There is no doubt once God turns Israel loose to sweep across this land to fulfill all these prophecies, (This is not eight applications. It is eight prophecies all stacked on top of each other, of what God through Israel will do to these people in the last days, that sets in motion the era of the miraculous.) it is more than just the fact that God wants to show the world how Israel can fight a war. It is how God display His power in it all, that gets the attention of a lot of people in this world; because there is something in the heart’s of a lot of those people that God wants to use. Also let me say this, No doubt when Israel does this, she will know that she will definitely have to deal with that country of Iraq also; because when God led Abraham into this land, He took him up on a high mountain to view the land He was giving him. He said He would let him have all the land from the great river, (which meant the Euphrates) right through here to the great river of Egypt; and to the great sea and as far as his eyes could see to the east. With that before her, Israel has an objective; but right now the world, in all its political, organized status, causes this to look like it is totally blocked. Yet I say, What better hour in time could the unbelieving man of the world live, than an hour like this? We have science on our side, they say. We have the military on our side. We have the high tech means of choking the life out of Israel any time she gets too hard to deal with. That is just what they think: That is not the way it is going to be. When the whole world begins to think like that, What better hour could God choose to say to them, Come here, I want to teach you something. Always remember, when He led the children of Israel out of Egypt, He did not take them the old caravan route along the coast. He took them right straight across the desert to the Red Sea, an unknown way. There He did the miraculous. Just remember, with that hour approaching, when God will again lead Israel in that way, we would have to know we are living in that transition period, as we watch the hand of God, through politicians, create confusion and disarray, getting the stage set for the big show. The Arabs are against the Jews, no matter what some may hope for. The Jews are against the Arabs. Therefore as this thing explodes, there is no doubt we are going to hear of some terrible atrocities and all kinds of upheavals in social structures, and yes, even of many innocent people losing their lives in the transition of this thing. Something drastic has definitely got to take place there, to cause certain politicians to be projected to the forefront in Israel’s leadership. Isaiah 11, and Zechariah 12, are two prophecies that speak of how the leaders in Israel in the last days would be; and those in leadership at this present time do not fit the description. Isaiah 11, says Israel will be a terror to those round about. She has never yet fulfilled that. Then Zechariah 12 says the governors of Judaea will be like a torch in a pile of wood. When you begin to read those scriptures, you are made to realize that Israel does not presently have politicians that would fill the bill for that time. She has not had any such men in office for sometime now. Rabin and Peres stand ready to sell out, completely disregarding prophecies of the scriptures. Peace at any cost, seems to be their motto. Well it is not always going to stay like that. If there is going to be leaders of Israel in that day, that are going to put their trust completely in their God, it would take a great stretch of one’s imagination to visualize Rabin and Peres sitting in such a place. When you read Zechariah 12, it speaks like this, (5) “And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. (6) In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” That lets you see that the leaders of Israel in that hour realize that Jerusalem is to be rebuilt to prepare to receive their Messiah; and to prepare for the Millennium. (That is what we call it: they are looking for that kingdom age.) For that reason, they are going to put their trust in God, knowing full well that He will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem in that day. He has His eye on Jerusalem. All these prophecies are zeroing their sights on a focal point. As we read here in Isaiah, the prophecy is how the anointing of God’s Spirit speaks on behalf of the land itself, Mt. Zion, where that ancient city is existing. I am going to start reading in the 11th verse of chapter 49. “And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.” That is symbolic language, which means this, When the hour has arrived that God is ready for the city to be rebuilt and inhabited by Jewish people, He is able to go into the nations where those people are, move upon them in a way to cause them to want to go home; and then cause them to find their way from where they are, back to Jerusalem. Highways in this sense, does not mean God is going to be building more super highways across the world just for that purpose. It is how His miraculous power breaks down political opposition and hindrances that have stood in the way through these many years, (like in Russia in the past) and cause them to be at liberty to return to the land of their father’s. We know how Russia has stood against this thing of Jews immigrating back to Israel. More than anything else, it was because of the Arabs putting pressure on them, saying, Do not let any more of them come back here; but when God knocked that wall down, there was nothing they could do about it. On the other hand, when we come to this future junction, God is dealing with a specific element of Jews that must be dealt with in a certain way, in order to fulfill a certain development. Notice verses 12 and 13. “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. (China) Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted.” I have to believe the world has seen that. But now the prophecy sounds like the land itself, Mt. Zion, is beginning to doubt. Listen. “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. (The Lord answers back.) Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” So even the Jew today that would dare to read the prophecies of his prophet, and yet have doubt in their hearts as to the reality, how soon this might be, I believe the hour is approaching he is going to have to realize, and God is going to show the Jewish people that it is going to take this to open their eyes, their hearts, and to encourage them. I have not brought you back here just to make you a racial state and to set you up in business so you can make more dollars, and so you can till the land six days. Then in order to keep the Levitical law the land is supposed to rest the seventh, you rent it to an Arab so he can go ahead and till it through that year. That is what caused Israel to be thrown out of the land for a long time, and she still comes back with a lot of that same old carry over. Therefore we can see that there is a reason why God has to deal with the Jews in certain ways like that. God promises here, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; (In this prophecy God is looking at old Jerusalem.) thy walls are continually before me.” It is true when we read in Ezekiel 38 and 39 about the time when Russia is to come into this prophetic fulfillment, she will come down to a land of unwalled villages, villages that no longer have bars nor gates: a time when God says, My people Israel dwells safely. That is true, but keep in mind this old ancient city of Jerusalem, there is going to be walls rebuilt because the city itself has to take on its ancient appearance. We might say this, God wants the world to know this has been His focal point for centuries. Here is where He unfolded His plan of redemption to the whole wide world. Here is where the King of kings and Lord of lords is going to sit during that thousand year reign. The walls around the old city in that hour of time are not for military protection; and they do not affect the accuracy of this prophecy in the least, if you know how to read it. Does the Bible not say, In that day thy walls shall be called salvation? It sets a compound type. In ancient types it was physical salvation they enjoyed when they could get inside those walls. They felt safe. That is what they were for; but in the future setting the walls take on a different meaning. They will no longer be used for military protection; but they do definitely stand as a type; and it is written of them, In that day thy walls shall be called salvation; and thy gates shall be called praise. Looking at the 17th verse, you see that the hour has arrived; God is looking at Jerusalem. The world right now is saying to the Jew, you must get out. As the Jews in the Gaza Strip settlements get out, the Jews in the Jericho settlements get out, the Jews in the Golan Heights settlements get out, then the Jews that have moved into the old sector of Jerusalem to set up their habitation are hearing, You have to get out too. No. No. To me, Jerusalem is a focal point. That is why God has saved it to deal with last; simply because, once the miraculous starts, it will not stop until the world has been ushered into that seventieth week of Daniel. “Thy children shall make haste; (That means the Jews of the heritage of David that are to be the ones that will become the occupants of this city in that hour of renewal, will make haste and come; but if they are to make haste, it is not because of pressure out there, but rather because of the miraculous they have been witnessing. A spirit of excitement will begin to move upon them and make them want to hurry back there to be partakers of the benefits.) thy destroyers (those that have lived there for centuries) and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, (The Lord says this to old Jerusalem as that hour approaches.) and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely (He is speaking to old Jerusalem) clothe thee with them all, (Jews) as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste (Here is the second time He mentions it. and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,) (That is the Arabs.) and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.” That plainly tells us that as the Arab, the PLO, through this present peace process they have negotiated, have set a demand that all these Jews get out of this occupied territory. To think that Rabin has willingly sold the nation down the drain to retreat and compromise. You can see what a disappointment it is going to be, when the same people that are now demanding that the Jews give up and get out, are the ones themselves who are going to be hauled away, never again to return as residents. Whatever they wanted the Jew to suffer, that is what they themselves are going to suffer. That is what all these many prophecies add up to. As the Edomites and Moabites and all those stood on the other side and watched Jerusalem and the Jews in those sieges of Nebuchadnezzar, shouting, Tear down, take her to the foundation, God was watching; and it is just about pay back time. Then those Jews, years later in Babylon, as we read in the 137th Psalm, sang, We hung our harps on the willow trees; and those Babylonians taunted and teased them, saying, Come on Jews, sing us one of your songs of Zion. Make us feel happy. Their reply was, How could we sing the songs of Zion when we consider Jerusalem. O Lord, remember the children of Edom in the days of Jerusalem. You just have to put the picture together. There is no doubt God is allowing these Arabs to rise up with hostility, with world favoritism on their side, to set the agenda to really put the Jews under pressure; but then, as God opens that hour of the miraculous, this whole picture is going to take a complete change. Once this thing is in full swing, these words fit into the picture. (49:20) “The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, (meaning those in ancient times) shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.” As we read this, I want to remind you that in Zechariah 10, there is another prophecy about the second move. In Zechariah 10 God said He would visit the house of Judah first; and afterward He would bring Joseph or Ephraim. Together they would become a mighty man.