FROM HERE TO ETERNITY – Part 26, 8/16/2020 pm
It will be five years in November since I had the heart attack (November 2015). The doctor asked me then if I wanted to do a treadmill test or have him check through blood work? I told him I do not want to do a treadmill test, so he did the other. After only one minute he stopped the test. Then they did an echocardiogram and the technician looked very concerned at what she was seeing. When the doctor came in after reviewing the results, he said: “You have had a massive heart attack”. That surprised me. He wanted to put me in the hospital that day, which was a Friday. I said: “No. I cannot until Monday”. When I went that Monday, they put in two stents.
I have had several electro-cardiogram (EKG) tests since then. Last month, in July, I had another one. He said your heart is getting stronger. He did another type of test and said he would let me know if anything is wrong. I never heard from him. Then I went to my family doctor. He checked my heart and had a smile on his face. He said: “Your heart checks out at 60”. I did not know what that meant. He told me that is the highest it can go, even football players’ hearts are no stronger than that. He was happy and he told me; “You are batting one thousand percent; you have NO blockage”. I praise The Lord for that. He has been so good to me!
Ready for a Wedding
I am going back to the scripture I was on this morning. Where it said, hinder me not seeing that the Lord has prospered our journey, in the 56th verse. The man was on a mission. He was representing Abraham. Abraham was representing God. As you go over into Romans and into Hebrews, you will find what God did in their lives at that time. We are in Genesis 24:56. This is one of the longer chapters. I went over much of it this morning. But there are other things in this that will relate to the same thing, concerning Rebekah. The woman was a very wise woman because she listened to God, and she believed the servant that God had sent unto her. Because of this, God honored her life and blessed her very much. “And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.” The servant was talking about Abraham when he said, “Let me go to my master.” But Abraham is not the first one he is going to meet. We will see what he did. “And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.” There was no hesitation in what she was saying. The family has listened to what the servant had said to them, and they are wanting to put it off for a little while. But the decision we have to make is a decision that cannot be delayed. We must decide the way that we are going to go now. I am not talking about tonight, but many have already made that decision that they are going to go wherever the Lord leads them.
I want to deal with other things in this, just to show the hand of God at work. People sometimes get discouraged. Things happen in the lives of people that discourage them. Sometimes it is our fault, sometimes it is just something the devil placed upon us. But God uses these things to work in our lives. I would have to look it up, but it is translated somewhere that Abraham was tempted of God. God does not tempt. As James said, God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. God tests, but God does not tempt people. To tempt somebody would be like if you had a child that you offered a firecracker to, a little two-year-old boy, then you are tempting that boy. Because he does not know what to do with it. God would never do that to us. But if you offer something to someone and you tell them the outcome of it, then that is not a temptation, it is a test. If it is your child or whoever it is, it is a test to see what they will do with it. My oldest grandson was told by his dad and his mom that the stove was hot. Finally, he touched it and burnt a place on his arm. The words did not help, but whenever the test came, then it did. He was checking to see if it really was what they were telling him, then he learned to stay away from that fire after he was burned. He had a scar on his arm for a while after that.
They called to Rebekah; will you go with this man. She said, “I will go”. No hesitation, no thought about anything else except that she had heard the message. The message came from the servant, it did not come from Isaac, the message did not come from Abraham, but it came from Abraham through a servant. God uses His ministry like that. Or He may use somebody else to speak to your heart. They have a message that should be heeded. If I or someone else saw somebody that was about to be in trouble, then it is up to me or that other person that is looking on the scene, to try to stop what is going on, that they are not harmed. “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, (We know that is the truth, be thou the mother of thousands of millions…) and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.” That was something being spoken by her family here, but this was also spoken by God to Abraham just two chapters before: that his seed would possess the gate of his enemies (those that hate them). We see that in the life of Abraham. They are saying something here that they probably do not know what they are saying. “And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: (See? That was not all of it. They followed the man because the man is the one that had the message from Abraham. They had believed thus far, and they are going to go with the message they have heard. We have believed thus far; we are not stopping for something else or anyone else. Sometimes we get ourselves in trouble by listening to too many voices. There are voices out there, of which Paul gave warning, Peter gave a very strong warning concerning the things that would try to trip us up in our life. They were asking us to just follow the Lord because they had the word of the Lord. I believe that to be the case in this hour. I believe that sons and daughters of God are carrying a word in their heart that has been planted there by the Spirit of the Lord through the ministry that God has raised up throughout the years. I know it was told to the Philadelphian age that there was a door that was opened. We know Wesley opened that door and others walked into it with a message. We find different ones that lived out that message until it all came to the Laodicean age. I remember Bro. Jackson talking about one man that had prayed as people came across a certain bridge that whoever came across that bridge would fall under conviction. Everyone that came across the bridge that day fell under conviction of the Lord. We find the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. It is not something to be snubbed at, but it is something to be reverent to. Someone who really knows the Lord and has the voice of God in their hearts and in their minds, God may use through a prophecy or through tongues and interpretation. But whatever way it comes, it is a message from the Lord to tell someone something. We know there is a ministry that God has called. But God has also called children to follow up on that. When you look at it in 1st Corinthians chapter 12, you see nine spiritual gifts. This is not nine different preachers. Some of it happens in the lives of other people. We know the gifts of the spirit are brought about differently in our lives. It may not even show up in someone as speaking in tongues or prophecy, but they have a call of God in their lives to be able to see something done. There are people that are called to pray for the sick and there are people that are called to do different things other than to minister. But they have a calling in their life, and it has worked through the years. We want to be sure that we pray about and respect that.
Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode on the camels, and followed the man…) and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.” It is not long after this until she is going to find something that has been talked about. It is not going to be long now until we find the one that has called us. He is preparing us now for that wedding supper that is to come. Verse 63: “And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: (At the evening time, which we are living in today.) and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.” Her excitement is coming here at last, after a long ride. This was probably five or six hundred miles that they rode on camels to get there. You can see why the servant wanted to hurry back, because his journey would probably have been a month or longer if he had waited. But this way he is going to get back ten days earlier. Because there is excitement. There is coming a day whenever Israel gets her land back, that there is going to be excitement in the camp. We know our redemption is drawing nigh. As we look around us at things that are happening, we know redemption is drawing nigh. But we know when Israel gets her land back and begins to build the temple, that it will not be long then. “For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? (Who is this? She had never seen this man; she had just heard about him. We have never seen Him, we have just heard about Him, heard the truth about Him. Some may have seen different shapes or forms, but when we really see Him, it is going to be different than any shape or form that has been seen. What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us…) And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself.” She took her veil and covered herself, she was getting ready for a wedding. No doubt she had her wedding dress ready. She got off the camel, ready to meet her bridegroom.
We can just ride this thing so long, one of these days it is coming to a climax. Then we are going to see the One we have been serving, that we have been worshiping, that we have been singing to, that we have been happy about. Why? Because He forgave us of our sins. Some feel that they have failed God and that maybe they have gone too far, but that is not the truth. That is not the truth, because Jesus went all the way to hell to preach to the imprisoned spirits, and also to bring with Him those that were in the paradise part of hell. The devil wants you to think you have gone too far. Why do I say these things tonight? Because I feel there is somebody that needs help. This could be the night that you receive that touch from the Lord that looses the binding that binds you, loosens that yoke that is upon you. It is not too late, but one day it will be too late. God is a God of mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I feel somebody is walking very close to the edge. Things of the world have come in. You may have had a hard time. You may have had disappointments, but that is no reason to walk away from what is real and what is truth. Our life is more than what we can buy with money. Our life is more than our houses, our homes, our cars, our boats or anything in this life that we are trusting in. It may be that you thought it was too hard. What is the outcome of the other way? If this is too hard, then what is the ultimatum of a life without God? I do not usually preach this way; you know I do not. But when I read the story here, which is a reality, this happened almost four thousand years ago. The Word of God is always real. It was written for our learning, for our education in His curriculum, not in man. Colleges today are teaching all different ideas and opinions, Marxism and all such things to try to ruin the minds of young people. It is hatching out the different things you see in the streets today because of some professor who thinks like Lenin or Marx. They have stood up before young people and persuaded them that they were being misused and mistreated. I am not talking about young college people who have a purpose in life. I am talking about what the devil is doing to these young minds that think they know more than their dad and mom did. Because of that, they hate their parents. But here is Rebekah, a young woman, possibly in her early twenties that made a decision that she was going to follow God because she had heard about Him. The message was not just because of Abraham sending the message, it was because of God appointing a bride for a son that was going to be inheriting everything. It was not through Abraham because Abraham had children with different wives. It was through Isaac. “But, in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” The whole Jewish element of people rests upon this story that is happening here as we read it. (I call it a story, but it is reality.) If this decision had not been made, there never would have been a Jewish nation. You cannot just go and get anybody to try to fulfill the will of God. Esau did that. Esau was not someone that could be trusted.
Rebekah had said to the servant, what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? The servant said, “It is my master.” Therefore, she took a veil and covered herself… “And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.” We do not read it here, but he tells him the story, because we already know the story. He spent quite a bit of time telling him just what had happened.
I want to be able to tell after all this is over, that I have presented somebody to Jesus Christ, not to myself. It is He that we are elevating. The religious ministry of today has elevated themselves. The preachers who were in the pulpits this morning, are not there tonight. If there was a football game going on tonight, they would be there. But we have an interest in something else. The days and the times have been long. I never thought when I heard Bro. Branham that it would have lasted through 1977, because he had looked at things and said, the way things are happening, it looks as though it will be over by 1977. But then Bro. Jackson came along, and he did not think that his children would ever get through high school. But they went through high school and their children have gone through high school, and some of the next generation have finished high school. Time has moved slowly, but we feel the urgency now. Time is slipping away, but time does not matter to the saints of God because time will go into eternity. The children of God have eternal life already. I know Bro. Branham was looking for rapturing faith. It will take no more faith for a rapture than it will for our brothers and sisters that went in the grave for them to come forth. If you are a child of God and you are following the word of God, you will have rapturing faith. There is no mistake about it, we are on a journey that has been going on for two thousand years. It dates to the time of Abraham. Abraham was the father of the faithful. That is why God called him to be what he was. In Abraham shall all the families of the earth be blessed. But it came through Isaac. Isaac was the type of Jesus Christ. He only had one wife. He was the only one at that time that did. Look at the kings, look at David, look at Solomon, and Saul, and all the others that were kings after them. They had many wives. Sisters, how would you like to live with that? The thing about it is, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. It went on through Jacob, through Judah, and from Judah right on down to Christ. Jesus was born in the house of Judah.
I watched Jonathan Cahn the other night, there was something he said that I liked. He was talking about Jesus when He was baptized. I had never thought of this before. He said when Jesus was baptized, He was baptized by a Levite. That is the truth, but I had never thought about it that way. He said the mother of John the Baptist was a Levite, his father was a Levite, because Jesus had to be baptized by a Levite. This was the ministry of the Levites. I like that statement. It did not just happen haphazardly that Jesus was baptized. Bro. Branham said this, every offering before it is ever offered, had to be washed. Jesus, before His ministry ever started, He had to go to the river to be baptized by a Levite, John the Baptist. John had a different name than the Levites did. He presented Him, he stood there and said, Behold the Lamb of God, offering the sacrifice of God. That is what he was saying. This is God’s Lamb, this is God’s offering, prophesying before it ever came about that this was God’s offering. Jesus heard him. He knew it, especially from that time on. Whenever He was baptized, the Holy Ghost came upon Him, into Him. It did not just happen like a dove and fly and light on Him, it went into Him. He was injected with God. That is where the trinitarians have it all wrong. They think that Jesus was God. No, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. That is why we have forgiveness. To the Christian it says, confess your sins. He is willing and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The Bible says to come boldly unto the throne of grace that you may receive help in the time of need. Verse 66 again, “And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, (Sarah had died three years earlier. Isaac had become a lonely man. He knew his mother had believed that she would have a son, she had to. God named him Isaac. Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent…) and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” For three years he had no comfort. But now he is comforted.
The Birthright
We will read more here in the 25th chapter, starting with the 19th verse. “And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.” He gets her from kinfolk. He does not just randomly choose a wife. She is his kin. Brothers and sisters, we are kinfolks by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am not your uncle, I am not your cousin, I am your brother. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters. This is not by what we have done. This is what He has done within us to make us become what we are. When Isaac took Rebekah, she did not become his property, she became his helpmate. It said he loved her. She has no children yet. “And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; (They did not have the testing like we do today to tell whether you have twins, but these children struggled within her. She realized there was something wrong. She did not know there were twins there, but God showed her something. The children struggled together within her…) and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.” This is the one that said, “I will go”. She went to inquire of the Lord, what is going on? God is going to talk to her. “And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, (He did not tell Isaac, He told Rebekah, two nations are in thy womb…) and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” She has an answer now from the Lord about what is going on within her. Two nations have already begun their struggle. Even in the womb they are struggling. They are looking for a position. “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; (The struggle was not over. He had grabbed the heel while he was being born.) and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.” He had waited twenty years, from the age of forty to the age of sixty, before he had a child. Rebekah is probably around forty years old.
Then, they lived a lot longer than they do now. I saw where the oldest woman in America turned 116 years old. They asked her how she lived that long, and she said: I tried to live a good life and do the right things and I served The Lord.
I will read on; “And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, (That is sometimes a problem. I tried never to show respect to one of my children more than another. But sometimes people do. And many times, the other children feel that while they are growing up. I saw this happen in my own life. I saw it happen in the lives of other children, but it should not be. Because that leaves a feeling inside a person that is not good. And Isaac loved Esau…) because he did eat of his venison: (When Esau saw this happening, he kept pouring it on. He is wanting the birthright.) but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: (He thought he was going to die. I heard somebody preaching about this one time, he said he lacked something in his body. Yes, he lacked something, the spirit of Jacob, that is what he lacked. Esau said, behold, I am at the point to die…) and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; (He was not just satisfied with the words, he is wanting him to put some effort into it.) and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” In Hebrews Chapter 12 we find that he wept for his birthright, but there was no repentance because he had sold himself out.
Let us go to chapter 27. In this chapter you see something goes on that is very sad. This is a division that works out to God’s perfection. Sometimes family members are pitted one against another in order to fulfill God’s will. “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.” Isaac has no revelation at this time. He is just going by feeling and going by sight. We are talking about the man now; we are not talking about the representation of Christ. “Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” He is overlooking the will of God in order to satisfy someone that has already sold his birthright. “And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.” What is she going by? She is going by revelation. Isaac here is going by sight; by what he feels in the good meals that he has eaten from his son Esau. But God has taken his sight away. Otherwise, he never would have done this. My son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee…. “Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth.” There is some deceit that goes on here. This is a sad picture in a way. In order to fulfill the will of God, it is a sad picture. “And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.” Now this is the sad part of the story. “And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: (Does it happen? She takes the curse upon herself instead of Jacob.) only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all buried in the same tomb. They carried Joseph’s bones back from Egypt. This was one of the prophecies he gave when he was still in the land of Egypt. The burying place is over there now. We were there. Jacob goes back to his cousin Laban. He spends twenty years there, two seven-year periods for two women and another six years he stays for Laban’s cattle. The death of every other woman is mentioned. Sarah is mentioned, Rachel is mentioned, Leah is mentioned. But Rebekah’s death is never mentioned. The curse falls upon her because this is a prophet, Isaac is a prophet. The curse falls upon her because she has taken the curse that belonged to Jacob unto herself, because she listened to the voice of God. It costs a lot to some people, but whenever you go into other scriptures, you will find that she was buried with Abraham, Isaac, and them, you will find that in another scripture. But it does not tell of her death, because Jacob is away when she dies. Because Isaac is the servant of God, the curse comes upon her, and she dies without recognition. But she is in the will of God, because God had told her in the vision what really was going on, and she was willing to sacrifice her life that the will of God might be fulfilled. That is dedication. That is somebody that loved God more than they loved their own life. She took this upon herself. His mother said unto him, upon me be thy curse my son, only obey my voice and go fetch me them. “And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son.” See? This is all done in deceit, but it is all in the will of God. One reason why is when Esau was forty years old, that would have made Isaac a hundred years old, he married two Canaanite women. This showed he was not a child of God. It said he sold his birthright. Then when he saw that it did not please Rebekah and Isaac he went and married one of Ishmael’s daughters. He gets in the fire and does not know how to get out. He is much like Cain was, because he just buries himself deeper and deeper. Of course, he is blessed, but it is not the blessing of Jacob. It cannot be. It cannot happen twice. God does not have two Brides. I can prove this to you. He has people that will have to give their life, foolish virgins, and he has the great multitude, but they will never reign in the category of the Bride, because it calls them servants. They will have a duty to fulfill in the Millennium, but it will not be the same as the Bride of Jesus Christ. This is the highest calling there is. “And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck.” All this must be done in order to get to the right place, but it is costing her her life, because she desired it to be that way. “And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?” He could hear him, but he could not see him. “And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” See? He could not go by sight; he was going by feeling. That was all he had left to be able to discern between one and the other. God is not showing him, because God has a purpose in it. Esau would never be the person that Jacob would be. “And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.” This is all deceit, but it is still working in the plan of God. It is working that way because God has blinded Isaac to the fact. Otherwise, he would have blessed the one that was not to be blessed. “And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of the raiment, (his brother’s raiment) and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.” That is the story, I hope it has meant something to you. It did when I read it. Praise the Lord for His wonderful grace and being able to be acquainted with you as my brothers and sisters. We know that God is always near and a very present help. May The Lord bless you. Let us pray.
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
(I Will Go)
Part 27, 8-23-20 AM
Protest The Devil
There is a lot of trouble going on in the streets today, as people are trying to shut down highways here in Louisville. People want something done according to their own choosing. Our protests today are inside of us, we protest the devil and what he is doing on this earth. It is not only what is happening right now but what has been happening in the past that has brought the earth to the present evil that is here today. The ways of man, the evil of man, brings him to no good end. We find the grace of God brings us to something that is worth living for and worth giving our lives for. May God be praised in it all.
I want to testify about a little trip we were able to take back to North Carolina where my grandparents lived. I was able to contact some of my kinfolks I haven’t seen in 67 years and to go to the cemetery where my mother’s parents and other relatives are buried. We saw beautiful mountainous places where my mother grew up. We had a very close fellowship with some of my cousins. As a teenager I lived there for just a few weeks before moving back to Kentucky. Which was God’s plan. God will do whatever it takes to have His will fulfilled. We had a wonderful time with some wonderful kinfolks. It is good to know that you come from a family who loved God. And to see the untouched beauty that God created.
Aliyah
We will go into Zechariah 4 now. As we look at the book of Zechariah, one of the minor prophets, as they are called. Their revelation was not minor, they have a major message. There are some, like Haggai and others, that pertain to one vision or event that are just one or two chapters. But others, like Micah and those, tell you that Israel is going to get her land back. There is a sequence of events that is going to happen before the Lord comes back, but then whenever it all starts, it will be like a snowball. It will just keep building and building until the final event. When Israel gets her land back, then you can start counting time. We do not know when Israel is going to get her land back. I know Bro. Jackson said it will not be a forty-year war, or even forty days. In 1967 the war lasted six days. But whenever Israel gets her land back, then they are going to begin to build, and to tear down walls. The walls and the fences that surround it will be torn down because they are going to own the land that God gave to Abraham. Many Jews from the United States and Canada are going back home now. The word they use is “Aliyah” which means to ascend or rise. They are going ‘up’ to their home. They are landing there from other countries. We find there are more Jews in Israel now than there are in the rest of the world all put together. A few years back, there were more in the United States than there was in Israel. But they have gained momentum. They have moved from the United States and Canada, Russia, and other parts of the world where they can escape. God said that He would scatter them throughout this earth. You find them in China, in Iran, Iraq, you find them in Pakistan and India. Jews are scattered to the ends of the earth. Because God said He would do that to them. But the majority will go back home because they will come to realize the land is too small for them and they will push into Lebanon. You see Hezbollah now and some of those people that are trying to make tunnels into Israel, to be able to stock up for war. Hamas is building up. Israel has made peace with the United Arab Emirates, and that has agitated the Arabs round about them. They do not like it because Israel signed a peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates. But these are Abraham’s seeds. The name of the treaty is the Abraham Accords. Then we find that Israel is looking for peace now with Saudi Arabia. They have a peace treaty with Egypt, and they have a peace treaty with Jordan. But the peace treaty with Jordan or Egypt is not going to settle things. We find in the 63rd chapter of Isaiah, which Bro. Jackson dealt with many years ago in the message titled “Showdown at Sundown,” as he talked about them coming from Iraq and that part of the world, across Jordan. You see these that are described as ‘round about’ in Zechariah 12 are going to come against Israel and Israel is going to have to take the land that belongs to them. People there have caused Israel so much trouble all along, which were the seed of Esau and Ammon (which today Amman, Jordan is named after). Also, the other descendants of Moab. You find these tribes here are closest to Israel. They are a part of Abraham’s family, but they have agitated the Jews all through the years so God is going to take care of that situation to bring about a change that will develop into a solution for Israel to get her land back. The Bible even talks about them “parting my land” in Joel Chapter 3. You see that in the things that are going on now. They have parted it. This part belongs to the Arabs and this part belongs to the Jews. The Arabs even want Jerusalem as their capital. Of course, they want the whole of Israel to be called Palestine. But I thank God for President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as their capital. You find Hamas and those groups will never make peace with Israel until it is forced upon them. Whenever peace is forced on them, all those that oppose peace will be shoved out. We find God has everything in His hand and knows exactly what He is doing.
The Two Olive Trees
I want to read here from the fourth chapter of Zechariah and see what happens here. I heard a man on television talking about the coming of the Lord. He was referencing Luke 21 and said that Israel was not represented by the fig tree, they were represented by the olive tree. He takes you to a place that speaks of that, but I knew right then and there that the man was wrong. You see that in the first chapter of Joel, and you see it in other places, where they “barked my fig tree” and all. Let us look at the scripture here. Zechariah Chapter 4, Verse 1: “And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? (He is asking Zechariah, what do you see? What are you looking at? So there had to be a vision there of something as that angel speaks to him.) And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof.” You all know what a candelabra is as we call it. This is what he saw. Israel already has the real thing enclosed in glass. Those that have went there have seen it, the candlestick that will be used in the time of Israel recapturing their land. I do not remember how tall it is, but it is a beautiful thing. But what you looked at, that is what is going to be there during the Millennium. They have made it of material that will last. “And two olive trees by it, (We will find out what the two olive trees are.) one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” He changes the subject here but he is going to bring it back up later. “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” The scene looks ahead to the coming of Christ (the Headstone) to rule and reign because it brings it from the headstone of the second temple they are getting ready to build, to the third temple in the Millennium. “Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.” The foundation of the second temple was laid and the temple was finished in one generation of time back there in the fourth century B.C. Verse 10: “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” When you take ‘the eyes of the Lord’ into Revelation, you will see the seven spirits of God there. Now he goes back to the subject. “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Go from there into the book of Revelation, Chapter 11, and see those two olive trees and their meaning. But first I want to go into part of chapter 10, starting with verse 5. “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.” One hand. You see in the book of Daniel chapter 12, both hands. There it is speaking of Israel, which will go into the climax of the last three and one-half years. This one hand is a representation of the Bride of Jesus Christ and of the Jews. I have said this before and I say it again, whenever this seventh seal is opened in the first verse of the eighth chapter the scroll remains open, and it goes over to the message of the two prophets as they come on the scene. “And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.” Or no longer delayed. When you see time will no longer be delayed, this is the time when the Bride of Jesus Christ is going to exit this earth. The seventh verse is an interruption in order to speak of the prophet of our day, William Branham. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, (Which would be Revelation 3, with the Laodicean church age. William Branham was the messenger that was to climax that seventh church age, which came about in 1963 and 1964. That is when the age was closed out, as far as denominationalism. Then go down to verses 20 through 22 of chapter 3, and you will find: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”. That is why the Bride is here today, because Jesus Christ was put out of the denominational church. You see that in Revelation 17 where the great whore is judged at that time. Because she and denomi-nationalism have divorced themselves from The Word of the Lord and came up with their own version.
You see denominationalism in the end time in Revelation chapter 13. The United States as a lamb beast with two horns (the Democratic and Republican parties) causes those that dwell on the earth to make an image to the first beast of chapter 13 (the beast out of the sea). Because most missionaries came from the United States and went around the world after WW2. Some of the generals such as General MacArthur as he was in the Philippines fighting the Japanese and all, he asked that the United States would send missionaries to those countries after they had been defeated. So, it went on from there and now we find that we are in that time. …But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel) when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” The mystery of God should be finished. What is that mystery of God? It is the Jews and Gentiles recognized here in these last days as being the ones that have been influential. The Jewish religion relates unto the Gentiles because that is where Paul’s message came from, from the Jewish prophets and going back in the Law to explain the Law as it was written. So right here you see the same book that is in the angel’s hand never closes. But it has a different unction because it is going back unto the Jews from here on. Because in this eighth verse it says, “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, (One more time he speaks to him.) and said, Go and take the little book which is open (See? It is open.) in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.” He is commanded to go and take the little book. The little book is taken out of the hand of Him that holds it and put into the hand of an angel. Because Jesus Christ is through with it, because the wedding supper is getting ready to start. When the wedding supper starts, then Jesus will be dealing with the Bride of Jesus Christ for her uniting with Him. “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” I would like to say somewhere in this period of time as this little book is taken out of his hand, the Bride of Jesus Christ is going to introduce the Lord unto these two prophets. Because the Bride is going to bring forth the message of who Jesus is unto those two Jews. We feel very strongly that we do know who the two are. We do not know who the man of sin is yet, whether it be this pope or another one. But when that time comes for the Bride to leave here, we will already know who that man of sin is. As Paul said in 2nd Thessalonians, he will be revealed. When Israel gets her land back, do not think that the coming of the Lord will be stretched out for many years. If you do that, then you are going to be a part of those that 2nd Peter talks about: “…since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were…”. We know who the fathers of the faith that fell asleep were. They were Bro. Branham and Bro. Jackson. Since the fathers fell asleep, some will begin to say, ‘well He has delayed His coming’ and they will begin to plan for the future. It is especially important that our plans today are plans to serve God and let the future take care of itself. That is the only way it can be. “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Their prophecy will be seen by many because when the two prophets stand in Israel, and all the miracles take place when they are opposed, the television cameras will be on them. They will prophesy to many people, but many more people will hear the message of the 144,000 that are ignited by these two prophets.
Now, in chapter 11, “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: (This is a measuring stick given unto him to measure what is going to happen here in the last days with Israel. Because it changes here from the time that he takes the little book, or the scroll, and here is the message of the scroll that he is looking at. From the time of the rapture of the Bride of Jesus until the two prophets come on the scene, you see no interval of time elapsing. Because the Jewish revival must be happening in the first three and one-half years. As soon as they get their land back, they are going to begin to build the temple, but the revival starts under those two prophets. What happens? They are going to see the hands and feet of Jesus. They will ask Him, ‘Where did you get those scars in your hands?’ Then they will realize that this is their Messiah that they had missed. There was given me a reed like unto a rod…) and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, (The temple is already there whenever the time comes that the Bride is ready to leave here. As you look at Isaiah 52:8, you will see that when Zion comes forth, then we shall all see eye to eye. We will be able to sing the same song together without hesitation. Measure the temple of God…) and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” This is after the treaty of Daniel 9:27, the treaty they will make for one week (seven years). They have not made it for one week, but God makes it last for one week. They think they are making a treaty that will always be. Look at Germany, they thought that when they started the war, that they would whip everybody. Hitler and the leadership there said that we will set forth a kingdom that will last a thousand years. It did not last that long, it only lasted about seven years. Then it was defeated after they began to persecute the Jews. In 1948, when Israel became a recognized nation, that was a time that was marked. As it says in Luke 21:32: “This generation” (of 1948) “shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” We may go there later. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” That is the first part of the seven-year period. The reason I read from Zechariah 4 is right here. “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” It mentions two candlesticks. Two olive trees and two candlesticks represent both Jew and Gentile. Here are the two prophets as they are in their sackcloth, blowing their trumpets because it is time for the trumpets to be blown.
God has everything under control for that three- and one-half year period. He is not going to be defeated by any means of some deal that Israel has made with the beast. Israel makes a deal with the beast and then the false prophet is on the scene. You cannot have that deal with the beast, which is Europe, the ten horns. Europe must build themselves an army. The United States has to fade into the background. We will no longer be the police force of the world. You can see things happening right now that will bring an end to the United States being the police force of the world. Countries are now realizing they must have their own armies; they have to do all of this for themselves. Here are the two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth… “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.” We see that time is going on now and we are living in a generation in which seventy-two years (seventy-five at the time of this printing) have passed already since 1948. If you add another seven years, that will give you seventy-nine (eighty-two) years, which is still in that generation. Whenever Israel gets her land back, you can begin to look for things to be happening quickly in the Middle East. Scriptures being fulfilled will be like dominoes falling, one in succession after another. I do not know when the coming of the Lord is, but I know it cannot be too long from that time. I do not know when the time will be that Israel will get her land back, but I know when that time comes, it is not going to last another generation. This generation must be people old enough in 1948 to remember what was happening. They may have been eight or ten years old. The youngest person in Israel that was spying for Israel was a ten-year-old boy. They would not suspect a small boy being the one that was spying for Israel. They finally killed him when he was ten years old. They have his grave among the Jewish troops and leaders because of his courage and what he did for Israel.
The Fig Tree
Now I want to go to Luke 21, verses 29-36. “And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; (See? This is bringing in not only the fig tree but all the trees. In Matthew it talks about the fig tree. Here it talks about all the trees, not just the fig tree. Because there must be a recognition of what is going on among all nations, not just Israel.) When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. (Now this is where we get it from.) Verily I say unto you, This generation (the one we are living in now, from the time that Israel became a nation. Bro. Branham referred to 1947, but that was when they were given that opportunity to become a nation. But they were afraid, so they waited until May 14th of 1948, as Isaiah said: ‘a nation shall be born in one day.’ This generation…) shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” Now Jesus goes ahead to emphasize what He is saying here. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: (Peter talked about that, that it would pass away with a great heat.) but my words (the words which He has spoken) shall not pass away.” They are etched in The Word and The Word is what we must stand on today, The Word of the living God. Now we will finish out in the first chapter of Joel and see if that man was right that said Israel was represented by an olive tree not a fig tree. Verse 1, “The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children and their children another generation.” What he is saying is from generation to generation to another generation, let this be known. “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, (That is talking of Nebuchadnezzar, he was the head of the lion. I remember Bro. Jackson going over all these bugs. He said that was exactly the same thing as the four beasts that Daniel saw. Only here they are mentioned in a smaller manner, but it is the same thing. Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion…) and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: and made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.” Israel is represented here by a fig tree and by a vine, which the tendrils go throughout the whole earth. “The meat-offering and the drink- offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” It all withered away in 70 A.D. “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God.” That is talking about God’s presence no longer being there. “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.” Now let us move on to the second chapter. Verse 23, “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.” This is talking about the revival that will happen. “And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats (vats) shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” It is talking about the four beasts there from Daniel. “And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.” That will be when He restores what the cankerworm and all these other insects have eaten. That will be Israel’s revival whenever that time comes. Let us pray.
To be continued in next issue…