Greetings Everyone! Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries here in Spring Hill, Florida on the West Coast. I’m your host Leonard V. Johnson.
Friends, back in 2015 I had a dream in the night in my head while on my bed, and behold, I saw a young Jewish family on a bright beautiful morning, in which all the males wore yarmulkes, taking pictures. Then as I lifted my eyes I saw a huge armada of spaceships in low earth orbit in which one very tall commander dressed in silver armor with six huge horns which wrapped around from the back of his head, his face shining like the sun in full strength, stood atop one of the ships looking through a pair of binoculars at the earth.
Now, I grieve in my spirit within my body, and this dream by night troubles me. I tell you this dream because of some of what the prophet Jeremiah had to say to the nation of Judah – his own country. What he saw and the condition it was in and what he knew God thought about what was occurring in their land and to the people. Friends, it was in a state of disrepair.
The prophet Jeremiah loved his country. The Lord GOD said concerning Jeremiah, “’ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’” – Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV.
And, Jeremiah said to the LORD God, “’ Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’”
But the Lord GOD told him, “’ Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I AM with you to deliver you.’”
So, friends, like the prophet Jeremiah (and I am not saying that I am a prophet by no means) – but, I too have great reservations in proclaiming to you this dream by night. But look at what the LORD our God said to the prophet Jeremiah –
“’ Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10) See, I have this day set you over the nations …’” – so there are things which God tells Jeremiah in this chapter, “ …’ I have set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.’”
Let us today for this article look into the living word of the Eternal and help us glean an understanding of just what the Lord God meant here. God had given prophet Jeremiah a specific task that came with his calling.
The prophet Jeremiah began his ministry during the righteous reign of King Josiah when Judah was “great again.” And as Jeremiah watched the following five kings and the slow disintegration of his great nation, we can indeed associate this with the past five presidents of the United States of America – with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack H. Obama, and Donald Trump.
I was called by Almighty God during the leadership of Ronald Reagan. A great many believe that his “Reaganomics” was a great success. He oversaw one of the largest peacetime economic booms in US history, and he introduced strict legislation for drug offenses, as well as the Strategic Defense Initiative. He is considered one of the most influential presidents in US history. And like prophet Jeremiah’s day, one by one and step by step this great nation has become worse and worse.
As I said – God had given prophet Jeremiah a specific task that came with his calling. One task was to ‘root out.’
Turn with me in your Bible to the Book of Matthew the 15th chapter.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said in verse 13 – “ … ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14) Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind, both will fall into a ditch.’”
So, this should give you an understanding of one thing the prophet Jeremiah was to do. For when you come across a ‘blind leader, LET THEM ALONE. They are blind and will lead their flock into a ditch!’ Recall Jesus told us how to recognize these ‘blind leaders’ – “’ You will know them by their fruits.’” We, as true Christians, are to ‘root out’ of our life these ‘blind leaders who are leading their flocks into a ditch.’ God Himself, indeed, will eventually uproot them and throw them into the fire!
Another task was ‘to pull down.’ But to pull down what!?
In the Book of 2nd Corinthians the 10th chapter, the apostle Paul says –
Verse 3 – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down strongholds, …”
We, as faithful servants of Christ, fight our battles differently now! We break down ‘strongholds’ and overcome issues and problems.
Verse 5 – “casting down [imagination, false thinking, or a more common term – fake religious news; and friends, I might add – conspiracy theories cf. Isaiah 8:12-13] and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
And another task was ‘to destroy.’
In the Book of Matthew, the 3rd chapter recall that John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and the Sadducees of his day, that “even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Now not only were these negative characteristics but also ‘to build and to plant.’ Indeed, the prophet Jeremiah’s own characteristics were absorbed into that of the LORD our God’s! From the Book of Jeremiah let’s look at some other verses which glean an understanding of what God meant here.
Jeremiah chapter 18 –
Verse 5 – “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6) ‘O house of ISRAEL, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7) The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8) IF that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9) And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, …’”
Verse 10 – “’ IF it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.’”
Jeremiah chapter 24 –
Verse 6 – “’ For I [the LORD] will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.’”
So, Almighty God is actually speaking here of building and planting a nation and a kingdom! To plant a new people. A people who are actually obedient and faithful to God the Father and Jesus Christ! And you might ask the question – who are they!? And when will this happen!?
Going back to the 1st chapter of the Book of Jeremiah –
Verse 11 – “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch [or a shoot] of an almond tree.’”
Friends, the almond tree is the first deciduous nut tree to bloom in spring. It’s a type of symbol of God’s early execution of His purpose because notice what God says in verse 12 – “ …’ You have seen well, for I AM ready to perform [or, hasten] My word.’”
Verse 13 – “And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.’” – this is symbolic here of a raging war that is boiling!
Verse 14 – “Then the LORD said to me: ‘Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land.’”
This seething pot is a depiction of a boiling pot of hot water – a depiction of a great army, a soon-coming war!
Verse 15 – “’ For behold, I am calling All the families of the kingdoms of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘They shall come and each one set his throne At the entrance of the gates of JERUSALEM, Against all its walls all around, …’” – and we can think of the ‘walls all around’ in the nation known today as Israel as her
Iron Dome – it’s an air defense system.
“ … ‘And against all the cities of JUDAH.’” – speaking of an invasion and utter destruction!
Verse 16 – “’ I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burning incense to other gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands.’”
Indeed, as it was in antiquity when Judah was under subjugation of Roman rule, once again Judah (modern-day Israel) the people will have to decide if they will follow Almighty God or an edict ordering everyone (including Jews) to perform a sacrifice to other gods as well as to an end-time final European ‘beast power’ and a false prophet!
Verse 17 – “’ Therefore PREPARE YOURSELF and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them.’” – ‘so, don’t worry about their looks, their smirks, and of their attitudes.’
Now, this is another thing God bestowed upon the prophet Jeremiah –
Verse 18 – “’ For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar [like a steel post!], And bronze walls against the whole land – Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land.’” – the whole nation will be unable to speak against the prophet Jeremiah.
Verse 19 – “’ They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I AM with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to deliver you.’”
So, you talk about a lot for a young man to know and to accept – surely it terrified him. It’s like what if an angel of the LORD came and said to you, ‘I want you to go to your nation, to the leaders of the land, and give them this message from Me!’? The doubts, the fears – ‘they’re not going to believe me! I am insignificant. I am unimportant. They’re going to think I’m crazy!’ It would be like in the 1977 movie “Oh, God!” in which Jerry was told that he was selected to be God’s messenger to the modern world. They called him a religious nut! You know what the outcome was going to be! But the prophet Jeremiah was to do it – anyway.
Well, is there any recourse for the people!?
Turn with me in your Bible back to the 18th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah. Earlier we read these very terms of ‘destroying, and plucking up, and of building and planting’ –
Here the LORD sent the prophet Jeremiah down to a potter’s house and he saw this potter creating a vessel and he didn’t like what he had made, so he made another. And the LORD said, “’ Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!’”
Verse 7 – “’ The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it.’” – just what does this mean!? Well, God explains.
Verse 8 – “’ IF that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent OF THE DISASTER that I thought to bring upon it.’” – so, this is what is meant, ‘to pluck up, to pull down, and destroy.’ It means that Almighty God is going to send vengeance upon that nation – to attack it and rip it apart!
Verse 9 – “’ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. 10) if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.’” – so, this is what is meant by ‘building and planting.’ It’s goodness which God plans to do towards a nation and a kingdom.
Turning back a few pages to chapter 2 of the Book of Jeremiah –
Why was this grave judgment to come upon the nation of JUDAH!?
Verse 11 – “’ Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit.’”
So, as God is saying here, as He said to other prophets – ‘look out into a nation and out into a kingdom and see, has Buddhists changed their god!? Have Islamists changed their god!? What about many of these third-world nations that believe in their false primitive gods!? They have been worshiping those gods for thousands of years – they haven’t changed their god. But, the house of ISRAEL has changed their God as well as that of the House of JUDAH! And what have they changed into their god!? The majority of our peoples are into a secular religion of the Far-Left – what is often called pseudo-socialism!
Verse 12 – “’Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,’ says the LORD. 13) ‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.’”
In other words – they have rejected Almighty God and have gone after a religion that is an empty cistern that holds no water. Friends, the very mention of Jesus Christ in our society today – including coaches kneeling down with their team in pre-game prayers to God – is frowned upon and could lead one to have criminal charges laid against them! IT’S ABOMINABLE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR NATIONS – the United States of America, the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, including, of course, JUDAH, which is modern-day Israel! In this 21st century world, we indeed do have (to name but a few): Economic and Television Socialism, Health Socialism, and Learning Not To Work Socialism.
This abominable agenda wants to eliminate Almighty God and Jesus Christ out of every aspect of our societies. They don’t want to have any Bible studies – or even the mention of a Holy Bible. Well, guess what, God is about to take His blessings off of the house of Israel and the house of Judah! Our nations – as a whole – are inviting Him to leave. You know, there was a CBS News report back in 2018, which reported a mom of a California shooting victim reportedly saying to the cameras, “I don’t want prayers… I want gun control!” Sadly, I believe this to be the sentiment of the population! – TODAY!
Down in verse 31 – “’ O generation, see the word of the LORD! Have I [the Lord GOD] been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land of darkness? …’” – and this is what the nations today (as a whole) are saying to Almighty God “’ Why do My people say, ‘We are lords; We will come no more to You’?” – they are saying exactly what that mom of a California shooting victim reportedly stated, “We don’t need You!” But then the Lord GOD asks the question –
Verse 32 – “’ Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? …’” – meaning, can a bride forget that she has on a wedding gown!? “ … ‘Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.’”
Friends, try to think back – when was it that the majority of our peoples within our nations actually
still loved, respected, worshiped, and obeyed the Lord GOD!? Like I said, I began to be called by Father God back when the leader of the United States
of America was Ronald Reagan. According to a
2019 Pew Research Center poll, in the U.S., the decline of Christianity continues at a rapid pace. A general survey concluded that there is a decline of Christians and a growing religion of what they call – “nones.” I shudder to think what my grandmother, Lela Mae Johnson, would think of today’s society! My dad’s mother – a kind and sweet woman who died in 1998 and in whom I pray had found favor in the eyes of God to be within His family. Though she set in front of her television set at 76-years-old cheering wrestling giants the likes of André, Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, and shrieking at the likes of the Iron Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher – what would she think of what is on television today!? Of the ever-growing commercials and television programs that promote homosexuality, drag queens, transgenderism, lesbianism, and vampirism!?
Turning to the 3rd chapter of the Book of Jeremiah –
Verse 1 - So the Lord GOD is asking a question – “ … ’If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him to another man, can her ex-husband return to her again!?’” No! “’ Would not that land be greatly polluted?’ But you [My people] have played the harlot [a prostitute] with many lovers; Yet return to Me,’ says the LORD.”
Verse 6 – “The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: [very early in the prophet Jeremiah’s ministry] ‘Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? …’”
You know, at that time, they had the example of the kingdom of Israel to the north – they saw how the northern kingdom had fallen into disrepair and had fallen away from Almighty God and was rejecting Him. And they saw and witnessed the northern kingdom destroyed and taken captive! They had that example of what happens to a nation –
Verse 10 – “And yet for all this treacherous sister JUDAH has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,’ says the LORD.”
Verse 12 – “’ Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I AM merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not remain angry forever.’”
The Lord GOD is asking them to repent – and within this dual prophecy, asking the scattered house of Israel TODAY to repent! Even though they are in the condition they are in!
Verse 13 – “’ Only acknowledge your iniquity [your sins], That you have transgressed against the LORD your God, …’”
Now, what does it mean to repent!? It truly means that you have to go before the LORD our God and confess every evil rotten deed you’ve done, said, or thought. You’ve got to lay it all out before Him and truly tell Him that you are sorry – not only personally but as a nation, a country, a province. We need to do this collectively before Almighty God!
Verse 14 – “’ Return, O backsliding children,’ says the LORD; ‘for I AM married to you. …’ 20) ‘Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,’ says the LORD.”
Friends – these surely are tough words for a nation to hear. And they are tough for me to proclaim to my people! I’m sure that during this time of year our peoples would rather hear the incorrectly translated “ … ‘on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” – Luke 2:14 NKJV. That tends to lose much of the proper meaning – “’ Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased!’” – NLT. And as I earlier said, I have great reservations in relaying to you this dream of which I had. But I am commanded by God and our Lord Jesus Christ to relay this to the nations of people that desperately need to hear these words! I am very possibly a nobody, a small person in your eyes – why should you listen to me!? Well, you don’t have to listen to me – but, you best LISTEN TO GOD!
Turning now to the 4th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah –
Verse 1 – “’ IF you will return, O Israel,’ says the LORD, ‘RETURN TO ME; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be [removed].’” – ‘you won’t be removed out of the land.’
Verse 2 – “’ And you shall swear, ‘The LORD lives,’ In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.’”
Verse 3 – “For thus says the LORD to the men [and women] of JUDAH and JERUSALEM: ‘Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. 4) Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins OF YOUR HEARTS, You men [and women] of JUDAH and inhabitants of JERUSALEM, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.’”
So, friends, these are the beginning announcements of the judgments of God against JUDAH and JERUSALEM – but look at what verses 5 to 7 says –
Verse 5 – “Declare in JUDAH and proclaim in JERUSALEM, and say: ‘Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry, ‘Gather together,’ And say, ‘Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the fortified cities.’” – in other words, take up a defensive position – WAR IS COMING!
Verse 6 – “’ Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I [the LORD God] will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction.’”
And this next verse is truly what I want to point out here –
Verse 7 – reading from the Authorized King James Version – “’ The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; …’”
Almighty God is proclaiming His judgment and the utter destruction of JUDAH and that of JERUSALEM! And this destroyer appears to already be on his way!? It’s already coming! It’s only up to the people to stop it! Recall verse 1 – “’ IF you will return, O Israel,’ says the LORD, ‘RETURN TO ME; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be [removed].’”
Indeed, you can read the rest of this chapter where this destroyer will come in with ‘chariots like a whirlwind. His horses swifter than eagles.’ And the people will say, ‘Woe to us, for we are plundered!’ It is because of what is happening to the people deep in their heart –
Verse 18 – “’ Your ways and your doings Have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, Because it is bitter, Because it reaches to your heart.’”
The prophet Jeremiah laments over what he knows is about to happen –
Verse 19 – “O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because you have heard, O my soul, THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET, The alarm of war.”
This reminds me of the prophet Ezekiel, in which he saw a vision of God, which said to him, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.’ … 9) Now when I [prophet Ezekiel] looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10) Then He spread it before me; … 3:1) Moreover He said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, …” – Ezekiel 2:1, 9-10; 3:1. And when he looked upon the scroll there was writing on the inside and on the outside – covered with lamentations and mourning and woe. Friends, it was not a comforting bedtime story that the prophet Ezekiel was reading!
Often when you see the outcome of Almighty God’s living word, and you know what the outcome may indeed happen to a nation if they don’t repent – it can be quite disheartening.
Turning to the 5th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah –
Verse 1 – “’ Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man [or a woman], If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.’”
Now I have written several times - you remember Abraham’s plea!? “Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place.” And the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” And then Abraham said, “Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous?” And then, forty, and thirty, and then twenty, and finally ten. And the LORD said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten righteous people.” And we know the result. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, couldn’t even convince his own family to leave. It was only his wife and his two daughters who were still living at home who left Sodom. Those five cities on the plain of Jordan were allowed to be destroyed because there weren’t even ten righteous people in that city. And, brethren, let us not sell ourselves short – but we should wonder – is it that Almighty God is holding back the utter destruction of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth of Nations, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Judah (the little nation known today as Israel) respectively – because there are maybe ten in one-million righteous people within these nations!? It should make us wonder. Is that number depleting as time goes by!? In prayer to Almighty God and our Lord Jesus Christ – a thought crossed my mind – just before the blowing of the SEVENTH TRUMP very few saints of God will be left. There will come a time when the LORD our God cannot find ten righteous people! As ‘this generation’ continues many of these cities the cup of their iniquity becomes full. And the LORD God has no choice but to exact judgment upon that nation. It is something to ponder.
Friends, the things here in chapter 5 of the Book of Jeremiah which Almighty God spoke concerning: adultery – saying, “ … ‘assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. … like well-fed lusty stallions; every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.’” Concerning impiety – saying, “ … Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. … they have lied about the LORD, And said, ‘It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, Nor shall we see sword of famine.’”
The greater majority of my people around the world just simply say, ‘you know, this prophecy business about the soon-coming fall of our great and powerful nation is nothing but hogwallop!’ ‘Don’t be preaching this to us – you’re nothing more than a modern-day Chicken Little who screams, “The sky is falling! – taking Scripture out of context!”’ Well, I once had told a good friend – his name is Chuck, nicknamed “Recon” because he had done two tours in Vietnam – that the United States of America, among other nations, was prophesied to fall! Along with the utter destruction of Jerusalem. And he very loudly retorted, “Do you even know how mighty and powerful the United States is!?” I said, “Yes I do. But God – if He executes judgment it doesn’t matter how mighty and powerful an Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard the nation might have. If God decides to bring down our nations, He can certainly do it!”
Verse 15 – “’ Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,’ says the LORD. ‘It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.’”
God also speaks of spiritual corruption.
Verse 23 – “’ But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed. 24) They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the LORD our God, …’” – they completely disregard the LORD our God.
God also speaks of civil corruption – which is indeed happening in our nations today!
Verse 31 – “’ The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. …’” – they like it when lies are told. They like it when deception is the message. “ … ‘But what will you do in the end?’”
Friends, in a Letter to our Friends on September 10, 2019, I wrote: “There may be some who do not want to hear about prophetic dreams, yet God says, ‘the teacher under the inspired mantle, let him speak My Word faithfully.’ There may be some criticism of me for revealing such a dream, but I do so only for the glory of God.”
Now, I didn’t want to only announce this grave WARNING message of the LORD our God today – but to also announce the GOOD NEWS of His address as well.
Turn with me to the
30th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah – the soon-coming wrath of God! A ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’ – the
Day of the LORD!
Verse 3 – “’ For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people ISRAEL and JUDAH,’ says the LORD. …” – and as I’ve been saying, being under subjugation to a “United States of Europe” – or whatever they will call themselves in this end-time – is a type of captivity. Also, notice that Israel and Judah are paired together! When the prophet Jeremiah was writing this, the northern kingdom had already been taken away captive, and Judah was yet to be captured.
Verse 6 – “’ Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale? 7) Alas! For that day [the Day of the LORD] is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he [a remnant – what Jesus Christ calls His ‘elect’ cf. Matthew 24:21-22. “ …’ shall be saved out of it.”
Minister Michael C. Garrett explains:
“And it will be so bad, as we read in verse 22 – “’ And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; …’” – no human flesh. It’s going to get so traumatic with nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, biological weapons, famine, pestilences – diseases, that human life – human flesh – is in jeopardy of going extinct. “ … ‘but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.’”
Now, I’ve always thought: Well, IF God resurrects His people – His spiritual people; the spiritual House of Israel – ON THE SEVENTH TRUMP, and we know that the Battle of Armageddon is about the Sixth of the Seven Last Plagues – the Day of the LORD, theoretically, everyone who should have been resurrected has already been resurrected, so, to whom was He referring!? I think most of the decades I’ve been around the Church, it was sort-of assumed, and I think incorrectly, that those ‘elect’s’ was somehow the Church members. But keep in mind, IF you properly understand the order of events, the Church members – the people who have God’s Spirit – will at that time have been resurrected already. So, who are the ‘elect’? Well, notice what it says in Isaiah 45:4 – “’ For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, …’” Who’s He saving the earth for!? … He’s saving the elect as in physical Israel. For the sake of the physical people of Israel those days will be shortened.”
And this is the point I want to make here. Recall, Jacob was Abraham’s grandson – and his name was changed to Israel. And he passed that name onto his two grandsons – Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob had crossed his arms and said, “let my name be named on them.” Now, the apostle Paul made it abundantly clear that those who had the faith of Abraham are Abraham’s seed and are recipients of the promises which were made by God – becoming spiritual Israel. But, friends – this is speaking to the physical nations of Israel today, like the two main tribes Ephraim and Manasseh – the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and her Commonwealth Nations. As well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
In Ezekiel 37:19 the LORD our God says, “’ Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them ONE STICK, and they will be ONE in My hand.’”
Let us here today look at some of that. Turn to the 31st chapter of the Book of Jeremiah –
Verse 1 – “’ At the same time,’ says the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.’”
Verse 2 – “Thus says the LORD: ‘The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness – Israel, when I went to give him rest.’”
Verse 3 – “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; …’”
Verse 4 – “’ Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned … 5) You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; …’” – recall we spoke earlier about ‘to build, and to plant’!?
Verse 8 – “’ Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, TOGETHER; A great throng shall return there.’”
Verse 9 – “’ They shall come with weeping, …’” – And there indeed will be!
Friends, have you ever heard of the Höcker Album!? It is a collection of photographs believed to have been collected by Karl-Friedrich Höcker, a Nazi war criminal – who was once an officer of the SS (the Schutzstaffel – a paramilitary organization under the Nazi Party). The album contains over one hundred images of which the captions and the people featured quickly confirm the deplorable and atrocious conditions committed at Auschwitz-Birkenau prison and extermination camp from 1940 – 1945. When you look at the prisoners’ gaunt, sunken-eyed pale faces in the photos, your heart can’t help but feel sorrow and pain for them! I, of course, have seen the official U.S. Army Film of 1945 showing the liberation of the camp – of the barely living human skeletons too weak to move, the dead bodies stacked like cordwood, and of the weak men and women profusely thanking their liberators! It’s almost as if they cannot believe it’s happening to them! I believe that God’s remnant ‘elect’ will certainly be praisefully thanking their liberators. They are not going to believe that it’s actually happening to them!
“ … ‘And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I AM a Father to ISRAEL, And Ephraim is My firstborn.’”
These prophecies here indeed talk about a kingdom – that a resurrected King David would ultimately be king over all the house of Israel. Recall what the angel Gabriel had said to Mary – “you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord GOD will give Him the throne of His father David.” Now, did that kingly line end at the time of King Zedekiah as we read in the Chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah!? The answer is no. We, of course, know the historical story of where the prophet Jeremiah (in the company of his scribe Baruch) took King Zedekiah's daughter, Tea Tephi, to Ireland where she founded a line of Davidic kings that has continued on down to this day. 1 And that that ‘overthrowing’ happened from the Middle East to Ireland, then to Scotland, then to England, where this kingly line is today. And friends, even if you don’t believe the annals of Ireland – and there are people who think it’s ridiculous. We, however, can prove that this Davidic line continued – from God’s very own living word!
As I mentioned in the sermon
“One God One Mediator II” that the word “Shiloh” is etymologically “this obscure word is variously interpreted to mean ‘the sent’ (John 17:3), ‘the seed’ (Isa. 11:1), the ‘peaceable or prosperous one’ (Eph. 2:14) – i.e., the Messiah (Isa. 11:10; Rom. 15:12).”
2 Referring to the ‘Scepter.’ That this condition here of a Scepter and a Lawgiver existing – a kingly line would exist until the One comes – the One who the scepter belongs. And, we have known for several decades – Ezekiel the 21st chapter in which the Lord GOD says, “’ Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it to Him.’” – to possess this scepter or this kingly seat. So, this is certainly talking about a time when Jesus Christ will come – at His second coming – and will establish a government here on this earth. And there are ample passages within His
living word which proves this very thing! Cf – “And in that day [the Day of the LORD] His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east.” – Zechariah 14:4 NKJV. Also, “and [who will make] us kings [or rather,
a kingdom] and priests to His God and Father, …” – Revelation 1:6
NKJV. A new government under new rulership!
So in closing dear friends, with much trepidation and reservation under the very work of the Lord our God, I give this dire message to the nations of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah.
This event recorded for us here within the pages of God’s living word is also reserved for our day – WARNING our nations of our sins and our own rejection of the LORD our God! It is written down for the purpose of WARNING us and our peoples that the exact perils will befall us unless we fall down before the LORD our God and repent, beseeching His mercy to turn from His fierce anger and wrath – which is ready to burst forth.
I implore you, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” – Acts 3:19 NIV. □
Bibliography:
1) O’Donovan, J., LL.D., M.R.I.A., Annals: The Kingdom of Ireland, By The Four Masters, V. I, Hodges, Smith, and Co., Grafton. Street, 1856, pp. 31. PDF Retrieved 11 December 2020. 2 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A.R., Brown, D., Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary of the Whole Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, pp. 52.
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