Gathering to Armageddon

Bible Believers' Newsletter #546
"We focus on the present Truth – what Jesus is doing now. . ."
ISSN 1442-8660

Christian greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are pleased you could join us in fellowship around God's unchanging Word.

Rothschild's Federal Reserve is being employed to manipulate the United States into the depression and monetary collapse foretold by Jesus Christ, "I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" .

Brother Branham explained, "This verse is not a declaration that the true church will go into and through the tribulation. If it meant that it would have said that. But it said, "I will keep thee from the hour of temptation." This temptation is exactly like the temptation in Eden. It will be a very inviting proposition held up in direct opposition to God's commanded Word, and yet from the standpoint of human reasoning it will be so very right, so enlightening and life-giving as to fool the world.

Only the very elect will not be fooled. The temptation will come as follows. The ecumenical move that has started on what seems such a beautiful and blessed principle (fulfilling Christ's prayer that we all might be one) becomes so strong politically that she bears pressure upon the government to cause all to join with her either directly or through adherence to principles enacted into law so that no people will be recognized as actual churches unless under direct or indirect domination of this council. Little groups will lose charters, privileges, etc., until they lose all property and spiritual rights with the people.

For example, right now unless the local ministerial association approves in many, if not most cities, one cannot rent a building for religious services. To become chaplains in the armed services, hospitals, etc., it is now almost mandatory to be recognized as acceptable to the trinitarian ecumenical groups. As this pressure increases, and it will, it will be harder to resist, for to resist is to lose privilege. And so many will be tempted to go along, for they will feel it is better to serve God publicly in the framework of this organization than not to serve God at all publicly. But they err. To believe the devil's lie is to serve Satan, even though you may want to call him Jehovah. But the elect will not be deceived.

Furthermore, the elect will not only be kept, but as this move becomes the "IMAGE ERECTED TO THE BEAST," the saints will be gone in the rapture. And this little delightful, winsome movement that started out in fellowship at Ephesus will become the monster of Satan that defiles and deceives the whole world. For the church system of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant in coming together will control the whole wealth of the world system and force the whole earth into its religious trap, or will kill them, by refusing them the privilege of buying and selling whereby they would make a living. This will be accomplished simply, for the harlot's daughters are all but gone back to her. In the meantime, Rome has acquired nearly all the supplies of gold. The Jews have the bonds and all the paper. At the right time, the harlot will destroy the present day money system by calling in all the paper, and demanding gold. With no gold, the system falls. The Jews will be trapped and come into the alliance, and the harlot church will take over the whole world" (An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, p. 313:1 – 314:1).

"Now remember, it was Imperial Pagan Rome that fell by the sword. But she was healed of her death stroke when she joined to the nominal Christian church of Rome and incorporated paganism and Christianity, and thereby became the Holy Roman Empire which was to endure until Jesus came and destroyed her. But Rome is not going it alone. Her daughters are right with her and she will take over absolute authority by the World Council of Churches.

This may seem far fetched to some but actually it is very plain for all to see because right now the churches are controlling politics and at the opportune time will manifest exactly how great is that control. This ecumenical move will end up with Rome at the head even though the people did not envision it that way. This is so because in Revelation 17:3-6 it states that the whore, Mystery Babylon is seated on the beast. She is controlling the last, or fourth empire. This Roman Church is doing that. With the world church system under her Rome will be controlling, and this image (church system) will be obedient to Rome because Rome controls the gold of the world.

Thus all the people have to belong to the world church system or be at the mercy of the elements for they cannot buy or sell without the mark of the beast in the hand or head. This mark in the head means that they will have to take the doctrine of the world church system which is trinitarianism, etc., and the mark in the hand which means to do the will of the world church. With this great power the church systems will persecute the true bride. This image will try to keep the bride from preaching and teaching, etc. Her ministers will be forbidden to give comfort and truth to the people who need it. But before the antichrist (in person) takes over this complete world system of churches the true church will be taken away from this world to be with the Lord. God will catch away His bride for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb" (ibid. p. 376:1).

"See how that Judas spirit came back as a rider on a white horse. It was white. So close to the real, just as Judas was so close to Jesus. A crown was given to him (white horse rider). How? That spirit was now in the leader of the Nicolaitane system and he was a triple crowned pope who sat as God in his temple, calling himself the vicar of Christ. If vicar of Christ means 'instead of Christ' or 'in place of' or 'on behalf of God' then the pope was calling himself the Holy Ghost, or deposing the Holy Ghost, acting for Him. That was the Judas spirit in him doing that. See how he conquered—going forth conquering and to conquer. Christ did not do that. The only ones that came to Him were already predestinated by the Father. And so on and on went that spirit and one day it will become truly incarnate in a man who will head up the World Council of Churches, just as we have been saying. And by his gold (remember Judas held the bag) he will control the whole world, and that antichrist system will own everything and try to control everybody. But Jesus will come back and destroy them all with the brightness of His coming. And their end will be the lake of fire" (ibid. p. 378:1).

This Newsletter serves those of like precious faith. Whoever will receive the truth is welcome to feed their soul from the waters of the River of Life. Everything here presented should be confirmed personally in your own Bible.



Your brother-in-Christ, Anthony Grigor-Scott


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Fourth Reich of the Rich
September 22, 2008 – Under the appropriately named Section 8 of his unprecedented bailout swindle, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson included a clause which decrees that none of his actions can be overturned or modified by any court or administrative agency. That would eliminate any legal challenges or appeals, and effectively place Paulson and his bailout operation above the law, creating a virtual bankers' dictatorship.

The relevant section of his legislative proposal reads: "Sec. 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency". . . [And "Sec. 6, "The Secretary's authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time" hooks taxpayers for future bailouts].
Full story: cecaust.com.au

The Intended Fraud is Multiple Fraud

Alan Greenspan has allegedly been under house arrest since June 2007. . . former Governor of the Bank of England, Eddie George has also been arrested.

The US and international financial markets are no more enamoured of this latest attempt by the US Treasury to pull a rabbit out of a hat full of holes than about any of the earlier 'rescue' operations, which all have one feature in common: their primary functions are to serve the interests of a very small clique of criminalist 'insiders' who have been engaged in ransacking the financial markets for private gain, and to finance the operations of the 'State within the State', namely the Intelligence Power, which, due to its power of penetration, controls all dimensions of Government, starting with the White House itself. . .

The . . . $85 billion bridging loan (offset by funding from the Reserve Bank of Australia) extended by the US authorities to AIG, gives the Government an 80% share in AIG, 'a move that will prevent external players from peering into AIG's myriad intelligence operations on behalf of the CIA'.

This entity was chaired, until his enforced resignation, by Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg, a close friend of Dr. Henry Kissinger. AIG's operations in Asia are reported by the same source as having pre-dated the CIA and its predecessor, the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS). AIG's brand new building in Hong Kong had been intended as a key outpost for CIA operatives assigned to China. But Chinese intelligence succeeded in thoroughly wiring the building with surveillance systems, so that AIG's China operations on behalf of the CIA were blown. With the US Government now in full control of AIG, the George Bush Center for Intelligence (Langley) and the Bush Family will, as this source noted on 18th September, 'breathe a lot easier.' Well, not actually. . . Full story: worldreports.org

Comment: At the present moment, Australia's glib-tongued Prime Minister Rudd is in Washington talking up the Climate Change/Carbon Trading scam and Paulson's Treasury swindle. You can tell a man's character by the company he keeps. On the other side it is reported that United States Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin a criminal investigation of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers and American International Group Inc. (AIG). Full story: wsj.com


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Iran's Leader says 'American Empire' near Collapse
September 24, 2008 – Iran's president addressed the UN General Assembly Tuesday declaring that "the American empire" is nearing collapse and should end its military involvement in other countries. . . He accused the US of starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to win votes in elections and blamed a "few bullying powers" for trying to undermine Iraq's nuclear program. . . Ahmadinejad accused "a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists . . . (of) dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US."

In discussing Afghanistan, he suggested that the presence of US and NATO forces has contributed to a sharp rise in terrorism and a huge increase in the production of narcotics. . . Full story: google.com. Full text makes edifying reading.

Comment: Sadly, everything is going according to plan. The United Nations is no place for an honest man of good will.


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America reduced to Third World Status
September 22, 2008 – Ever since the Federal Reserve Act was passed, Congress has voted over 195 times to give the Federal Reserve more power. In essence, Congress has voted away all their authority and power to protect us. If they don't vote for the emergency package, i.e. Resolution Trust and Blueprint, the market will crash. If they do vote for it, the American people are reduced to serfs and slaves in the New World Order which will be run by the real financial center of the world, the City of London. Either way they will be blamed. Basically they should be tried and hanged for treason along with every president and Congress before them down to 1913. . . Full story: newswithviews.com newswithviews.com

Comment: This interesting link includes 'the City of London' and the corporation known as 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA' that rules the united States. While the plebs are distracted by 9/11, the theft of Afghanistan for Rockefeller & Co. to pipe oil and gas from the Caucasus and increase backing for the US dollar, US aggression against Russia via Georgia, the "climate control" hoax, the corporate takeover of Congress and the socialization of Bankster greed including US$1 billion corporate debt on unsecured derivatives so that the Federal reserve can foreclose of ALL US real estate, behind the scenes the Black Nobility, Rothschild and Rome are prosecuting the real plan for World Hegemony.


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The Short - but Eventful - Life of Ike
September 15, 2008 – In its brief lifespan of only 13 days, Hurricane Ike wreaked a great deal of havoc. Affecting several countries including Cuba, Haiti, and the United States, Ike is blamed for approximately 114 deaths (74 in Haiti alone), and damages that are still being tallied, with estimates topping $10 billion. Many shoreline communities of Galveston, Texas were wiped from the map by the winds, storm surge and the walls of debris pushed along by Ike—though Galveston was spared the level of disaster it suffered in 1900. Full story: 28 images


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Gun Lobbyist ordered to pay Lesbians
September 24, 2008 – Queensland gun lobbyist Ron Owen has been ordered to pay three lesbians a total of $12,500 after a landmark decision handed down by the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. Mr Owen, from the southeast Queensland town of Gympie, also was ordered to publish a statement in local newspaper The Gympie Times within 45 days, stating the tribunal had found he contravened the Anti-Discrimination Act, News Ltd says.

The tribunal found he had displayed a bumper sticker on a vehicle, published a report to the Cooloola Shire Council where he was a former councilor, made a comment in a television interview and published a letter on a website—all of which incited hatred, serious contempt for or severe ridicule of homosexuals. . . Full story: theage.com.au

Comment: Law versus Grace fulfilling the Words of Israel's Messiah (Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26-30).


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Israel Home to all Forms of 'Crime'
September 20, 2008 – "The Zionist (Israeli) regime and the philosophy of Zionism are the summation of all evil and selfishness in the world," Ahmadinejad said Saturday. In reference to Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip, the president said the continuation of the existence of the Israeli regime only produces further aggression toward Palestinians. . .

Several UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli actions against Palestinians have been defied by Israel. The US, Israel's number one ally, has also exercised its veto powers to prevent the adoption of 42 anti-Israeli resolutions sought by the Council since 1972. . . The US use of veto powers has led to a continuation of rocket launches by Tel Aviv into the strip, causing the death of a large number of civilians. . .

President Ahmadinejad said in his Saturday speech that thanks to the assistance of the White House, the world can witness all forms of 'crimes and criminals' in Israel. Full story: aljazeera.com


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The First Council of Nicaea and the "Missing Records"
The first ecclesiastical gathering in history was summoned and is today known as the Council of Nicaea. It was a bizarre event that provided many details of early clerical thinking and presents a clear picture of the intellectual climate prevailing at the time. It was at this gathering that Christianity was born, and the ramifications of decisions made at the time are difficult to calculate. About four years prior to chairing the Council, Constantine had been initiated into the religious order of Sol Invictus, one of the two thriving cults that regarded the Sun as the one and only Supreme God (the other was Mithraism). Because of his Sun worship, he instructed Eusebius to convene the first of three sittings on the summer solstice, 21 June 325 (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, vol. i, p. 792), and it was "held in a hall in Osius's palace" (Ecclesiastical History, Bishop Louis Dupin, Paris, 1686, vol. i, p. 598). In an account of the proceedings of the conclave of presbyters gathered at Nicaea, Sabinius, Bishop of Hereclea, who was in attendance, said, "Excepting Constantine himself and Eusebius Pamphilius, they were a set of illiterate, simple creatures who understood nothing" (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, Bishop J. W. Sergerus, 1685, 1897 reprint).

This is another luminous confession of the ignorance and uncritical credulity of early churchmen. Dr Richard Watson (1737-1816), a disillusioned Christian historian and one-time Bishop of Llandaff in Wales (1782), referred to them as "a set of gibbering idiots" (An Apology for Christianity, 1776, 1796 reprint; also, Theological Tracts, Dr Richard Watson, "On Councils" entry, vol. 2, London, 1786, revised reprint 1791). From his extensive research into Church councils, Dr Watson concluded that "the clergy at the Council of Nicaea were all under the power of the devil, and the convention was composed of the lowest rabble and patronised the vilest abominations" (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). It was that infantile body of men who were responsible for the commencement of a new religion and the theological creation of Jesus Christ.

The Church admits that vital elements of the proceedings at Nicaea are "strangely absent from the canons" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, p. 160). We shall see shortly what happened to them. However, according to records that endured, Eusebius "occupied the first seat on the right of the emperor and delivered the inaugural address on the emperor's behalf" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. v, pp. 619-620). There were no British presbyters at the council but many Greek delegates. "Seventy Eastern bishops" represented Asiatic factions, and small numbers came from other areas (Ecclesiastical History, ibid.). Caecilian of Carthage travelled from Africa, Paphnutius of Thebes from Egypt, Nicasius of Die (Dijon) from Gaul, and Donnus of Stridon made the journey from Pannonia.

It was at that puerile assembly, and with so many cults represented, that a total of 318 "bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes and exorcists" gathered to debate and decide upon a unified belief system that encompassed only one god (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). By this time, a huge assortment of "wild texts" (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, "Gospel and Gospels") circulated amongst presbyters and they supported a great variety of Eastern and Western gods and goddesses: Jove, Jupiter, Salenus, Baal, Thor, Gade, Apollo, Juno, Aries, Taurus, Minerva, Rhets, Mithra, Theo, Fragapatti, Atys, Durga, Indra, Neptune, Vulcan, Kriste, Agni, Croesus, Pelides, Huit, Hermes, Thulis, Thammus, Eguptus, Iao, Aph, Saturn, Gitchens, Minos, Maximo, Hecla and Phernes (God's Book of Eskra, anon., ch. xlviii, paragraph 36).

Up until the First Council of Nicaea, the Roman aristocracy primarily worshipped two Greek gods—Apollo and Zeus—but the great bulk of common people idolised either Julius Caesar or Mithras (the Romanised version of the Persian deity Mithra). Caesar was deified by the Roman Senate after his death (15 March 44 BC) and subsequently venerated as "the Divine Julius". The word "Saviour" was affixed to his name, its literal meaning being "one who sows the seed", i.e., he was a phallic god. Julius Caesar was hailed as "God made manifest and universal Saviour of human life", and his successor Augustus was called the "ancestral God and Saviour of the whole human race" (Man and his Gods, Homer Smith, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1952). Emperor Nero (54-68), whose original name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (37-68), was immortalised on his coins as the "Saviour of mankind" (ibid.). The Divine Julius as Roman Saviour and "Father of the Empire" was considered "God" among the Roman rabble for more than 300 years. He was the deity in some Western presbyters' texts, but was not recognised in Eastern or Oriental writings.

Constantine's intention at Nicaea was to create an entirely new god for his empire who would unite all religious factions under one deity. Presbyters were asked to debate and decide who their new god would be. Delegates argued among themselves, expressing personal motives for inclusion of particular writings that promoted the finer traits of their own special deity. Throughout the meeting, howling factions were immersed in heated debates, and the names of 53 gods were tabled for discussion. "As yet, no God had been selected by the council, and so they balloted in order to determine that matter. . . For one year and five months the balloting lasted. . ." (God's Book of Eskra, Prof. S. L. MacGuire's translation, Salisbury, 1922, chapter xlviii, paragraphs 36, 41).

At the end of that time, Constantine returned to the gathering to discover that the presbyters had not agreed on a new deity but had balloted down to a shortlist of five prospects: Caesar, Krishna, Mithra, Horus and Zeus (Historia Ecclesiastica, Eusebius, c. 325). Constantine was the ruling spirit at Nicaea and he ultimately decided upon a new god for them. To involve British factions, he ruled that the name of the great Druid god, Hesus, be joined with the Eastern Saviour-god, Krishna (Krishna is Sanskrit for Christ), and thus Hesus Krishna would be the official name of the new Roman god. A vote was taken and it was with a majority show of hands (161 votes to 157) that both divinities became one God. Following longstanding heathen custom, Constantine used the official gathering and the Roman apotheosis decree to legally deify two deities as one, and did so by democratic consent. A new god was proclaimed and "officially" ratified by Constantine (Acta Concilii Nicaeni, 1618). That purely political act of deification effectively and legally placed Hesus and Krishna among the Roman gods as one individual composite. That abstraction lent Earthly existence to amalgamated doctrines for the Empire's new religion; and because there was no letter "J" in alphabets until around the ninth century, the name subsequently evolved into "Jesus Christ". Full story: nexusmagazine.com

Comment: The First Nicea Council was most definitely a "puerile assembly, and with so many cults represented." The few Christian Churchmen who traveled to Nicea departed before this Hegelian dialectic sat and the pagans organized the Roman Catholic church, the antithesis of Christianity.


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We're Paying the Price Today for Decades of Relentless Dam Building
September 18, 2008 – If the current growing population of 6.7 billion is considered a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If the vulnerability of dense populations downstream of dams is a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If agricultural production on arid lands that require large volumes of water that salinate the soil and demand large inputs of fossil-fuel based fertilizers and pesticides that runoff and pollute groundwater is considered a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If the displacement of 80 million people from their homelands to accommodate dams is a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If the destruction of life-supporting ecosystems and fishery resources is a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If the inequitable sharing of benefits and costs is a benefit to mankind, then dams are beneficial. If debt burden, cost overruns, deferred maintenance costs and the impoverishment of people is a benefit to mankind, then dams are the most beneficial engineering endeavor of human history second only to nuclear weapons. If that's the guess then God help us, because common sense hasn't. Full story: alternet.org


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Gathering to Armageddon - Part VI


We'll take our text from Numbers 35 and Ezekiel 37.

Numbers 35:33-34, "You shall not pollute the land in which you live: for blood defiles the land: and no expiation can be made to the land for the blood that is in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. (An eye for an eye and a life for a life). You are not to defile the land in which you live, because I too am living in it: for I the Lord dwell among the people of Israel".

Ezekiel 37:21-28, "Say to the twelve tribes, Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am taking the people of Israel from among the heathen whither they are gone and will gather them every quarter and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and One King shall be King to them all. They shall no longer be two nations and no longer divided into two kingdoms. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, their detestable practices, and all their other transgressions: for I will save them from all their apostasies and will cleanse them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God."

"My servant David shall be King over them; and they shall have One Shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances, and be careful to obey My statutes. They shall dwell in the land which I gave Jacob My servant, the land in which their fathers lived; they and their children and their children's children shall dwell there for ever: and David My servant shall be their Prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace; it shall be for them an everlasting covenant. I will bless them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: I will be their God, and they shall be My people. When My sanctuary remains in the midst of them the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel".

That takes the people of Israel from their restoration to the land in unbelief to their conversion and the Millennium. However, the 144,000 must first go through the Tribulation. This-evening we'll study Ezekiel 38 and 39 which leap ahead to the time of Daniel's Seventieth Week—after the ending of the Gentile dispensation.

Israel, restored to the Land, is threatened by an invasion from the north. Some of the historical nations take part in the attack, but the invaders are remote barbarians, from outside the ancient civilized world.

This attack comes between Ezekiel's prophecy of the restoration of Israel, described in chapters 33-37, and his picture of ultimate harmony between the Temple of the Lord which is His Elect, and the land, with which the Book closes when the Lord returns in chapters 40-48 to dwell in the hearts of His servant nation and thus restore the Kingdom to Israel.

In chapters 38 and 39 we shall see how God will "bring forth Gog"; and without human help defeat his vast armies and crumble every possible refuge with divinely induced panic as fell upon the army of the Midianites when Gideon's soldiers smashed their pitchers and shouted the cry to battle (Ezekiel38:19-23; Judges 6-7). This is the time of the Sixth Seal when men shall plead with the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits upon the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." The details are omitted from the description of the victory for it permits no spectators (Genesis 19:24-26; Isaiah 17:12-14). And the plunder from Gog's defeat is not treated as riches for Israelite soldiers, but as belonging to the real Victor, their Lord Jesus Christ. It is therefore cherim and destined for fire (Ezekiel 39:9-10; Isaiah 9:4-5; Psalm 46:9-11), and as a feast for God's non-human creation (Ezekiel 39:18-20; Isaiah 34:1-8). Israel's only participation is burying the dead and destroying the weapons. We pray the Lord's blessing for a clear understanding and grace to see the sequence in which these events unfold as the seven years and the seven months may not be literal but emblematical of the Supernatural nature of the deliverance and the Israelites' zeal for holiness (Daniel 2:44-45; Zechariah 4:6-7).

Ezekiel 38:1-7,"The Word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, look northward, toward the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech (or Moscow), and Tubal (Tobolsk or Siberia). Magog represents the Scythians from whom after intermarriage with the Medes, came the Russians. According to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, these are descendants of the sons of Japheth. "Gog" is their "chief" or principal man, the Czar or President of a union of several lesser princes.

"Prophesy against him. Say, Thus saith the Lord God; I am against you, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will put hooks into your jaws, and draw you from your own land, and I will mobilize your troops and armored cavalry, and make you a mighty host, all fully armed: Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya (these last two, according to Genesis 10, descended from Ham): shall join you with all of their weapons: Gomer, and all its troops; the armies of Togarmah from the distant north with all its troops, as well as many others. (Gomer and Togarmah are the peoples of the eastern boundary of the old Roman empire in the area around Mount Ararat where the borders of Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia meet with Syria and Iraq). Be prepared, stay mobilized, you and all your companies that are assembled around you, you are their commander".

Ezekiel 38:8-12, "Many years hence you will be called up for service: at the end of years you will swoop down into Israel, that will be lying in peace after the nation has been restored to statehood from war and occupied by people now living in security, all of them brought together from the nations in the mountains of Israel, which had been a perpetual waste."

(Ezekiel says Israel is "restored" from the sword at this time, and her citizens "gathered" out of the nations. Yet Jesus stated emphatically, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times [not dispensations] of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). Why? Because Israel will be ruled by a non-Semitic people with no part in God's Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob unto the consummation (Daniel 9:27).

Jesus described this time following the end of the Gentile dispensation as a period of extreme and universal terror (Luke 21:25-26). The United States is reeling from the earthquake that has sunk Los Angeles. Her Western allies are preoccupied supplying emergency relief to their former dominions. The Middle East has erupted as "es Sakhra," the Dome of the Rock, was destroyed by an earthquake that split the mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). Taking this window of opportunity, Russia has invaded the United States whose exhausted military deployed overseas in fruitless wars of aggression, struggles for its own survival. And Enraged by senseless US belligerence in service to the International Banksters whose plot to destroy the US dollar has dissolved trillions of dollars of national reserves in now worthless US Treasuries, Russia and her allies march unhindered through US-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, gaining thousands of fanatical followers along the way, and invade Israel, insensible to the fact this prophetic catastrophe masks the restoration of God's favor to Israel, as a consequence of which their fight is against God. They will perish for lack of knowledge. The knowledge to discern that the Banksters and not Israelites, and barely any Jew is an Israelite (Hosea 4:6; II Thessalonians 2:10-12; II Timothy 3:7-8).

"You Russians shall go up and roll down upon them like a storm, and cover the land like a cloud. Thus saith the Lord God; at that time an evil thought will come to your mind. You will say, I will march against the land of unwalled villages, and fall upon these people living in such confidence, without walls, or bars or gates. And I will seize booty and carry it away as plunder, assailing the waste places now inhabited and the people who were gathered from the Goiim or nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, and who dwell at the center of the Earth."

Sheba, and Dedan, (descendants of Ham who established Yemen in Southern Arabia), and the merchants of Tarshish, shall ask, Have you come to capture spoil? have you gathered your company to carry away silver and gold, to drive away their cattle and seize their goods, and impoverish them?"

God is sovereign. He examines the motives and objectives of every heart. In addition to contemplating aggression against those who are defenseless and complacent, dwelling securely without walls, bars, or gates, Russia covets Israel's Dead Sea mineral wealth and strategic position "at the center of the earth".

Since the State of Israel has been restored, the deserts have been made to produce abundantly, the Dead Sea holds important chemical salts, the estimated total value of which is four times the wealth of the United States. Brother Branham said, "Russia will come down, say, We just got to have that stuff. That's uranium and everything down there, we got to go get it. And as they go down, then will be the battle of Armageddon. That will be when God will stand like He did in the valley for the children of Israel and fight again. But that will take place until the Gentile dispensation will be finished. And when that time is finished, she's cut off" (C.O.D., 77:111; 294:530; Daniel, 122:157).

But Armageddon will be several years after this invasion.

Armageddon is the valley of Berachah (Blessing), where Jehoshaphat defeated the Gentiles. Joel 3:2 prophesied, "I will gather the armies of all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat (which means 'Jehovah has judged'), and punish them there for harming My people, for scattering My inheritance among the nations, and dividing up My land." That will be Armageddon.

Moab, Ammon and the Edomites, whom God would not let Israel invade on their journey to the Promised Land, came to invade Israel in the days of Jehoshaphat. God anointed a Levite, who prophesied that "the battle is the Lord's" so when Israel goes to do battle, they should once again find their enemies have fought themselves to death (II Chronicles 20).

What a perfect type of God's prophecy for the end-time. Zechariah 14:13, "It shall come to pass in that day, that Russia will be seized with great panic from the Lord; and they will fight against each other in hand-to-hand combat." The same thing. Back there it was Moab, Ammon and the Edomites that attacked the Land of the Covenant, here it will be Russia and Islam who will attack.

Ezekiel 38:14-16, "Therefore, son of man, prophesy. Say to Russia, Thus saith the Lord God: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling in security, you will bestir yourself and come from all over the remote north with your vast host of cavalry and cover the land like a cloud. It shall be in the latter days that I bring you against My land, in order that the nations may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in your defeat, O Russia, before their eyes."

Thus says the Lord God; "Are you he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them" (Deuteronomy 32:43; Isaiah 5:26-29; 34:1-6; 63:1-6; 66:15-16; Joel 3:9-14)?

God calls Israel "My people," and the land "My Land," signifying that the Gentile dispensation is over, and He is dealing only with Israel. So an offense against Israel is an affront to God.

Though Gog stirs himself, comes from his place, and goes up like a cloud against Israel, three verbs implying his own self-propulsion—the real controlling power behind his attack is solely God: "It is I Who will bring you." And by bringing Russia to the Land for judgment, He will prove to the nations His Own holiness.

Ezekiel 38:18-20, "And it shall come to pass when Russia comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, that My fury shall explode. For in My jealousy and blazing wrath I declare in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel; and the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep upon the earth, and ALL men upon the face of the earth, will shake at My Presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, cliffs shall tumble, and every wall shall fall to the ground".

Haggai 2:21-23, "Speak to Zerubbabel, (the representative of the Davidic monarchy and covenant, and in direct line of ancestry of Jesus Christ), governor of Judah, saying, I'll shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. (Russia and her allies will slaughter one another).

In that day, says the Lord of hosts, will I take you O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and will make you (through Messiah, your descendant) My signet (that is the Seal of Redemption): for I have chosen you (with whom to renew My covenant to David's line), says the Lord of hosts'.

The earthquake follows and marks the Presence of God (Isaiah 2:19-21; Jeremiah 4:23-26; Joel 2:2, 21; Zechariah 14:3-4; Revelation 11:19). It sinks Los Angeles, and cleaves the mount of Olives, destroying the Mosque of Omar on Temple mount. Russia for mercenary reasons, and the Moslems through religious fanaticism, grasp their opportunity and invade Israel, but God stands for His land and His people.

I Kings 19:11-12, "And God said to Elijah, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

This is precisely what occurred at Sunset Mountain in 1964 where a strong wind rent rocks from the mountain side, and inside each rock was a representation of the Capstone mystery Brother Branham had delivered in the revelation of the Seven Seals. The Lord told Him, "Judgment is striking the West Coast," and three days later on March 27, 1964 a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Alaska. It was the second-largest earthquake recorded in modern times and the largest in the written history of North America. It released 100 times as much energy as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and was followed by tsunamis. More than 100,000 square miles of Alaska broke, twisted, tilted, dropped and rose. Water sloshed in lakes and harbours as distant as Louisiana, water levels jumped in wells as far away as South Africa, and seismic waves traveled through the planet for weeks and Earth rang like a bell.

For all of this, Christ was not in the strong wind, nor was He in the earthquake. He was the still small Voice unfolding His secrets in the heart of His Bride to bring Her to maturity in the unity of the faith for the manifestation of the Sons of God and the translation. And God will not be in the earthquake or the four winds that strike the mountains of Israel, but in the still small Voice of His two witnesses.

Ezekiel 38:21-23, "I will call for a sword against Russia throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother (Haggai 2:21-23; Zechariah 14:4, 10). With disease and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him, upon his hordes and the many people that are with him, torrential rain, accompanied by hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus I will manifest My greatness and My holiness and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord".

Like my sermons, much of the Scripture is recorded in shorthand as it were: a few words can say a great deal. Unlike my sermons, the Scripture is inerrant. I don't wish to seem uncertain or like I'm preaching guesswork, I rely upon the Message of Brother Branham to place and unfold these Scriptures. Although his Message finished the mystery of God, I've got to find the quotes that identify what they are saying. Ezekiel 38 and 39 appear to cover Daniel's Seventieth Week, from the end of the Gentile dispensation and the earthquake to the consummation.

I find it interesting that unlike Daniel these chapters don't deal with Rome and the beast. They deal with Russia and the Islamic people. Rome does not become involved until after this battle when they form an alliance with the USA and the International Jews, and the Pope restores peace. Verses 21-23 would appear to be a summary of the judgment of God upon Russia and its Muslim allies in the early part of the Seventieth Week. The climax: rain of fire and hail of brimstone, is reminiscent of the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-28). The chapter concludes with a triple assertion of God's purpose: "I will magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the sight of the many nations who witness Gog's fate, so they will recognize that I Am God." In thus exercising His wrath against the world powers, God proves His true identity and implies that His people shall be saved as in the Exodus; and as Joshua took seven years to conquer the land, so now Israel will be seven years destroying discarded weaponry after God defeats their invaders.

Ezekiel 39:1-16, "Son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; I am against you, O Russia, the Leader of Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tobolsk): and I will turn you around and drive you from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. (In our KJV we also read, "and leave but the sixth part of thee" which is a misinterpretation that should read: "drive" or "forcibly march"). And I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.

"You and all your vast armies will die upon the mountains of Israel and I will give you as food to the birds of prey, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall not reach the city, but fall upon the open fields: for I have spoken it, says the Lord God. And I will rain down fire on Russia, and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts: and they shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will I make My holy Name known among My people Israel; and I will not let them profane It any more: and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel."

"That day of judgment will come, and everything will happen just as I have declared. And they that inhabit the cities shall go forth, and gather the weapons, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: They shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for these weapons will furnish all the fuel they require: and they shall use the possessions of those who despoiled them, and rob those who plundered them, says the Lord God."

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give to Russia a vast graveyard in Israel in the valley of the travelers, east of the Dead Sea: and it will block the path of the travelers: there Gog and all his multitude will be buried: and they shall call it "The valley of Hamongog" (or Gog's Army).

It will take seven months for the house of Israel to bury them, in order to cleanse the Land.

"Everyone in Israel will help bury them; for it will be a glorious victory for Israel on the day I glorify Myself, says the Lord God. And at the end of seven months they shall employ men to systematically search throughout the land for any skeletons and to bury them, to cleanse it: And the travelers who see a man's bone shall set up a sign by it, so they can be located and transported for burial in the valley of Hamongog. The name of the city there shall be Hamonah (Multitude or Army). Thus shall they cleanse the land".

Ezekiel 39:1-16 restates the previous chapter with variations in detail. The first five verses announce Gog's defeat. In verses 6-8 we are told that Gog's defeat is extended to his homeland and that of his allies. The Fire of God's wrath will rain upon Magog and his allies "living securely" in distant lands. An ironic note, since Israel's own defenseless "living in security" had prompted Gog to launch his attack.

Gog's defeat and the destruction of his homeland, will be followed by the burning of his weapons. A number of other Biblical passages use the motif of weapons to emphasize God's superiority over the nations, or the foolishness of trusting in, or fearing weapons.

Of Israel's restoration to the Land, Christ's parousia to Israel, and the Millennium, Isaiah 9:4-7 says, "God has broken the yoke of Israel's burden, and the staff on their shoulder, the rod of their oppressor, as when He destroyed the vast host of the Midianites on the plain of Esdraelon (which is Armageddon) by Gideon's little band. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall all be for burning as fuel for the fire."

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to establish and to uphold it, with judgment and with justice from henceforth forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (as Revelation 19 confirms).

The people themselves destroy the weapons; in fact, this task and the burial are their only real participation in the whole contest. As the account makes clear from beginning to end, Gog's invasion and his defeat are totally under God's control. So much weaponry will be abandoned it will provide sufficient fuel to supply Israel's domestic needs seven full years. If this is a literal period to be fulfilled, it must be placed at the start of the seventieth week as we have been teaching tonight.

The promise they will despoil those who would despoil them, and take booty from those who would rob them, turns the tables on Gog. Further irony is seen in that God gives Gog a burial place in the land, rather than the land itself. The burying of the remains of the dead keeps the land pure from ritual pollution, and since it proceeds for seven months, emphasizes the enormity of Gog's defeat and God's glory.

Ezekiel 39:17-21, "Son of man, thus saith the Lord; Call all the birds and animals and say to them, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from far and near to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh, and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of warriors, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

You shall eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus you shall be filled at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men, and with all the men of war, says the Lord God. And I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them."

The animal guests at the feast eat the fat and the blood normally reserved in a sacrifice for Jehovah, for these sacrifices are "unclean." The victory over Gog will be an occasion for the nations to see Jehovah's glory and to realize His justice. However, like pharaoh, their day of grace has expired and their hearts have been seared by the hot iron of unbelief.

The Son of man, Jesus Christ, has come down in His 'parousia' and made His Word so real it has united the Bride as one with Him and she has been taken Home. We go to the wedding supper, not to the marriage. Because "the marriage of the Lamb has come to pass. . . And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come! Gather yourselves together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, and captains, and valiant men, of horses and riders, and the of all humanity both small and great, bond and free" (Revelation 19:7-9, 17-18; Ezekiel 39:17-20; William Branham, Proving His Word, p. 44:236).

Ezekiel 39:22-23, "From that day onwards the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they dealt so treacherously against Me, I hid My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their adversaries; and they all fell by the sword."

This is no indication of repentance. Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." The time for repentance among the Gentiles has passed. Those who are the saved must lay down their lives for their principles, or take the mark of the beast and have their names removed from the Book of Life.

Brother Branham said, "For three and one-half years while the retributive wrath of God is poured out, His Bride will be in the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Then will He return, leaving His Bride in "His Father's house," while He makes Himself known to His brethren. At this very time, the antichrist covenant that the Jews have made with Rome will be broken. Rome and her allies then send their troops to destroy all the God-fearing, Word-abiding Jews. But as they come against the city to destroy it, there will appear in the heavens the sign of the Coming of the Son of Man with His mighty armies to destroy them who have been destroying the earth. With the enemy repulsed, Jesus then comes and presents Himself to the 144,000. Having seen His mighty acts of salvation, they have come to know His power. But also seeing His wounds and knowing that they had rejected Him even to that moment causes them to cry out in the agony of terror and fear, even as did their brethren of old when they stood before Joseph, being sore afraid that they would be killed. But as Joseph said, "Don't be angry with yourselves. It is all right. God was in it all. He did it to preserve life." Even so will Jesus speak peace and love to them" (William Branham, An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, p. 40:2).

Through Gog's overwhelming defeat, the 144,000 elect of Israel will recognize their God from that time onward. The cleansing of the Land symbolizes a return to the Orthodox Law and ordinances of Moses. Malachi 4:4 says, "Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." Before the prophet with the Elijah anointing can introduce the elect to the New Covenant of Ezekiel 36, their Moses must take them back to their foundation in the Old Covenant whence they have fallen.

Ezekiel 36:21-29, "But I had pity for My holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, "Thus saith the Lord; I do this not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for My holy Name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whither you went. And I will sanctify My great Name, which you have profaned in the midst of the heathen; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes."

"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh."

"And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses. . ."

From the time of God's great sacrifice of Gog's army, the nations will learn it was because of iniquity and rebellion that Israel went into exile, and not God's weakness or His inability to defend them. But the nations will only harden their hearts.

Ezekiel 39:24-29, "I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid My face from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; now I will end the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy Name. Their time of treachery and shame shall all be in the past, when they live safely in their land, with no one to make them afraid."

"Once they are settled and undisturbed in their land, when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated My holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I caused them to go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave a single one [of the 144,000 elect] among the nations. Neither hide My face from them any longer: for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God".

Restoration will lead to serious reflection among elect Israelites on the reasons that led to their historic departure from the land. Ezekiel uses the account of God's defeat of Gog's invasion in chapters 38 and 39 to underscore once more the finality and irreversibility of the divine promise for the future of Israel . . . and the world gathers to Armageddon. bb960724.htm


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Brother Grigor-Scott is a non-denominational minister who has ministered full-time since 1981, primarily to other ministers and their congregations in other countries. He pastors Bible Believers' tiny congregation, and is available to teach in your church.

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