Bible Believers' Newsletter 913
"We focus on the present Truth – what Jesus is doing now. . ."
ISSN 1442-8660
ISSN 1442-8660
Christian greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This week's news confirms the earth is corrupt before God, and filled with violence, having followed Jewry into apostasy. Our main article shows that Isaiah 49 describes the redemption of "the daughters of Zion, who are Christ's Church and not the "daughters of Jerusalem" who are the 144,000 elect Israelites.
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.
This week's news confirms the earth is corrupt before God, and filled with violence, having followed Jewry into apostasy. Our main article shows that Isaiah 49 describes the redemption of "the daughters of Zion, who are Christ's Church and not the "daughters of Jerusalem" who are the 144,000 elect Israelites.
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
Anthony Grigor-Scott
Dutch MH17 Investigator shoots down anti-Russian Propaganda
March 8, 2016 — Fred Westerbeke, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Netherlands . . . is the coordinator of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which comprises officials from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine and is conducting the official criminal investigation into the disaster . . . Westerbeke's letter destroys the Obama Administration's version of events, which The Australian dramatically and unquestioningly reported on 13 August 2014:
"Shocked US officials watched as they received real-time satellite images showing a Russia-supplied BUK missile being fired at Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed yesterday the Americans then saw the airline vanish from sight . . . 'This type of weapon, all the evidence of it was seen on our imagery . . . We saw the take-off. We saw the trajectory, we saw the hit. We saw this aeroplane disappear from the radar screens. So there is really no mystery about where it came from and where these weapons have come from.'"
Westerbeke's information proves this was a lie! . . . He also indicates that the US government is withholding what incriminating evidence it does claim to have . . . By contrast, Russia handed its own radar, satellite and communications data to crash investigators from the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) in August 2014 . . . Ukraine . . . says that both its civilian and military radar systems happened to be "switched off that day" . . . Full story: cecaust.com.au
"Shocked US officials watched as they received real-time satellite images showing a Russia-supplied BUK missile being fired at Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed yesterday the Americans then saw the airline vanish from sight . . . 'This type of weapon, all the evidence of it was seen on our imagery . . . We saw the take-off. We saw the trajectory, we saw the hit. We saw this aeroplane disappear from the radar screens. So there is really no mystery about where it came from and where these weapons have come from.'"
Westerbeke's information proves this was a lie! . . . He also indicates that the US government is withholding what incriminating evidence it does claim to have . . . By contrast, Russia handed its own radar, satellite and communications data to crash investigators from the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) in August 2014 . . . Ukraine . . . says that both its civilian and military radar systems happened to be "switched off that day" . . . Full story: cecaust.com.au
Hillary's Worst Nightmare just came true Thanks to the Justice Department
March 5, 2016 — The Justice Department has granted immunity to a former State Department staffer, who worked on Hillary Clinton's private email server, as part of a criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information, according to a senior law enforcement official . . . Judge Andrew Napolitano warns "She should be terrified of the fact that he's been granted immunity," adding that "they would not be immunizing him and thereby inducing him to spill his guts unless they wanted to indict someone."
Napolitano argued that the revelation that former Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano, who set up Clinton's private email server in 2009, is reportedly being offered immunity means he will likely be called to testify against someone much higher on the "totem pole" . . . only a federal judge can grant immunity and will only do so if a sitting jury is ready to hear testimony from the "immunized person," suggesting the investigation is well on its way to a possible indictment . . .
Full story: www.zerohedge.com youtube.com
Napolitano argued that the revelation that former Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano, who set up Clinton's private email server in 2009, is reportedly being offered immunity means he will likely be called to testify against someone much higher on the "totem pole" . . . only a federal judge can grant immunity and will only do so if a sitting jury is ready to hear testimony from the "immunized person," suggesting the investigation is well on its way to a possible indictment . . .
Full story: www.zerohedge.com youtube.com
German Govt. promotes Interracial Sex
March 6, 2016 — The German government has set up an explicitly-illustrated website dedicated exclusively to promoting interracial sex between the non-white "refugees" and Europeans.
The new website, called "Zanzu—My body in words and images"—was set up by the Ministry of Health's Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung ("Federal Center for Health Education," BZgA) in cooperation with a Belgian-government funded "Expertise Center for Sexual Health" called Sensoa.
In its introductory video, the website specifically says that its purpose is to give "advice on sex and sexuality for migrants who have not been living long in Germany" . . . Full story: newobserveronline.com
Comment: This is the satanic work of monsters fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus Messiah in Matthew 24:37 (Genesis 6:1-4), rebuilding their abominable Weimar Republic. Dönmeh Jew Erdogan will swap Syrian refugees with the EU for unemployed Turks so they can send Euros back home.
The new website, called "Zanzu—My body in words and images"—was set up by the Ministry of Health's Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung ("Federal Center for Health Education," BZgA) in cooperation with a Belgian-government funded "Expertise Center for Sexual Health" called Sensoa.
In its introductory video, the website specifically says that its purpose is to give "advice on sex and sexuality for migrants who have not been living long in Germany" . . . Full story: newobserveronline.com
Comment: This is the satanic work of monsters fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus Messiah in Matthew 24:37 (Genesis 6:1-4), rebuilding their abominable Weimar Republic. Dönmeh Jew Erdogan will swap Syrian refugees with the EU for unemployed Turks so they can send Euros back home.
Needless Wars over Oil
March 5, 2016 — Since about the 1880's, Western geologists have promoted the unproven idea that oil and gas—hydrocarbons—are scarce on this planet. That idea of scarcity of new finds, combined with the idea of depletion of old fields, appears to make empirical sense amid reports of old oil fields going dry. After all, Western geologists argue, oil is a fossil fuel, derived from organic material—dead dinosaur detritus, tree leaves, algae. And the volume of that biological detritus from some two hundred thirty million years ago is clearly finite. The only problem is that reality has now been proved to be quite the opposite of petroleum scarcity. That's very good news, or should be, because it means that the cause for more than a century of wars, fighting for scarce oil, is unnecessary.
An elite, cross-disciplinary team of Russian and Ukrainian scientists (in those days it was one Soviet Union) were given the mandate by Stalin in the early 1950's to make the USSR during the Cold War totally independent of Western oil imports for her economy. What the brilliant Russians scientists discovered was that oil, far from being biological in genesis, was a-biotic. Moreover, they posited, and later proved that it was being continuously newly generated deep in the Earth's mantle and pushed to the surface or as close to it as the subsurface geology allowed. The Earth's dynamic core was one huge radioactive oven that constantly created new hydrocarbons—oil, gas, coal, even diamonds, another rare hydrocarbon.
Now, some six decades later, the Russian scientists have been vindicated by of all people, USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . . . confirms oil in other planets . . . Full story: journal-neo.org
An elite, cross-disciplinary team of Russian and Ukrainian scientists (in those days it was one Soviet Union) were given the mandate by Stalin in the early 1950's to make the USSR during the Cold War totally independent of Western oil imports for her economy. What the brilliant Russians scientists discovered was that oil, far from being biological in genesis, was a-biotic. Moreover, they posited, and later proved that it was being continuously newly generated deep in the Earth's mantle and pushed to the surface or as close to it as the subsurface geology allowed. The Earth's dynamic core was one huge radioactive oven that constantly created new hydrocarbons—oil, gas, coal, even diamonds, another rare hydrocarbon.
Now, some six decades later, the Russian scientists have been vindicated by of all people, USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . . . confirms oil in other planets . . . Full story: journal-neo.org
US/UK/NATO/Saudi/Turkey/GCC Invaders of Syria swap Black Flag for Green
March 7, 2016 — as Syrian forces backed by its regional allies and Russian airpower overwhelm these forces while building alliances with other factions, including the Kurds, the West's entire regime change enterprise faces ignominious collapse.
It appears that—having exhausted all other options—the West has decided to change as many of those black banners back to the "rebel" green, white, and black as possible, before the conflict draws to a close, giving the West the most favourable position achievable ahead . . . Full story: journal-neo.org
It appears that—having exhausted all other options—the West has decided to change as many of those black banners back to the "rebel" green, white, and black as possible, before the conflict draws to a close, giving the West the most favourable position achievable ahead . . . Full story: journal-neo.org
NATO's (not at all) Free Press
March 4, 2016 — Here is the last article of Today's Zaman in Istanbul. Tomorrow's paper will be published (if anything is published) by the minions of Sultan Erdogan's state apparatus and one of the last, important voices of dissent reporting on the crimes of NATO's Turkey will have been silenced. Today's Zaman's sins? Reporting on corruption in the present Turkey regime, inclusive of the Erdogan family, Turkey doing business with Islamic State, Turkish intelligence providing the sarin precursor chemicals to al-Nusra (al-Qaida) used to kill 1,400 Syrians; blamed on Assad . . . examples given. It is likely these articles will vanish from Today's Zaman online platform tomorrow . . .
An Istanbul court has appointed trustees to take over the management of the Feza Media Group, which includes Turkey's biggest-selling newspaper, the Zaman daily, as well as the Today's Zaman daily and the Cihan News Agency, dealing a fresh blow to the already battered media freedom in Turkey . . .
The takeover of Zaman comes as [Dönmeh Jew] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the government of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that he founded intensified pressure on the Turkish media. Zaman, which is affiliated with the Gülen movement, is one of the few opposition media outlets in the country, which is dominated by pro-government television stations and newspapers. Turkey's satellite provider Türksat halted the broadcast of the independent IMC TV station last week on terrorism charges. Two newspapers and two television stations owned by Koza Ipek Holding were placed under the management of a trustee board . . . Full story: ronaldthomaswest.com
An Istanbul court has appointed trustees to take over the management of the Feza Media Group, which includes Turkey's biggest-selling newspaper, the Zaman daily, as well as the Today's Zaman daily and the Cihan News Agency, dealing a fresh blow to the already battered media freedom in Turkey . . .
The takeover of Zaman comes as [Dönmeh Jew] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the government of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that he founded intensified pressure on the Turkish media. Zaman, which is affiliated with the Gülen movement, is one of the few opposition media outlets in the country, which is dominated by pro-government television stations and newspapers. Turkey's satellite provider Türksat halted the broadcast of the independent IMC TV station last week on terrorism charges. Two newspapers and two television stations owned by Koza Ipek Holding were placed under the management of a trustee board . . . Full story: ronaldthomaswest.com
Hezbollah vs. the 'State Sponsors of Terrorism'
March 5, 2016 — The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is following Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv by declaring that a political and military force that resists Israeli aggression in Southern Lebanon known as 'Hezbollah' a terrorist organization. The US, France, Israel, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The European Union, the United Kingdom and New Zealand declared that only Hezbollah's military division, is a terrorist organization. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is dominated by Sunni's now classify Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization" that participated in "hostile actions" according to a recent Al Jazeera report. . .
The US was involved in numerous assassinations, coups and various conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa after the Second World War including Syria (1956-7), Egypt (1957), Iraq (1963), South Yemen (1982-84), Libya (1980s), and Iraq (1991), Afghanistan since 1980s until the present day, then in Iraq in 2003 and then again in both Libya and Syria in 2011. . . .
Declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization is the first step in launching a new war on Lebanon's southern border. The idea is to defeat Hezbollah at all costs so that the US, Turkey and the GCC can weaken the Syrian government. That would allow enough time to rebuild ISIS and other terror groups to remove its President Bashar al-Assad but with Russia and Iran in the picture, that will not happen. What is inevitable is another war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Full story: silentcrownews.com
The US was involved in numerous assassinations, coups and various conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa after the Second World War including Syria (1956-7), Egypt (1957), Iraq (1963), South Yemen (1982-84), Libya (1980s), and Iraq (1991), Afghanistan since 1980s until the present day, then in Iraq in 2003 and then again in both Libya and Syria in 2011. . . .
Declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization is the first step in launching a new war on Lebanon's southern border. The idea is to defeat Hezbollah at all costs so that the US, Turkey and the GCC can weaken the Syrian government. That would allow enough time to rebuild ISIS and other terror groups to remove its President Bashar al-Assad but with Russia and Iran in the picture, that will not happen. What is inevitable is another war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Full story: silentcrownews.com
When Terrorism becomes Counter-terrorism: The State Sponsors of Terrorism are 'Going After the Terrorists'
March 2, 2016 — US foreign policy has nurtured Al Qaeda, a creation of the CIA for more than 35 years, with the support of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Saudi Arabia's infamous General Intelligence Presidency (GIP). Lest we forget Osama bin Laden was recruited in 1979 by the CIA at the outset of the Soviet-Afghan war.
A complex network of Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist organizations overseen by US and allied intelligence agencies has unfolded, extending across the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Western China, South and South East Asia . . . Today's Al Qaeda most recent "affiliate", the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) based in Raqqa, Northern Syria is not only protected by the US and its allies, it is trained and financed by US-NATO, with the support of Turkey, Israel and Washington's Persian Gulf allies.
In a bitter irony, the caliphate project as an instrument of propaganda has been on the drawing board of US intelligence for more than ten years. In December 2004, under the Bush Administration, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicted that in the year 2020 a New Caliphate extending from the Mediterranean to Central Asia and South East Asia would emerge, threatening Western democracy and Western values.
The "findings" of the National Intelligence Council were published in a 123 page unclassified report entitled "Mapping the Global Future".
"A New Caliphate provides an example of how a global movement fuelled by radical religious identity politics could constitute a challenge to Western norms and values as the foundation of the global system" (emphasis added).
The NIC 2004 report borders on ridicule; it is devoid of intelligence, let alone historical and geopolitical analysis. It has the features of an internal propaganda construct intended to sensitize government officials. Its objective is to provide a justification to America's "Global War on Terrorism" . . . Full story: globalresearch.ca
Comment: The United States is "the image unto the beast" of Imperial Rome youtube.com.
A complex network of Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist organizations overseen by US and allied intelligence agencies has unfolded, extending across the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Western China, South and South East Asia . . . Today's Al Qaeda most recent "affiliate", the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) based in Raqqa, Northern Syria is not only protected by the US and its allies, it is trained and financed by US-NATO, with the support of Turkey, Israel and Washington's Persian Gulf allies.
In a bitter irony, the caliphate project as an instrument of propaganda has been on the drawing board of US intelligence for more than ten years. In December 2004, under the Bush Administration, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicted that in the year 2020 a New Caliphate extending from the Mediterranean to Central Asia and South East Asia would emerge, threatening Western democracy and Western values.
The "findings" of the National Intelligence Council were published in a 123 page unclassified report entitled "Mapping the Global Future".
"A New Caliphate provides an example of how a global movement fuelled by radical religious identity politics could constitute a challenge to Western norms and values as the foundation of the global system" (emphasis added).
The NIC 2004 report borders on ridicule; it is devoid of intelligence, let alone historical and geopolitical analysis. It has the features of an internal propaganda construct intended to sensitize government officials. Its objective is to provide a justification to America's "Global War on Terrorism" . . . Full story: globalresearch.ca
Comment: The United States is "the image unto the beast" of Imperial Rome youtube.com.
2016 Defence White Paper
March 12, 2016 — In my view Australia is a vassal of the United States. My view is based upon the facts that Australia is integrated fully with the US economic model, financial system, banking system, social policy and social engineering, anti-Christian culture, and push towards the centralisation of political power. As time passes we are also culturally becoming more American, and militarily we are an arm of the US and NATO.
This is not what my father and grandfather fought for in two world wars. It dishonours why I served in the ADF reserve for 10 years. NATO has become an instrument of the unipolar world system of the US and the US has made it clear it is not ready to accept a multi-polar world at this time. This has the potential to provoke World War III, or many regional wars or many changes of governments which do not fit the US unipolar world system. This last year the US has publicly made Russia its number one security threat and has begun to modernise its nuclear weapons, conventional weapons and military systems in a program which will cost trillions of dollars . . . Full story: newsweekly.com.au
Comment: US image to the beast of Imperial Rome wants to threaten China by basing B1 nuclear bombers in Australia.
This is not what my father and grandfather fought for in two world wars. It dishonours why I served in the ADF reserve for 10 years. NATO has become an instrument of the unipolar world system of the US and the US has made it clear it is not ready to accept a multi-polar world at this time. This has the potential to provoke World War III, or many regional wars or many changes of governments which do not fit the US unipolar world system. This last year the US has publicly made Russia its number one security threat and has begun to modernise its nuclear weapons, conventional weapons and military systems in a program which will cost trillions of dollars . . . Full story: newsweekly.com.au
Comment: US image to the beast of Imperial Rome wants to threaten China by basing B1 nuclear bombers in Australia.
Top 9/11 Criminals, Jewish Neocons terrified of Trump Presidency
March 3, 2016 — Donald Trump has demonstrated once again that the entire political and media establishment—both of which are entirely dominated by organized Jewry and their subversive, anti-White agenda—are totally opposed to his candidacy and what he represents. That should be clear to all observers of American politics. Making matters even more dramatic, a number of prominent 9/11 criminals—all of whom are Jews of course—and neocons generally have all recently denounced Trump, as the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported today.
A number of prominent Jewish Republicans are among dozens of conservatives in the US national security community who have come out against Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The letter posted Wednesday by sixty influential conservatives in think tanks and alumni of Republican administrations lists the ways they say the billionaire real estate magnate would "make America less safe," including "hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric" that "undercuts the seriousness of combating Islamic radicalism." It also accuses Trump of contempt for neighbors such as Mexico and allies like Japan while admiring Russia's Vladimir Putin . . . Full story: therealistreport.com
Comment: Billionaires, tech CEOs and top members of the Republican establishment flew to a . . . closed-to-the-press confab . . . to stop Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
A number of prominent Jewish Republicans are among dozens of conservatives in the US national security community who have come out against Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The letter posted Wednesday by sixty influential conservatives in think tanks and alumni of Republican administrations lists the ways they say the billionaire real estate magnate would "make America less safe," including "hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric" that "undercuts the seriousness of combating Islamic radicalism." It also accuses Trump of contempt for neighbors such as Mexico and allies like Japan while admiring Russia's Vladimir Putin . . . Full story: therealistreport.com
Comment: Billionaires, tech CEOs and top members of the Republican establishment flew to a . . . closed-to-the-press confab . . . to stop Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Goldman Sachs takes over America and now Europe
April 29, 2012 — More and more emerges about the role of ruthless scam bank Goldman Sachs as the main tool of the bankster elite for a relentless, hostile takeover of a Luciferian one world government. This is done by their central banks practice through the creation of sovereign debt that can never be repaid. States are caught up in the debt quagmire—and so the banksters have taken over the US and the EU, and then liquidate the nation-states by the appointment of their agents as administrators of the States/ECB/FED.
The Huffington Post 22 April 2012: L'Osservatore Romano is reporting that Goldman Sachs is indeed "Doing God's work", and His Former Holiness Joseph Ratzinger has confirmed the unsolicited hostile takeover (of the Vatican). Writing under his pen name Benedict XVI, Ratzinger verified that total control of the popular religion has been transferred to Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein. Since 1830, the Vatican has been dependent on N.M. Rothschild & Sons. In addition, Goldman Sachs is closely intertwined with the US government and the EU.
Now, the EU has given Goldman Sachs and Co. an unlimited free hand to fleece taxpayers—through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). It is a permanent facility to replace the temporary Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism once Member States, representing 90% of capital commitments have ratified, probably in July 2012. The ESM is a contract of debt. . . . The authorized share capital must be 700bn €. (to be increased):
[Article 9]: ". . . ESM members commit themselves irrevocably and unconditionally to pay on demand any capital that is demanded of them . . . within 7 days of receipt of the request."
[Article 10]: "The Council of Governors may decide to change the authorized capital and Article 8.
[Article 27, lines 2-3]: "[Article 27, line 4]: "The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall . . . be immune from every form of legal proceedings—as shall ESM property and assets, governors, deputy governors, directors and officials.
ESM is an intergovernmental organization, not subject to laws or to reviewers . . . Full story: hangthebankers.com
Comment: Money is the God of the Jews, and Rothschild is his prophet." The chief owner of Goldman Sachs is said to be Lord Jacob Rothschild and he and other members of the Rothschild family dominate the control consortium, which rules the money power of the planet. Goldman Sachs, like e.g. NM Rothschild in London and the Rothschild Bank in Berlin, own the US Federal Reserve. America is The Bankrupt Hegemon.
The Huffington Post 22 April 2012: L'Osservatore Romano is reporting that Goldman Sachs is indeed "Doing God's work", and His Former Holiness Joseph Ratzinger has confirmed the unsolicited hostile takeover (of the Vatican). Writing under his pen name Benedict XVI, Ratzinger verified that total control of the popular religion has been transferred to Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein. Since 1830, the Vatican has been dependent on N.M. Rothschild & Sons. In addition, Goldman Sachs is closely intertwined with the US government and the EU.
Now, the EU has given Goldman Sachs and Co. an unlimited free hand to fleece taxpayers—through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). It is a permanent facility to replace the temporary Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism once Member States, representing 90% of capital commitments have ratified, probably in July 2012. The ESM is a contract of debt. . . . The authorized share capital must be 700bn €. (to be increased):
[Article 9]: ". . . ESM members commit themselves irrevocably and unconditionally to pay on demand any capital that is demanded of them . . . within 7 days of receipt of the request."
[Article 10]: "The Council of Governors may decide to change the authorized capital and Article 8.
[Article 27, lines 2-3]: "[Article 27, line 4]: "The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall . . . be immune from every form of legal proceedings—as shall ESM property and assets, governors, deputy governors, directors and officials.
ESM is an intergovernmental organization, not subject to laws or to reviewers . . . Full story: hangthebankers.com
Comment: Money is the God of the Jews, and Rothschild is his prophet." The chief owner of Goldman Sachs is said to be Lord Jacob Rothschild and he and other members of the Rothschild family dominate the control consortium, which rules the money power of the planet. Goldman Sachs, like e.g. NM Rothschild in London and the Rothschild Bank in Berlin, own the US Federal Reserve. America is The Bankrupt Hegemon.
Chinese Government prepares to sack Millions of Workers
March 3, 2016 — On Monday, the employment and welfare minister Yin Weimin announced that capacity in the coal and steel industries would be drastically reduced with 1.8 million workers losing their jobs—1.3 million coal miners and 500,000 steel workers . . .
The slowing Chinese economy, now the world's second largest, is already reverberating internationally. Falling Chinese demand for basic industrial inputs has contributed to the collapse in world commodity prices which is now severely impacting on commodity exporting countries such as Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Canada. The excess capacities in China are enormous . . . The official unemployment rate is 4 percent but some estimates, such as research by the National Bureau of Economic Research, put the real figure at close to 10 percent . . . A report last month by the European Chamber of Commerce in China stated that non-performing loans (NPLs) had risen by $US76 billion during the first ten months of 2015 to about $291 billion, a 35 percent increase . . . Full story: wsws.org Comment:
The slowing Chinese economy, now the world's second largest, is already reverberating internationally. Falling Chinese demand for basic industrial inputs has contributed to the collapse in world commodity prices which is now severely impacting on commodity exporting countries such as Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Canada. The excess capacities in China are enormous . . . The official unemployment rate is 4 percent but some estimates, such as research by the National Bureau of Economic Research, put the real figure at close to 10 percent . . . A report last month by the European Chamber of Commerce in China stated that non-performing loans (NPLs) had risen by $US76 billion during the first ten months of 2015 to about $291 billion, a 35 percent increase . . . Full story: wsws.org Comment:
Born in Zion
Today we will study Isaiah 49, which deals with the Gentile Bride and to a lesser degree with the 144,000 elect Israelites. It is God's hand, and no partial human hand, that writes down in the Book of Life those who are born in the City of God; and for that reason sharp trials are employed to elect those for whom a place is prepared. God is a Separator; there can be no 'joining.' Elect Israelites will be born of the blood of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and like elect Gentiles of Adam's race, all who inhabit Zion will be born in her by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Our text is Psalm 87:1-7: "His foundation is in the holy mountains [Moriah and Zion]. The Lord loves the gates of Zion (Joel 3:17; Revelation 21:25-27; 22:14-15) more than all the dwellings of Jacob [because they welcome Christ's beloved Gentile Bride (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10-18; 19:24-25) into the holy city and promise of Zion's future glory]. "Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God. I will acknowledge [previously hostile and pagan] Egypt and Babylon as belonging to those who know Me." [God deals with us Gentiles as individuals wherever we are, in contradistinction to Israelites with whom He deals as a nation, and only in the land of their Covenant], so when He sees Philistine, Tyrean, and Ethiopian saints He declares them one by one to be children of Zion—"this man was reborn in her." The Most High will establish Zion when He revises the Book of Life following the second resurrection and White Throne Judgment, noting against those in the Lamb's Book of Life, "this man was born in Zion" (Galatians 4:26-28; Hebrews 12:22-24). And the Christian Church will dance in thanksgiving before the Lord like the Israelites after their passage through the Red Sea, singing "all my fountains of natural and Spiritual refreshment are in You," perhaps in allusion to the eighth day of Israel's feast of Tabernacles, which represents eternity and the new heavens and earth when Zion will rise to an altitude of 1,500 miles and overshadowed by the Shekinah.
Now let's turn in our Bibles to Isaiah 49. Verses 1-13 survey the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, called "the Servant of the Lord." Although for a time the object of contempt and aversion, abhorred by His own people, He shall become the object of highest veneration, even for kings. He is raised aloft and made the mediator of a New Covenant, in consequence of which the Gentile Bride will be gathered and Israel's kingdom restored in the millennium. Verses 14-26 describe how Zion personified (Isaiah 59:20-21; 60)—not Israel or Jewry—will arise from deepest forsakenness, rebuilt of the "lively stones" of a predominantly Gentile Bride of Christ, and like Him finally soar aloft to the highest elevation and glory (Zechariah 14:9-11; Revelation 21:16). Isaiah sees the distant future and the exaltation of Mount Zion to unparalleled, supermundane and everlasting glory, through the overcoming of future history from at first weak beginnings to the realization glory in the restoration of the kingdom to Israel and Zion crowned with the New Jerusalem overshadowed by the Shekinah.
God opposes Zion and the Servant, indicating the connection between the guilt of Israel, the suffering of His Servant, and deliverance from the former by faith in the latter. Isaiah chapters 49 – 57 focus upon the Great Deliverer, the Messianic Servant of the Lord (of whom we learned Cyrus was a type). The parallel between the Servant of the Lord God and Zion is that each begins small and ends great. As Brother Branham said, "the way up is down".
Isaiah 49:1, "Listen to Me, O isles, and hearken you people from far; the Lord has called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother He has mentioned My Name".
In chapter 48, Isaiah addressed Israel. Here he speaks in the first person, as if he were the Lord Jesus Christ. His Message is not to Israel but to Gentiles in far-off lands. He speaks of Christ's call from birth. (Verse 5, "And now, says the Lord who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him [in Daniel's Seventieth Week]"). Like the call to Jeremiah and Paul, God mentioned His Jesus' Name because He had chosen the Servant for a special task (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15-16; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6), and the meaning of a Hebrew name indicates 'reputation.' Thus the Angel told Mary, "You shall call His Name JESUS [Jehovah Saviour]: because He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
Isaiah 49:2, "He made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid Me; He made Me a polished arrow, and in His quiver He concealed Me;"
Christ is characterized as a Prophet whose whole person stands for the Word that proceeds with the power of a sharp sword in invincible authority, its polished shaft like an arrow piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, will not return without accomplishing what was spoken because it is the expressed mind of God (Isaiah 55:11). If we have the mind that was in Christ, His Words will not fail when they pass through our lips.
When the Sword materialized in Brother Branham's hand as he prayed in Sabino Canyon, God signified that at the opening Seven Seals the FULL Word would come into effect; that Christ would no longer be a Mediator for PART-Word but as the first mature Son at His 'parousia' Coming he would have authority to speak the Word (I Corinthians 13:10; 15:23; Revelation 1:16; 19:15).
A polished shaft is an arrow purged of imperfections; a metaphor for a divider, describing Christ's ability to judge and discern. In Luke 12:51 He said, "Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division . . . faith will divide father against son, and the son against his father. . ." Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart".
A sword is hid and protected in the grip of the hand as the shaft of an arrow is hid and protected in the quiver (Psalm 127:4-5), God hid and protected His servant 'til the hour came for Him to be delivered for our salvation. Isaiah 49:3, "He said to Me, You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." The sword, shaft, or Servant is hid or protected and under God's control, like the seven angels in His right hand (Revelation 1:6, 20), because it is by the instrumentality of Abraham's Royal Seed and His offspring that God brings redemption to mankind and reveals His glory.
Isaiah 49:4, "But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain [because Israel rejected Messiah]: yet I leave judgment with the Lord, [all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose. Israel had to be blinded for our sakes in order for us Gentiles to be called], and My recompense with My God." Like Boaz, Christ's reward is His Bride, and all things. Christ had to redeem Israel before He could marry the Gentile Bride just as Boaz had to redeem Naomi before he could marry his Gentile bride, Ruth.
Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it is the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He put Him to grief. When His soul is made an offering for sin, He will see His offspring [born of His Spirit], He shall prolong His days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand".
Isaiah 49:5-6, "And now, says the Lord who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, "Though Israel is not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength." And He said, "It is too light a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you as a Light to the Gentiles, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth".
The "preserved of Israel" are the 144,000 who survive the judgments upon Israel. These were not restored in the days of His flesh and are not restored even today, but Scripture will soon be fulfilled. Revelation 7:4-8, "And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand out of every tribe of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed . . . and so-on" (Daniel 12:12; Revelation 14:12-13). The Lord Jesus Christ will accomplish this through the ministry of two prophets with the anointings that were upon Moses and Elijah—after the Light of Christ has been received by Gentiles "to the end of the earth".
Isaiah 49:7, "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to He whom men despise, abhorred by the nation [of Israel] and the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and stand up; princes also shall pay homage, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You".
Jesus was regarded as a servant, not only of kings, but of lesser officials, because He was abhorred by His Own people. But Isaiah 66:23 says, "It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another [i.e. 'continually'], all flesh come to worship before Me, says the Lord." Philippians 2:10, "At the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." Revelation 1:6, "He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him is glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen".
Isaiah 49:8, "Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time I have answered You, in a day of salvation I have helped You: I will preserve You and make You a Covenantal pledge to the people, to establish the earth, and reassign the Holy Land lying waste".
God protected the Lord Jesus from premature harm until the "acceptable time" or Pentecostal Jubilee and the "day of salvation": Calvary. II Corinthians 6:1-2, "As God's fellow workers, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For He says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to You and on a day of salvation I have helped You. Behold, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation" (Isaiah 61; Luke 4:4; Galatians 4:4).
Isaiah 42:6-9, "I the Lord have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand and will watch over You, and give You as a Covenant for the people; as a Light for the Gentiles to open blind eyes, to bring captives out of prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord: that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former prophecies have come to pass; now I declare new things; before they come forth I tell you of them".
Until the acceptable time, Christ could suffer no physical harm, so He could say, "My time is not yet come" (John 7:6-7). And, "I lay down My Life that I might take it up again. No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. . ." (John 10:17-18).
Christ's atonement is the Seal to God's Covenant that He will restore the earth and Israel's inheritance in the millennium. He was to be the Covenant of the people by His Own blood. When the kingdom is restored to Israel King Jesus will have dominion from sea to shining sea.
Isaiah 49:9, "Call to the prisoners, "Come out!" (Matthew 27:50-53) and to those in spiritual darkness, "Show yourselves" (Ephesians 4:8). My sheep shall feed along the roadside [wherever they go], and there will be pasture on all the bare hills." [This is addressed to the Church: elect Israelites imprisoned by Jewish fables, but primarily Gentiles who step into the Light of the Sun of righteousness. Jesus said, "Other sheep I have that are not Israelites" (John 10:3, 15-16). We are the sheep of His pasture, He will lead us along fruitful paths and we shall feed in the greenest hills (Psalm 23)].
Isaiah 49:10, "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by springs of water shall He guide them." [This verse speaks of the Gentile Church. It thrilled my heart when I saw the Old Testament confirmed in the New. Revelation 7:16-17, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The language of promise, of comfort and assurance is the same in both Testaments.
You've probably seen photographs of Bedouin herdsmen with their flocks of sheep and goats out in the sand hills. Imagine yourself a sheep in the Palestinian deserts or outback Australia, searching for food and water. I had prospecting authorities north-east of Broken Hill up the Tibooburra Road; desert country where properties carry maybe one sheep to the square mile: What must they eat? There is no grass or weed and barely a tree. The rivers are dry sand until it rains—perhaps once in five years—producing a flash flood, so that within two days the land is covered in grass and flowers and Sturt's desert pea. Within a week, the sun will have dried up that vegetation, and the rivers will once again be dry sand. That's pretty much a picture of the denominational desertification we came out of, where we sat for months at a time before the minister let slip something which would delight our soul. Praise God, we recognized His Voice.
Isaiah 49:11, "I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted." All of His guidance will be positive and progressive by a clear direct route we call faith, which knows no denominational detours such as the mountains and valleys—creeds and traditions but takes us directly to the heart of God, making the high places low and the low places high (Isaiah 40:3-5; John 1:23).
Isaiah 49:12, "Behold, these shall come from far: and these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim [east]." This is the promise of Acts 2:39, Israelite and Gentile will come to God by the direct "strait way" of faith which knows no obstacle (Matthew 7:13).
Isaiah 49:13, "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; let the mountains break forth into song: for the Lord has compassion on His people, and will show mercy to His afflicted ones".
This verse signifies the end of the Gentile dispensation. Revelation 11:15-16, "The Seventh Trumpet sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God. . ." the Bride of all Ages will go to the Mount Zion rapture, and Christ will reveal Himself to Israel.
Isaiah 44:23, "Sing, O heavens; for the Lord has done it: shout, O depths of the earth: break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel".
Isaiah 54:7-10, "For a brief moment I forsook you; but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of indignation I hid My face from you; but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. For this is as the days of Noah to Me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should never again cover the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For though the mountains depart, and the hills be removed, My lovingkindness shall never depart from you, or the covenant of My peace be withdrawn, says the Lord who has compassion on you".
In the second half of this chapter, nothing more is said of Jesus Messiah, and instead of the Servant of the Lord we see the restored Zion as His married wife, together with His offspring "as countless as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore" (Genesis 22:17). Zion's loss of motherhood was occasioned by the crucifixion of Messiah when Israel's priesthood abrogated its mediatorial office and severed God's dealings with the nation: Zion was apparently forsaken following the destruction of Jerusalem but is yet tenderly His beloved.
Isaiah 49:14-16, "Zion, forsaken and repudiated by her husband, is sorry for herself, imagining she has been deserted by God and debarred from bearing children. But God says, I have not forgotten you, it is you who have forgotten Me. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? She may forget, yet I will never forget you. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands; your ruined walls are continually before Me."
Zion's lamentation follows the lament of Jesus Messiah in verse 4, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain." As Israel repudiated and divorced Him, He cried, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets, and stones those that are sent to you, how oft would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. You will not see Me hereafter, till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:37-38). "When you see the legions of Titus, prophesied in Daniel 9:26 stand in the holy place, let those who are in Judaea flee into the mountains: let he who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let he who is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray that your flight is not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day [when the city gates are shut]: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:15-21).
Zion was left desolate, the Temple was razed, and her natural children were dispersed and forbidden entry to Jerusalem. Throughout the Gentile dispensation Zion has been forsaken, and Jerusalem will be ruled unto the consummation of life by non-Semitic Gentiles (Daniel 9:27). However, as the names of the tribes were engraved on the stones of the ephod worn over the breast of the high priest, the names of 144,000 elect Israelites are engraved on the palms of His hands by the nails of His Cross.
Zechariah 13:6-7, "One shall ask Him, "What are these wounds in Your hands?" Then He will answer, "Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends. Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My fellow," says the Lord of hosts: "Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Thus Zion's broken walls are constantly before the Lord.
Amos 9:8-11, "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful northern kingdom of Israel's ten tribes. I will destroy it from the face of the earth; but I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For I will command and sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet not one kernel will be lost. All the sinners of My people who say, God will not harm us, shall die by the sword. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches in Zion; and I will raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of old".
At the close of the Gentile dispensation multitudes of so-called Jews will desert Israel and return to their own nations following the rape of their women and Jerusalem in its overthrow (Zechariah 14:1-2). Then Jacob's descendants, recognizing the Scriptural signs of the time, will return to the homeland for their redemption after 2,500 years of exile in the Muslim lands of the ancient Assyrian empire (Psalm 17:7; Isaiah 6:10-13; 11:11-16; 27:13; 49:17; Jeremiah 3:12, 18; 16:15; 23:8; 31:8; Ezekiel 37:14; 39:27; Micah 5:3; Zechariah 10:9-12; Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 12:14, etc.,).
Zion's broken walls will be rebuilt with the precious stones of 144,000 elect Israelites by the spiritual restoration of Jacob's seed (not Israeli Jews so-called) after the Christian dispensation (Acts 15:16). Revelation 21:10-21, "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, with the glory of God, its lustre like a most precious gem, like a jasper, clear as crystal. Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are three gates on each side, east, north, south, and west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And He who spoke with me had a golden reed to measure the city with its gates and wall. The city is laid out foursquare, with its length equal to its width and height: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height are equal. And He measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, by the angel's human measure. Its wall was built of jasper: and the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall were inlaid with precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. [These were the birth stones of the twelve tribes]. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made of a single pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass".
Isaiah 49:17, "Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall depart from you." Forsaken, repudiated and put in ward by Her Husband, since the time of Titus, Zion, supposing herself barren and bereft, is suddenly surrounded by the richest blessing of children. However this crowd hastening to Zion as their maternal centre are not Israelites who are as yet unregenerate; this is Christ's Gentile Bride, "the daughters of Zion born in Jerusalem which is above is free, and is the mother of us all".
In the midst of the Seventieth Week, Rome will break her anti-Christ covenant with the Jews. Rome and her allies will send their troops to destroy all God-fearing, Word-abiding Israelites. But as they come against the city to destroy it, the sign of the Coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, with His mighty armies to destroy them who have been destroying the earth (William Branham, An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, p. 41).
Isaiah 29:6-8, "You will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Jerusalem, with all their armaments and men who distress her, shall be like a dream, a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams he is eating and wakes with his hunger unsatisfied; or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, but when he awakes he is faint and craving: so shall it be with all the multitude of nations that war against Mount Zion".
Revelation 11:13, 19, "And the same hour [as the two witnesses resurrect and ascend visibly into heaven] there will be a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city will be destroyed, and in the earthquake seven thousand men will be slain: and the terrified survivors will give glory to the God of heaven. . . And the temple of God in heaven will open, and the ark of His Covenant [the sign of God's Presence with Israel]: will be seen, and there will be lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail." Not until this time will the 144,000 catch the revelation of Christ's second or 'parousia' Coming to Israel (Revelation 19:11-17) and be gloriously reborn. Thereafter they will be martyred and Armageddon will set in. Zion will remain ignorant of the Gentile dispensation and Israel's redemption until the millennium when the Lord reveals her children.
Isaiah 49:18, "Lift up your eyes, and see your children gather themselves together and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will adorn yourself with them as jewels, as a bride displays her ornaments." Here are Zion's children, Israel's Queen, Messiah's many-membered Gentile Bride "New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1-2).
Zion may regard all the saints as her own glorious ornament of children, and bind them to herself as with the splendid girdle of a bride. Isaiah 8:18, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion." Isaiah 45:23, "In the Lord shall all the [elect] seed of Israel [natural and Spiritual] be justified, and glory".
Zion's children are the New Testament Church, the 144,000 Israelites will be "the daughters of Jerusalem." Joel 2:23, "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He has 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".
God has restored the former or teaching rain which is "the faith once delivered to the apostolic saints" by the Message of Brother Branham in the revelation of the Seven Seals preached between March 17-24, which was the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. The latter or harvest rain will fall after the Gentile dispensation closes on about Nisan 14, and from Nisan 16 which is the commencement of Pentecost, that quickening Spirit will be waved in the manifestation of the Sons of God to endue Christ's end-time Bride with experiential faith for translation grace as the Israelite high priest waved two loaves baked with leaven for acceptance before the Lord. Our acceptance will be our body change and translation on about the fortieth day.
Isaiah 49:19-21, "Then your ruined and desolate places, and your devastated land will become crowded with inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children born in your bereavement, will yet say to you, This place is too crowded, give us 'lebensraum.' Then you will say in your heart, Who has borne these children for me, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought these up for me? Behold, I was left alone; whence then have these come?".
The ideal Zion has become essentially an abstraction, devoid of meaning, having been destroyed by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans, and since the children now before her are not new-born, but grown up, she further inquires, "Who has brought them up for me?" And so numerous are Zion's children, the City is too small to accommodate them. The Lord explains her conundrum:
Isaiah 49:22-23, "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I have lifted up My hand [and sworn an oath of blessing] to the Gentiles, and signaled to the nations, that they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings shall be your nursing fathers and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and kiss the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord. Those who wait for Me shall never be ashamed." Zion will know her God is the true God, the eternally existent One, whose Divinity declares itself so that those who, even in deepest distress, do not lose their trust in Him, will not be brought to shame (Psalm 25:3).
Galatians 4:26-27, "Jerusalem that is Above is free, which is the mother of us all, for it is written, Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break out with shouting, you who have no birthpangs, for more numerous are the children of the desolate woman than of she who has a husband" (Isaiah 54:1-17). The Kings and Queens are neither bowing to Jewry nor bearing Jews to Zion, whose countless children are certainly not self-styled Jews; few are Israelites, but those converted to the Lord from the Gentiles have become Spiritual Israel, the holy nation and the sons and daughters of Zion (Ephesians 2:11-13; I Peter 2:1-10).
Like Zion, the Prophet John was nonplussed when he saw her children, "a great multitude, which no man could number drawn out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, shouting, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9-17). Like Zion, John could not say who they were or whence they came; had these been Israelites, the woman, Zion (Revelation 12:1-2; Isaiah 66:7-8), would have known and recognized them as the fruit of her own body.
Finally Zion asks, "Will all the heathen powers be converted, and if not, what is the prospect of escape for an elect held captive by hostile powers"? The prophet answers, that to begin with, a strong man will not allow his plunder or captives to be taken from him and is unlikely to be concerned with the justice or otherwise of their case (Luke 11:21-23). Nonetheless, as the Lord Himself is our Strong Man, He will redeem Zion's children. He will reduce the oppressor to a condition where they will "feed on their own flesh and make themselves drunk on their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 49:24-26).
During the siege of Titus, parents ate their own children according to prophecy (Deuteronomy 28:55; Jeremiah 20:9; Lamentations 4:10). Soon the oppressors of God's people will metaphorically "eat their own flesh" and all flesh shall know that Jesus Christ is Lord. He who comes against God's elect comes against one who is "born and named in Zion" (Psalm 87:5-6).
God can arrange the release even of lawful prisoners. For when we were yet sinners He set us free from the Law of sin and death. And while we have the Message that will enable us to change in the atoms, World Wars I and II, disunity provoked among the Arab nations and two prophets in waiting are all working together for the deliverance of His elect 144,000 Israelites. nl913.htm
Our text is Psalm 87:1-7: "His foundation is in the holy mountains [Moriah and Zion]. The Lord loves the gates of Zion (Joel 3:17; Revelation 21:25-27; 22:14-15) more than all the dwellings of Jacob [because they welcome Christ's beloved Gentile Bride (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10-18; 19:24-25) into the holy city and promise of Zion's future glory]. "Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God. I will acknowledge [previously hostile and pagan] Egypt and Babylon as belonging to those who know Me." [God deals with us Gentiles as individuals wherever we are, in contradistinction to Israelites with whom He deals as a nation, and only in the land of their Covenant], so when He sees Philistine, Tyrean, and Ethiopian saints He declares them one by one to be children of Zion—"this man was reborn in her." The Most High will establish Zion when He revises the Book of Life following the second resurrection and White Throne Judgment, noting against those in the Lamb's Book of Life, "this man was born in Zion" (Galatians 4:26-28; Hebrews 12:22-24). And the Christian Church will dance in thanksgiving before the Lord like the Israelites after their passage through the Red Sea, singing "all my fountains of natural and Spiritual refreshment are in You," perhaps in allusion to the eighth day of Israel's feast of Tabernacles, which represents eternity and the new heavens and earth when Zion will rise to an altitude of 1,500 miles and overshadowed by the Shekinah.
Now let's turn in our Bibles to Isaiah 49. Verses 1-13 survey the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, called "the Servant of the Lord." Although for a time the object of contempt and aversion, abhorred by His own people, He shall become the object of highest veneration, even for kings. He is raised aloft and made the mediator of a New Covenant, in consequence of which the Gentile Bride will be gathered and Israel's kingdom restored in the millennium. Verses 14-26 describe how Zion personified (Isaiah 59:20-21; 60)—not Israel or Jewry—will arise from deepest forsakenness, rebuilt of the "lively stones" of a predominantly Gentile Bride of Christ, and like Him finally soar aloft to the highest elevation and glory (Zechariah 14:9-11; Revelation 21:16). Isaiah sees the distant future and the exaltation of Mount Zion to unparalleled, supermundane and everlasting glory, through the overcoming of future history from at first weak beginnings to the realization glory in the restoration of the kingdom to Israel and Zion crowned with the New Jerusalem overshadowed by the Shekinah.
God opposes Zion and the Servant, indicating the connection between the guilt of Israel, the suffering of His Servant, and deliverance from the former by faith in the latter. Isaiah chapters 49 – 57 focus upon the Great Deliverer, the Messianic Servant of the Lord (of whom we learned Cyrus was a type). The parallel between the Servant of the Lord God and Zion is that each begins small and ends great. As Brother Branham said, "the way up is down".
Isaiah 49:1, "Listen to Me, O isles, and hearken you people from far; the Lord has called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother He has mentioned My Name".
In chapter 48, Isaiah addressed Israel. Here he speaks in the first person, as if he were the Lord Jesus Christ. His Message is not to Israel but to Gentiles in far-off lands. He speaks of Christ's call from birth. (Verse 5, "And now, says the Lord who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him [in Daniel's Seventieth Week]"). Like the call to Jeremiah and Paul, God mentioned His Jesus' Name because He had chosen the Servant for a special task (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15-16; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6), and the meaning of a Hebrew name indicates 'reputation.' Thus the Angel told Mary, "You shall call His Name JESUS [Jehovah Saviour]: because He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
Isaiah 49:2, "He made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid Me; He made Me a polished arrow, and in His quiver He concealed Me;"
Christ is characterized as a Prophet whose whole person stands for the Word that proceeds with the power of a sharp sword in invincible authority, its polished shaft like an arrow piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, will not return without accomplishing what was spoken because it is the expressed mind of God (Isaiah 55:11). If we have the mind that was in Christ, His Words will not fail when they pass through our lips.
When the Sword materialized in Brother Branham's hand as he prayed in Sabino Canyon, God signified that at the opening Seven Seals the FULL Word would come into effect; that Christ would no longer be a Mediator for PART-Word but as the first mature Son at His 'parousia' Coming he would have authority to speak the Word (I Corinthians 13:10; 15:23; Revelation 1:16; 19:15).
A polished shaft is an arrow purged of imperfections; a metaphor for a divider, describing Christ's ability to judge and discern. In Luke 12:51 He said, "Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division . . . faith will divide father against son, and the son against his father. . ." Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart".
A sword is hid and protected in the grip of the hand as the shaft of an arrow is hid and protected in the quiver (Psalm 127:4-5), God hid and protected His servant 'til the hour came for Him to be delivered for our salvation. Isaiah 49:3, "He said to Me, You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." The sword, shaft, or Servant is hid or protected and under God's control, like the seven angels in His right hand (Revelation 1:6, 20), because it is by the instrumentality of Abraham's Royal Seed and His offspring that God brings redemption to mankind and reveals His glory.
Isaiah 49:4, "But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain [because Israel rejected Messiah]: yet I leave judgment with the Lord, [all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose. Israel had to be blinded for our sakes in order for us Gentiles to be called], and My recompense with My God." Like Boaz, Christ's reward is His Bride, and all things. Christ had to redeem Israel before He could marry the Gentile Bride just as Boaz had to redeem Naomi before he could marry his Gentile bride, Ruth.
Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it is the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He put Him to grief. When His soul is made an offering for sin, He will see His offspring [born of His Spirit], He shall prolong His days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand".
Isaiah 49:5-6, "And now, says the Lord who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, "Though Israel is not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength." And He said, "It is too light a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you as a Light to the Gentiles, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth".
The "preserved of Israel" are the 144,000 who survive the judgments upon Israel. These were not restored in the days of His flesh and are not restored even today, but Scripture will soon be fulfilled. Revelation 7:4-8, "And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand out of every tribe of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed . . . and so-on" (Daniel 12:12; Revelation 14:12-13). The Lord Jesus Christ will accomplish this through the ministry of two prophets with the anointings that were upon Moses and Elijah—after the Light of Christ has been received by Gentiles "to the end of the earth".
Isaiah 49:7, "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to He whom men despise, abhorred by the nation [of Israel] and the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and stand up; princes also shall pay homage, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You".
Jesus was regarded as a servant, not only of kings, but of lesser officials, because He was abhorred by His Own people. But Isaiah 66:23 says, "It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another [i.e. 'continually'], all flesh come to worship before Me, says the Lord." Philippians 2:10, "At the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." Revelation 1:6, "He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him is glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen".
Isaiah 49:8, "Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time I have answered You, in a day of salvation I have helped You: I will preserve You and make You a Covenantal pledge to the people, to establish the earth, and reassign the Holy Land lying waste".
God protected the Lord Jesus from premature harm until the "acceptable time" or Pentecostal Jubilee and the "day of salvation": Calvary. II Corinthians 6:1-2, "As God's fellow workers, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For He says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to You and on a day of salvation I have helped You. Behold, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation" (Isaiah 61; Luke 4:4; Galatians 4:4).
Isaiah 42:6-9, "I the Lord have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand and will watch over You, and give You as a Covenant for the people; as a Light for the Gentiles to open blind eyes, to bring captives out of prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord: that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former prophecies have come to pass; now I declare new things; before they come forth I tell you of them".
Until the acceptable time, Christ could suffer no physical harm, so He could say, "My time is not yet come" (John 7:6-7). And, "I lay down My Life that I might take it up again. No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. . ." (John 10:17-18).
Christ's atonement is the Seal to God's Covenant that He will restore the earth and Israel's inheritance in the millennium. He was to be the Covenant of the people by His Own blood. When the kingdom is restored to Israel King Jesus will have dominion from sea to shining sea.
Isaiah 49:9, "Call to the prisoners, "Come out!" (Matthew 27:50-53) and to those in spiritual darkness, "Show yourselves" (Ephesians 4:8). My sheep shall feed along the roadside [wherever they go], and there will be pasture on all the bare hills." [This is addressed to the Church: elect Israelites imprisoned by Jewish fables, but primarily Gentiles who step into the Light of the Sun of righteousness. Jesus said, "Other sheep I have that are not Israelites" (John 10:3, 15-16). We are the sheep of His pasture, He will lead us along fruitful paths and we shall feed in the greenest hills (Psalm 23)].
Isaiah 49:10, "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by springs of water shall He guide them." [This verse speaks of the Gentile Church. It thrilled my heart when I saw the Old Testament confirmed in the New. Revelation 7:16-17, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The language of promise, of comfort and assurance is the same in both Testaments.
You've probably seen photographs of Bedouin herdsmen with their flocks of sheep and goats out in the sand hills. Imagine yourself a sheep in the Palestinian deserts or outback Australia, searching for food and water. I had prospecting authorities north-east of Broken Hill up the Tibooburra Road; desert country where properties carry maybe one sheep to the square mile: What must they eat? There is no grass or weed and barely a tree. The rivers are dry sand until it rains—perhaps once in five years—producing a flash flood, so that within two days the land is covered in grass and flowers and Sturt's desert pea. Within a week, the sun will have dried up that vegetation, and the rivers will once again be dry sand. That's pretty much a picture of the denominational desertification we came out of, where we sat for months at a time before the minister let slip something which would delight our soul. Praise God, we recognized His Voice.
Isaiah 49:11, "I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted." All of His guidance will be positive and progressive by a clear direct route we call faith, which knows no denominational detours such as the mountains and valleys—creeds and traditions but takes us directly to the heart of God, making the high places low and the low places high (Isaiah 40:3-5; John 1:23).
Isaiah 49:12, "Behold, these shall come from far: and these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim [east]." This is the promise of Acts 2:39, Israelite and Gentile will come to God by the direct "strait way" of faith which knows no obstacle (Matthew 7:13).
Isaiah 49:13, "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; let the mountains break forth into song: for the Lord has compassion on His people, and will show mercy to His afflicted ones".
This verse signifies the end of the Gentile dispensation. Revelation 11:15-16, "The Seventh Trumpet sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God. . ." the Bride of all Ages will go to the Mount Zion rapture, and Christ will reveal Himself to Israel.
Isaiah 44:23, "Sing, O heavens; for the Lord has done it: shout, O depths of the earth: break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel".
Isaiah 54:7-10, "For a brief moment I forsook you; but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of indignation I hid My face from you; but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. For this is as the days of Noah to Me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should never again cover the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For though the mountains depart, and the hills be removed, My lovingkindness shall never depart from you, or the covenant of My peace be withdrawn, says the Lord who has compassion on you".
In the second half of this chapter, nothing more is said of Jesus Messiah, and instead of the Servant of the Lord we see the restored Zion as His married wife, together with His offspring "as countless as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore" (Genesis 22:17). Zion's loss of motherhood was occasioned by the crucifixion of Messiah when Israel's priesthood abrogated its mediatorial office and severed God's dealings with the nation: Zion was apparently forsaken following the destruction of Jerusalem but is yet tenderly His beloved.
Isaiah 49:14-16, "Zion, forsaken and repudiated by her husband, is sorry for herself, imagining she has been deserted by God and debarred from bearing children. But God says, I have not forgotten you, it is you who have forgotten Me. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? She may forget, yet I will never forget you. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands; your ruined walls are continually before Me."
Zion's lamentation follows the lament of Jesus Messiah in verse 4, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain." As Israel repudiated and divorced Him, He cried, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets, and stones those that are sent to you, how oft would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. You will not see Me hereafter, till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:37-38). "When you see the legions of Titus, prophesied in Daniel 9:26 stand in the holy place, let those who are in Judaea flee into the mountains: let he who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let he who is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray that your flight is not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day [when the city gates are shut]: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:15-21).
Zion was left desolate, the Temple was razed, and her natural children were dispersed and forbidden entry to Jerusalem. Throughout the Gentile dispensation Zion has been forsaken, and Jerusalem will be ruled unto the consummation of life by non-Semitic Gentiles (Daniel 9:27). However, as the names of the tribes were engraved on the stones of the ephod worn over the breast of the high priest, the names of 144,000 elect Israelites are engraved on the palms of His hands by the nails of His Cross.
Zechariah 13:6-7, "One shall ask Him, "What are these wounds in Your hands?" Then He will answer, "Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends. Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My fellow," says the Lord of hosts: "Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Thus Zion's broken walls are constantly before the Lord.
Amos 9:8-11, "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful northern kingdom of Israel's ten tribes. I will destroy it from the face of the earth; but I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For I will command and sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet not one kernel will be lost. All the sinners of My people who say, God will not harm us, shall die by the sword. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches in Zion; and I will raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of old".
At the close of the Gentile dispensation multitudes of so-called Jews will desert Israel and return to their own nations following the rape of their women and Jerusalem in its overthrow (Zechariah 14:1-2). Then Jacob's descendants, recognizing the Scriptural signs of the time, will return to the homeland for their redemption after 2,500 years of exile in the Muslim lands of the ancient Assyrian empire (Psalm 17:7; Isaiah 6:10-13; 11:11-16; 27:13; 49:17; Jeremiah 3:12, 18; 16:15; 23:8; 31:8; Ezekiel 37:14; 39:27; Micah 5:3; Zechariah 10:9-12; Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 12:14, etc.,).
Zion's broken walls will be rebuilt with the precious stones of 144,000 elect Israelites by the spiritual restoration of Jacob's seed (not Israeli Jews so-called) after the Christian dispensation (Acts 15:16). Revelation 21:10-21, "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, with the glory of God, its lustre like a most precious gem, like a jasper, clear as crystal. Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are three gates on each side, east, north, south, and west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And He who spoke with me had a golden reed to measure the city with its gates and wall. The city is laid out foursquare, with its length equal to its width and height: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height are equal. And He measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, by the angel's human measure. Its wall was built of jasper: and the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall were inlaid with precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. [These were the birth stones of the twelve tribes]. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made of a single pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass".
Isaiah 49:17, "Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall depart from you." Forsaken, repudiated and put in ward by Her Husband, since the time of Titus, Zion, supposing herself barren and bereft, is suddenly surrounded by the richest blessing of children. However this crowd hastening to Zion as their maternal centre are not Israelites who are as yet unregenerate; this is Christ's Gentile Bride, "the daughters of Zion born in Jerusalem which is above is free, and is the mother of us all".
In the midst of the Seventieth Week, Rome will break her anti-Christ covenant with the Jews. Rome and her allies will send their troops to destroy all God-fearing, Word-abiding Israelites. But as they come against the city to destroy it, the sign of the Coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, with His mighty armies to destroy them who have been destroying the earth (William Branham, An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, p. 41).
Isaiah 29:6-8, "You will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Jerusalem, with all their armaments and men who distress her, shall be like a dream, a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams he is eating and wakes with his hunger unsatisfied; or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, but when he awakes he is faint and craving: so shall it be with all the multitude of nations that war against Mount Zion".
Revelation 11:13, 19, "And the same hour [as the two witnesses resurrect and ascend visibly into heaven] there will be a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city will be destroyed, and in the earthquake seven thousand men will be slain: and the terrified survivors will give glory to the God of heaven. . . And the temple of God in heaven will open, and the ark of His Covenant [the sign of God's Presence with Israel]: will be seen, and there will be lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail." Not until this time will the 144,000 catch the revelation of Christ's second or 'parousia' Coming to Israel (Revelation 19:11-17) and be gloriously reborn. Thereafter they will be martyred and Armageddon will set in. Zion will remain ignorant of the Gentile dispensation and Israel's redemption until the millennium when the Lord reveals her children.
Isaiah 49:18, "Lift up your eyes, and see your children gather themselves together and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will adorn yourself with them as jewels, as a bride displays her ornaments." Here are Zion's children, Israel's Queen, Messiah's many-membered Gentile Bride "New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1-2).
Zion may regard all the saints as her own glorious ornament of children, and bind them to herself as with the splendid girdle of a bride. Isaiah 8:18, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion." Isaiah 45:23, "In the Lord shall all the [elect] seed of Israel [natural and Spiritual] be justified, and glory".
Zion's children are the New Testament Church, the 144,000 Israelites will be "the daughters of Jerusalem." Joel 2:23, "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He has 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".
God has restored the former or teaching rain which is "the faith once delivered to the apostolic saints" by the Message of Brother Branham in the revelation of the Seven Seals preached between March 17-24, which was the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. The latter or harvest rain will fall after the Gentile dispensation closes on about Nisan 14, and from Nisan 16 which is the commencement of Pentecost, that quickening Spirit will be waved in the manifestation of the Sons of God to endue Christ's end-time Bride with experiential faith for translation grace as the Israelite high priest waved two loaves baked with leaven for acceptance before the Lord. Our acceptance will be our body change and translation on about the fortieth day.
Isaiah 49:19-21, "Then your ruined and desolate places, and your devastated land will become crowded with inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children born in your bereavement, will yet say to you, This place is too crowded, give us 'lebensraum.' Then you will say in your heart, Who has borne these children for me, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought these up for me? Behold, I was left alone; whence then have these come?".
The ideal Zion has become essentially an abstraction, devoid of meaning, having been destroyed by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans, and since the children now before her are not new-born, but grown up, she further inquires, "Who has brought them up for me?" And so numerous are Zion's children, the City is too small to accommodate them. The Lord explains her conundrum:
Isaiah 49:22-23, "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I have lifted up My hand [and sworn an oath of blessing] to the Gentiles, and signaled to the nations, that they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings shall be your nursing fathers and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and kiss the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord. Those who wait for Me shall never be ashamed." Zion will know her God is the true God, the eternally existent One, whose Divinity declares itself so that those who, even in deepest distress, do not lose their trust in Him, will not be brought to shame (Psalm 25:3).
Galatians 4:26-27, "Jerusalem that is Above is free, which is the mother of us all, for it is written, Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break out with shouting, you who have no birthpangs, for more numerous are the children of the desolate woman than of she who has a husband" (Isaiah 54:1-17). The Kings and Queens are neither bowing to Jewry nor bearing Jews to Zion, whose countless children are certainly not self-styled Jews; few are Israelites, but those converted to the Lord from the Gentiles have become Spiritual Israel, the holy nation and the sons and daughters of Zion (Ephesians 2:11-13; I Peter 2:1-10).
Like Zion, the Prophet John was nonplussed when he saw her children, "a great multitude, which no man could number drawn out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, shouting, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9-17). Like Zion, John could not say who they were or whence they came; had these been Israelites, the woman, Zion (Revelation 12:1-2; Isaiah 66:7-8), would have known and recognized them as the fruit of her own body.
Finally Zion asks, "Will all the heathen powers be converted, and if not, what is the prospect of escape for an elect held captive by hostile powers"? The prophet answers, that to begin with, a strong man will not allow his plunder or captives to be taken from him and is unlikely to be concerned with the justice or otherwise of their case (Luke 11:21-23). Nonetheless, as the Lord Himself is our Strong Man, He will redeem Zion's children. He will reduce the oppressor to a condition where they will "feed on their own flesh and make themselves drunk on their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 49:24-26).
During the siege of Titus, parents ate their own children according to prophecy (Deuteronomy 28:55; Jeremiah 20:9; Lamentations 4:10). Soon the oppressors of God's people will metaphorically "eat their own flesh" and all flesh shall know that Jesus Christ is Lord. He who comes against God's elect comes against one who is "born and named in Zion" (Psalm 87:5-6).
God can arrange the release even of lawful prisoners. For when we were yet sinners He set us free from the Law of sin and death. And while we have the Message that will enable us to change in the atoms, World Wars I and II, disunity provoked among the Arab nations and two prophets in waiting are all working together for the deliverance of His elect 144,000 Israelites.
Pass it on . . . please send this article to someone you knowBrother Grigor-Scott is a non-denominational minister who has ministered full-time since 1981, primarily to other ministers and their congregations overseas. He pastors Bible Believers' tiny congregation, and is available to teach in your church.
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