CHAPTER 5
A Ruler from Bethlehem
God says, "Mobilize! Marshal your troops! The enemy is
laying siege to Jerusalem. With a rod they will strike the leader
of Israel in the face.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in
Judah, Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose
origins are from the distant past" (verses 1-2)
This was a prophecy that told of the birth of the Messiah as
He came to earth as a mortal man, born in a stable in the village
of Bethlehem. It was a part verse that gave this truth. Only some
at the time of Christ's birth knew the meaning of this verse. We
see that it was LITERAL in fulfilment, hence showing that the
many prophecies for the end time and the new age, will be LITERAL
in fulfilment.
These verses here are actually for the end time - the end of
this age.
The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
until the time the woman gives birth to her son. The image is the
woman true church and the son is Christ to come at the end of
this age. Then the Son's people (as He was born an Israelite in
Bethlehem) will be delivered and returned to their own land. He
will stand to feed His flock in the name of God. His brother
Israelites will then live undisturbed, for He will be HONORED all
around the world (verses 1-4).
He will be the Prince of peace, and Deliver from Assyria
This may have had a TYPE of fulfilment during the days of
the Assyrian captivity, but only in the sense that the house of
Israel was not fully destroyed, but tens of thousands of them did
live in the land of Assyria, and finally moved on to the North,
and were as the dew upon the grass, here and there and then gone,
or moved on. They were as Amos prophesied, "...I will command,
and I will sift the house of Israel among the nations, like as
corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least fall to the
earth" (Amos 9:9).
The house of Israel was eventually to be as a LION in the
midst of many peoples, as a young lion among the beasts of the
field, as a lion among the sheep, treading down and dominating,
cutting off all enemies.
The peoples of Israel did move into Europe over the
centuries, they did become the nations of North-West Europe and
the nation of GREAT BRITAIN with their empire, and finally some
becoming the United States of America. They did for centuries
rule over their enemies, undefeated as peoples.
There will be an end time fulfilment of these verses, as
Israel will again be DELIVERED from the captivity of
Assyria/Germany/Europe at the last days of this age. They will
then be a people that will have their enemies cut off (verses 5-
9).
Moving on we see:
"AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY" (verse 10) .... THE END
TIME, WHEN ISRAEL SHALL AGAIN BE DELIVERED FROM ASSYRIA, GOD WILL
DESTROY ALL FALSE RELIGION IN ISRAEL, JUDAH, AND ALL NATIONS. GOD
WILL POUR OUT HIS MIGHTY POWER ON ALL NATIONS WHO WILL NOT OBEY
HIM (see an example given in Zechariah 14 and the land of Egypt)
(verses 10-15).
CHAPTER 6
The Lord's Requirement and Case against Israel
"Listen to what the Lord is saying, 'Stand up and state your case
against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your
complaints.'
Then it is the Lord's turn to give His complaint against
Israel. "O my people what have I done to make you turn away from
me? Tell me why YOUR patience is exhausted! Answer me! For it was
I who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I
sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you" (verses 1-4).
God goes on to remind you Israel of many times He served and
blessed you.
What can you bring to the Lord to make up for all the sins
you have done? You can do all kinds of outward forms of religion
to God. You can build great expensive churches, do works of
charity that look good on the surface, have TV and radio programs
that sound like you are worshipping and praising God. You can
send your children off to "church" or "religious schools." You
can have all kinds of what looks like on the outside "religious
festivals" to honor God. BUT WHAT IS IT THAT GOD WANTS FROM YOU O
ISRAEL AND JUDAH?
HERE IT IS:
"NO, O PEOPLE, THE LORD HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU WHAT IS GOOD, AND
THIS IS WHAT HE REQUIRES: TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, TO LOVE MERCY AND
TO ***WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD*** (verses 6-8).
The Eternal HAS TOLD you what is RIGHT! He has sent His
servants to tell you right from wrong, righteousness from sin,
the holy from the un-holy, the clean from the un-clean. God has
sent to you over the centuries those who lifted up their voice
like a TRUMPET, who declared to you what are the ways of the Lord
and what He regards as SIN and WICKEDNESS!
This Website is JUST ONE of the TRUMPETS of the Lord!
The Almighty God wants you to KNOW and DO what is RIGHT, to
LOVE true knowledge of MERCY and SALVATION, and He wants you to
WALK HUMBLY with your God.
There is little HUMILITY in your lands today. There is much
outward forms of sanctimonious sounding Christianity, in the
lands where there is any Christianity left, BUT TRUE REPENTANT
HUMILITY IS NOT THERE!! For anyone, any leader, to look into the
word of God to see where THEY AND THE NATION are MISSING the
MARK, falling short of the good and right way of the Lord, is NOT
BEING DONE! No leader in Israel, no political leader, no
religious leader of any prominence, is in a TRUE DEEP HUMBLE
spirit of mind, where they FEAR and tremble before the word of
God, and are hungering and thirsting for RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Israel's Guilt and Punishment
"Listen! FEAR the Lord if you are wise! His voice is calling out
to everyone in every city. The armies of destruction are coming,
the Lord is sending them. Will there be no end of you getting
rich by cheating? The homes of the wicked are filled with
treasures gained by dishonestly measuring out grain in short
measures" (verses 9-10).
It's a way of saying, too many of you are rich at the
expense of the poor and by dishonest means. Again, I will repeat
what has happened this September of 2008 .... the CRASH of the
multi-million dollar people of Wall Street. Greed, lust,
coveting, stocking up physical riches, which it seems most of
them will get to keep, even as Wall Street investor and bankers
CRASHED TO THE GROUND!
The Eternal goes on to say:
"How can I tolerate all your merchants who use dishonest scales
and weights? The rich among you have become wealthy through
extortion and violence. Your citizens are so used to lying that
their tongues can no longer tell the truth" (verses 11-12).
We have dishonest gain everywhere in our society. It has not
been just from the elite of Wall Street, but it has been from the
Hollywood Stars, to the Sports world, to the TV companies, all
doing the evil of whatever it takes to make the BIG BUCKS. It is
in our Court systems, our Local politics, our National politics,
in our Governmental departments. There are LIES, COVER-UPS,
ILLEGAL GAIN, CORRUPTION; it is all over our lands and in every
facets of our societies.
This is what God says will be our ultimate fate:
"Therefore I will wound you! I will bring you to ruin for all
your sins. You will eat but never have enough. Your hunger pangs
and emptiness will still remain. And though you try to save your
money, it will come to nothing in the end. You will save a
little, but I will give it to those who conquer you. You will
plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but
not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the
grapes but get no juice to make your wine" (verses 13-15).
It is God's way of telling you that the day is coming when
you shall be rewarded according to your works. You have sown
CORRUPTION, you will reap DESTRUCTION!
Ancient Israel followed the evil of king Omri and the wicked
king Ahab. We today follow the leaders we choose and none of them
are serving God in any DEEP AND TRUE way. They are not going to
the word of God to be instructed on how to LIVE and how to lead
the people of Israel or Judah. The laws of your lands O Israel
are becoming less and less the laws of God. You are casting the
way of the Eternal God out of just about every part of your
society. You only have a "form of godliness" those of your lands
that still have "Christianity" in them, which are becoming fewer
and fewer.
So the Lord says He will make you an example, bringing you
to complete ruin. You will be treated with contempt, mocked by
all who see you (verse 16).
When you are in captivity in the lands of your enemy lovers
you will truly be contemptible and surely will be mocked by the
rest of the world.
CHAPTER 7
Misery Turned to Hope
Jesus said the days would come before His return that
"..EVIL shall ABOUND AND THE LOVE OF MANY WAX COLD" (Mat.24:12).
What is described in the next verses is indeed a picture of
the last days of this age.
The godly people have all disappeared; there is no fair-
minded person to be found; people will murder even setting traps
for their own flesh and blood; they go about their evil deeds
with both hands; officials and judges take bribes, people with
money and influence pay them off; justice is twisted; they are
all like a brier; the straightest of them is crooked as a hedge
of thorns. There will just not be many at all who will be
following the true way of the Holy One.
God says the time for judgment is near!
It is the time when you will not be able to trust anyone -
not your best friend or even or wife or husband. The son will
betray the father; the daughter betrays the mother. The days come
when the enemy will be right in your own household. And that is
exactly as Jesus said it would be in the days before His coming
again (Mat.21:16) (verses 1-6).
Israel will finally Return to God and say:
"As for me, I look to the Lord for His help. I wait confidently
for God to save me, and my god will certainly hear me. Do not
gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord Himself will be my light. I
will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned
against Him. But after that, He will take my case and punish my
enemies for all the evil they have done to me. The Lord will
bring me out of darkness into the light, and I will see His
righteousness. Then my enemies will see the Lord is on my side.
They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, 'where is the
Lord - that God of yours?' With my own eyes I will see them
trampled down like mud in the streets" (The New Living
Translation - verses 7-10).
It is not just Israel and Judah who are sinners in need of
correction. All nations of the earth will need to be brought low
and to REPENT of their sins. First God will punish the whole
people of Jacob/Israel, but before the age ends and the new age
begins all nations will learn to fear the Eternal. He will deal
with all nations in His time plan. Then when HUMILITY covers the
earth the RESTORATION of all things can begin.
"IN THAT DAY, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt, and your
borders will be extended. People from many lands will come and
honor you - from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt, and
from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River (Heb. "the river")
and from many distant seas and mountains. But the land (Or earth)
will become empty and desolate because of the wickedness of those
who live there" (The New Living Translation - verses 11-13).
Oh, to make it all come right in the end there will needs be
MUCH destruction on the earth during those last 42 months of this
age. The world is so far into sin and iniquity and falsehoods
that only desolation as never seen before on earth, will bring
those left to their knees in utter humility, only then it would
seem will those left in the nations be ready to say, "Lord, we
KNOW You are the Holy One; we now know YOUR ways are the right
holy ways, and we are ready to LISTEN and be TAUGHT; WE ARE READY
NOW TO DO YOUR WILL AND KEEP YOUR COMMANDMENTS."
The Lord's Compassion on Israel
Micah cries out, "O Lord, come and rule your people; lead
your flock in green pastures. help them to live in peace and
prosperity. Let them enjoy the fertile pastures of Bashan and
Gilead as they did long ago."
"Yes," says the Lord, "I will do mighty miracles for you, like
those I did when I rescued you from the slavery in Egypt."
NO SUCH MIRACLES HAVE EVER BEEN DONE FOR ISRAEL AS LIKE IT
WAS IN THE DAYS WHEN GOD BROUGHT THEM UP BY THE HAND OF MOSES OUT
OF EGYPT. BUT SUCH MIGHTY MIRACLES WILL BE AGAIN DONE FOR ISRAEL
AT THE TIME OF THE END OF THIS AGE AND THE BEGINNING OF THE AGE
TO COME!
"ALL NATIONS OF THE WORLD WILL STAND AMAZED AT WHAT THE LORD WILL
DO FOR YOU. THEY WILL BE EMBARRASSED THAT THEIR POWER IS SO
INSIGNIFICANT. They will stand in silent awe, deaf to everything
around them. They will come to realize what lowly creatures they
really are. Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come
out to meet the Lord our God. They will fear Him, trembling in
terror at His presence.
Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the
survivors among His people? You cannot stay angry with your
people forever, because you delight in showing mercy. Once again
you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under
your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! You will
show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised with
an oath to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago" (The New
Living Translation - verses 14-20).
OH WHAT A GOD OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. HE WILL
BRING THE NATIONS UNTIL HIMSELF. HE WILL BRING THEM TO REPENTANCE
AND HUMILITY. HE WILL BRING THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS AND THE
PEOPLE OF THE WHOLE EARTH WILL FIND HIS MERCY, FORGIVENESS, AND
SALVATION!
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