Blistering Warning
B l i s t e r i n g W a r n i n g
"BEHOLD THE DAY, BEHOLD, IT IS COME: THE MORNING IS GONE FORTH: THE ROD HAS BLOSSOMED, PRIDE HAS BUDDED" [Eze. 7:10]
On Sept. 11, 2001 two symbols of power and prosperity were destroyed and smitten in one hour. The World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This terrorist attack brings our attention to Ezekiel 7 and Revelation 18. "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, also, you son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; an end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon you, and I will send Mine anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense [repay] upon you all your abominations [all your offensives]. And mine eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense your ways upon you, And your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; an evil, an only evil, behold, is come. [Have we heard these words out of President Bush"s mouth lately?]. An end is come, the end is come: it watches for you; behold, it is come. The morning is come unto you, [is this speaking of Sept 11, 2001 plane crashes on the WTC and the Pentagon?]. O you that dwell in the land: The time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon you, and accomplish Mine anger upon you: and I will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense you for all your abominations. And Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense you according to your ways and your abominations that are in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the Lord that smites. Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded" (Ezek 7:1-10). Continuing this thought in Revelation 18: 7-19, "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, [so many things have contributed to her pride, arrogant's and self-confidence] so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow" vs. 7. In other words, do not kings and great men of the earth wait upon me? God says for having that kind of attitude, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, [we are still seeing that smoke, three months later!]. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is your judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more: the merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, for in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!"
In one hour two symbols of power and prosperity in the United States were brought to their knees. God is sending a blistering warning to this sinning United States and the world. "All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God" said the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:23.
Sin is a transgression, an overstepping of God's law. God's law is the divine boundaries between good and evil. After being called by God we come to understand and learn prophecy is dual. The Apostle Paul uses the Old Testament as examples for the end time. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. 10:11).
Ancient Israel was given warnings and wake up calls to repent and turn from their wicked ways. They were told to keep God's commandments, statutes and judgments. But scripture reveals --- instead, they continued to serve idols. They would not harken or pay attention but they hardened their stiff necks and followed vanity. They became vain, ignoring God's commandments, they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord became angered with Israel because they would not keep His laws. We read in Isaiah 8 and 9, this caused God to send a wake up call to Israel! The first wake up call was the Assyrians invasion of the two provinces of Zebulun and Naphtali, two of the northern most tribes of Israel. "For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa 8:11,20). "Nevertheless the dimness [her sins] shall not be such as was in her vexation, [her confusion] when at the first He [God] lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness [sin] have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined" (Isa. 9:1-2). God got their attention!! After their invasion they changed their life style and repented.
This was a lightly afflicted wake up call God gave to Israel back in ancient history. Israel lost its sense of security. It had never happened in this measure before and only limited damage was done. God was lightly spanking Israel, sending them an alarm to wake up to their sins. The other areas of Israel's occupied territory ignored this warning message. History reveals Israel was then given a second wake up call and this one was very damaging, very severe, not like the first warning and wake up call.
It would be wise for us to relate this second judgment upon the Southern part of the Kingdom of Israel to what is on the news we hear today. "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin [King of Syria] against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turned not unto him that smite them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Verse 12 showed us, the attack is said to have come from before and behind, from the east and the west. Never in the history of mankind has God left His people un-warned or with clueless reasoning's of why certain events are to happen or take place. God never leaves us trying to figure it out on our own! He always gives us an understanding!
In our news today a prophecy is beginning to be fulfilled. The United States and Britain are turning against Judah and Jerusalem. "Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still" (Isa 9:21).
The Prophet Zechariah tells us what is ahead for this kind of thinking. "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zech 12:2-3).
Our nation is now under the burden that will cut in pieces and bring on the curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. What are the nations of Israel doing that bring on curses from God? To begin with, the teachings from government authority down to the lay people, have said:
It's OK to practice homosexuality!
It's OK to remove God's name from our public schools!
It's OK for our top government leaders and court system to removed the Ten Commandment from our courts rooms and public schools!
It's OK to take prayer out of the schools and public events!
It's OK for Church leader to ordained homosexuals and women into the ministry!.
It's OK to legalize abortion--- legal murder of children!
It's OK to put material gains [idolatry] before God!
It's OK to have pornography on T.V. and the Internet!
Our people approve, condoned and legalized same sex marriages! Abortion running rampant in this country. Preachers are not teaching God's truth. They teach worshiping on Sunday, instead of God's Sabbath, tell people they go to heaven when they die and sinner go to hell and burn forever. They make pagan holidays out to be Christian oriented. Preachers in the steepled churches tell their people God's laws are done away and have been nailed on the cross! Adding to this list, Ministers saying its OK to postpone God's commanded Holy Day Sabbaths!
God's word is very clear when He says, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: You shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deu. 12:32) .
It is for these reasons God said, "The Lord shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle fly's; a nation whose tongue you shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young" (Deu. 28:49-50).
What nation of people is the Lord going to use to punish Israel for their sins? We read in Isaiah 10:5 the answer. "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation." The Amplified Bible reads, "Ho, Assyrian, the rod of My anger, the staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel's disobedience]!"
Who are the Assyrians today? The Worldwide Church of God has always taught that it is Germany! I ask you, "IS IT?" When reading "The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy" Copyright in 1954 and written by Herbert W. Armstrong, states on pages 8, and 15, "In the year 721 the house of Israel was conquered--- - and carried captive to Assyria, on the southern shores of the Caspian sea." Page 15, "The ten tribe house of Israel--- driven to Assyrian captivity, then migrating from there and scattering among other nations." The article "The Origin of the Nations," written by Dr. Herman Hoeh copyright 1957 said, "Germany is Assyria in prophecy," Page 7 end of second paragraph. A newer United States and Britain in prophecy booklet, Copyright 1980 and written by H. W. Armstrong states on page 144 and 171, "Today the descendants of those Assyrians are known to us as the German people." Page 171, "God will use a Nazi-fascist Europe to punish Britain and America." Is this statement true? Is Assyria, Germany in prophecy?
We are to let the Bible interpret the Bible! They used Genesis 10:22 for their beginning reference. "The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram." Asshur is from where they identify Germany as Assyrians. Asshur in this verse and in Isa. 10:5 is Strong's # 804-805 in Hebrew. 804 definitions:
1. Second son of Shem;
2. Country occupied by Assyrians;
3. Its region and it empires is Asshur-Assur Assyria or Assyrian.
Number 805 meaning:
1. From a partial word of same form of 804;
2. An Ashurite;
3. A district in Palestine; Asshrum--- Ashurites.
Many Bible Dictionaries say that Assyria and Syria are the same people! The land of Assyria encompassed Babylon [Iraq], Media, Nineveh, Syria and parts of Persia [Iran] up to the Caspian Sea. When studying God's truth, we read that Assyria took Syria captive and removed their people. "So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin" (2 Kings 16:7-9). Unger's Bible Dictionary states under the word Syria: "The designation Syria is an abbreviated form of Assyria and came into common use after the conquest of Alexander the Great." What was Assyria's religious beliefs? Unger's Bible Dictionary states: "They had many god's.
Sun god - Shamash;
Crescent moon god;
Istar goddess of fertility;
god of water and many more.
What do we know about their personality and looks?
They are represented in ancient carvings as having:
1. Strong physiques
2. Dark complexion with heavy eye brows and beards
3. And prominent noses!
Unger's Bible Dictionary also say: "They are cruel warriors to their captives known to skin them alive; cut off their limbs; burn them with fire; cut off hands and fingers; cut off their noses, ears and put out their eyes. They are violent and a very wild people.
Dr. Robert Morey, scholar and theologian states:"After Mohammed's start of Islam [622 AD], he abolished the many gods and said there is only one god, "Allah." Al-llaj [Allah], is the name of the crescent moon god."
All these descriptions fit the terrorist Moslem Middle Eastern people of today! Unger also describes Iraq is part of Assyria. They are the people that are terrorizing the U.S.A., Britain and the State of Israel [Judah]!! Their history is known to scatter their enemies as we read in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Kings 17.
Scripture shows God is using these people to punish Israel, not Germany as the Worldwide Church of God has always taught!
Abraham Lincoln once said: "AS THE SITUATION IS NEW--- WE MUST THINK ANEW!!"
God is now using the Assyrian's as a rod to correct Israel, witnessed by Isaiah 10:5-6, "O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." Isaiah makes it clear the Middle East Assyrian and Philistine [Palestian] Moslems combine their forces to attack Israelite nations today.
Is God going to have mercy and compassion on those of His wrath? "Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother" (Isa. 9:17-19 ).
God tells us, "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keeps his way preserves his soul. Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handles a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he" (Prov. 16:17-20).
Ask yourself? Have you heard any national acknowledgment that God was sending a warning? Have you heard anyone say--- as a national Leader, "We need to repent of our sins?" Has any government ruler looked to God's word for answers to this 9-11 calamity? NO!! Because it is very clear from the scriptured the initial fear gave way to a flood tide of national pride! "And the pride of Israel does testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them" (Hosea 5:5-6).
God, who should have been the peoples glory is now being ignored and slighted by Israel [U.S.A., Briton and the State of Israel]!! In Hosea 2, we read of the sinful ignorance of God's people and their ingratitude toward the true giver of every good gift and every perfect gift. "For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away My corn in the time thereof, and My wine in the season thereof, and will recover My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts" (Hosea 2:8-11). Is this verse describing churches and people that postpone God's Holy time and churches that worship on Sunday??
If so, God continues to say, "And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, these are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot Me, saith the Lord"(Hosea 2:12-13). God gives and God can take away!!
Looking again to Isaiah 9:9. "And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart." Samaria was known to be the heartland of Israel. Just like the USA is the worlds super power and breadbasket. The word stoutness here in Hebrew is: "a sense of greatness." Pride in America has said what is revealed in Isaiah. "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamore are cut down, but we will change them into cedars" (Isa. 9:10). This verse leaves us with the thought of a nations sense of greatness in their pride and a sense of greatness of heart and they are saying the bricks are falling down, but we will build with hewn stones, and stronger wood!
This alarming wake up call to America on Sept 11, 2001 is taken as these calamities are just unfortunate disaster's that cannot be explained. Our leaders say, " We are a great people and a mighty nation, a proud people." We are going to let the world know, we will build things back bigger and stronger!!! Where the faulty construction was destroyed we will build with better materials. We will build with cedar rather than sycamores! We are a blessed and proud nation! Proud and powerful!! We will come through this evil incident better then ever. This is what we hear and read from our government leaders and reported by the news media.
We see a nation that has blinded their eyes from God's warnings. "Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Pro. 16:18).
God has sent a covert chastisement on the United States as He has on Great Britain and Israel [Judah], to wake us up and to bring us back to practice what we have written on our money "in God we trust!" But do we??
In our pledge of allegiance we say we are a nation under God. But are we? We have not heeded the message in what we say. We have used this 9- 11 disastrous occasion to defy the very thought that such a proud, great nation could ever be humbled or chastened by God! We have seen moments of silence at ground "O," and we call that repentance ??? We see politicians on the steps of the government buildings singing "God bless America" and we call that turning back to God.
We applaud the "NFL" for calling for a moment of silence at half time and we call that a spiritual experience!! Is that all that is going to come out of this disaster? One moment of silence? Then back to painted faces? Back to chug-a-lugging beer? And screaming for the favorite ball team to win? Back to late night T.V.? Laughing with Leno and David Letterman?
There is only a hand-full in the United States of America that truly believes in the words "God bless America, stand beside us and guide us." Most of those Senators and Congressmen that sang God bless America have ruled God out of their society! By voting to remove God's name from the school books and prayer out of the classrooms. Most have support aborting babies in the name of a woman's right to choose! Yet we heard them singing "God stand beside us and guide us!!" What hypocrisy!! They are the ones protecting abortion rights, wanting God's name removed from public schools and buildings and the Ten Commandments remove from our Court rooms!
We see a nation under divine correction, that will do one of two things. It will awaken to humble itself as did Ninevah or it will give God lip service then turn to its own strength and power to rise above the correction!!
America now faces the danger of missing God's wake up call as did the ancient kingdom of Northern and Southern Israel. We are at the same cross roads now. From the east coast to the west coast we hear of prayer and remembrance meetings. We should remember in our prayers those who died and their loved ones left behind. This is spiritual and honorable, but where is the call from this great nations leaders telling this nation to repent instead of remembrance and revenge??
Where is the call for turning back to God for America's protection? God has been trumpeting, "I've sent you prophets and watchmen, You have been warned over and over again. I have prospered you above all nations. I endured your worship of gold and silver. I have endured your shameless sensuality, I have endured your mockery and your continuous shedding of blood, murdering of babies by abortion. I have endured your timeless efforts to eradicate My name, in schools, courts and history books."
God pleads with us through his messenger Ezekiel. "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live you" ( Eze. 18:30-32). God knows of pain and sorrow and the death of the innocent. Who could be more innocent then His own Son Jesus Christ? God laid the sins of this whole world on the back of His own Son and let un- righteous men kill Him.
You and I should recognize we worship a feeling God when He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies." Verse 21, God give us encouragement and a warning in the same breath. "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" (Ezek 18:21-23). Time is running out on this offered opportunity! Isaiah clearly tells us what follows the rejection of God's call to repentance and turning to pride and boasting of greatness. "For wickedness burns as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: No man shall spare his brother" (Isa. 9:18- 19). This shows us it will be every man for himself!! Verse 20, speaks of God touching the economy. "And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; And he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm" (Isa. 9:20). This is a striking picture of the ultimate effects of greed, corruption and selfishness! Consuming itself!!
Can any of this be avoided? We find an answer to that question in Leviticus 26. "You shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My Sanctuary: I am the Lord. If you walk in My statutes, and keep My Commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and
my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and You shall be My people. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright" (Lev. 26:1-13).
If we are obeying God we should have no fear! Jeremiah tells us, "Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in Mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them" (Jer. 18:5- 10).
God is saying: If this nation will turn to Me and repent with all their heart, I will repent of what I had planned for them. May God have mercy on the nations of Israel!!
James Russell
