SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEN CROWNS

Saints, I want to direct your attention to something I had never noticed the significance of, until I was studying for this message the other day. Many times we just read scriptures, and skim right over certain words, without ever seeing what is right there in plain view. We see the words, but we do not see the picture portrayed in the words. Remember, we are reading about the Roman Empire. I will read this little portion again. (part of Rev. 12:3) "Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." Can you see the little crowns on those heads? Those have to signify something. I had the crowns left off of the horns; because it would be so small you could not see them anyway. Just imagine though, on each horn sticking up there, John saw a little crown. I want you to realize, If that is the Roman Empire portrayed in this heavenly profile, we need to look a little deeper into the description. Therefore I want to take you to Revelation 13:1, and notice where the emphasis is placed. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Saints, we are going to take this out of the heavenly realm; and put it down here in a political, geographical fulfillment, according to what the Holy Ghost has revealed to us in this age. Let me just say this to you. As you watch the evening News broadcasts, and as you read the daily Newspapers, you are living witnesses of this very beast rising to power in Europe. It is already out of the waters. We are just waiting now, for that last head to start breathing and showing itself for what it is destined to fulfill. Remember, on one of its heads it had the wound by a sword, that seemed like a deadly wound; but the Bible foretells that the deadly wound was healed. Therefore we are now watching for that wound to be completely healed. We have seen it being healed, in certain gradual phases. That is why Christian people, if they know the Bible in its true meaning, do not have to set back and wonder, What could this be?. It is a religious world that is kept in the dark, because they reject truth; not the true children of God, that love truth. As we see Rome coming up for the last days, here in chapter 13, we see a beast "having seven heads (the same number as the heavenly scene) and ten horns, (the same number as above) and upon his horns ten crowns." This verse puts the crowns on the horns in the forefront. It says nothing at all about crowns upon the heads. There has to be a reason why emphasis is placed upon the crowns on the horns. Had you ever noticed that? Why would that be written like that? Here is what we are looking at. Keep in mind, John lived in 96 A.D. In his natural human way of looking at it, he knew good and well how Rome, in its imperial type of government, stomped and ruled the vast domains of the world from Europe, to Asia, to the Middle East, to north Africa; and all the areas the other empires at one time had ruled. Rome ruled all of that, as well as western Europe. Well John saw 7 heads on that beast; and he saw 10 horns; and we know the horns symbolize powers; so what can you say, other than that this beast represented everything that had ever been incorporated within the power structure of that old Roman Imperial form of government. We have studied these heads; and we know what they represent; and we know for sure that this beast did not just suddenly grow 7 heads. Neither did the ten horns just suddenly appear. They are the result of a process of evolution; as that old imperial system went through a breakup. The crowns on those 7 heads definitely speak of the type of government that must always be related to the imperial rulership of the Cearars. The Roman beast only had one head in the days of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and all of them of which Nero was the last. After the death of Nero, the seven heads began to form; as various one's ascended to the throne to rule as emperor. There were dozens of emperors that ruled Rome down through the years; but only 7 of them ever managed to establish a form of rulership that would put a head on that beastly dictatorship. I do not know if you are looking at what I am looking at or not; but if that crown that was on Augustus, Julius, and all those other Caesar's, down through the hour of Nero, made Rome that beast that stood before the woman, ready to devour her man child, Rome will remain to be the city from whence this last phase of the Roman Empire will rule, even to the coming of Christ. You just have to keep those seven horns tied to Rome. Do not try to place them over in Cairo, Egypt, Moscow, Damascus, Syria, nor anywhere else other than Rome. Those seven crowns have got to be imperial types of rulership. That lets us know, when that old imperial crown of the Caesars was finally passed on, it is not that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is wearing the same crown; but the fact that his crown has become exalted above the Caesars' crown. If you can see that, you can see what this beast vision really covers. All you have to do is go back to some of the old secular history books, and read how the old popes used to talk, claiming that they alone were the sovereign, supreme rulers of the universe. In the eyes of God, that is blasphemy. Notice that it plainly states, that down here on these heads is the name blasphemy. Blasphemy is not tied to the ten horns. They are not exercising any type of authority that God would look upon like that. However if that word blasphemy was written on every head, then you have to also keep those crowns associated within the selfsame kind of authority that comes out of Rome. That is why we printed the article years ago, titled, From Rome to the Vatican. That is a riddle I know; but it does catch your attention. When you go from Rome to the Vatican, where have you actually gone to? You have gone nowhere. Actually, all you have done, is gone from one throne to another. Just from one part of the city to another part of the same city. You have gone from the place in that city from where its government was once controlled, to another throne in the same city where it is now controlled from. Remember though, blasphemy is on the heads, not on the horns. Therefore these horns have to symbolize some kind of sovereign authority by how this entire dragon manipulates itself to carry out its diabolical purpose. These heads have to be forms of government that have been exemplified in time, all coming from Rome. Whatever form of government that was, when that beast was wounded in one of its heads, you can rest assured, that when that beast comes up out of the water again, to show itself in the last days, (the days in which we are now living) and that head is healed, it is going to be just exactly what it was when it was wounded. That is why, however Europe looked in history, and however the pope acted in history, in the days when the Reformation struck that wounding blow, that is exactly how Europe and the Pope will be, when he (the Pope) puts on his last performance.

THE DRAGON SPIRIT IN A VERY HIGHLY ESTEEMED MAN

Let us read verse 4, again. "And his (the dragon's) tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." There is quite a bit covered in that one verse. Satan, which we commonly refer to as the devil, in reality, is that fallen Archangel Lucifer, that tried to exalt himself above his Creator and had to be cast down from his former estate. Not only was he cast down to earth to become the devil, but a large host of the other angels that sided with him against their Creator were also cast down with him; and they are his evil helpers in trying to thwart the plan of God. One goal that Satan has had, ever since Israel became a nation of people, is to try to completely wipe all traces of her from the face of the earth. He knows what the scriptures promise concerning that little nation. He knows the promise God made to Abraham; before there ever was a nation of people called Israelis. Well God has used him to chasten that nation, by allowing him to work through various other kingdoms of people to oppress her; but there is no possible way for him to completely destroy her, no matter how hard he tries. He tried to kill Jesus at birth; but God directed Joseph in ways to avoid the possibility of it. He (Jesus) had a mission to accomplish, before God could allow that devil motivated mob to take His life. When he was allowed to take His (Jesus') life, he thought he had finally got the upper hand over his Creator; but what he did not know anything about, was that resurrection power of God that would bring Him (Jesus) up out of that old tomb of stone and clothe Him with an immortal body. He is alive forever More! Hallelujah! What the power of God did for Him, it will do the same for every one of us, if we will submit ourselves to the Spirit of the Father like He did. No, we will not avoid being harassed by the devil; and neither will Israel; but we have this assurance, (Rom.8:28) "And we know that all things work together for good to (Who?) them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Does that apply to Israel also? God has His separate plan for Israel; and He is in the process of fulfilling it even this very hour. Sure there will be another blood bath during that great tribulation hour; but God will preserve an element of that little nation to fulfill this picture we see here in chapter 12. You can count on that. Rome, filled with all the fury Satan can fill that old beast with, under the leadership of the Antichrist, will try once again to destroy every trace of that little nation from the face of the earth; but we all know already, how that last effort is going to turn out. Hallelujah! We can place all of our confidence in what God has inspired His holy apostles and prophets to write. The revelation of the 5th seal allows us to know, that dragon spirit in Hitler slaughtered a lot of Jews whose souls have been crying out to the Lord for their blood to be avenged; and they have been told to rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. That will take place in the last half of Daniel's week, in the great tribulation. That dragon will not be in Hitler this time; it will be in the Roman Catholic Pope, and that European super power that is being formed. Just think of it saints, the Assemblies of God, and a lot of other so called Christian churches today, have completely removed the Pope from their considerations of who the Antichrist will be. They do not think anyone knows who he is, or where he will come from. I may not know the name of the man who will be in that office in that hour; but I sure do know what office that beast man will come from. The truth is, it is coming right down the road, breathing right down their neck's, and they are too blind to see it. "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Jesus who became the Christ was born over 1900 years ago. The woman was delivered of her man child who was born potentially, to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Even those who crucified Him acknowledged that; for they set up over His head this inscription, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." They may have been making fun of Him; but what they wrote was destined to be exactly that. That is what you see in Revelation 19, especially in verses 15 and 16, where Jesus is coming to earth with all the armies of heaven, already crowned, ready to execute judgment upon all of wicked mankind that is still alive then.

We need to examine verse 5, and be sure we get it placed right. "And she (Israel) brought forth a man child, (Jesus) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: (In the Millennium) and her child (The resurrected Jesus the Christ) was caught up unto God, and to His (The Father's) throne;" and that is where He still is this very hour. Why was He caught up? It was because the political element, that religious element that thought they knew everything that was to be known in that hour, CRUCIFIED HIM; not even knowing He was the ONE all their scrolls had been pointing them to. Just think of it, those Pharisees and Saducees had been going to their various synagogues, reading the scrolls of the prophets, and going through their little rituals every Sabbath day. What were they reading? The promises of their Messiah that was to come. There He came, and they did not know one thing about Him. I just have to say this, Denominational Gentile churches are doing the same thing, looking for, and talking about a Bridegroom they know nothing at all about. I received a letter from a brother in Wisconsin, with a little tract enclosed. The tract was put out by an outfit in Scottsdale Arizona. The writer of this tract titled it, Pretribulation Rapture. He leaves it as though what we believe is a false revelation. I just thought as I read that thing, Mr.: You are another one of those who cannot see yourself anywhere in the Bible except Revelation 7:9-17, which is a picture of tribulation saints. If John had never written Revelation 7, I wonder if you would be able to relate to 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18. Let us just refresh our memory, concerning the apostle Paul's revelation of what the true Church should be looking for. (13) "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words." We are supposed to comfort one another with these words; not the words of Revelation 7. Those words are for the foolish virgins, that great multitude that would rather speak in tongues than to sit and listen to truth. I have nothing against speaking in tongues; but if you have no revelation of the word of God, and all you can think of is having a good time with the gifts of the Spirit, Revelation 7 has a place reserved for you, lest you be a make believer. The truth is, If Revelation 7, is all the vision you have, you may not even make it in that group; for the apostle Paul spoke of another group that a lot of people are going to fall right in with. You will find in 2nd Thessalonians 2, where Paul said God Himself would send strong delusion upon those who have no love for the truth. Remember, the devil does not try to keep anyone from going to church; his only interest is in perverting the word of God, so those who do go, will be satisfied with something less than a revelation of the truth of that word. I never get too excited about people just merely being faithful to go to some church building regularly. I get excited when I find someone who is truly hungry for the truth; instead of just being satisfied with traditional hand-me-down religion. An awful lot of people seem to think that just because the book of Revelation was written some 30 years after most of the Epistles, it annuls all those things the other apostles had already established in the Church; but I will be quick to tell you, The book of Revelation annuls nothing that was already written in the word of God. To me, it clarifies an awful lot of what was already written. As for the man child being caught up unto God, that is exactly what happened; but not before He was crucified, buried, resurrected and allowed to walk upon earth for 40 days after His Resurrection. Of course we can see, that this embodiment of dragon power was in the old Caesars that ruled the Roman Empire at that time. Capital punishment was not allowed to be administered by the Jewish court of law. They could try Him. They could condemn Him; but they could not administer capital punishment. The capital punishment had to come by ones that were in ruling power. When they finally brought Him to Pilot, he wanted to let Him go. He was the secular ruler, the one appointed by the Romans. He would have let Him go; but that zealous bunch of Judaistic Pharisees, the religious leaders of that day said, Crucify Him! Let His blood be upon us. I hope I can say this in a right way. The Jews that have suffered so much throughout the various nations they have been driven to for the past two thousand years, do not realize why they have had to go through some of those ordeals of punishment, suffering, and bloodshed. Their forefathers prophesied it upon them. At least, they asked for some of it; when they stood there in the streets that day and said to Pilot, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We'll take the blame. Let His blood be upon us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25) Pilot wanted to let Him go. Pilot took that pan of water and washed his hands and said, I deliver myself of responsibility for Him. That bunch of religious Pharisee leaders said Crucify Him. Let His blood be upon us, and on our children! I am only pointing to what is written; so if any Jewish person should ever hear this, I want them to know, I am not saying these things to belittle them for being a Jewish. I know you are living in a generation when God is going to open your eyes, if you are one that cares about pleasing God; because the prophets have written in your scrolls very plainly, that He would do this in the last days. You who could not understand Hitler's ordeal, and who will not be able to understand what the antichrist will do during that last 3 1/2 years of Daniel's week, will no doubt be among those, when Jesus does come to reveal Himself to you, that will ask Him, (Zechariah 13:6) "What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." They read that in their synagogues every day; but they do not know what it is talking about. None of us have anything to be puffed up about; we Gentiles have been blinded to. Why else would so many Gentile Professing Christians believe that God is THREE PERSON'S, if it were not that they are spiritually blind? These Trinitarians read verses like Acts 7:56, where Stephen while being stoned to death, looked up to heaven And said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God;" and it just reinforces their belief that God is three persons. Saints: Listen to me, That is blindness. Are you going to tell me, that Jesus Christ (the only person in the Godhead) is coming after a bride that knows no more than that about the God they profess to believe in? Not on your life. He is coming back for a bride that embraces the same revelation that first age element of Christianity held. He truly was caught up unto God, and to His throne; when He led His disciples out to the Mt. of Olives that day, and a cloud received Him out of their sight; but that does not make the Father a person. When He ascended up to the throne of God, where He has been ever since that day, that fulfilled the portion of that phenomena we see portrayed here in Revelation 12:1-5; but the phenomena still hangs there; because as there was past, which was the Law, present, giving birth, there is yet the future. I hope you can see that; for that is what we are coming into. When the child was caught up unto God and to His throne, there in verse 5, God slipped the whole dispensation of grace in between verse 5 and verse 6. The gospel of the revelation of Jesus Christ was given to us Gentiles; and we have had it for over 1900 years; and verse 6, has not been fulfilled yet. In 69 and 70 A.D., the remnant that was left of that Israelite nation was scattered throughout the world; and the nation no longer existed. That was the state of it, at the time John had this revelation given to him. Therefore the Grace Age Church has been living time wise, between verses 5 and 6. Where does verse 6 pick up again? Verse 6 picks up somewhere just up ahead of where we are right now; when the woman element of the nation of Israel has to flee for her life, getting away from the evil forces of the old Antichrist. If she is running for her life, where did she start running from? She did not start running for her life from Russia; nor from Africa, nor Austria. No. Somewhere before verse 6 is a reality, God must bring that nation of people back from dispersion in sufficient numbers to fulfill all of His word. Then, after she has heard the preaching and prophesying of the two prophets for 3 1/2 years, and the old Antichrist initiates the bloodbath that will last for another 3 1/2 years, she knows it is time to get out of there, to the place the two prophets has told her about. Let us read verses 6 and 14; and then I will show you something. (6) "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (14) And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Verse 14, is what lets us know it will be the message she receives from the two prophets that will direct her to her place of safety God has prepared for her. Why do I say that? Let us go to the book of Exodus 19:4, where we find these words, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." That is what God said to the children of Israel after He had brought them safely out of Egypt by the direction of Moses and Aaron; but tell me, Where did the eagles' wings come in? That is how God referred to His two prophets that had been His instructors to the people; and it refers to the same thing in Revelation 12:14. I might note also, that it is only when the Jews are in their land, that God deals with them according to the prophetic utterances in the scriptures. That is why at the close of WW2, certain things were set in motion for the rebirth of this nation. No, it was not natural minded mankind trying to fulfill the prophecies of the Bible; that set those wheels to turning. God put it in the mind's of those who were instrumental in the allotment of a certain portion of the land of Palestine for Jews to go home to. That was the start of getting a sufficient number of them back in the land of their forefather's; to finish what had been prophesied to her as a nation. God said He would save Judah first; so at the end of WW2 He brought Judah back. That was basically those Jews dispersed throughout the European areas. He spoke in the prophets, how Judah was to be looked upon as the corner, the nail, the battle bow, and everything that He (God) would use, and need, to start the beginning of the rebirth process of the reconstruction and restoration of the nation of Israel. He foretold that He would use Judah to establish that. Once Judah is established, then He speaks of how He would save Joseph or Ephraim, which is two titles the ten tribes are called by. That is where we are standing today; right at the crossroads of time. The remnant of those Jews in Russia are the remnants of the ten tribes; that have been right there for centuries of time, waiting for the hour that God would call upon them to come home.

ISRAEL IN HER LAND-THEN WHAT?

God would not be opening up the way for multiplied thousands of Jews to return home; if it were not time for prophecy to be fulfilled concerning that nation in the last days. God gave her the opportunity to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ before it was ever made accessible to Gentiles; but as a nation, she rejected it; and the Gentiles have carried it ever since. That does not mean there were no Jews saved in that first age of the gospel of Christ. There were a lot of individual Jews that believed; in Israel as well as in other nations; but the past 1900 and some years are referred to as the Gentile Bride Dispensation. Like I said, We are living between verses 5 and 6, of the 12th chapter of Revelation. Prophecy, many times, is written in strange ways. It reaches a certain point of the event, then jumps a huge gap. That is what throws a lot of interpreters off course; they just simply do not know how to relate certain things to other developments that are injected into the stream of prophecy. When you pick up verse 6, you automatically see the woman fleeing; and a lot of people just simply cannot relate that to the first five verses as it should be. We just have to realize that God deals with prophecy you might say, just by stopping a stop watch so to speak. He brought Israel up to a certain point in the seventy weeks of years Daniel's prophecy covers; then He just stopped the prophetic clock for about 2000 years, while He used that time to call out a Gentile bride for His only begotten Son. That did not stop all prophecy; it just put a hold on that part of prophecy that pertains to God's dealing with Israel as a nation of people. Israel, Jehovah's wife nation, has been dispersed, scattered throughout the nations of the world for centuries; but if there is to be a woman fleeing, as verse 6 shows, then somewhere in this broken interval of time between verses 5 and 6, it is absolutely necessary that there be a regathering of an element of that nation sufficient in number, to fulfill all these other prophecies for the last days. We need to realize also, that not every Jew that goes home to Israel will be saved. It takes both the spiritual element as well as the political element, to fulfill all of what is written. The woman will be fleeing from the same area of the earth she was driven from in 69 A.D. by the Roman army. Some may say, Where will she flee to? Well we could speculate; but for now let us just take note of the fact that it will be a place God already has prepared for her, where she will be fed and protected for a period of 1260 days. That is exactly 3 1/2 years of prophetic time; which has only 360 days to a year. (Rev.12:6) "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." Saints: The things we see taking place in the Middle East today, involve a lot more than just what the News Media reports. God is positioning those nations for this end time wrap up. There are sufficient prophecies lying right here in the scriptures, to let us know for sure that God, in the end time, will restore the nation of Israel to its geographical identity of old. I know a lot of people today, will say that is not fair; but you have to remember, God gave them that land for an inheritance, and they were driven from it; so He is just simply going to see that they get it back. We have this little map drawn up, to illustrate what we are talking about. You will notice this little body of water at the top, with Dan right above it, that represents the Sea of Galilee. The line running from there, down to the next body of water, represents the Jordan River; coming right down through there to the Salt Sea; (Dead Sea) and presently, Israel does not hold any territory beyond the Jordan River; so what does that tell us? Simply this, There has to be some kind of situation develop in that area of the world, that when it is all over, Israel will once again hold all of her ancient territory. You will notice here, that part of the tribe of Dan, part of the tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Reuben, are on the east side of the Jordan river. That is land they must have before the last week of Daniel can go into effect. Presently her land goes only to the Jordan River, and for years now the Palestinian Arabs have been trying to throw her out of what you always hear referred to as the West Bank. Geographically, from the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, as you would climb the slopes of the Judaean mountains, some 1800 feet above sea level, this is where they are talking about. It is the west slopes of the mountains, and it would be just as accurate to say that, as saying, the west bank; because we are definitely not talking about the bank that runs along the river. on the west side. Well I have news for the Palestinian Arabs, and for anyone else who thinks like they do. It is too close to the end of this age, for Israel to be giving up any land. It is time for her to take some more. I understand, how the world looks upon that touchy situation; because those Arabs were born there. It is home to them. I want to say also, that I am not personally against the Palestinian Arabs; but I have confidence in the word of God; So I know what is coming. Israel will have all of her land back; and she will not be taking it back during the Millennium. She will get it back somehow, before the great peace covenant is signed with the Antichrist. Most of you have maps in the back of your Bible's; and no doubt one of those maps will show the land of Canaan, as it was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel in the days when they possessed all of the land which God had given to them.

A LOOK AT BIBLE PROPHECY IN FULFILLMENT

We are going to deal with some of the prophecies we have been referring to; and I hope each and every one of you will pay attention to how various things have come about during the past forty years. From the close of WW2 in Europe, which was the month of April, that the fighting stopped, and they began to work out the armistice arrangements, things started happening that led right into what we are looking at. In the month of May, 1948, an element of Jews from Europe were given a certain amount of land in Palestine, that they might have a place to go when they left Europe. Many of those Jews had come from the areas of Poland and Austria, which were mainly of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, that had been carried into Europe after the Roman siege in 69 A.D. We are not going to pin it down so technical, that we would say there were none from any of the ten tribes among them. That would be foolish, and very unnecessary to the point we will endeavor to make. However prophetically, we must keep each tribe identified in its separate identity; because the prophecies themselves prove that God was to deal with Judah first, before He would start dealing with the ten tribes in any major manner. First we will go to Zecharich 10:3-4, which says, "Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited His flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as His goodly horse in the battle. Out of him (Judah) came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together." As we read this prophecy, it portrays to you and me the gradual progression, of how God would start the restoration of this woman we are talking about, which is the nation Israel itself, back in the land given to their forefathers. Watch my point. The United Nations was faced with a problem. Thousands of Jews were left in detention camps; and Europe did not know what to do with them. It was like God was saying to the United Nations, You have a hot potato on your hands, what will you do with my people, Israel. In haste, in just one night's time, as the U.N. General Assembly convened, May 8, 1948, and even Russia giving her agreement and voting with it, unanimously voted to give Israel a petition, something like this, (pointing to the chart) just short of the Jordan River. Right in here it has a big pocket; because this is in the area where Jerusalem is. There is a pocket that goes around, and then comes out and goes toward the sea. This is just a rough description; of what was called the United Nations partition, meaning they divided the land of Palestine. On what basis? On this basis, that since 1800 and something, there had been a slow migration of Jews under the Zionist movement, back into the land. They had begun to come back home. As they came back home, little by little they began to locate in the most desolate, remote areas, buying up whatever acreage they could, from the Arabs, who were almost like the barons of England and France in the Middle Ages. They owned vast holdings of land. However the land was just a grown up waste land. The Arabs owned this land along with a few goats and sheep. They did not care how it looked. They were content with it as it was. Remember though, the prophets of old had said, that while Israel would be out of the land, the land would lay desolate, virtually untilled in any major way. The ancient villages that Israelites once lived in, also would remain in ruins, uninhabited. That is the way it had remained for centuries. However coming into the twentieth century, these Zionist Jews had bought up a considerable amount of this type of land; and immigrant Jews were slowly going back, buying up more land, clearing it of the rubbish, and forming little Kibbutz settlements. That is where they combined their abilities, their western technological learning of how to make the land produce agriculture, and so forth. In a short interval of time they had succeeded in clearing away rubbish; and in these kibbutz settlements, they were building, farming, and making the land do things it had not done in a long, long while. The Arabs were startled, because they had not even suspected that the land would do such a thing. Take the valley of Jezreel for instance. It is also called, in secular history, the plains of Megiddo. It is where the battle of Armageddon is to be fought. That valley runs toward the sea, coming out at Haifa. At the turn of this century, that valley was nothing but a swamp; but in ancient times, when the ten tribes did live in their own land, that valley was Israel's bread basket. That was where her grain was produced, just like in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska in the United States. That is what that area was to Israel in the early B.C. times. When those tribes were taken out of there, that valley became a waste land, a desolate, grown up wilderness. Then they became swamps. They even had crocodiles. However as these Jews began to come back, what did the prophets of old say about it? They said God would bring them back in the last days, and they would build the ruined places, the desolate places would be inhabited and so forth. Do you know what they first began to do? They set eucalyptus trees in those swamps. In a short interval of time, the swamps were dried up. Then they brought in bulldozers to finish clearing the land and get it ready to grow crops on. That whole Megiddo valley today, has an agriculture potential, equivalent to anything in existence in the Middle East. They are raising cotton, oats, barley, and wheat. In fact they are competitors with Egypt today, in the production of cotton. A hundred years ago, that valley was nothing but a swamp, infested with crocodiles; and today they are shipping their produce everywhere. That is how prophecies are being fulfilled right before the eyes of our modern twentieth century people; and they are too blind and ignorant to realize what God is doing. As we speak about the regathering of Israel, and of the reestablishing of her as a nation, we have read two verses in Zechariah. God specifies in this prophecy that has been lying here all these centuries of time, just what He intends to do. He has a unique, and very precise manner, in which He sets about the reconstruction and the restoration of this nation. Of course as you might read the first two verses, some of it is irrelevant to what we are reading the prophecy for. Many times that is the way prophecy goes; because the prophet who spoke it was looking at a present tense condition; and his words are specifically for that. Then the spirit takes it, and goes beyond that setting to speak of something else. This is God's way of concealing the understanding of it until the time for it to begin to be fulfilled. Verse 3, is where we really began to see the significance of what God has done in the last forty years. In 1948 the U.N. was forced to partition that piece of land that we mentioned. Israel drew up a charter, and that is why we speak of the birth of a nation, in a night's time. At that time, the Israelite nation was not in any position to fulfill what we will later speak of, as we continue on in the message. I want to show you just how these prophecies we are going to use are being fulfilled right before our eyes, as we sit and watch our television sets.

Continued